12 HISTORICAL RECORD 



period, so that this plant was probably introduced from 24 to 30 

 generations ago, that is between 1150 and 1300 A.D. Communica- 

 tion was kept up with Polynesia for about 200 years more, new 

 settlers coming over from time to time. The last batch of vessels, 

 including the Arawa, Tainui and other canoes, arrived about 20 

 generations or 500 years ago, say about 1400 A.D. Reference has 

 already been made to the introduction by some of these early voyagers, 

 of the dog, the native rat, one or more species of flea, and two species 

 of lice. 



The Kumara (Ipomcea batatas) appears to have been introduced 

 first about 1300 A.D. , tradition saying that certain voyagers left Whaka- 

 tane for Polynesia about that time, for the express purpose of bringing 

 over that plant. Subsequent immigrants by the Aotea, Arawa, Tainui, 

 and other canoes, also brought the plant. Indeed it is probable that 

 it was continuously introduced by many of the new arrivals. 



Mr Cheeseman in the Manual (p. 100) states in regard to Poma- 

 derris apetala: "The Maoris assert that it sprang from the rollers 

 or skids that were brought in the canoe 'Tainui' when they first 

 colonised New Zealand." Mr Elsdon Best, to whom I referred this 

 point, tells me that about 1879 he saw a grove of these trees 



on a terrace near the mouth of the Mohakatina river. Local natives told 

 him that the tree was called Te Neke o Tainui (the skid of Tainui), and that 

 the grove had originated from the skids of the canoe Tainui, used in hauling 

 the vessel ashore on her arrival here twenty generations ago, the skids 

 having been brought from oversea. On my return to New Plymouth I 

 met Mr Wilson Hursthouse, who, I found, was acquainted with the 

 Maori name of the tree and the myth connected with it. 



Pomaderris apetala is an Australian as well as a New Zealand species, 

 but is not found in any part of Polynesia. It is difficult to con- 

 jecture, therefore, how such a myth could have arisen. 



Perhaps about the same time, that is about 1400 A.D., the introduc- 

 tion of the Taro (Calocasia antiquorum) and the Ti (Cordyline termi- 

 nalis) took place. One tradition says that they arrived in the Nukutere 

 canoe, brought by one Roua, that is about 500 years ago. The same 

 tradition narrates that the Karaka (Corynocarpus leevigata) was intro- 

 duced at the same time, by the same individual. If so, it may have 

 been brought from Western Polynesia by way of the Kermadecs, 

 where it is a common tree. At the same time the genus is quite 

 peculiar, and is endemic to New Zealand. If it did not originate in 

 this country, then the home whence it came has lost it, for its botanical 

 position and relationships are by no means clear. 



After the arrival of the main migrations about 20 generations ago, 

 there are no definite traditions of further Polynesian immigration, 



