148 Voyage of the Novara. 



2)anda)j an object which, where it is found, imparts ape 

 liar aspect to the landscape, like the silver poplars on the 

 flanks of Table Mountain at the Cape. The name of the 

 plant is derived from the under side of the leaves being as 

 white as paper. 



We also during this excursion saw great quantities of 

 Raorao or Aruhe {Pteris esculenta\ and were told that the 

 roots {roi) of this fern, baked and ground, were highly prized 

 by the Maories as a specific against sea-sickness. No na- 

 tive makes a sea voyage, at least to any distance, with- 

 out carrying with him a piece of this root, using it 

 when baked as an antidote against that most depressing of 

 maladies, from which even primitive races are not exempt. 

 The efficacy of this remedy is however rather reputed than 

 actual, the experience of Europeans, who have availed 

 themselves of its supposed virtues, tending to show that it 

 is absolutely worthless. 



While at Oraki Bay we also visited the Maori village 

 of Oraki. Here we found some 80 natives, men, women, 

 and children, who had encamped on a hill outside the 

 village. They were clothed partly in European style, 

 partly in clothes made of native flax. The diversity of 

 feature was most remarkable, as was also the great differ- 

 ence in the hair of the head. Some had thin black, others 

 crisp, hair ; many had it of a dark brown colour, while yet 

 others had regular fox-coloured locks. The elder men had 



