68 Transactions. 



was called more-ti you would know it was from tlial; root only. Sometimes 

 the people would leave a bit of the root in the ground and in a few years 

 another tree would grow in its place. The root could be cooked at an open 

 fire or in an umu (oven). In the old days the umu in whiph the kauru 

 was baked was often called a puna-ti, puna meaning a hole and ti being 

 the cabbage-tree. It would cook quicker at an open fire, and its rough 

 skin prevented it from charring, but it did not taste its best unless placed 

 in an ipu (basin) and soaked in flax-honey [wai-horari). Or the kauru 

 could be taken and, laid fiat, and the flax-honey dripped on it, when it would 

 absorb it. Then if you were travelling and were thirsty you could up-end 

 your kauru root and let the moisture trickle down your throat. This 

 was called unu-wai-korari, and it was a good sweet drink. 



" Another food of the ancient times was prepared like this : Secure some 

 kelp {rimu), the same as that dried for the poha-titi, and take it up-country 

 to a place where tutu is ^plentiful. Gather tutu berries and put them in 

 a putoro, a small flax bag very closely woven so that the seeds of the 

 tutu cannot get through. Squeeze the bag, and the juice comes through 

 and forms a good drink, called waitutu. Take an ipu, or wooden trough, 

 pu'b the kelp and tutu juice in it and boil by putting hot stones in. You 

 can tell that the kelp is boiled enough by poking a stick into it and it falls 

 to bits. Leave it till it is cold, and the result is a black-coloured jelly, 

 called rehia, which was often eaten by the aid of an akapipi (mussel-shell). 



" Waitutu was a good refreshing drink, although sweet. I remember 

 once at Tuturau another Maori and I had a good drink of it. We held the^ 

 ptitoro over our heads and wrung them and let the juice drop into our 

 mouths. I never heard of any other drinks among the old people except 

 waikorari, ivaitutu, and water. Besides the foods I have described we 

 had berries of various kinds, such as the hua-kotukutuku (fuchsia), which 

 were eaten raw, and mako berries, which came in their season. I also 

 remember long ago eating snowberries in the Hokanui Hills. I think our 

 name for them was tapuku." 



Near Colac Bay is a small lagoon called Okoura, and I was told it was 

 named after a man who was killed there. Bulrushes grew in the lagoon, 

 and their roots were gathered and eaten with the flesh of Koura. Bulrush- 

 roots were called ko-areare ; they were mashed and formed an article of 

 diet with the old-time Maori. 



An old Maori said to me, " In the North Island the fuchsia-berry was 

 called konini, but down here both tree and fruit bore the same name — 

 kotukutuku." 



I have a further note that a berry which grows in swamps is called 

 te rerewa, but I cannot say if it is edible. 



The Tuturau Eeserve. 



Recently I was at the Tuturau Maori Reserve to see my old friend 

 Mrs. Gourlay (Toki Reko) laid to rest in the burial-ground there. That 

 evening Mr. Gourlay, a European, a keen observer of nature, told ip.e 

 some of the methods he had seen the Maori at Tuturau adopt in getting 

 food. He has been fifty years in the district, the last forty-five of them 

 in his present location, and following is a summary of his information. 



In rain or high winds the pigeons kept low in the bush, and the Maori 

 speared them with bird-spears made of manuka or horoeka (lance wood). 

 The end of the spear was sharp-pointed and burnt hard, and seemed to 

 go right through the birds if skilfully thrust. There was nothing attached 

 to the spear. 



