Two edible ferns were also found in certain localities, the mamakau and katote, the former growing only in soil of good quality, and not in the black birch forests. The natives considered the root of this, when cooked in a Maori oven, to be very good eating; it would sustain life well, particularly if an eel were added. The katote, on the other hand, which is found in the black birch country, is very bitter and seldom eaten except in the last extremity. There was little else in the way of food to be obtained, with the exception of a few berries in the autumn, and the heart of the nikau palm which is very tender and very satisfying, but only to be found close to the coast line.
But even these scanty necessities of life were not always available, many being seasonable, providing a feast or a famine. Then terrific storms would sweep the land, and the hunting and snaring of birds would be an impossibility, while heavy seas pounding the shores, and flooded rivers, would prevent the killing of seals and fishing. Fern root alone, even if procurable, would hardly keep body and soul together, and when these conditions prevailed—and they frequently must have—starvation stark and terrible faced these pre-historic people, who strove so heroically to subsist.
Yet, that there was such an occupation is certain. In this respect, A. J. Harrop, M.A., in “The Romance of Westland,” states: “Though
