I/

sv

AMALGAMATED 1892.

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discretion of the Committee.

GIFT OF

TRAVELS

NEW ZEALAND;

WITH CONTRIBUTIONS TO THK

GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, BOTANY, AND NATURAL
HISTORY OF THAT COUNTRY.

BY ERNEST DIEFFENBACH, M.D.,

Late Naturalist to the Netv Zealand Cnmjxiny.

t

IN TWO VOLUMES.— VOL. I.

Caitradf of Boiling Water at Rotu Maha*

LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.

1843.

London : Printed bv WILLIAM CT.OXVKS and SONS, Stamford Street.

PREFACE.

THE following volumes contain an account of
several journeys into various parts of New Zealand
during the years 1839, 1840, and 1841, a part of
which time was occupied in visiting the Chatham
Islands and New South Wales.

My researches as Naturalist to the New Zealand
Company might have been far more complete, had
it been in my power to make an entire survey of
New Zealand, but circumstances rendered this im-
possible ; and it appears evident, from the principle
which has guided the Government and the public,
that we shall be indebted rather to an extension of
colonization, than to a previous examination, for a
more intimate knowledge of the country. I have,
therefore, no>, other pretensions in bringing these
volumes before the public, than that they contain
unvarnished descriptions of the places I visited.

I must, however, observe that I have been over
much untrodden ground. I was the first to visit
or describe Mount Egmont, many places in the
northern parts of the island, and some of the pic-
turesque and interesting lakes and thermal springs
in the interior. The excellent map which Mr.
John Arrowsmith has compiled with the aid of my
notes and sketches, will amply illustrate the routes
I have taken.

I have entered, on several occasions, upon ques-

iv PREFACE.

tions intimately connected with the capabilities of
the country as a home for Europeans. In a time
pregnant with the universal desire to search for
employment, and to open a new field for exertion,
foreign and unoccupied countries, previous to colo-
nization, should be explored with a view of making
ourselves acquainted with their soil and natural
productions. Natural history and the affiliated
sciences should, in that case, be merely the help-
mates to noble enterprise ; and even more than
that — they should guide and lead it.

I can but hope that those who delight in con-
templating the arrangements of Nature in distribut-
ing her creatures over the different countries will
find something satisfactory in these volumes; — this
is the " Fauna of New Zealand."

I am indebted for this valuable addition to my
work to J. E. Gray, Esq., of the British Museum,
who, with the assistance of the celebrated Arctic
traveller, Dr. J. Richardson, of Messrs. G. R. Gray,
Doubleday, and White, has described the animals
at present at hand, and, with the descriptions of
former naturalists and travellers, has made the
enumeration of the animals which are found in
New Zealand as complete as possible. I express
here my high gratitude to J. E. Gray, Esq., as
well as to the gentlemen I have mentioned, for a
labour which was as arduous, as no doubt it will
be useful to future travellers.

ERNEST DIEFFENBACH.

London, November^ 1842.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.

PART I.— COOK'S STRAITS.

CHAPTER I.

General Remarks .

CHAPTER II.

Cook's Straits — Queen Charlotte's Sound— Te-awa-iti
— Cloudy Bay— Whales and Whalers . ; 21

CHAPTER III.

Port Nicholson — Wellington — Excursion into the Val-
ley of the Eritonga . - . 67

CHAPTER IV.

Kapiti, or Entry Island — Mana, or Table Island . • 107

CHAPTER V.

Return to Queen Charlotte's Sound — West Bay — East

Bay — Island of Arapaoa . . . 114

CHAPTER VI.

Northern Shore of Cook's Straits /r -. ; 124

CHAPTER VII.

Taranaki, or Mount Egmont . ;,. - 131

CHAPTER VIII.

District from Taranaki to Mokau 166

VI CONTENTS.

PAGK,

CHAPTER IX.

The Climate of Cook's Straits and New Zealand in

general .... 172

CHAPTER X.

General Considerations on Cook's Straits . 185

CHAPTER XI.

The Natives inhabiting the Shores of Cook's Straits 191

PART II.— NORTHERN ISLAND— NORTHERN
DISTRICTS.

CHAPTER XII.

Reinga — North Cape — Pa-renga-renga, or Village of

the Lily . . . .197

CHAPTER XIII.

Harbour of Houhoura, or Mount Carmel — Rangauriu —

Kaitaia .... 210

CHAPTER XIV.
Harbour of Mango-nui, in Lauriston Bay . 222

CHAPTER XV.
Harbour of Wangaroa . . 235

CHAPTER XVI.
Wangape and Hokianga . . 239

CHAPTER XVIf.

Waimate, Lake Maupere, and Thermal Springs 243

CHAPTER XVIII.
Bay of Islands .... 256

CONTENTS. Vll

I'AGE

CHAPTER XIX.
Wairoa, Kaipara . . . 260

CHAPTER XX.

Gulf of Hauraki — Coromandel Harbour — Waiho, or

the Thames — Waitemata Harbour — Auckland . 271

CHAPTER XXI.

Harbour of Manukao, or Symonds Harbour . 289

CHAPTER XXII.

River Waikato — Wainga-roa — Aotea — Kawia . 299

CHAPTER XXIII.

River Waipa — Mission-Station of Otawao. . 315

CHAPTER XXIV.

Lake Taupo and Tongariro . . . '.' 33 j

CHAPTER XXV.

Rotu-kaua — Rotu-Mahana— Tera-wera . . 374

CHAPTER XXVI.

Rotu-Kareka — Rotu-rua — Rotu-iti . . 386

CHAPTER XXVII.

Journey to Tauranga . . 4 398

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Journey into the Valley of the Waiho. or Thames —

Mata-mata — Piako . , 499

CHAPTER XXIX.

Some Remarks on the Botany of New Zealand . 419

ILLUSTRATIONS.

VOL. I.

View of Tan po . Frontispiece.

Mount Egmont To face page 131

Rua Pahu , , 331

VOL. II.

Te Waro Frontispiece.

Balaena Antipodum To face page 177

NEW ZEALAND.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL REMARKS.

IT is natural that in the selection of a new colony,
in a distant region, a preference should be given to
a country the climate and other circumstances of
which are in some degree analogous to those of the
native land of the colonists, in order that the phy-
sical and intellectual energies of their posterity may
not retrograde, but be developed and matured in a
congenial soil, and thus may conduce in the greatest
degree to the general prosperity and happiness. It
is natural, also, that the attention and views of
those to whom the land of their birth affords little
prospect of advancement should be directed towards
that country which promises from the resources
within itself a steady progress^ to ultimate pros-
perity without being a burthen to the mother
country for a longer period than that which may
be termed its infancy, whilst at the same time it
insures to the latter that reciprocal benefit which
she has a right to expect.

It is with man as with plants and animals ; each

VOL. I. B

2 GENERAL REMARKS. [CHAP. I.

kind has its natural boundaries, within which it
can live, and thrive, and attain its fullest vigour
and beauty If we intend to propagate them in
climates differing from their own, we may do so by
creating an artificial state of things, resembling
that of the place to which they are indigenous.
But this is little practicable in the transplantation
of man Many colonies have, indeed, been founded
in unfavourable positions for the purpose of obtain-
ing the peculiar produce of the country, as the
sugar, coffee, cacao, and indigo of the West Indies,
the gum of Senegal, the palm-oil of the Cape Coast.
But in such cases the colony was not what would
seem to be the true meaning of the word, an offset
from the parent state, planted and reared to ma-
turity in a foreign soil ; but merely a factory, where
the ease of acquiring riches by supplying a certain
commodity to the home market has rendered men
reckless of the dangers of climate, and regardless
of the loss of life attending the speculation. In
such colonies the European population soon became
decrepit, and degenerated from the strength and
vigour of the stock from which they descended.
In some instances they were supported by a regular
system of oppression and extortion towards the
original inhabitants, who had reason to curse the
hour in which civilised Europeans first came
amongst them ; but, more frequently, they could
only exist by what might be called the colonial
hothouse system, in other words, by the slavery and

CHAP. I.] GENERAL REMARKS. 3

misery of thousands of their fellow-creatures.
Other colonies arrived at prosperity by the labour
of convicts, which Government bestowed as a liberal
gift upon the settlers. In these colonies a middle
class or peasantry was wanting, which forms the
true tie of our social relations and is the best
pledge of their durability. An artificial appearance
of wealth was created, and an illusory value of
landed property which could not last as soon as the
importation of convicts ceased, because the pros-
perity was not borne out by the capability of the
country. A few Europeans, being the masters of
countless numbers of a different rate, either origin-
ally introduced as slaves or who have been con-
quered, do not form an European colony.

