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 kiunara and of tare when cooked ; also, of the varieties 

 (in colour) of the koroi berry {pmi oiih.e kahikatea — white pine tree), and 

 of the karaka berry ( Corynocarpus Imvigata) 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 

 Wairuaarangi* 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-koichewhew tona kiko.'' A phrase exceed- 

 ingly difficult to render as briefly into English ; but meaning, that its flesh 

 had a pinkish appearance.! 



(3.) 

 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. Xin., 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. Wairuaarangi, lit. Eeflection-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. 



I 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, etc., etc.— 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 oame," " the name ? " 



