54 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
But, far above all, their fine discrimination of delicate hues and shades 
was correctly shown in their nice distinction of the various tints of the flesh 
of the several kinds of kwmara and of taro when cooked ; also, of the varieties 
(in colour) of the kvroi berry (fruit of the kahikatea—white pine tree), and 
of the karaka berry ( Corynocarpus levigata) in their stages of ripening; and 
of the several shades and hues of their dressed flax during the drying and 
bleaching process ; for all of which colours, or fine shades of colour, they 
had distinctive names. And here I may relate a notable incident which 
once happened; it pleasingly surprised me at the time, and often since on 
recollection. I was travelling, as usual, in 1845, on the coast, and was 
staying at Mataikona, near Castle Point, then a populous village. In talking 
with one of the oldest chiefs of the place about the taro plant, and its 
varieties, he said that he had long ago seen and cultivated the sort called 
Watruaarangi,* but that it had long been lost to them. Now I had also 
known that peculiar sort when residing at the north, and I had more than 
once noticed the delicate and curious pinkish hue of its flesh, so different to 
the other sorts ; and wishing to test my old friend’s knowledge, I enquired 
particularly of him its colour, and his answer was a beautiful one, so clearly 
expressive; he replied,—‘‘ I tu-a-kowhewhero tona kiko.” A phrase exceed- 
ingly difficult to render as briefly into English ; but meaning, that its flesh 
had a pinkish appearance. + 
Of their names for colours, and their various shades. 
Here I would first observe :-— 
_(1.) That, according to the genius of their expressive language, many 
common nouns are as largely used for indicating a single species, or peculiar 
* See “ Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” Vol. XIII, p. 36. 
t Wairuaarangi—the proper name of this variety of taro is so highly expressive (like 
most special names among the old Maoris) that I am tempted to give its full meaning, and 
to offer a few words upon it. Wairuaar. angi, lit. Reflection-from-(the)-sky : meaning, the 
light reddish-pink tint, as sometimes thrown of an evening over the features of the eastern 
landscape, from a glowing sunset ; also, the more distant, faint, reddish hues of the rare 
ends of an aurora australis. This colour (as I have sometimes seen it of a summer’s 
evening), when cast on or reflected back from white cliffs or mountain snow, or from an 
extensive flat filled with the dead feathery panicles and culms of the large cutting-grass 
(Arundo conspicua), is exceedingly like that of the pink flesh of that peculiar variety of 
taro; and its poetical beauty, as well as its truthfulness, is still further enhanced when 
we think (as the old Maoris did ) of that beautiful colour as emanating from a Personage, 
(the Sky), and their great, first, and common Father. 
T have before had occasion to observe that, with the old Maoris, the name of a thing 
meant a great deal—very much more, concerning its qualities, uses, ete., ete.—than we at 
best can possibly suppose, Hence, too, the incessant demand from them in the early 
days, on seeing any new thing, whether vegetable or animal, especially if living, of— 
* the name,” “ the name?” 
i ' je ha als eile i sana iin 
SOE ting ay MNO Celera See SPST RN SE Ten EE DMN WTI IL ST hres eee EN STE ay PERS ME eign eae 
Ss Da MD ese Bali Sn ES 
Br Se enn 
