Ngā Rauropi Whakaoranga

An early account of Māori life. Notes on house construction (raupō used for thatching). Garments made of flax. Food: potato, fish, kūmara, corn, fernroot. Mentions peach trees growing around houses. Author describes kūmara as "much smaller and inferior in quality to those grown in the other Polynesian isles. Here it is a small watery root, and is generally disliked by foreigners". Use of flax. Notes on vegetation. Kauri gum. Trade in flax, spars and wheat.