How different from all this is the case of New
Zealand, where the climate is not only similar to
that of England, but even milder than that of her
most southern counties, whilst at the same time it
is healthy and invigorating ! The children of Eu-
ropeans, born in this country, show no deterioration
from the beauty of the original stock, as they do in
New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. A
great part of the country possesses a soil which
yields all those articles of food which are necessary
for the support of Europeans, especially grain, po-
tatoes, fruit, and every variety of garden vegetables ;
it possesses materials for ship-building and domestic
architecture in its timber, marble, and freestone;
the coal which has been found will probably prove

B 2

4 GENERAL REMARKS. [CHAP. I.

sufficient in quantity for steam-engines and manu-
factories; its coasts are studded with harbours and
inlets of the sea ; it is intersected by rivers and
rivulets ; its position between two large continents
is extremely favourable ; in short, it unites in itself
everything requisite for the support of a large po-
pulation in addition to the native inhabitants. No
other country possesses such facilities for the esta-
blishment of a middle class, and especially of a
prosperous small peasantry, insuring greatness to
the colony in times to come.

It is, I conceive, no small praise to a country that
in it labour and industry can procure independence,
and even affluence ; that in it no droughts destroy
the fruits of the colonist's toil, no epidemic or pes-
tilence endangers his family ; that with a little
exertion he may render himself independent of
foreign supply for his food ; and that when he looks
around him he can almost fancy himself in England
instead of at the Antipodes, were it not that in his
adopted country an eternal verdure covers the
groves and forests, and gives the land an aspect of
unequalled freshness and fertility. More, however,
than all these advantages were expected by the
colonists who in the last two years have flocked by
thousands to New Zealand. They found to their
surprise and disappointment almost entirely a moun-
tainous country, the mountains being in many cases
steep and intersected by ravines instead of valleys ;
whilst the cultivable land, instead of being conti-

CHAP. I.] GENERAL REMARKS. 5

nuous, was much dispersed and subdivided : they
found also that in many places a large proportion
of the land was entirely useless ; that where they
looked for extensive pasture-grounds, the food for
cattle and sheep was very scanty ; that instead of
natural grasses, high fern, shrubs, or a thick forest
covered the ground ; and that in the latter case the
thick and interwoven roots formed a very formidable
barrier to successful agriculture in the easy and
quickly remunerating manner they expected.

Most of these emigrants did not intend to make
the new colony their second home, but expected,
with the help of the labour which was provided for
them in return for their purchases of land, or by
the cheap, and, as they hoped, almost gratuitous
labour of the natives, to produce, in the shortest
possible time, those articles of produce which the
country was said to offer available for export, or to
see their flocks increasing without exertion on their
own part ; and, having thus made a rapid fortune,
to return to their native country. Many came for
the purpose of speculating in land, especially in
town allotments, which has become such a favourite
system of deception and ruin in the Australian
colonies, and will retard their progress for many
years to come, notwithstanding the halo of wealth
produced by it, the distant reflection and splendour
of which are continuing to attract thousands of
emigrants from the shores of the United Kingdom.

As articles of export in New Zealand, from which
such quick proceeds were expected, timber, flax, and

6 GENERAL REMARKS. [CHAP. I.

oil were particularly mentioned ; but, since the
colony has been established, these articles have
scarcely furnished any exports, and they cannot be
expected to be sources of any considerable profit for
some time to come. As regards timber, it will be
admitted that only large and long spars, for the use
of the navy, will cover the expense of bringing them
to the water-side, and shipping them to a distance
of 14,000 miles. After having visited nearly all
the timber districts in the northern island, I became
convinced that such large and sound spars are
scarce, and that, in New Zealand, the kind of tree
fit for exporting never forms a continuous forest as
in other countries ; and as for shipping other kinds
of wood, this is quite out of the question, as the
price of sawn timber in New Zealand itself was, at
the time of my departure, 32*. per 100 feet ; and
the importation of plank from Europe has met
with success. It is a fact very notorious in New
Zealand, that the shipment of spars, from the enor-
mous expense of bringing them to the water-side,
has never been profitable to any one. There is cer-
tainly a large quantity of timber of all descriptions
in the island, which will become of the greatest
value in the country itself, when its resources are a
little more developed. Upon the labour of the
natives the colonist can at present depend but little ;
and although he will find them in other respects
sufficiently useful, he has to pay them at the same
high rate as his European workmen, without being
sure that they will always work at his command.

CHAP. I.] GENERAL REMARKS. 7

The export of flax, prepared by the natives, has
dwindled almost to nothing in the last few years,
as, from their increased intercourse with Europeans,
they have been enabled, by a slight degree of agri-
cultural labour, to obtain all the commodities which
they require ; and they are therefore averse to the
dressing of the flax, which has, moreover, always
been the work of the women, and was only resorted
to by the men in times of war, for the purpose of
procuring muskets, powder, and shot. It is quite
true that this valuable plant covers immense dis-
tricts in New Zealand, and could be procured in
any quantity, if a cheap method of preparing it were
known ; but till then it cannot be regarded as likely
to promote the commercial interests of the colony.

The results of the whale-fishery on the coasts of
New Zealand are of very small amount in the British
market, owing to the indiscriminate slaughter of
the fish during the last fifteen years, without due
regard to the preservation of the dams and their
young. The shore- whalers, in hunting the animal
in the season when it visits the shallow waters of
the coast to bring forth the young, and suckle it in
security, have felled the tree to obtain the fruit,
and have thus taken the most certain means of
destroying an otherwise profitable and important
trade.

As for the belief that the ships of the several
nations engaged in this trade must resort to New
Zealand for refitting, as being in the centre of the

8 GENERAL REMARKS. [CHAP. I.

southern whale-fishery, it is quite erroneous ; the
fact being that, as soon as New Zealand became a
British colony, the whalers deserted it, and went to
Otaheite, or some other of the Polynesian Islands,
where they could be supplied with wood and pro-
visions at a much cheaper rate.

I would wish to impress these facts upon the
reader, for the purpose of showing that there is at
present, in New Zealand, no article of export which
can be depended upon, to procure that balance of
trade which is necessary for the success of all com-
mercial communities. Exports must be created in
the island by means of the agriculturist ; and it is
the highest praise of the country that they can be
created, and that they do not differ from the same
articles produced at home. England, in former
times, had scarcely more exports than New Zealand
has now ; but the internal resources and geogra-
phical position which secured to Great Britain its
unequalled prosperity, are, although much inferior,
yet similar, in New Zealand, and may give her, in
the course of time, as high a position.

It will readily be concluded from these observa-
tions that, in the first settlements of New Zealand,
by far too much importance has been attached to
commerce and to those natural products just men-
tioned, and that many incorrect and exaggerated
statements on the present capabilities of the colony
have been brought forward. In a country like New
Zealand, favoured in so many respects by nature,

CHAP. I.] GENERAL REMARKS. 9

but which cannot be regarded as an entrepot or
point of transit, the first question as to its future
prosperity and success should be : — Can the settle-
ment produce all that it may require for internal
consumption, and will provisions be cheap as com-
pared with the price of labour ? This should, undoubt-
edly, be the case in New Zealand, and, consequently,
the supply of provisions to ships and to the Austra-
lian colonies will be the principal source of export
from the colony.

To afford facilities to the first settlers of creating
agricultural produce — to extend the utmost liberality
to those who have purchased land and intend to be-
come working colonists — to permit them to have an
extensive choice, that they may select the good land
in preference to the bad — to give them legal titles
accordingly, and not to allow them to consume their
capital after their arrival in the colony by a delay of
the surveys — are the only means of securing pros-
perity to New Zealand. Under such circumstances
the system of land sales in England at a fixed price,
and the application of the purchase money to send
out agricultural labourers and mechanics, in a just
ratio to the demand of labour, the price of provisions,
the quantity of capital employed, and the actual pro-
duce of the land, accompanied by a sound discretion
as to the number of emigrants sent out, cannot, it
appears to me, be easily replaced by a better one.
The sooner the land is populated the sooner it pro-
duces all articles of home consumption, the quicker

10 GENERAL REMARKS. [CHAP. I.

it can provide a revenue for Government purposes
and for the expenses of internal intercourse and
administration. Every farthing drawn from emi-
grants in the shape of payment for land is so much
lost to the colony ; and if any other way could be
devised to provide a fund for the purposes of emigra-
tion besides that of selling new lands, no one can
doubt that it would be better to give to the emi-
grants the land for nothing, on the condition of
their cultivating it.

