CHAP. VIII.] VARIETIES OF LAND. 123 



tory cuckoos (the Cuculus fasciatus, Forst), called 

 kohaperoa, or koekoia, and a very small and beauti- 

 ful kind (the Cuculus nitens of the same author), 

 called by the natives pipiwawaroa which appear 

 on the coast at Christmas mark the period of 

 the first potato-harvest. The flowering of the 

 beautiful Clematis albida reminds them to turn 

 the soil for receiving potatoes, which is done in 

 October. Their plantations are generally on the 

 sides of hills, but the kumara and maize plantations 

 are in the alluvial ground of the valleys. They are 

 excellent judges of soil, and distinguish the different 

 kinds by names. The one matua (father soil) is the 

 stiff clay of the hills, and is not esteemed; clayey 

 alluvial land on the banks of rivers is called reretu ; 

 sandy land is called one pu; land composed of de- 

 cayed vegetables on the sides of hills is called one 

 kura; rich land on the sides of rivers is called tai 

 pu. The two latter are those preferred for planta- 

 tions. If the land is wooded (and such they prefer), 

 the trees are cut down and burnt, but no attempt 

 is made to root up the stumps ; the land is after- 

 wards dug up with a pole, which has a foot-piece 

 firmly attached to it, and which is used in the same 

 manner as our spade. It is made of the hard wood 

 of the maire (Eugenia maire), or sometimes of the 

 wood of the Leptospermum ericoides, and is called 

 e kaheru. The work proceeds rapidly; and the soil 

 being interlaced with roots of shrubs and fern, the 



