Best. — Food Products of Tuhoeland. 87 



The use of tobacco was soon acquired by the natives, and 

 they used to obtain it from traders on the coast in barter. In 

 fact, in the early colonial days these natives used to drive 

 pigs from Euatahuna all the way to Auckland in order to ob- 

 tain European goods. Their names for the brands of tobacco 

 so obtained are purupuru, pongi, and parehe, not to mention 

 nikalicre (negrohead). However, they obtained seed and have 

 since grown their own tobacco, their names for the kinds 

 grown here being arero-kuri, porakaraka, taretare, and mohoao, 

 also a variety named Witimoa, after Major-General Sir George 

 Whitmore, from whom they obtained the seed. 



What is known as " Maori cabbage " is here termed 

 paea. The natives say that it is named after a very early 

 European voyager, from whom the seed was obtained. Now, 

 Captain Cook was known as Paea amongst the natives of 

 Poverty Bay, he being so named from the circumstance of 

 calling out "Fire ! " when he ordered his men to fire on the 

 natives. 



The rearea, a kind of pohata, or turnip, presumably intro- 

 duced by early voyagers, was grown in cultivations and the 

 leaves used as greens. It has very dark leaves. The root was 

 dried and converted into kao in the following manner : The 

 plant was grown in the enclosures used for growing potatoes, 

 and when intended for kao the leaves were not allowed to be 

 plucked for greens. When the root was matured the whole 

 plant was pulled up and stacked away to dry in a pataka 

 (food-store) or on a stage built in a hollow tree. When dry 

 the roots were cut in pieces and cooked in a liangi, the rautao, 

 or covering in the oven, being leaves of the hanehane, manono, 

 rau-taivhiri, and tuttimako, also fronds of the paraharaha fern. 

 The roots became impregnated with the flavour of these leaves, 

 which appears to have been considered desirable. The cook- 

 ing lasted twenty-four hours, and the chopped roots were then 

 taken out, placed in the food-stores to become dry and hard, 

 after which they were placed in baskets, which were hung up 

 in the cooking-sheds for a few days and then put away in the 

 food-stores until wanted. When eaten this kao was placed in 

 a bowl, water poured over them, and then pounded until 

 mashed up ; this porridge-like mixture was then ready to be 

 scooped up with a wooden spoon (koko) and eaten. The term 

 kora is here used as a sort of generic name for such things 

 as are used as greens. The leaves of the raorao, poniu, and 

 raupeti plants were used as greens, as also were those of the 

 rerewai, a water-plant. 



When the natives first obtained soap here they took it to 

 be pork fat, and essayed to eat it. Flour was thought to be 

 ashes, and was sometimes thrown away as such. Molasses 

 was thought to be the sap of the rimu tree. 



