Best. — Maori Forest Lore. 235 



wounded trunk has also • similar properties. It is obtained by making an 

 incision in the bark and wounding the trunk, thus causing it to bleed. The 

 gum, on being exposed to the air, soon solidifies, and is removed. It was 

 often used for the purpose of imparting a pleasant odour to oil used for 

 toilet purposes. The oil used was obtained from the berries of the titohi 

 tree {Alectryon excelsum) and from the fat of the wood-pigeon. Sometimes 

 this oil was scented by placing in it crushed leaves of white manuka, or of 

 the trees and plants enumerated above. A calabash of such oil scented 

 with gum {pia tarata) was termed a taha tarata. The skin of a pukeko or 

 other bird would be dipped in this oil and then rolled into a ball with the 

 feathers outward. This was known as a pona tarata, and was suspended 

 from the neck of the wearer. It was a somewhat greasy neck-pendant. 



Chaplets of the fragrant leaves, twigs, &c., were sometimes worn by 

 women, and the sleeping-places or houses of persons of rank or of dis- 

 tinguished guests were occasionally strewed with these aromatic leaves. 

 The Jcotara and the pua-kaito were sometimes transplanted and grown near 

 the Native hamlets. 



A gourd of scented oil used for anointing the hair was termed a taha 



koukou, from taha, a calabash, and koukou, to anoint. In an old Native 



song we find the following : — ■ 



• He wai tarata ra 



Me patu kia kakara 

 Kia ingo mai ai. 



The last line explains one of the principal uses of scents the wide world 



over — viz., to attract the opposite sex. Women often wore belts made 



of the fragrant karetu grass. The flax belts which were made double were 



often filled with odorous herbs. Hence we see in song, — 



Tu ake hoki, E hine 



I te tu wharariki 



Hai whakakakara rao hiiie ki te moenga. 



We will now turn our attention to the fauna of the Tuhoe district — or, 

 at least, that portion of it that entered into the domestic economy of the 

 Natives of these parts. 



Lizards. 



The generic names for lizards are ngarara and moko. The following 

 is a list of the various kinds found in Tuhoeland : — 



Tiiatara. Sphenodon puactatum. 



Koeau. 



Moko-ia. 



Moko-haJcariki. ? Xaultiniis elegani. 



Mokomoko. 



Moko-tapiri. ) j, ^Yf/ »///«».:* pacificus. These three names are applied to one and 



Moko-papa. - ^^^^ ,ame species. 



Ngarara-papn. } 



Moko-parae. 



The last-mentioned {moko-parae) is possibly a duplicate name for one of 

 the preceding species. Again, ngaha was given as another name for the 

 inokomoko by one Native, while another states that ngaha is a generic term, 

 and includes the mokomoko, moko-parae, &c. 



The tuatara was the largest of these lizards, and it was the only species 

 that was eaten by the Tuhoe Tribe. It is said to have been numerous on 

 the mainland in pre-European days, and certain places were famed for the 

 number of these lizards they produced. Such places were Wai-o-hau, 



