FERN ROOT AS FOOD. (From Shortland's New Zealand..)

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 641, 5 June 1852, Page 4

FERN ROOT AS FOOD. (From Shortlands New Zealand..)

it must not be supposed, as some have believed, that the fern root, wherever it grows, is fit for food. _On the contrary, it is only that found in rich loose soils, which contains fecula in sufficient quantity for this purpose : in poorer ground the root contains proportionally more fibre. We were now encamped on an alluvial flat in the valley of the river, thirty or forty feet below the general level of the plain ; and I observed that, even in this favourable spot, a great deal of discrimination was used in selecting the best roots, which were discoverable by their being crisp enough to break easily when bent : tho^e which would not stand this test being; thrown aside. Here a quantity sufficient for several days was procured, and was packed in baskets, to last till another spot equally favourable could be reached. The process of cooking fern root is very simple; for it is merely roasted on the fire, and afterwards brubed by means of a flat stone similar to a

cooler's lap-stone, and a wooden pestle. The long fibres which run like wires through the root are then easily drawn out ; and the remainder is pounded till it acquires the conference of tough dough, in which state it is eaten, its taste being very like that of cassada bread. Sometimes it is sweetened with the juice of the " tutu." The natives consider that there is no better food than this for a traveller, as it both appeases the cravings of hunger for a longer period than their other ordinary food, and renders the body^ less sensible to the fatigue of a long march. It is in this respect to the human frame, what oats or beans are to the horse. They have a song in praise of this root, which I have once or twice heard chanted on occasions of festivals ; when it is the practice for a troop of young women to cany baskets of the food intended for the g\iests, singing as they come along — \ '' He aha, be aha, He kai ma taua] He pipi — he aruhe— Ko te aka o Tuvvhenua Ko te kai c ora ai tangata Matoetoe aim te arero I te mitikanga Me he arero kuri au," " What — what shall be our food ? f Here arej shell iish and fern root. That is the root of Tuwhenua ["the earth]. That is the food to satisfy a man. The tongue grows rough by reason of the licking ; an it were the tongue of a clog — au"