In former days the Maori used to make long and difficult journeys from the east to the west coast of the island, in search for the much-prized stone. When found it was usually shaped and polished by rubbing it upon a flat sandstone block; this operation was so long and arduous that its completion was often the work of two generations; and this is probably the main reason why such value is attached to it. The extraordinary hardness of the stone, which admits of its being ground to a very sharp edge, also made it an excellent substitute for iron in the manufacture of hatchets and chisels, the New Zealanders having only become acquainted with that metal since their intercourse with the Europeans.
The shape which the Maories gave the Meri-meri when completed, resulting from the absence of implements with which
to manipulate this stone, which is so hard that even iron does not bite it, probably gave rise to the notion that when found the stone is in a soft state. Sandstone, however, is found efficacious in the process just as it polishes iron also, and the holes requisite for suspending it, are made by the very simple process of drilling with a piece of pointed hard wood, with fine sand and a little water.
Cannibalism may be said to have entirely ceased in New Zealand. Any allusion to this revolting practice is very painful to the New Zealander of the present day, as reminding him of his former low position in the scale of nations. Every time that we endeavoured to make any inquiry of the natives respecting this custom, they withdrew with an ashamed look.
In like manner dog's flesh has ceased to be an article of food, ever since the introduction of pork by Captain Cook. Formerly the native or Maori dog, which at present is very scarce, was eaten on certain occasions, while its blood played a somewhat conspicuous part in Maori pharmacy.
The vegetables most extensively used for food before the arrival of the Europeans were:—
1. Raorao (Pteris esculenta), a fern three or four feet high, which covers vast tracts of land, and the root of which, before the introduction of the Peruvian potato, formed the chief subsistence of the Maori.
2. Kumara (Convolvulus Batata), or sweet potato, the most valuable of New Zealand products. Various legends of adventure exist among the natives respecting its first introduction.
The harvest-time for this plant is accompanied by a grand festival, and the fields in which the Kumara is grown, as well as the labourers engaged in raising it, were declared by the priests taboo, or consecrated. Of the varieties of the Kumara, one, the size of a yam-root, is named Kai-pakeha, or "white man's food," and is exceedingly palatable. The common potato (Solanum tuberosum) was first brought hither from the Cape of Good Hope, by Captain Cook, who planted it here.
3. Mamaku (Cyathea Medullaris), one of the most elegant tree-ferns in the country, whose whole stalk, sometimes 20 feet high, is edible, and is sufficient to maintain a considerable number of persons. The pith of the Mamaku, when cooked and dried in the sun, is an excellent substitute for sago.