46 FOOD. [PART i. 



been discontinued, as the European dogs are said by 

 the natives to be perfectly unpalatable. The New 

 Zealand dog is different from the Australian dingo ; 

 the latter resembles in size and shape the wolf, 

 while the former rather resembles the jackall ; its 

 colour is reddish-brown, its ears long and straight. 

 The native name is kuri, the general name for the 

 dog amongst the Polynesian race ; but it is very 

 curious that the Spanish word " pero" is also known 

 to them. 



Among the delicacies at certain seasons may be 

 mentioned the sweet and fleshy bractese of the Frey- 

 cinetia Banksii ; they also occasionally eat the fari- 

 naceous root of some terrestrial Orchideee, as the 

 Thelymitra Forsteri, the Orthoceras strictum, Micro- 

 tis Banksii ; nor do they disdain the fat grub of some 

 coleopterous insect which they find in rotten trees. 



The korau, or mamako, the pulpous stem of a tree- 

 fern (the Cyathea medullaris), is an excellent vege- 

 table, which is in season about Christmas ; it is pre- 

 pared by being cooked during a whole night in a 

 native oven. The heart of the cabbage-palm (Areca 

 sapida), which grows in the gloomy forest in hilly 

 situations, is eaten raw. The koroi, or the berries 

 of the kahikatea-pine, are a wholesome aromatic 

 fruit. The fern-root (Pteris esculenta) is still fre- 

 quently eaten, being previously roasted and beaten, 

 but its use is rapidly decreasing. 



With the exception of the taro (Arum esculen- 

 tum, or Caladium esculentum), and the dog, which, 



