[5] The mere is a native weapon for war made of the axe stone. It is an article of great value, and descends from father as an oha, an heirloom in the tribe.
[6] Tawera is the morning star.
[7] This star makes his appearance about the month of June, in the first month of the New Zealander, and creates an important epoch in his agricultural operations.
CHAPTER III.
OF THE NOUNS.
CLASSES OF NOUNS IN RESPECT TO ORIGIN.
Nouns in Maori may be comprised under three classes, primitive and derivative, and verbal.[8]
(a.) Nouns primitive are those which designate animals, plants, numbers, members of the animal body, some of the great objects of the natural world.
N.B.—It is often impossible to distinguish between primitive and derivative nouns.
(b.) Nouns derivative, which are altogether the most numerous, comprise,