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Corexso..— Botany of the North Island of New Zealand. 263 
are still greatly prized. A few superior articles of apparel were also made 
by the northern tribes from the leaves of the neinei (Dracophylium lati- 
Jolium). Of the bright yellow leaves of the pingao (Desmoschenus spiralis), 
strong and useful folding girdles were woven; and from the inner bark of 
the autetaranga (Pimelea arenaria), small white cloth-like strips were also 
obtained, for fastening up the hair or wearing as ornament in the ears. 
(2.) The timber trees and other plants of various degrees of utility 
comprised the following :—For canoes, the natives from the Thames north- 
wards generally used the kauri (Dammara australis), and the southern 
natives the totara (Podocarpus totara), which was preferred by all; the 
kahikatea (P. dacrydioides) was also often used for this purpose. Troughs, 
trays, and other large vessels were also made of totara and of mataii (P. 
spicata). The framing of the principal houses was of totara timber; while 
their roofs, and sometimes their sides, were often covered with its bark, 
obtained from the living tree and laid on in large slabs. The bark of the 
manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) was also used for covering the roof, but 
is greatly inferior. The carved work of the chiefs’ houses was made out of 
both totara and mataii; but for the carved figure-heads of their canoes the 
pukatea (Atherosperma nove-zealandie) was generally used; while the 
ornamental carved work of the sterns was made of mataii or totara. The 
titoki (Alectryon excelsum) furnished handles for light axes ; and sometimes 
the kowhai (Edwardsia grandiflora) was used, particularly for the heavier 
ones. The ake (Dodonea viscosa), and the maire* (Santalum cunninghamii 
at the north, and Olea sp. at the south), supplied hardwood for war imple- 
ments and for carved walking-staves; and of another hardwood, manuka 
(Leptospermum scoparium), husbandry implements, canoe-paddles, and spears 
for war and taking fish were made. Long war-spears were also made of 
rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) ; but the very long bird-spears (30-36 feet) 
were made of tawa (JVesodaphne tawa), the working of which out of a large 
tree with only their stone implements, obtaining as they did but two spears 
from a single tree, was indeed a most patient and admirable performance, 
often taking two years for its completion. The hard-wooded mairetawhake 
(Eugenia maire) was also prized, and used by the northern tribes, among 
whom alone it grew, for husbandry implements. The channelled stems of 
the neinei (Dracophyllum latifolium), and the red young saplings of toatoa, 
or tanekaha (Pihyllocladus trichomanoides), made valued walking-sticks. The 
long straight young trees of manuka, and of tawa, were used for battens for 
the sides and roofs of their houses; stems of the kareao (Rhipogonum parvi- 
Jlorum), and also kakaho reeds (Arundo conspicua), and slips of totara timber, 
4? 
* See par. 26 (8). 
