MAORI MATURE NOTES

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7201, 26 April 1930, Page 7

MAORI MATURE NOTES

* n (Specially written for the “Manawatu Daily Times ) [Copyright J.H.S.] jg

[RO grows mostly in isolated specimens, and p while it has a fine trunk, the timber is diffi- L cult to work. At a glance it is mistaken for B the better known Matai, so that its identity || was lost to the casual pioneer. The more ob- fe

servant Maori knew its virtues. The sweet smelling gum g which, oozes from its wounded trunk, healed the sores of g their broken skins. When warmed in the hand and in- g haled, its aroma was a balm to soothe their infrequent || bronchial or nasal troubles. Roaming in the forest for |g food, or camping oji the bill top for defence, they knew P not the “common cold” of the Pakeha. The reddish berry P ripened in August, and the pigeons came in thousands for |g their sole winter delicacy. The fruit smelt and tasted j|| exactly like a solution of turpentine; but in its own my- . g sterious way, Instinct, (or shall we say, the Great Phy- g sician?) taught them that it had a marvellous fattening || quality. The Maori regarded this as a special provision || for his larder, and gave grateful thanks for it to Tane, the || Father of aIL E