386 
. HOUSES. 
his boundaries, he said he would point them out when we 
reached them; at last he stopped at the foot of a very large 
tree, whose root ran across the road; he pointed out to a hollow 
in it, and asked me what it was. I said, it was like a man’s 
foot. He replied, I was right; it was the impression cut by 
one of his forefathers, and put his foot into it to show it fitted. 
This, said he, is one of my boundaries, and now we are 
entering on the land of another. 
In a similar way when travelling over the central plains, 
where apparently human beings had never resided, one of my 
natives suddenly stopped by a stream, and said, that land 
belonged to his family. I expressed my doubts, and asked 
him how he could tell. He went into some long grass, and 
kept feeling about with his feet for some time, then calling 
me to him, he pointed out four hearth-stones, and triumph¬ 
antly said, here stood my father’s house, and going thence to 
the stream, he pointed out a little hollow in the rocky side, 
over which an old gnarled branch sprung, and said, in this 
hollow of the stream, we used to suspend our eel baskets from 
the branch. In fact, they have many marks which, though 
they might pass unnoticed by Europeans, clearly indicate to 
them their respective rights. 
The roads also generally bound their lands. The country 
is intersected with paths, which, though not more than a foot 
wide, and closely resembling sheep runs, still are the means of 
communication. All their roads have particular names, and 
are well known, just as in former days the British had their 
Watling, Ermin, and other roads, so the natives have theirs— 
Kainga roa, Taumatamahoe, Rangipo, &c. 
It is remarkable, in speaking of rivers, the mouth, or 
embouchure is the beginning, and the fountain head the 
termination of it, which is just the reverse of our ideas. A 
river is compared to a tree, the pakiafca, or root, is the 
mouth ; the tinana, or trunk, is the main course; the kauru, 
or head of the tree, is the source. 
To an European traveller, who crawls into a native hut for 
the first time, there will be perceived nothing particularly 
