Page:Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute - Volume 1 (2nd ed.).djvu/206

172 applied that may not be accomplished by having recourse to the indigenous trees of the country. And it must not be forgotten that in most European countries the timber which is operated on by the carpenter, shipwright, or furniture maker, is either grown in the country, the produce of exotic species naturalized, or else — as to take, for instance, the teak and mahogany — is directly imported from foreign countries.

Of the other substances useful to man which the vegetable kingdom yields, comparatively little is known. The gum of the kauri (Dammara australis) is exported from the northern parts of the North Island in considerable quantities, and its collection furnishes employment to a considerable number of Maoris. Of the gums or extracts yielded by the trees of this island hardly anything is known, for they have not as yet been the object of any direct observation or experiment.

In plants yielding fibre the country appears to be unusually rich. There is the well-known Phormium tenax, which, though not yet utilized as an article of export, — chiefly, in all probability, in consequence of the very high remuneration of labour that has hitherto prevailed, — is nevertheless daily applied, in its crude state, to an endless variety of useful purposes, both by the Maoris and the settlers. There is the ti of the Maoris (Cordyline), the fibre of which is as strong as that of the Phormium, while the leaf, when used green, is considerably tougher and more lasting. On account of these qualities it is the substance used by the natives in the construction of the sandals which they extemporize upon a journey; and various species of the natural order of the Malvaceae, the Plagianthus, and the Hoheria, termed by the colonists ribbon-wood, yield barks admitting of being torn into strips of great tenacity, and admitting, probably, of useful applications in the arts. While upon this subject, I may mention that when in the Province of Otago in the year 1844, I saw excellent strong fishing-lines which were made of the epidermis which clothes the under surface of the leaf of the Celmisia coriacea twisted up into a string, and I saw at the same time another application of the same material in the shape of an excellent pair of soft mocassins or leggings, of native manufacture, which were made out of a cloth formed by using the aforesaid string as a yarn, and rudely weaving it. The leggings had very much the feel and consistence of soft buff leather.

I hardly consider it necessary to apologize for mentioning this circumstance, as I am sure most people will agree with me that it is desirable to place on record those little incidents of native habits and resources which otherwise, owing to the great changes that have taken place in the Maoris within a few years, would soon be altogether forgotten.

Of the native grasses of New Zealand several are considered by the flock-owners to possess high nutritive powers; but it is universally remarked