COLEXSO, — Botany of tie Nortli Mand of New ZeaJand. 277 



greatly diminished, but this is entirely owing to the natives having generally 

 given np the dressing the plant for sale, to the dearth of hand-labonr, and to 

 the difficulty in properly preparing its fibre for use by machinery, which 

 difficulty, however, will without doubt be eventually overcome. From official 

 statistical papers it is gathered that the export of hand-dressed flax, during 

 the ten years ending 1852, from the port of "Wellington alone, amounted to 

 523 tons 15 cwt., value £7,200; of which nearly one-fourth, or 128 tons 10 

 ewt. 85 lbs., was exported in one year, 1850. Of late years the export of this 

 article has been very small compared with what it once was and with what it 

 is firmly believed it will yet be. 



(2.) The kapia or kauri gum is, as its colonial name shows, a gum, or 

 rather a resin, from the kauri pine (JDammara australis) ; it is not, however, 

 obtained in the present living kauri pine forests, but only in the north parts 

 of the Province of Auckland, where, it is believed, such trees formerly grew ; 

 yet of such ancient forests no other trace generally remains than the resin 

 itself, slightly buried in the soil. Large tracts of the country north of Auckland, 

 particularly of the more barren spots, are of this description, and much of it 

 has been already dug over, carelessly perhaps, and the resin collected. It 

 is now about twenty years since the kauri gum was first noticed as an article 

 of export ; and it has been mainly, if not entirely, gathered by the aborigines 

 from the Thames to the ISTorth Cape. The quantity exported from Auck- 

 land in 1S63 was 1,400* tons, worth £27,026 ; and the total quantity 

 exported from that province during the ten years ending 1862, amounted to 

 13,575 tons 18 cwt. 84 lbs., worth £174,148. The largest quantity exported 

 in any one year (1857) was 2,464 tons 10 cwt., worth £34,550. 



(3.) Another peculiar article of export, which has also been extensively 

 used in the colony for tanning, is the bark of the tovrai {Weinmannia race- 

 mosa). This tree, or a closely allied species, is more or less common 

 throughout the island, but it is much more abundant in the northern parts, 

 where, too, its bark has been more particularly gathered for use, and 

 exported for tanning purposes. 



(4.) Other indigenous vegetable substances which have been both 

 successfully used and brought to market are, the kareao or supplejack 

 creeper {Bidpogonum parviflormji) , as coarse basket and wicker work; 

 brooms, for ship and domestic purposes, made of the twiggy manuka 

 {Leptospermum scoparmnn) ; the woody stems of the white mangrove 

 {Avicennia officinalis), for soapmaking ; the ^o^nj pappus hune, from the 

 fruiting heads of the large bulrush {Tijplm anriustifolia),iov beds, bolsters, and 

 pillows ; and honey, since the introduction of bees and their becoming wild. 

 Of this last article a large quantity increasing every year, particularly at 

 the North, finds its way into the market. 



