12 Transactions. — Miscdlaneous. 



to the possession of valuable karaka-trees, the fruit of which 

 was a staple and tnuch-liked article of food, . . . nearly 

 all the older karaka-trees on the island are marked with 

 devices indicating their special ownership — a fact of very 

 great intei'est. . . . These figures are very rude, but 

 were evidently sufficient for the purposes of the owners." 



Captain Mair," in the discussion which followed on the 

 reading of the above paper, did not agree with Mr. Trave)'s re- 

 garding the individual ownership of the karaka-trees, as these 

 trees covered a third of the island, and tlieir fruit must have 

 been more abundant than the small number of the inhabitants 

 could consume. Dr. Cockayne, who has recently explored 

 the island botanically, draws attention to the large number 

 of trees in the bush, and is evidently of the opinion that the 

 karaka is indigenous ; so the question as to whether the tree 

 was indigenous to the island or was planted there by the early 

 inhabitants is as much in doubt as ever. 



Lately a number of the marked trees have been cut down, 

 and there are now several examples of the carvings in the 

 Christchurch and Wellington Museums, and for a photograph 

 of one of the oldest and most characteristic I am indebted to 

 Mr. J. J. Kinsey, of Christchurch. It represents, in the con- 

 ventional manner found in old cave paintings, a human being. 

 It has been deeply cut through the bark of the tree down to 

 the wood. The photograph is an excellent one, and shows 

 the rounded swelling of the new growth of bark very well. 

 Most of the other specimens that I have seen have had the 

 figure indicated, by incised lines, and are probably much more 

 modern than the one figured. 



In connection with this marking of trees, it should not be 

 forgotten that the Eev. E. Taylorf states that sacred trees are 

 common on the east coast of New Zealand. In the Bay of 

 Plenty, he says, they are generally to be discerned by being 

 painted red, or bound round with garments, or having rags 

 suspended from their branches. Although there is every pro- 

 bability that these trees wei'e karaka-trees, it is not so stated. 

 If they had not been "on the coast," the usual habitat of 

 this tree, we might have concluded that the trees were re- 

 served, or tapued, by chiefs for the sake of their bark for 

 tanning purposes, or for their timber, such as are still to be 

 seen in the Urewera countrv. 



The following extract from the first-quoted paper is an 

 interesting part of the botanical history of the genus : " Ciyry- 

 nocarpus was established by the Forsters in 1776 (Char. Gen. 

 PI. Ins. Mar. Aust., p. 32, t. 16), and, although the descrip- 



• Trana. N.Z. Insc, 1876, vol. ix., p. 621. 

 t " Te Ika a Maui," 2ud ed., p. 20. 



