On another occasion, Cruise found a number of people collected round an object which seemed to attract general attention, and which they told him was ‘ ‘ tabooed. ’ ’ It turned out to be a plant of the common English pea, which was fenced round with little sticks, and had apparently been tended with very anxious care. When the “Prince Regent” schooner, which accompanied the “Dromedary,” lay at anchor in the river Shukehanga,* a chief named MoodooiJ greatly to the comfort of the captain, came one day on deck and “tabooed” the vessel, or made it a crime for any one to ascend the side without permission, which injunction was strictly attended to by the natives during his stay in the harbour. So, when any land is purchased, it is secured to the purchaser by being “tabooed.” Marsden states that upon one occasion he found a great number of canoes employed in fishing, and all the fish which they took were immediately “tabooed,” and could not be purchased. These fish were probably intended to be cured and preserved as part of the common stock of the tribe. The principal inconveniences sustained by the person who is “tabooed” seem to be that he must have no communication with any who are not in the same condition as himself, and that in eating he must not help himself to his *Hokianga Harbour. fProbably Muriwai, a celebrated Hokianga chief.