But what has happened in New Zealand ? Town
and country lands were put up by auction, and land
speculations were called into existence, which did not
fail to damp the prospects, and exercise a most un-
favourable influence on the infant colony. In these
auctions Government did not consult the interests
of those who had come to New Zealand as legitimate
colonists, but only of those who were of no ultimate
benefit to the colony — the land-jobbers. There was
a thriving little town at Kororarika in the Bay of
Islands ; but, instead of supporting a place which
already existed, a new town was proposed, that of
Russel, situated in the same harbour, but in a place
totally unfit for a settlement. 15,000/. were expended
in the purchase of that spot ; and much time of the
surveyor-general and his assistants was lost in lay-
ing out a town ; but, fortunately, the project was
afterwards relinquished. A short time afterwards,
April 16, 1841, the town of Auckland, which is situ-
ated in the estuary of Hauraki, on the eastern coast

CHAP. I.J

GENERAL REMARKS.

11

of the northern island, was put up for sale. The
mania for becoming suddenly rich by speculations in
town allotments spread like an epidemic through all
classes : some of the highest Government officers
were infected by it ; and, both before and after the
day of auction, nothing but land sales and land prices
were talked of. At the first sale only 116 allot-
ments were brought to the hammer, covering a sur-
face of 35 acres, 1 rod, 7 perches. Five rods and seven
perches had been previously chosen by Government
officers, who had that privilege ; the rest was bought
by persons who had time to resort to Auckland from
the Australian colonies, after three months' notice
in the Sydney Government Gazette, or from other
places in New Zealand. The whole realised the
sum of 21,499/. 9*., and thus the Government re-
ceived a sum which could be brought forward as a
sign of the prosperity of the colony, and of the great
value of land there : the truth, however, was, that a
few land-jobbers raised the price thus high, having
bought the ground in all the best situations. Not
because they were convinced that the land had that
value, but because they could sell it a few days after-
wards, parcelled out into diminutive pieces, to the
new emigrants, who daily arrived, and who required,
cost what it might, a piece of land to erect their
houses upon. By this the land-jobbers realized from
200 to 300 per cent. As no land for cultivation
was to be obtained, every one thought it best to
speculate in land, or to open public-houses, with

12 GENERAL REMARKS. [CHAP. I.

which the place soon became crowded. A town
was made, and nothing was done to support it ; a
price was given for town land which precluded every
chance of its gradually rising in value ; on the con-
trary, as was foreseen by all who knew the resources
of the country, it must decrease as soon as people
opened their eyes, and thus cause the ruin of the
unfortunate purchaser. How could it be otherwise,
when a small building allotment actually sold, a
short time afterwards, at the rate of 20,000/. per
acre ? The auction in the first place, and the land-
jobbers in the second, drained the place of its scanty
supply of specie ; every article of consumption was
imported and paid for in ready money, as nothing
else could be given in exchange, and on account of
the bad state of commercial affairs in Sydney, scarcely
any credit could be obtained.

Who, on learning these plain facts, would feel
inclined to emigrate to New Zealand when he can
get land at a much cheaper rate in Canada, or even
in Van Diemen's Land, or at the Cape of Good
Hope, where he has the advantage of pasturage ?

The establishment of colonies has at all times
given scope for speculation, and it is not more than
fair that the first immigrants into a new country
should derive some benefit from their superior en-
terprise and discernment ; but in this case the benefit
was not conferred upon the colonists, but upon a
class of people appropriately called land-sharks.
The true birth-place of these jobbers seems to be the

CHAP. I.J GENERAL REMARKS. 13

Australian colonies. Their trade is a species of
gambling, which is the more certain of success from
its being countenanced by Government, and from
its appealing to two of the most powerful of human
passions — the love of independence, and the desire
of gain. They generally possess no large pecuniary
means — in many cases no means at all ; they are the
first on the spot where town-sales take place, and
from the small number of lots which are put up for
sale, and the very short previous notice given by the
advertisements, they become the only purchasers.
Immediately after the sale the allotments are sub-
divided, and put up for public auction. With the
pertinacity of an old-clothes Jew, the land-sharks
follow the newly-arrived emigrant ; the advantage
of buying an allotment is pointed out to the ignorant
with systematic deceit and falsehood, and the victim
is at length secured. As the first purchaser has
only to pay 10 per cent, to Government at the time
of sale, and the remainder in a month, the land-
jobber stands the good chance of realizing before
that time a large profit upon his supposed capital,
which enables him to pay for his allotment; and
laughing at the credulity of those whom he has im-
posed upon, he leaves the town at the first oppor-
tunity, with his nefarious profits, seeking another
stage for his impositions. If the chances turn out
against him, he forfeits his deposit, which is no great
matter. Sometimes also the case happens that a
land-jobber buys the land adjoining that of a re-

14 GENERAL REMAR.KS.

spectable settler, from whom he extorts his price,
immediately after the sale, by threatening to cut the
allotment up into a number of dirty lanes and alleys.
Certainly all this is as much gambling as anything
that can be called by that name, and must blight
the prosperity of any new settlement. The necessity
of providing land for agricultural and horticultural
pursuits, as no private title to property was yet
acknowledged, induced the Government to put up
for sale suburban allotments — cultivation allotments
— and small farms, the sale of which took place in
September, 1841. The whole consisted of eighty-
five allotments, containing 1275 acres, at the upset
price of 20/. for the suburban, and 31. for the cul-
tivation and country allotments. Although more
land had been surveyed, all was not put up for public
competition; the best land was reserved, and, in
consequence of this policy, only seventy-three allot-
ments were sold, comprising an area of 559 acres,
and these realized 4S58/., or nearly 8/. per acre
Twelve allotments, or 716 acres, remained unsold,
as they consisted of very indifferent land, were
covered with large blocks of scorise, and, at all
events, were not worth the upset price. The greater
part of the country allotments did not fall into
the hands of the industrious, but into those of the
land-jobbers, who bought them not for the purpose
of occupying them, but in order to cut them up,
immediately after the sale, into towns and villages,
which were put up for public competition.

CHAP. I.] GENERAL REMARKS. 15

In the immediate neighbourhood of Auckland
towns and villages, never destined to exist except
on paper, started up like the creations of a fairy
tale. No. 2 of the suburban allotments, consisting
of 3 acres and 3 rods, was sold for 303/., and was
cut up directly afterwards into thirty-six allotments,
which were sold for 11. 15*. per foot frontage! It
is amusing to skim over the weekly paper of Auck-
land, and read the names of about six or eight towns,
villages, and even racecourses, none of them above
three miles from the town of Auckland, which
were put up for sale in the short space of a fort-
night.

The Government, after this, ordered a new town
to be surveyed at the little harbour of Mahurangi,
about fifteen miles to the northward of Auckland,
in a barren and unpromising place; and many more
were in contemplation, not to speak of the city of
Nelson, which it was intended should be the capital,
and to lay the foundation of which two ships were
at that very moment traversing the billowy main.

It will be acknowledged on all sides, that to found
a dozen capitals and commercial ports, and more
than two score of villages, before any population is
in the island, any produce raised to support a popu-
lation, or any article of commerce ready to be ex-
ported, is subverting the natural order of things, and
would have raised a smile on the lips of William
Penn, who is often regarded as the father of modern
colonization.

16 GENERAL REMARKS. [CHAP. I,

If the sale of lands in England at a fixed price
seems therefore to be preferable to that by auction,
it might be objected that the former carries with it
one very serious evil ; that the land which does not
become a prey to the land-jobber generally falls into
the hands of absentee proprietors ; that the colonists
sent out are almost all of the labouring class, and
that the number of the latter might easily bear an
undue proportion to the actual demand of labour in
the colony, and fall for their support on the hands of
the Government or of the Company. I am, however,
inclined to think that the latter need not be feared
in New Zealand, if proper measures are adopted.
The more land that is sold in England the better,
and the more labourers that are sent out, even if
capitalists do not actually proceed to the colony, the
more value the sections sold will have to the pur-
chaser. But if the latter shall be the case, a free
lease ought to be granted to the labourers, by the
landed proprietors, or their agents, for at least fifteen
years ; say of ten acres each family, at the moment
of their arrival in New Zealand. No one need starve
in New Zealand who works (it is different with the
Australian colonies, where articles of consumption
are not easily produced) ; and it is such a class of
small agricultural leaseholders whose toil will pre-
pare the country that it may ultimately attract
capitalists. Whatever merits a great subdivision
of landed property may have, I do not hesitate to
say that the nature of the country requires such a

CHAP. I.] GENERAL REMARKS. 17

subdivision in New Zealand, or its substitute — long
leases. I am well aware that it has been proposed
to support the gentlemen colonists, who, however,
want capital, by the establishment of a loan society
by mortgaging the land sections; but I do not
believe that such a society is the most legitimate
means to bring the colony into a state of produc-
tion, and the land to its real value. Without enter-
ing into politico-economical questions, of too deep
an importance to be fairly discussed here, I repeat
that it need not to cause any fear if as large a stream
of emigration is directed to New Zealand, of the
labouring class, as the existing means allow, if some
such measure as that above alluded to is adopted.

