Art. III.—Moriori Carving on the Trunks of Karaka-trees. By A. Hamilton. [Read before the Otago Institute, 3rd December, 1903.] Plate III. A recent paper in the “Annals of Botany” on the genus Corynocarpus* “On the Genus Corynocarpus, Forst., with Descriptions of Two New Species,” by W. Botting Hemsley. Ann. Bot. 17, p. 743, 1903. draws attention to the remarkable character of the genus, and to the fact that up to the present time it has not been found outside certain parts of the Colony of New Zealand. Now, however, it has been found that New Caledonia and the New Hebrides have what is practically the same tree so far as the fruit is concerned, the specific differences being based on small variations in the flower. The Corynocarpus, under the name of “karaka,” has long been reputed to have been brought to New Zealand by one of the canoes from distant lands.† In his account of the coming of Turi the navigator to the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand in the “Aotea” the Rev. T. G. Hammond says, “On the north bank of the [Patea] river is Papa-whero, where Turi planted the karaka-seed from Hawaiki, which grew to trees and flourished till the war with the Europeans, when the parent stock was destroyed” (Polynesian Journ., vol. x., p. 194). One of the earliest of these traditions, given by Mr. Shand in his valuable notes on the Chatham Islands, is to the effect that Maruroa and Kauanga brought the karaka-berry from Hawaiki in the “Rangimata” canoe and planted it all over the island, the places where it was set being named. They planted it first at a place which they called Wairarapa, that being their name for the tree (according to one statement), near Te Ika-rewa. Mr. Shand says that it is found growing plentifully not far from the seashore on the main island and in Pitt Island wherever the soil is at all suitable, but not in the higher parts of the southern portion of the main island. He also notes that the natives used certain incantations or spells to insure a good crop of the berries. The kernels when gathered were cooked in a native oven, or umu, then put into flax baskets and the outside pulp removed by trampling with the bare feet, after which they were steeped in water for not less than three weeks to remove the poisonous element—the same process as the Maoris practised. Many years ago the late Mr. W. T. L. Travers‡ Trans. N.Z. Inst., 1876, vol. ix., p. 15 (see p. 22). drew attention to the various marks which his son saw on the trunks of the large karaka-trees, and states, the quarrels of the Morioris “appear to have arisen chiefly out of conflicting claims