Page:Reminiscences of Earliest Canterbury 1915.pdf/21

 bundles shipped all over New Zealand and even to Australia. By some whites as well as by the Maoris the mutton bird is regarded as a great delicacy.

Sea-fishing was, of course, a principal source of food supply to the coastal Natives. At Pigeon Bay they used to catch large numbers of fish which they suspended in the sun to dry. Shark was one of their favourites. It was customary in the “forties” for the Pigeon Bay and Port Levy Maoris to carry tons of these dried fish inland, meeting halfway the Natives from Little River laden with eels. On the summit both parties held a korero, and, after exchanging their burdens, returned respectively to their homes.

However, when in funds the Maori declined to exert himself, and after the arrival of the first four ships at Lyttelton he had a rosy time, getting plenty of money for land, firewood, wild pigeons, etc., from the Canterbury Pilgrims. After this period many of their early industries fell into desuetude, and they gradually became more and more dependent on the whites.

For a time they interested themselves in cattle rearing, and advanced to a limited