The value of New Zealand as a British colony
cannot be estimated too highly. For a certain class
of colonists it is preferable to New South Wales,
which will never be anything else than a large
pasture-ground. It is situated near numerous groups
of interesting and important islands — the Navi-
gators, the Friendly, and Society Islands, which
are rapidly advancing in civilization and peaceful
commerce, and some of which already afford sugar,
coffee, and other colonial produce, and require in
return articles of European manufacture. It is a
country suited particularly to Europeans, from the
nature of its climate and soil, and seems to be des-
tined to become a prosperous agricultural and manu-
facturing state ; but only a laborious peasantry can
clear the road for this, and render the colony, in

VOL. i. c

18 GENERAL REMARKS. [CHAP. I.

time, an entrepot of commerce — a depot for transit
trade, and a manufacturing country, none of which
it is at present.

Nothing justifies the system of those high prices
for land in New Zealand, even if a sale by auction
were advantageous in other colonies ; for it is more
than doubtful whether a land-fund will be raised
by these sales of crown lands, since it is well known
that the greater part of the land is already disposed
of to private individuals and to the New Zealand
Company.

It is also doubtful, from the nature of the coun-
try— a bold shore with numerous inlets and har-
bours, and inhabited already at all these points by
European adventurers — whether any revenue will
arise by a regular system of customs, as smuggling
is already carried on to a considerable extent. It
is a question of great importance, whether Govern-
ment could not effectually prevent all sort of land-
jobbing by taxing uncultivated and unoccupied land,
both in the towns and in the country ; whether this
tax would not be the true source of a revenue, and
the means by which the land may return again to
the Government. Such a revenue would not injure
the industrious colonist. The position in which
New Zealand stands as a colony is quite a new one.
A country as large as England and Wales, and
nearly as mountainous as the latter, is being peopled
with Europeans from many different points at once.
The intercourse between the various settlements,

CHAP. I.] GENERAL REMARKS. 19

whether by water or by land, is difficult, or at least
uncertain. As in all countries of a similar nature,
the centralizing power is weak, but the individual
communities are strong and independent. Such
countries nourish the spirit of freedom, and are the
birthplace of enterprising municipal corporations.
Of advantageous revenue none can be reasonably
expected : if it is high, it comes from the duties on
fermented liquors, and in that case it proves any-
thing but prosperity. Smuggling to a great extent
cannot be prevented, unless custom-house officers
are established in at least fifty different places ; an
arrangement which must entail great loss upon the
treasury. But it is damping the spirit of the colo-
nist, if what is collected in one place is spent in
another. I repeat, therefore, nothing will assist
New Zealand so much as good municipal institu-
tions ; and the emulation naturally arising between
settlements that are formed by people of the same
nation will materially contribute to the general
welfare of the community. New Zealand will rise
slowly, but it must found its rise upon agriculture.
Any material check to its prosperity need not be ap-
prehended, if expectations are moderate, and if the
land questions are liberally and speedily settled.

Not the least important feature in this colony is,
that there exists already a numerous and deserving
population of natives, who perfectly understand that
they have become English citizens, and are aware
of their duties and rights as such. It is pleasing to

c-2

20 GENERAL REMARKS. [CHAP. I.

reflect that the first serious attempt will be made in
New Zealand to civilise what has been termed a
horde of savages, to amalgamate their interest with
that of Europeans, and to make them participate in
the hereditary immunities and privileges of British
subjects. The natives are the national wards of
England, and it seems possible to prevent another
blot appearing on the pages of history, regarding the
intercourse of civilised nations with savage tribes.

I have attempted in the following pages to de-
scribe New Zealand as far as I have become ac-
quainted with the country, its natural productions,
and the state of its native population ; and my pur-
pose will be accomplished if future colonists obtain
a true description of what they have to expect, and
if they relinquish those ideas of the savage nature of
its inhabitants, derived from a series of publications,
written by persons whose knowledge of the country
is so slight, and whose intercourse with the natives
has been so limited, as to render it impossible for
them to form a correct judgment.

CHAP. II.] 21

PART I.

CHAPTER II.

Cook's Straits. — Queen Charlotte's Sound. — Te-awa-iti. — Cloudy
Bay.— Whales and Whalers.

AFTER a rapid voyage of only ninety-six days, on
board the New Zealand Company's vessel the Tory,
we sighted the land of New Zealand with much
satisfaction on the noon of the 16th of August,
1839. With the exception of the Island of Palma,
one of the Canaries, we had seen no land since our
departure from Plymouth. After we had doubled
the Cape of Good Hope we sailed between the lati-
tudes of 37° and 45°: the prevailing winds were
from the south-west and the north-west. The at-
mosphere was generally thick and hazy, the wea-
ther squally, with sudden gales, accompanied by hail
and sleet. The temperature of the air was some-
times as low as 40° Fahrenheit. This state of the
weather, and a constant cross sea, which produced an
incessant rolling of the vessel, made our life uncom-
fortable and monotonous. The number of sea-birds,
consisting of various kinds of petrels and albatrosses,
was remarkable. The habits of these feathered tribes,
their elegant movements, and apparently inexhaust-
ible strength of wing, were among our chief sources
of amusement. The history of these birds is more

22 COOK'S STRAITS. [PART. i.

obscure than is generally supposed, especially their
migrations, and the boundaries between which they
are found at different seasons, and which depend,
probably, upon the supply of food. The history of
one bird is closely allied to that of some other animal,
and so on in a chain the links of which are inti-
mately connected. The same is the case with other
animals, flying-fishes, albicorns, sharks, dolphins,
porpoises, &c., which are usually observed during
the course of a sea voyage.

We made the land to the southward of Cape Fare-
well, in the middle island of New Zealand. Only
the summits of a mountain chain were visible, and
even these disappeared when we altered our course
to the north-east, and hove-to for the night in the
middle of Cook's Straits.

On the morning of the 17th we were on deck
at daybreak. We now saw more of the middle
island, which seemed to consist of a chain of steep
snow-capped hills, running through the middle of
the island, and rising in a succession of ridges from
the sea-shore. On the northern island we saw the
mountains of Tararua in the neighbourhood of Port
Nicholson ; these also were covered with snow. At
a farther distance, in a nearly central position, a
bulky snow -covered mountain appeared, which
proved to be the Ruapahu.

We drew nearer to the northern coast of the
middle island, and approached Stephens's Island,
which rises steep and abrupt from the sea, and seems
to* be covered with a dense forest from the water's

CHAP. II.] QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S SOUND. 23

edge to the summit. After this we neared Rangi-
toto, or D'Urville's Island, the aspect of which is
similar. The character of the land was in no way
promising. Where no wood covered the steep
sides of the hills, a barren-looking yellow stratified
rock appeared. At two o'clock in the afternoon
we rounded Point Jackson, the western headland
of Queen Charlotte's Sound. On this point, which
is a steep cliffy promontory, with a reef of rocks
running out from it, we observed the palings of a
native fortification. To our left we had the island
which Captain Cook calls Long Island, and before
us was the Island of Motuara. The former consists
of a sharp ridge of hills, the formation of which is
a yellow argillaceous slate. There is no land at
their base, which is washed by the sea, but the island
appears as if it were wearing away ; and partly by
the action of tide and waves, partly by the rains,
several slips have been produced at its sides, where
the bare rock is now visible.

When we entered the Sound we saw several canoes
leaving a bay in the neighbourhood of Point Jack-
son, but they did not come up to us.

We steered between Long Island and Motuara.
Before we came to an anchor in Ship Cove we
descried a canoe coming from a neighbouring cove,
called Cannibals' Cove in Cook's chart, and Anaho
by the natives. It was a small and frail vessel, and
contained eight men, who, it appeared, had been
fishing. They were clothed in coarse mats, and
some of them were painted with red ochre. When

24 QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S SOUND. [PART i.

they came alongside the vessel, they lashed their
canoe to the main-chain, and jumping on deck with
the greatest confidence, shook hands with us, and
then squatted down. They sold us some fish and
Swedish turnips for a little tobacco, and left us in
the evening, with a promise to come back next
morning. At seven o'clock we anchored at the
entrance of Ship Cove, as the wind fell calm, and
a strong ebb-tide was against us : we hoisted the
New Zealand flag, and saluted it with eight guns.

