52 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



into baskets (kete) in layers, this latter process being known- 

 as whakamdtd. These baskets are then stored in the cook- 

 ing-huts or food-stores. When the cooked article is required 

 the fern-root is roasted at a fire and the outside part scraped 

 off, and the root is then beaten and pounded with a short 

 club 10 in. or 11 in. in length." When pounded the black 

 stringy fibres are taken out and the root again pounded, after 

 which the mealy portion is eaten. Or the meal is cleaned 

 and pressed into cakes termed komeke, which are round and 

 about 8 in. in length. These were again roasted at a fire, 

 which prevented them from crumbling and formed them 

 into a compact mass. These cakes or rolls were sometimes 

 steeped in the juice of the berries of the tutu shrub, of which 

 more anon. This latter was quite a treat to the neolithic 

 gourmands. Komeke aruhe was the chief food carried by war 

 parties when on the trail of Tu. It is said to be a very 

 sustaining food. 



When fern-root was required to be kept for some time it 

 was placed under water in some convenient pool, where it 

 would be kept for possibly a year. 



Fern-root grounds were jealously guarded in former times, 

 and woe betide the outsider who attempted to dig roots there. 

 Tapuha, of Ngati-Apa, was slain by Te Arawa at Pekepeke, on 

 the Kaingaroa Plains, for the above offence ; while Ngati- 

 Hape slew Te Eakau, of Ngati-Apa, for taking fern-root and 

 eels on the Kuha-waea Block, at Galatea. Serious inter- 

 tribal wars were often caused by these acts of trespass. 



" Te manawa nui o Whete" (the sustaining -power of 

 Whete) is a local saying applied to the fern-root. Whete 

 was a valorous ancestor who, prior to going into battle, would 

 consume a large quantity of fern-root cakes, and then perform 

 prodigies of valour. 



" Kaua e pata i te aruhe i te po. He upoko tangata, he 

 tohu aitua." Do not pound fern-root at night-time. A 

 human head, an evil omen. If you do so, then your head 

 will soon be pounded by the weapon of an enemy. 



" Ka ora karikari aruhe, ka mate takiri kaka." The fern- 

 root digger will survive when the parrot-snarer is assailed by 

 hunger. You can obtain fern-root at any season, but parrots 

 are only taken during the winter. 



Boi — aruhe = fern-root. A generic term. 



Botari. [ A term applied to young fern-root not yet fit for 



Kotau. ) digging. 



Aupatu aruhe. A bundle of dried fern-root. 



* This club, termed by Tuhoe a vatu aruhe, but by some tribes a paoi, 

 is here made of the hard wood of the maire tree, but among some tribes 

 stone ones were used. 



