The Man with the Adze.

Skilled artisans there, those Mathesons especially. Here is a story from N. R. Mackenzie's book of the pioneers; it referred to the building of the schooner Saucy Lass at Omaha. The contract was undertaken by Duncan Matheson, and it was stipulated that the deck, of kauri planks, must be planed. Part of it was planed, and the remainder was dressed with an adze. The prospective owner objected to the adzing of the planks. He was challenged to point out the part that was planed and the part that was done with the adze, but he could not distinguish between them, and so had to accept the situation.

That beautiful smooth adzing was the work of a perfect master of his craft. And there were Maoris, in the great timber-working days, who were almost as good as the Omaha man. Even in later times, I have seen a Maori at work with his adze making practically as good a job of planksmoothing as any European could have done with a plane. He worked barefoot, and how he missed amputating a toe or two with his razor-keen adze was a marvel.