The following morning the ship was warped
deeper into Ship Cove, and moored to a tree. The
scene which presented itself was very beautiful ; the
cove being as smooth as a lake, and surrounded by
an amphitheatre of hills, which were clothed with
primeval forest, and enlivened by the song of numer-
ous birds. But, with the exception of these, we
seemed to be the only living beings.

We remained in Ship Cove until the 31st of
August; and I will here give a description of this
part of the island, the result of daily excursions,
which were extended as far as the dense virgin forest
would allow me to penetrate.

Ship Cove opens in a semicircle towards Queen
Charlotte's Sound, and is formed by two branches of
the network of mountains of which this part of the
island -consists. In looking from our anchorage
towards Cook's Straits, there appeared in the fore-
ground Kapiti, or Entry Island : its shape is that
of an obtuse cone. The horizon beyond it was
formed by two chains of mountains, situated in the

CHAP. II.] QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S SOUND. 25

northern island, the most distant of which was
covered with snow. If we follow this panorama to
the eastward we have the island of Motuara, which
extends from N.E. by E. to E. by S. Motuara is a
steep ridge of hills, the most elevated points of which
are on its northern and southern extremities, and
bear to N.E. and S.W. Motuara conceals from our
view the southern headland of Queen Charlotte's
Sound, Cape Koamaru, which is a promontory of
the Island of Arapaoa. The southern end of this
island is concealed by Moturoa, or Long Island-
The latter is for the greater part destitute of vegeta-
tion, owing to the great declivity of its sides and
the barrenness of the underlying rock.

The features of the land in Queen Charlotte's
Sound are those of a very mountainous and thickly-
wooded country. Hilly offsets run from the main
chain towards the sea, and enclose small bays or
.coves, which are surrounded by the steep hills in the
form of an amphitheatre. These bays rarely contain
more than half a square mile in area of flat land.
The soil is a light earth, consisting of vegetable
mould, more or less mixed with shingle or sand. In
these places there are generally some native huts,
inhabited chiefly at the fishing seasons ; and here
also the natives find the soil most suited for the
cultivation of the kumera, or sweet potato : for
their other crops, however, they prefer the sides
and ravines of the hills, where, after having burned
the wood, they obtain for cultivation a new and

26 QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S SOUND. [PART i.

fertile soil, where the surrounding forest preserves
a continual supply of moisture.

The geological formation of these hills is very
simple. The rock is a stratified yellow argillaceous
slate, or a pepper-coloured soft wacke. In a few
places this rock is interrupted by basaltic masses,
and in some parts by siliceous slate, or Lydian stone,
of various colours.

Little decay has taken place on the surface of this
rock. But it is covered with a moderate layer of
vegetable mould, which naturally collects to a greater
thickness at the sides of the watercourses and in
gorges or ravines. Generally speaking, however,
the vegetable mould is only a thin stratum, and the
exuberance and freshness of the vegetation are chiefly
owing to the constant humidity.

It is this moisture which also nourishes an extra-
ordinary number of little streamlets, which discharge
themselves from the sides of the hills into the sea.
The profuseness of this supply of water, which is
quite astonishing, is common to the whole of New
Zealand, and gives her a great advantage over the
dry and arid soil of New South Wales.

The vegetation of these hills is very luxuriant.
Near the beach appear shrublike veronicas,1 myrtles,2
fuchsias,3 solanum,4 the karaka tree,5 tutu,6 and flax.7

1 Veronica ligustrifolia. '2 Myrtus bullata.
3 Fuchsia excorticata. 4 Solarium laciniatum.

5 Corynocarpus laevigata. 6 Coriaria sarmentosa.

7 Phormium tenax.

CHAP. II.] QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S SOUND. 27

Higher up, the sides of the hills are clothed with
trees, of which the rimu,1 totara,2 and mai3 (all
belonging to the pine tribe) are the most common,
and attain the greatest thickness. Intermixed with
these are the tawai4 and hinau.5 On the lower
grounds these trees are almost impenetrably inter-
woven by liands (smilax), which attain great length,
and the berries of which form the favourite food of
the beautiful New Zealand pigeon,6 the plumage of
which displays all the colours of the rainbow. High
tree-ferns,7 with the cabbage-palm,8 strike the eye
as the most beautiful forms of New Zealand vegeta-
tion.

The number of small ferns is quite incredible, and
a great many species may be collected at all times
in a state of fructification.

Here and there steins of trees are overturned,
either by the winds or from age ; and although
long preserving their outward shape, they are soon
thoroughly rotten, from the abundance of moisture.

At the summit of the hills we find but little
wood ; and the manuka9 and kahikatoa,10 the esculent
fern11 and euphorbium,12 and the epacris parviflora,
form the chief part of the vegetation. , The kahi-

1 Dacrydium cupressinum.

2 Podocarpus totara. 3 Dacrydium mai.

4 Leiospermum racemosum. 3 Elaeocarpus hinau.

6 Columba spadicea.

7 Cyathea medullaris and dealbata. 8 Areca sapida.

9 Leptosperraum scoparium. ° Leptospermum ericoides.

11 Pteris esculenta. 2 Euphorbium glaucum.

28 QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S SOUND. [PART i.

katoa has sometimes a stem of about a foot in
I

diameter, and affords the hardest and most durable
wood found in New Zealand : it is of this wood that
the natives make their agricultural implements. It
appeared to me as if this wood was admirably adapted
for the purposes of engraving and cotton-printing.
The manuka supplies the place of the tea-shrub, as
its leaves furnish a balsamic and agreeable beverage.
The phormium tenax also grows upon the hills : it
is indeed found everywhere, in swamps, on the driest
hills, and on the sea-side, where it is exposed to the
spray of the salt-water.

Where wood covers the summits of the hills the
trees are stunted, and the forest becomes more open,
as the liands seldom grow at an altitude of more
than 800 feet.

I ascended the two highest hills at the back of
Ship Cove, which from our anchorage bore to the
north-west and south-west. The latter was without
wood on its summit, and was found by a trigonome-
trical measurement to be 900 feet high. The former
was covered with wood to its top ; and from the
height of the point of boiling- water, namely, 208°,
with a mean temperature of 40°, I judged it to be
2093 feet. The hills in this neighbourhood do not
appear to average more than 1200 feet in height.

The native who accompanied me was acquainted
with the names of all the trees and birds, which
he would tell me when I rested, after a tiresome
scramble through the dense underwood. Whilst

CHAP. II.] SHIP COVE. 29

walking he seldom spoke, except to relate, in broken
English, tales of terrible animals, or divinities,
which we should meet with on the summit of the
mountain, and which would inevitably devour the
poor maori (native), but could do no injury to the
pakea (stranger). It appeared to me that he was
sounding my belief in things about the existence of
which he was not quite certain himself, and wanted
to deter me from ascending to the summit.

In the lower regions the forest was much enlivened
by birds. I shot some parrots,1 pigeons,2 and wattle-
birds.3 Among the branches of the trees hopped
the neat fantail flycatcher,4 and a social bird of a
yellow colour, which has been depicted by Forster,5
and which had much the habits of the finch. But
these birds were the only beings of the animal king-
dom I could perceive : I did not even see an insect.
The smaller birds have a touching confidence, and
came so near me that I could almost have seized
them with the hand.

On the summit the silence was still deeper, and
the white-breasted motacilla longipes (Pitoitoi)
alone was heard pursuing its search from branch to
branch after small dipterous insects. There was
snow on the summit, and the thermometer stood at
41° Fahrenheit. The whole mountain was covered
with vegetable earth. But I ascertained that the

Nestor meridionalis : Kaka of the natives.
Columba spadicea, Lath. Kukupa.
Glaucopis cinerea, Gmel. Kokako.
Muscicapa flabellifera, GmL Phvakawaka.
Orthornyx heteroclytus, Lef. Popokatea.

