Cords and Ropes.

Strips of some material for tying must have been early used by man. In Aitutaki and throughout the Cook Group, strips of hau bark are readily torn off the plant to provide for the ordinary needs. A better form of the material is obtained by splitting the bast from the outer bark either immediately or after soaking in sea water. Such strips were used for lashing the nikau sheets to the kaho in rough houses and tying the cross booms of canoes to the. Potiatia pegs connecting them with the outrigger. They were used for throwing the pua disc and in a host of other ways. For neater and more enduring work, the material had to be twisted or plaited into cords and ropes.