CoLENSO. — On tlie Maori Baces of New Zealand. 347 



dried in the sun, and called Tcao, and were reserved to be used as a kind of 

 sweetmeat, or delicacy at feasts, boiled and mashed up in hot water. And 

 when the Icumara was fully ripe, the labour in taking it up, sorting and 

 packing it into its own peculiar baskets for store — including the weaving 

 of those baskets, and the half-digging, half -building of the stores supposed 

 to be absolutely needful for effectually keeping it (and which were often the 

 best-built houses in the village, and often renewed) — was very great. The 

 taro (of which the leaves and stems were also eaten) required a moist, and 

 the 7me and ante, a rich soil, with much less care, however, in raising them ; 

 but the manufacture of the bark of the cmte into cloth-like fillets for the hair 

 of the chiefs (it never was made into clothing in 'New Zealand) Avas also a 

 tedious work. 



(4.) Of wild edible vegetable substances they made great use ; par- 

 ticularly of the fruits of three trees, — the JcaraJca {Corynocarpus Icevigatd), 

 the taioa {Nesodaplme tawa), and the liinaii {Elceocarpus dentatus). The 

 kernels of the first two they annually collected in large quantities, and 

 prepared, by baking, steeping, and drying, for future provision, and which 

 (if kept dry) continued good a long time. The flesh of the TcaraJm was 

 also largely eaten when ripe. The fruit of the Mnaw was also collected 

 and placed in water to steep, to separate the dry flesh from the nuts ; which 

 powder or flour was subsequently strained, made into coarse cakes, and eaten. 

 The common fern-root ariolie {Fteris esculenta) was also generally iised ; 

 and the spots in which it grew to perfection (mostly a deep light soil, 

 especially on a hill side or slope) were prized, and sometimes fought for. 

 It is a great mistake, and one often made by foreigners, to suppose that, 

 because the fern is common, the root which was eaten was also common. 

 The writer has known the natives to dig and carry it a distance of upwards 

 of twenty miles to their homes. Much labour was also expended in procuring 

 and preparing it ; on being dug up, it was sorted and loosely stacked, that 

 the wind might pass through and dry it ; after which it was put up into 

 bundles or baskets, and stored for use. "When used, it was soaked, roasted, 

 and repeatedly beaten with a small club, on a large smooth stone, until it 

 was supple; a process always tiresome, both to eater and to beater, to 

 master and to slave. It was seldom, however, eaten alone, mostly with 

 fish ; and in the summer, soaked in the juice of tupakihi or tutu. The 

 large sugary roots of the great cabbage-tree, or ti (Cordyline australis), 

 and also the small ones of the little ti-lcoraJia {Cordyline pumilio) , were also 

 baked and eaten, or rather the pnlpy substance which is among its fibres. 

 The sago-like pith of the stem of the large black tree-fern, korau, or mamaku 

 {Cyathea medullaris) , was also baked in their earth ovens and used; it is 

 very good and nourishing eating. The heart and blanched stems of leaves 