30 ISLAND OF MOTUARA. [PART I.

same rock, a metamorphic slate, formed its entire
composition. The quantity of underwood greatly
circumscribed the view, and I had only a glimpse
of Motuara, Long Island, and the mountains near
Cape Te-ra-witi. The dense forest of the hills also
prevented any very extensive survey of the neigh-
bourhood of Ship Cove, and I therefore limited my
excursions to places within a short distance from
the ship. One of these journeys was to the Island
of Motuara. There is some excellent land there,
where the natives have plantations. Although we
were still in the depth of winter, many shrubs were
pushing forward their blossoms ; one, a creeper (Cle-
matis albida, or nearly allied to that species, which
is a native of Van Diemen's Land), was loaded with
a profusion of white flowers, which hung in festoons
over the neighbouring trees. I have no doubt that
this shrub would thrive in our climate, and be-
come one of the greatest ornaments of our parks.
We found several natives on the island, who ram-
bled with us through the bush. Pigeons, the large
parrot, and a small green ground-perrokeet (tricho-
glossus aurifrons, Wagl.), were there in great num-
bers. The natives were merely temporary sojourners,
and had come from Cannibals' Cove to catch pigs,
which overrun the island.

Another of my excursions was to Anaho, or Can-
nibals' Cove, where a small tribe of natives is located.
The chief, Nga-rewa, with his wife and son, had
been our daily guests on board the vessel. On
landing all the natives left their huts to receive us,

CHAP, ii.] CANNIBALS' COVE. 31

and offered a shake of the hand as a welcome.
Amongst the houses was a large one, which they
had built for an Englishman, who at the end of
the whaling season lived with them. His house
formed also the meeting-house for the tribe, as they
had lately become converted to Christianity by a
native, who had been with the missionaries in the
Bay of Islands, and had learned to read and write.
Some of the tribe in Anaho had already acquired
from him these arts, and all were anxious to learn
them. These people were well provided with the
necessaries of life; provisions were plentiful, and
we were enabled to lay in a large stock of potatoes
and pigs at a very moderate price. From the
neighbouring whaling establishments they had ob-
tained articles of European clothing in exchange
for their commodities, and their condition seemed
to be a happy one. I was astonished to find it so
easy to deal with them ; and instead of sinister
savages, brooding nothing but treachery and mis-
chief, as many travellers have depicted them, they
were open, confident, and hospitable, and proved of
the greatest service to me during my frequent ram-
bles in the woods. A party of them had soon after
our arrival established themselves in temporary
huts opposite our vessel in Ship Cove ; the women
washed for us, and the men helped us to refit the
ship. But for the interference of a noisy fellow of
the name of " Dogskin," who belonged to another
place, our good understanding would never have

32 SHIP COVE. [PART i.

been disturbed. The interruption was not, however,
serious. It appeared that Ship Cove was claimed
as the property of E Hiko, now living in Entry
Island, the son of the former principal chief and
warrior of the whole tribe, Tupahi, a native well
known in England, which he had visited. E Hiko
had buried a child in Ship Cove, and for that
reason the place had become sacred, or " tapu." For
this " Dogskin" wanted " utu," or payment, putting
himself forward as E Hiko's representative. He
was, however, compelled to lower his demands, and
the matter having been amicably settled by a mo-
derate present of tobacco, we had thenceforth permis-
sion to take as much wood and water as we wanted.
Besides the natives from Anaho, we frequently
had visitors from neighbouring districts . From one
of these parties, which came from Admiralty Bay,
in four large canoes deeply laden with pigs and
potatoes, we heard for the first time that Queen
Charlotte s Sound opens by a passage into Cloudy
Bay. The natives and Europeans, who go from
Entry Island and the other parts of Cook's Straits
to the latter place, generally choose this passage,
which is by far the safest way for boats and frail
canoes. We also heard that there was in this
passage a whaling establishment, in which many
Englishmen were living. Captain Cook suspected
the existence of such a passage from Queen Char-
lotte's Sound, but the southern entrance of it is not
laid down in his chart of the Straits, which is most

CHAP. II.] SHIP COVE. 33

excellent, and far above my humble praise. At our
departure from England, Nayti, the New Zealander,
who had come in the Tory, had also pointed out
this passage, which he said was the route commonly
used by his people. But it was not known in Eng-
land that there was a whaling establishment there,
and still less that the passage was navigable for the
largest vessels.

Another of our visitors was Te Wetu (the Star),
the principal chief from Rangitoto (Red Sky), or
D'Urville's Island. He was a New Zealander of
the old school, who took much pains to render
himself agreeable. He was rather fond of the
pleasures of our table, and stayed several days on
board, where he at once conformed to all the rules
of European etiquette, and evinced the utmost good
humour. Joy and mirth, I have found from expe-
rience, are always sure to find an echo in the sus-
ceptible heart of the New Zealander, and are also
the best means to secure his good will and con-
fidence. When "the Star of Rangitoto" left us,
he expressed himself delighted with the good treat-
ment he had experienced on board the Tory, and
invited us to come and pay him a visit.

Captain Chaffers found the latitude of Ship Cove,
at the end of the rocks on the south side of the
beach, to be 41° 5' 45' South, and the longi-
tude, by means of chronometers from England,
174° 20' 15" East, only differing three-quarters of

VOL. I. D

34 WHALES AND WHALERS. [PART I.

a mile to the West of that assigned by Captain
Cook. The variation of the compass is 14° 20' E.

In consequence of the information which we had
received from the natives, our storekeeper was sent
up Queen Charlotte's Sound to the whaling esta-
blishment at Te-awa-iti. He returned on the follow-
ing day, and in his company were two English
whalers. The sight of the first European faces we
had beheld since our departure from England, and
in a part of the country where we scarcely expected
to see any, was very agreeable, especially as they
understood the native language, and one of them
was the Englishman who was living in Anaho
during the summer season, and was well acquainted
with the Straits, where he has spent several years
in the hazardous avocation of a whaler. He under-
took to pilot the Tory up the Sound to Te-awa-iti.
Accordingly, Te Wetu and Ngarewa, the chiefs of
Anaho, were sent ashore, as soon as we had got up
our anchors, and only Wiriamu (or Williams), the
native missionary, had permission to accompany us.
A fine breeze swelled our sails, and, favoured by the
tide, we ran up Queen Charlotte's Sound on the
31st of August. The country was very picturesque,
consisting generally of wooded hills, and forming a
number of bays and coves on both sides. As I shall
afterwards speak of several of these bays, which I
visited, and each of which forms a separate harbour,
I will only mention here, that, after having seen

CHAP. II.] WHALES AND WHALERS. 35

most of the good harbours of New Zealand, I still
adhere to my first impression, that the Sound is the
most commodious and extensive, the most easy of
access and navigation, especially from the regularity
of the tides, and the most sheltered, of any in New
Zealand. Besides Ship Cove, East Bay and West
Bay, and the proper termination of the Sound, form
inlets several miles long ; in fact, the whole Sound
is perfectly landlocked, and has deep water close in-
shore. As a harbour it well deserves the enthusi-
astic praise which Captain Cook bestowed upon it.

At four o'clock in the afternoon we entered that
part of the channel which Captain Chaffers after-
wards surveyed, and named Tory Channel. A
pyramid ical hill of some height, and without wood
at the top, marks the entrance into this narrow
part, which is here about a mile broad. Every-
where the shore showed the clay-slate formation.
A small rocky island, called Moioio, soon became
visible, on the beach of which several canoes were
drawn up. On its summit were formed pa's, or vil-
lages, and all the inhabitants looked down on us
as we passed close by. Several canoes with natives
were out fishing. They had various kinds of fish,
especially fine mullets and gurnets, which they of-
fered for sale, but we did not admit the men on
board. The number of natives on this island, I was
told, was about 150. Several recognised Nayti,
who belongs to the same tribe. Their character
was pronounced by the whalers who accompanied

D 2

36 WHALES AND WHALERS. [PART I.

us to be thievish and troublesome ; but I have
learned to regard the evidence of Europeans against
the natives with great distrust. Her Majesty's brig
Pylorus had been here during the previous year, to
punish a theft which the whalers stated had been
committed by the natives. The captain was satis-
fied with firing some shots into the rock, and the
vessel went afterwards as far as the settlement of
Te-awa-iti, and returned through the north-west en-
trance of Queen Charlotte's Sound. The Pylorus
did not, therefore, actually go through Tory Chan-
nel. At all events, I think that the account of the
Tory's passage of this channel and Captain ChafFers's
survey of it are the first published.

