<hw>Kauri</hw>, or <hw>Cowry</hw>, or <hw>Kauri-Pine</hw>, <i>n</i>. Maori name for the tree <i>Agathis australis</i>, Sal. (formerly <i>Dammara A</i>.), <i>N.O. Coniferae</i>. Variously spelt, and earlier often called <i>Cowdie</i>. In `Lee's New Zealand Vocabulary,' 1820, the spelling <i>Kaudi</i> appears. Although this tree is usually called by the generic name of <i>Dammara</i> (see quotation, 1832), it is properly referred to the genus <i>Agathis</i>, an earlier name already given to it by Salisbury. There is a Queensland Kauri (<i>Dammara robusta</i>, F. v. M.). See <i>Pine</i>.
1823. R. A. Cruise, `Ten Months in New Zealand,' p. 145:
"The banks of the river were found to abound with cowry; and . . . the carpenter was of opinion that there could be no great difficulty in loading the ship. The timber purveyor of the Coromandel having given cowry a decided preference to kaikaterre, . . . it was determined to abandon all further operations."
1835. W. Yate, `True Account of New Zealand,' p. 37:
"As a shrub, and during its youthful days, the kauri is not very graceful . . . but when it comes to years of maturity, it stands unrivalled for majesty and beauty."
1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 285:
"The kauri (<i>Dammera</i> [sic] <i>Australis</i>) is coniferous, resinous, and has an elongated box-like leaf."
1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 349:
"When Captain Cook visited New Zealand (nearly a century after the discovery of the <i>Dammara</i> of Amboyna), he saw, upon the east coast of the Northern Island, a tree, called by the natives Kowrie; it was found to be a second species of <i>Dammara</i>, and was named <i>D. australis</i>."
1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 140: