or tea-tree fronds stuck in the ground, were set up in lines across the plantation.^* This system may be seen at the present day in the settlements along the Taranaki coast.

With the exception of the hotete, a caterpillar about 2 ½ in. to 3 in. long, the larva of a large moth, the kumara does not seem to have had many enemies amongst the insect world. Though rarely seen of late years, probably owing to the introduction of the pheasant, the starling, &c., in old times it was often very abundant, appearing suddenly in countless numbers and making complete havoc of the crop by stripping the leaves. Mr. Colenso states that the creature “was quite abhorred by the Maoris, who believed that it was rained down from heaven”; and he adds that the job of gathering the insects was greatly disliked. The work, however, had to be done; and they were carefully collected and burnt.^†

The old native rat was a comparatively harmless little animal, but once its European congener was introduced its ravages soon taxed the utmost ingenuity of the Maori. The plantations had to be watched night and day, and all sorts of devices were employed to circumvent the marauders. Mr. Colenso describes two old men who had a network of flax-lines extending over the garden, at the ends of which bunches of mussel - shells were suspended, and, the whole being connected with a rope leading into the hut where they lived, a noise could be made from time to time sufficient to frighten away the thieves from gnawing the roots.^†