436 NEW ZEALAND. 



description of that fruit, and the currant, have not been introduced. 

 Late writers have given marvellous accounts of the growth of the 

 fruit trees of temperate climates, in New Zealand; but these may 

 be set down as exaggerations calculated to mislead, and intended to 

 subserve speculation. The success of Captain Wright, however, in 

 raising fruit and vegetables, has been great. 



Among the native vegetables is the sweet-potato, which they call 

 kumara. It is plentiful. 



The missionaries stated that the natives have a remarkable tradi- 

 tion in relation to this root ; namely, that it was first brought to the 

 island in canoes of a different construction from their own, and 

 composed of pieces of wood sewed together. 



Cook left the common potato, which has been cultivated ever since 

 his visit, and is now plentiful. 



The native hemp (Phormium tenax), is a most useful plant; it 

 grows in large quantities, and is applied by them to many purposes, 

 besides being a principal article of foreign trade. It is an important 

 material in the construction of their houses, for which purpose it is 

 made into cords, that are also employed for other more common uses. 

 It is manufactured into fine fishing-lines, which are much prized at 

 Sydney for their strength and beauty. 



The manufacture of the hemp is altogether performed by the women, 

 who cut it, and after it has been dried a little, divide it into strips of 

 about an inch in width. The outer green fibres are then scraped off 

 with a piece of glass, or a sharp shell. The inner fibres being thus 

 exposed are easily separated, and the greatest care is taken to keep 

 all the fibres as straight as possible, both in this and the following 

 operations. To this precaution the great strength of the cordage the 

 natives make of it, is owing. After the fibres are separated, they are 

 washed, rubbed, and laid in the sun to bleach. 



The vegetation of New Zealand is of a fresher and deeper green 

 than that of New Holland, and has some resemblance to that of 

 Terra del Fuego. According to the missionaries, the ridges, and 

 indeed the greater part of the northern island, are destitute of trees ; 

 and the woods, which are confined to the valleys, are for the most 

 part in detached spots. The western part of this island contains 

 more actual forests than the eastern. 



It was remarked by our botanists that trees of genera which in 

 other countries grow in the more barren soils, are found in New 

 Zealand in those which are fertile. This is in particular the case 

 with the pine tribe. It also appeared to them, from the position of 



