| OCR Text |
Show - 20 - between the two canoes for shelter, or a kind of awning was used for protection during bad weather. These canoes were marvels of symmetry and fine finish. The Maoris passed this art down from father to son. Roa had learned it from his father who had learned it from his father. Although his own canoe was beautifully made, Roa longed for the bygone days of the great canoes and their adventures. His canoe was of a wide beam type which was gradually replacing the outrigger among his people. Although the Maori no longer ventured on the long colonizing and exploring expeditions of former years, he was still at home on Tangaroa1s open waters. He could steer by the heavenly bodies, by the roll of the waves, and before the trade winds. The world of Po_, which was night and darkness, was covering land, earth, and sky when Roa slid his canoe onto the sandy beach. He nulled it farther up and tied it securely with a flaxen rone to a tree. He strung his catch of fish on a strong length of hemp, slung them over his shoulder and started up the trail that led to his pa,, which is what the Maoris call their small villages. |