We had the advantage of a strong tide, of at least
five miles an hour, which was sufficient to carry us
forward when the wind failed, as frequently hap-
pened on account of the landlocked position of the
Sound. Night had however already set in when we
anchored before the settlement Te-awa-iti (the little
river). But even then the aspect of this place of-
fered a most exhilarating scene. Large fires glared
through the darkness from the neighbouring beach,
lighted for the trying out of the blubber of a large
whale, which had been brought in that morning ;
a confused sound of voices reached our ears, and
proved to us that even in this remote corner of the
world it was the custom to celebrate any happy event
with profuse libations. Mr. Barret, superintendent
of one of the whaling establishments, came off in his

CHAP. II.] WHALES AND WHALERS. 37

boat. He has been living twelve or fifteen years in
Cook's Strait, and the relation of his adventures and
migrations in company with the native tribe, to
which he is now joined, made the evening pass away
very quickly and agreeably. His ruddy and good-
humoured countenance showed, at all events, that
such a life had not occasioned him many sleepless
nights, and that in New Zealand a man might
thrive, at least as far as regards his bodily wel-
fare.

On Sunday, September 1, we went ashore early
in the morning. We passed several huge carcases
of whales sunk under water. A curious spectacle
presented itself on the beach, which was covered
with remains of whales — skulls, vertebrae, huge
shoulder-blades and fins ; and the blubber, in pieces
a square foot in size, was still boiling in large pots :
the fire was fed with these pieces of blubber, after
the oil had been boiled out of them. There was much
stench from whale-oil, but this was disregarded, so
great was the interest I felt in the whole process.
After I had inspected the trying-houses, in one of
which a native of Australia was occupied, of whose
intelligence and quickness his master spoke very
highly, I went through the village. Some of the
houses were substantial wooden buildings, but the
majority had thatched walls of liands and bulrushes,
with a roof of the same materials. They consisted
of one floor, and contained two or more rooms, with
a spacious chimney. The floor is of clay firmly

38 TE-AWA-ITI. [PART i.

compressed and beaten hard. All the houses have
been built by the natives, and some are not inferior to
those of the villages in many parts of Europe. The
whalers received us with a hearty welcome wherever
we came. They are about forty in number, and all
live with native women. Their offspring, of whom
I counted twenty-one in Te-awa-iti, have finely-cast
countenances, and their features remind us little of
the admixture of a coloured race ; the skin is not so
dark as that of the inhabitants of the south of
France ; they generally inherit from the mother the
large and fine eye and the dark glossy hair ; there
are, however, many individuals with flaxen hair and
blue eyes. If you enter a house, you find the wife
and her relations generally sitting around the fire
and smoking. The " tene'i ra kokoe pakea " (wel-
come, stranger) is heard from every mouth. These
women do all the domestic labour, and excel their
European husbands in sobriety and quiet disposition.
Te-awa-iti is situated on the east side of Tory
Channel, about two miles from its southern entrance,
and twenty-eight miles from the northern entrance
of Queen Charlotte's Sound, on the island of Arapaoa,
which is throughout its extent of a very hilly na-
ture, intersected by ravines and covered with wood.
Towards the channel the island forms several small
coves, which are now inhabited ; towards Cook's
Straits, however, the shores are bold, rocky, and
much worn by the fury of the tides and waves.
At Te-awa-iti, Tory Channel is three miles broad, and

CHAP. II.] WHALES AND WHALERS. 39

throughout its extent from ten to fifteen fathoms
deep. The history of this settlement is not without
interest. About twenty years ago, a Mr. Guard,
who visited the shores of New Zealand on a sealing
expedition, discovered the southern entrance of
Tory Channel. As the seals rapidly disappeared,
he turned his attention to the whales, which he
found to visit the channel in great numbers. He
built a house on Te-awa-iti beach, which was then
uninhabited ; but he suffered much from the natives,
who had just been driven from their possessions in
Cook's Straits by Tupahi and Rauparaha, and who
lived in a straggling manner farther to the south-
ward. Guard soon quitted Te-awa-iti, but was suc-
ceeded by other adventurers, especially Messrs.
Thorns and Barret. These persons, being without
resources, as their property consisted perhaps at first
only of a whale-boat and some whaling-gear, made
chase on the whales, which they killed for the sake
of the baleen only. Afterwards speculators at Syd-
ney gave their support, advanced merchandize to
them, and annually sent vessels to transport the
oil. In the train of the Europeans arrived a tribe
of the Ngate Awa natives from the neighbourhood
of Mount Egmont, in the northern island, and with
their protection the settlers could more effectually
resist the attacks of the original natives of this part
of the country.

There are three whaling establishments in Te-
awa-iti, and in a small bay a short distance from it,

40

WHALES AND WHALERS. [PART I.

called, from its proprietor, Jackson's Bay. These
establishments have a number of boats in their
service, manned with white people and natives.
Sometimes other inhabitants of the beach have
boats of their own, and sell their oil to the
Europeans. The boat's crew are paid a certain sum,
either for each whale brought in, or for every tun
of oil, and they derive their chief profits from the
practice of paying their poorer associates with the
necessaries of life, slops, and articles of luxury, as
tobacco, and especially spirits. The whalers are
constrained to take these articles from their em-
ployers, who put their own prices upon them, which
are exorbitant. They take care never to allow
their dependents to get out of debt ; this they ac-
complish by profusely providing them with drink.
I do not, however, mean to assert that they are large
gainers in these transactions ; they have to do with
a reckless class of people, — runaway sailors and for-
mer convicts from New South Wales, who do not
think much about leaving their employers in debt,
and go off, without giving much notice of their in-
tention, in some of the numerous vessels cruising
about the Sound and Cloudy Bay.

The jealousy existing between the several em-
ployers, the system of decoying each other's men by
every means in their power, the character of the
population itself, the universal use of adulterated
and poisoned spirits, have created a state of society
in which it is only to be wondered that, in the ab-

CHAP. II.] WHALES AND WHALERS. 41

sence of all restraint and law, outrages on each
other's property and persons are not of a more fre-
quent occurrence.

I was astonished, and at the same time gratified,
to find that the character of the natives had been so
little affected by this state of things. I have not
seen one instance of drunkenness amongst them,
common as the vice is amongst the Europeans;
although mixing with the latter in the boats, they
did not join in their revelries, which are contrary
to their taste and inclinations, and which do not
begin until the evening, after the return of the boats.

In the summer season the whalers live dispersed
over the Sound ; sometimes trading in a small way
with the passing ships in potatoes and pigs, which
they obtain through the families of their wives, but
more generally spending their lives in idleness.
There are, however, some very respectable men
amongst them, who have been provident enough to
cultivate small patches of ground, and these of
course live in comparative ease and comfort, as all
European vegetables thrive extremely well : poultry
also increases rapidly and throughout the year:
goats thrive better than cattle, to the introduction
of which the almost total want of grass is a most
serious objection.

As whales and whaling were the principal ob-
jects which in Te-awa-iti, and afterwards in Cloudy
Bay, excited my curiosity, I may be allowed to give
here a short account of that interesting and valu-

42

WHALES AND WHALERS. [PART I.

able animal — the whale ; in the chase of which, dur-
ing the winter season, many boats are sent out from
the establishments on the coasts of New Zealand.
It is called the " black whale, or right whale" (Ba-
leena Australis, or Antarctica). Sometimes chase
is given to the finback and humpback whale, which,
with the black whale, belong to the great division
of the cetacea known by the sieve-like or screening
apparatus (baleen) with which they are provided ;
this it is which furnishes the whalebone of com-
merce, and distinguishes the whales above referred
to from the cachelots, or sperm whales. It is sel-
dom, however, that either a finback or a humpback
(so called, the former from possessing a true fin on his
back, and the latter a fat and cellular hump) is
caught, not only on account of their superior cun-
ning, greater wildness and celerity, by means of
which they are enabled to run out the longest line,
but also because, giving less oil than the black
whale, they are not so frequently pursued. The
spermaceti whale is not uncommon in the latitudes of
New Zealand, and often falls a prey to the whale-
ships which cruise in the open sea ; but the cachelot
does not approach shallow coasts and inlets, as its
habits are different from those of the black whale.
Shortly before I arrived at Te-awa-iti a sperm whale
was driven ashore which could only have been dead
a very short time ; it gave about two tuns of oil.

