The Pandanus Leaf (rau) Roof.

The thatching of a rau roof is a more complicated proceeding. It is usually made a family matter with a host of workers. A thatcher is told off to each kaho on one side of the roof. Outside there are as many carriers as it takes sheets to form a complete row along the roof. Each attends to his own section of the row. In the rau roof of the house used as a hospital at Arutanga, the kaho were 1 foot 7 inches apart and there were 62 rows or layers of thatch on either side, the rows being about 2 inches apart.

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The method of attaching the rau sheets to the kaho is similar to that used with the nikau. The sinnet braid is tied to the lower end of the kaho. The sheet is placed against the kaho. with the tua or back surface of the leaves to the outside and the doubled over edge of the leaves above. Thus the butt ends of the leaves are also to the outside. The sinnet braid is passed over the upper edge of the sheet to the right of the kaho. It has to be brought back through the sheet below the kaihara strip contained in the upper doubled over margin and to the left of the kaho. But the rau sheet in this upper part forms a continuous surface through the overlaspping edges of the leaves having been sawn together. The sinnet cannot be pushed through between the leaves by hand as in the case of nikau. It was for this contingency that the au ato implement was invented. The point of the au ato is pushed through the leaf from the inside, on the left of the kaho and below the kaihara strip. The long axis of the implement is held vertically so as to split between the longitudinal fibres of the leaf and not cut them unnecessarily.

With the hook or barbed point of the au ato, the sinnet braid is caught, Fig. 26A, and drawn through to the inside, Fig. 26B. The whole length of the braid is drawn through and an overhand knot made as with the nikau sheet. The braid is carried on up the kaho as before, Fig. 27.

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Where the ends of the sheets meet on the same row, they are carefully adjusted. There is a slight overlap, but the edges of the doubled part of one marginal leaf are separated and the edges of the other placed between so that one is enclosed by the other in exactly the same manner as the individual leaves in the sheet. The ends of the kaihara strip offer no difficulty as there is plenty of space for both between the doubled over edge and nikau stem that sews the leaves together. Thus on the inner side of the roof, the joins of the ends of the sheets cannot be detected.

The above is the individual detail, but in actual construction, a whole row of sheets goes on together. Thus each thatcher stands beneath his kaho, with sinnet and au ato implement. On the command, "Homai te rau" (Bring the leaf), the carriers outside place the sheets in position on the kaho. The thatchers judge the required distance above the manuae and all pass the sinnet over the sheet on the right of the kaho, pass the au ato through to the left, draw in the sinnet and make the overhand knot. The thatchers nearest the ends of two sheets arrange the overlaps. The full row is finished. A fresh row of sheets is placed above the last and the thatchers, who have been holding the sinnet taut after the knot, again tie them in a similar manner. The distance between the rows has been arranged as one, two or more finger breadths, and as the thatcher adjusts the upper edge of the sheet, he measures the distance between it and the lower edge with his fingers.

If some of the sheets look askew, the command goes out, "Paoro te hoe." The free meaning is "Straighten the page 24line." The thatchers adjust the sheets so that the line of the upper margins of the rau sheets is perfectly straight and horizontal. As the work ascends the kaho, the thatchers ascend a scaffolding that has been erected inside the house. The scaffolding is called pahata. Compare with the Maori whata, which is without the prefix pa. The carriers outside have each a long pointed pole. As the thatch rises out of reach, the point of the pole is stuck into the middle of the outer surface of the sheet, just below the kaihara strip, and the sheet is lifted up into position. Thus with calls for the leaf and straightening the line, the work goes quickly on. When one side reaches the ridge pole, the work is commenced on the other side in the same manner. For the appearance of the rau leaf on the outside, see Fig. 2. On the inside, owing to the closer arrangement of the rows, the appearance is even more pleasing than in the nikau roof.

Sinnet Lashing. There are three terms used in the lashings of a house:—

• Hahau. This is the ordinary lashing of the framework of the house, such as the kaho to the tarawa and the tarawa to the oka. It is the same as the Maori lashing word hahau.

• Ato is the lashing of the sheet to the kaho by the overhand knot described above. From it, the thatching implement with the barb gets its name of au ato as against the barbless implement for sewing the pandanus leaves together, which is named au tui. Thus au is the implement, whilst ato and tui are the qualifying adjectives taken from the technique in which the implements are employed. Compare the Maori au tui, a curved bone bodkin used to pin the borders of a garment together.

• Takaki. Where the kaho cross the horizontal tarawa of the framework, the sinnet cord lashing the thatch to the kaho passes round the tarawa as well. This lashing then ceases to be ato and becomes takaki. The lashings were worked to form ornamental bindings of various patterns. What they were could not be ascertained.