Chap. VIII. ^^i?^^^-NUTS. 288 
yawed the canoe about with a clumsy imitation of the 
steer-oar used in whale-boats. E Ao^ wife and child, 
with two slave women, and two wretched-looking curs, 
completed our muster-roll. Cold cooked potatoes and 
fish were stowed in the bottom of the canoe, with large 
baskets of the kernel of the karaka berry. 
The karaka-tree much resembles the laurel in its 
growth and foliage. It bears bright orange -coloured 
berries about the size and shape of damsons, growing 
in bunches. The fruit is sickly and dry; but the 
kernel forms an important article of native food. It 
is enclosed in a tough stringy husk. The natives 
gather the berries when ripe ; and after separating the 
pulp of the fruit from the kernel by steaming them in 
large umu, or ovens, they collect the kernels in baskets 
and soak them in a pool, dammed up in a running 
stream. They are allowed to remain in soak until 
they ferment, when they are fit for use. As they 
require no cooking, the natives use them extensively in 
travelling. A cockle-shell is used to break the husk. 
Their odour is so offensive that I could never prevail 
on myself to eat them ; but I have known many En- 
glishmen who had acquired a taste for them, and 
described them as very good food. 
In the large canoes, a wattled floor, made oikareau^ 
is raised level with the junction of the body of the 
canoe and the topsides ; and on this the passengers sit. 
A square hole amidships is left for the use of the ^a, 
or baling-spoon. This is rather a graceful implement, 
being often handsomely carved. It somewhat resem- 
bles the small shovel used to take coals out of a scuttle, 
with the handle turned forward over its upper side. 
We were provided with a duck sail, which most of the 
canoes now possessed, the owners having bought them 
of the whalers in exchange for provisions'. The 
