MEANS OF SUPPORT. 
379 
introduced by Cook ; maize and wheat have been more recently 
raised, but are now grown in large quantities. 
To a stranger, the natural means of support may appear few 
and insignificant; but, in early times, when wars raged, or 
unfruitful seasons destroyed the hopes of the kumara harvest, 
the New Zealanders had recourse to the indigenous productions 
of the land. Almost every spot produces some kind of food, 
the plains being covered with the pteris esculentis, or edible 
fern; although that which is selected for food only attains a 
proper size on rich land. The roots chosen for this purpose 
are found about a foot and a half or two feet deep, and are dug 
up with a long strong pole, sharpened at one end, with a rest 
for the foot, called a ho. The upper roots are stringy, hard, 
and harsh to the palate; but the lower ones contain more 
farinaceous matter. When dug up, they are either stacked to 
dry, on the spot for future use, or eaten fresh. The way of 
preparing it is to lay it on the embers for a short time, till it 
is sufficiently roasted ; it is then scraped with a shell, to take 
off the blackened outside, and afterwards beaten with a wooden 
or stone mallet, to loosen the fibres. The natives sometimes 
pound it into masses, pulling out the fibres, and putting it into 
calabashes, containing the juice of the tupakihi. It is eaten 
immediately it is cooked, and is by no means unpalatable ; 
neither is it an astringent, as is generally supposed, but rather 
the contrary. Even to the present day, it is an article much 
prized, especially by the sick, who often prefer it to other 
food; and it is always taken by persons going on a voyage, 
as the best antidote for sea-sickness. 
Several species of the perei and maikaika (orchis) are like¬ 
wise eaten ; the tender shoot of the ni/cau (areca sapida), and 
of the ti tree also, as well as its tap root; as those also of the 
toi. These are baked in a native oven, and, when cooked, 
have a sweet and pleasant taste. The root of the raupo 
(bulrush), and the shoot of the pingao (a flag plant, growing 
by the sea side), often afford the hungry traveller a meal. 
The chief article of food furnished by the forest is the 
viamaku (a tree fern). The stem is often twenty feet long, 
and is all eaten. When the outside is pared off, there is a 
