MAORI MEMORIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 October 1938, Page 5

MAORI MEMORIES

KAURI. (Recorded by J.H.S. for “Times-Age.”) Qf all life in the forest the Kauri was the most interesting to the ancient Maori as it is to us. Every portion of this giant yields its unique resinous gum. A dried leaf will drip this am-ber-like substance when warmed. Before the white man came the Kauri dominated the forests of the North.. Vast fields of the gum are found on' every plain, and these have been a veritable gold mine to the gum diggers. Its market value ranged from £55 to £lOO per ton. Its exports have totalled £12.000,000, but the hoards of treasure have now been exhausted. Its great pillar, like stems are indicative of the? forces of nature. Many have been found 100 feet high, not a twig marring their perfect form for 70 feet from the ground, with the girth proportioned to its height.

In Mercury Bay there was found a giant specimen 35 feet in diameter, which means over 100 feet round. Imagine a tree trunk sawn off level and converted into a dancing floor for hundreds of fairies in the sylvan shade. It is doubtful whether this tree has anywhere in the world a rival in symmetry or size. It takes 300 years for a Kauri to attain a diameter of 5 feet. This specimen must be 2,000 years old. The Kauri cone is spherical. Its seed is narrow and flat, differing from all others of the pine family. It is provided with a wing which enables it to float and germinate at a distance. This was a subject of interest to the Maori who attributed such provision to their Forest God. The Kauri gum (pia) did not appear to appeal to them.