This tablet is the third that Bishop Jaussen had Metoro Tau'a Ure read for him. (The 1st text was Aruku Kurenga, the 2nd was Tahua, and the 4th was Keiti.)

Metoro read this tablet in a curious manner, starting with the first line of glyphs on side b (obviously wrong, which a careful analysis of the glyphs soon reveals), and then proceding up to and including the 14th line on side b, but then he was not continuing - as expected - with the bottom line on side a. Instead he read the lines on side a in opposite order (obviously wrong), starting with the 14th and last line (at the top of side a) and then prodeding downwards. Bishop Jaussen:

"La ligne XV est au verso [side a according to Barthel]. Par une exception remarquable aux autres tablettes, Metoro prit celle 15^e ligne au bas du verso, au côté opposé au creux, et lit le verso en remontant, comme si l'auteur y traitait un sujet à part."

The hole in the tablet is in line a1 and appears on the opposite side in line b14. Barthel used the normal procedure for reading rongorongo texts, when he numbered the lines. That means we have to compare the words of Metoro - when he turns the tablet to continue his reading on side a - starting with the glyphs (at the beginning of) line a14 (instead of as when reading in normal order we would have started with the glyphs in line a1, the bottom line on side a).

The text of Mamari is here delivered in the proper order, not according to the order of Metoro.