Chap. XIV. THE TUTU, A POISONOUS SHKUB. 349 
not starve but thrive in the New Zealand forest, as 
there are many evergreen shrubs, including the karaJca, 
of which cows and oxen are extremely fond. Captain 
Daniell has a herd of 50 or 60 that keep in excellent 
condition on his farm near Kai TVara TVara, although 
there is but little grass on a few small and scattered 
patches of deserted potato-garden. The cottagers along 
the Porirua road keep cows, which give excellent and 
abundant milk, although there is nothing but leaves 
for them to eat for six miles in any direction. 
In the open lands, a shrub called the tutu, to which 
I have more than once referred, is rather dangerous to 
cattle. The natives make a sickly beverage from the 
berries, which are very small, in bunches like currants, 
and of which the seed is highly poisonous. The leaves, 
and especially the young and tender shoots, are much 
liked by the cattle, and often deadly in their effects. 
But this seems a very irregular occurrence. I have 
often known cattle eat the tiitu without being at all 
affected. At other times, and especially in newly-ar- 
rived cattle, a very small quantity causes a disease very 
much resembling that produced by an excess of clover. 
Instant and severe bleeding is the only chance of saving 
the stock affected. The tutu is very abundant among 
fern and dry grass pasture, and is exceedingly difficult 
to exterminate. Horses and sheep either do not eat 
this plant or are never affected by its noxious quali- 
ties. 
Descending from the broken country, we found our- 
selves on the plains of New Plymouth, which are 
almost entirely covered with fern, varying in height 
from three to ten feet. Scattered groves of timber 
and gentle undulations from the plain into the valleys 
of the water-courses and their tributaries diversify the 
view agreeably. 
