58 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



ful owners by means of the rahui, of which more anon. Such 

 a grove, called Ure-takohekohe, grew at Obae, on the Whai- 

 tiripapa Block, at Euatoki. Any person coming to take fruit 

 from that grove in defiance of the rahui would be slain. 



"Me te whala raparapa tuna e iri mai ana te tutu" (the 

 tutu berries hang as thick and black as eels on a drying-stage) 

 is a saying applied to the tutu when covered with the ripe 

 fruit. 



Te pu tutu e pehi mai nei 



Kaore ka kite koe 



Te taru kino nei 



A te pukupuku nei 



A te ruriruri na 



Tena na, tena na 



E hoki to kete 



Waiho ano tatari ana 



Kia whakawaia te kaki rourou — e. 



Many kinds of small berries or fruits were eaten by the 

 natives ; for instance, those of the rimu, kahikatea, matai, and 

 totara trees. In gathering these berries the person would 

 climb far up into the head of the tree, and, gathering the 

 same, would put them into a basket, which, when full, he 

 would lower to the ground by means of a long cord attached 

 to it. These baskets would be taken to a stream and the 

 contents washed to free the same of leaves and rubbish, after 

 which it would be eaten, without cooking. 



The berries of the tapia, a parasite which grows on the 

 puahou* tree (syn., houhou and tauparapara) , are also eaten 

 without cooking, as also are those of the kotukutukui and 

 poporo,\ the fruit of the former being termed hona and that of 

 the latter kahoho. The karaka does not grow in this district. 



The small berries of the mako tree (Aristotelia racemosa) 

 were eaten. 



The flower-bracts (tdwhara) and fruit of the kiekie (Frey- 

 cinetia banksii) were eaten, but this climbing plant does not 

 obtain in these highlands, although it is found, together 

 with the nikau and mamaku, in the lower part of the 

 Whakatane Valley. 



We now come to the plants, &c, of which the leaves were 

 used as food, including several of which the undeveloped 

 leaves were eaten. 



Mamaku (Gyathea mcdullaris) . 



This is the black fern-tree of the settlers. The part eaten 

 is that termed the koata — i.e., the soft inner part of the upper 



* Panax arboreum. 

 f Fuchsia excorticata. 

 I Solanum aviculare. 