It has been said that most of the cetaceous ani-
mals are cosmopolites, and that the sperm whale

CHAP. II.] WHALES AND WHALERS. 43

especially lives under every degree of latitude, both to
the north and south of the equator : a statement so
entirely at variance with our knowledge regarding
the distribution of animals throughout the globe
should be received with very great distrust. It is
true that the medium in which they live offers to
marine animals a very wide range, and great facili-
ties to exchange, in the different seasons, the glacial
seas for the equatorial ocean ; but until we have
strictly examined the anatomical, and especially the
osseous, structures of all the species which belong to
the cetaceous tribe, we are not justified in regarding
them as identical in both hemispheres. The por-
poise of the New Zealand seas (Delphinus Novae
Zelandise), which is figured in the 'Voyage de
1' Astrolabe,' plate 28, is decidedly a peculiar species ;
and we have not yet sufficient data to pronounce
that the whale is independent of what appears to be
a general law of nature. The whalers, it is true,
allow the identity of the Greenland sperm whale
and northern right whale with those of the antarc-
tic seas, but their evidence is not sufficient. Cuvier
admitted the difference between the Balsena Borealis
and the Balsena Australis, or Arctica and Antarctica.
The latter, described by him from a specimen pre-
pared at the Cape of Good Hope, differs in the num-
ber of its vertebrae, as it possesses seven collar, fifteen
dorsal, and thirty-seven abdominal; in the whole
fifty-nine. The Balaena Arctica possesses only seven
collar and thirteen dorsal vertebrae. From a very

44 WHALES AND WHALERS. [PART I.

accurate drawing which Mr. Heaphy, the draughts-
man, made for me of a cow whale, which was
brought into Jackson's Bay, and measured sixty feet
in length, I am convinced that the southern black
whale is a different animal from the northern, and
has been added by Mr. Gray to the system under
the name of Balsena antipodarum. This whale was
drawn while afloat, and just after it had been brought
in ; its shape was therefore unaltered. But I was
unable to determine this difference from anatomical
structure, as the carcase, after having been freed of
the blubber, immediately sank, and amongst the
osseous remains on the beach I could find no com-
plete skeleton.

The black whales of the southern hemisphere ap-
pear to be considerably inferior in size to those of
the northern. The cow whale above alluded to was
regarded as of an unusually large size ; but Scoresby
tells us that he measured whales in the Greenland seas
seventy or seventy- two feet long. Both the northern
and southern Balsena occupy only the second place
in regard to size in the animal creation. Mr. Beale
measured a spermaceti whale on the coast of Japan
of the " enormous size of eighty-four feet, and its
circumference in this instance was not less than
that of a Greenland whale of the largest size."

Almost all the whales which are killed on the
shores of New Zealand are females, or cows, and
their calves. The male, or bull, is very rarely
caught, as it never approaches the land so near as

CHAP. II.] WHALES AND WHALERS. 45

the female, and is more shy and wild. The season
in which whaling is carried on is from May to Oc-
tober. In the beginning of May the cows approach
the shallow coasts and smooth waters for the pur-
pose of bringing forth their young. This period
lasts about four months, as in May wrhales are seen
with newly-born calves, and cows have been killed
in July in full gestation. During the same months
also copulation is sometimes observed by the whalers.
But from these data it is impossible to draw a con-
clusion on the real period of gestation in these huge
animals, which has never yet been satisfactorily de-
termined. In company with the cows are also the
calves of the preceding year or years, for it is still
uncertain at what age the whale attains its full size
and leaves the mother ; these young whales are
called scrags, and they yield about four tuns of oil.

It appears that the female generally produces but
one calf at a birth : the cow is indeed sometimes
seen with two ; and although in this case it is the
opinion of the whalers that one is an orphan calf,
yet it is probable that the black whale, like the
northern sperm whale, occasionally produces twins.
A calf, which appeared full grown, and which was
cut out of the mother a short time before my arrival
in Te-awa-iti, measured fourteen feet.

The whale is a truly migratory animal, and its
migrations are the most interesting part of its
history. They arrive at the coasts of New Zealand
in the beginning of May from the northward, go
through Cook's Straits, keeping along the coast of

46 WHALES AND WHALERS. [ PART I.

the northern island, and pass between the latter and
Entry Island. This is borne out by the fact that
they are never seen on the opposite coast, nor do
they enter the northern entrance of Queen Char-
lotte's Sound. From Entry Island they sweep into
Cloudy Bay, and at the end of October they go
either to the eastward or return to the northward.
In the beginning of the season the chase is said to
be most successful in Cook's Straits and Te-awa-iti ;
in the three latter months in Port Underwood,
which is only thirty miles distant. From the
month of June they begin to show themselves near
the Chatham Islands, 150 leagues to the eastward
of New Zealand, where their number increases with
the termination of the season in the latter place.
During the six remaining months of the year the
ships cruising in the " whaling-ground " fall in with
many whales. This whaling-ground extends from
the Chatham Islands to the eastward of the north-
ern island of New Zealand, and from thence to Nor-
folk Island. It is curious that the whalers assert
that this whaling-ground is nothing but a shoal,
although I am not aware that soundings have ever
been obtained. Perhaps Captain Ross, who is now
in the South Seas provided with sounding-lines,
will confirm a fact which is of some importance in
the natural history of this animal. The migration
of the whale is probably owing to its search for
food ; but we must still regard it as a subject for
inquiry, which cannot be terminated before we know
many more particulars connected with it, and espe-

CHAP. II.] WHALES AND WHALERS. 47

cially how far it depends on the greater or lesser quan-
tity, in certain localities and at certain seasons, of the
small animal of the Medusa kind upon which the
black whales feed. Their approach to the shores of
New Zealand, however, is particularly connected
with the process of parturition, as I have already
mentioned. In the month of June they are ob-
served in the same condition, viz. with calves, at
the Cape of Good Hope. It seems as if certain
herds of whales, if I may be allowed to use that
term, which occupy a limited district, visit at the
end of the period of gestation the bights and inlets
of those countries which are next to their feeding-
grounds: the same is the case round Van Diemen's
Land. But it has yet to be proved that the black
whale of the Cape of Good Hope is the same with
the black whale of New Zealand.

Besides this general migration, which, until more
accurate data are obtained, I do not conceive should
be termed a circumnavigation, but merely a migra-
tion of different species in a certain marine district,
there exists also a daily one. These fish approach
the shores and bays with the flood-tide, and quit
them with the ebb. In their general migrations,
also, they seem to be influenced by the direction of
the tides. Whales are often seen in places where
the depth of water does not much exceed their own
breadth, rubbing their huge bodies against the
rocks, and freeing themselves of the barnacles and
other parasitical animals with which they are covered.

48 WHALES AND WHALERS. [PART I.

The maternal affection of the whale for its young
is very great. As soon as the mother observes a
threatened danger, she clings, as it were, to the calf,
tries to hide it, and often takes it between her
flooks (fins) and attempts to escape. She has even
been observed to carry off the calf when it had been
killed, but not fastened upon. Sometimes, however,
she seems to be infatuated, and heedless of all that
passes around her. If the calf has been once fast-
ened upon, the mother will never leave it. The
whalers assert that the young cows have less affec-
tion for their offspring than the old ones, and will
desert them at the appearance of the least danger.
It is, however, the affection of the whale for her
young which becomes the principal means of her
destruction. The calf, inexperienced and slow, is
easily killed, and the cow is afterwards a sure prey.

It is not known in what position the cow suckles
her calf. The teats, which are two in number, are
abdominal, and situated between membranaceous
folds on both sides of the genital organs. I was asto-
nished to find them so small. In a female, whose
inammse were full of a fat milk resembling cow-
milk in taste, the teats were not larger than those
of a cow. The operation of suckling never having
been observed, it is no matter of surprise to find the
whalers denying that the cows suckle their calves ;
there can, however, be no doubt of the fact.

The manner of carrying on whaling is so well
known as to render it unnecessary for me to dwell

CHAP. II.] WHALES AND WHALERS. 49

upon it at any length. The whale-boats are admir-
ably adapted for the purpose for which they are in-
tended. They are of various construction, and are
designated as English, French, or American : each
has some peculiarity to recommend it. They are
capable of resisting the rough sea of Cook's Straits,
but are at the same time swift and buoyant. When
starting on a whaling expedition, the boats leave
Te-awa-iti before the dawn of the morning. Each
has either five or six oars, and a crew accordingly.
The boat-steerer and headsmen are the principal
men in the boat, and are generally Europeans ; the
rest are natives. They pull to the entrance of
Tory Channel, where a view opens over Cook's
Straits and Cloudy Bay from the southern head-
land, where they keep a "look-out" for the spouting
of a whale. The boat which kills the calf claims
the cow, even though it should have been killed by
another boat's crew. If a whale has been killed, the
different boats assist each other in towing it to Te-
awa-iti. I once saw ten or twelve boats towing-in a
whale. Each boat had a little flag, and the whole
scene was gay and animated. One day a calf had
been killed, and the cow, having been fastened upon,
but not despatched, was towed inside the channel.
Gasping in the agonies of death, the tortured ani-
mal, when close to our ship, threw up jets of blood,
which dyed the sea all around ; and, beating about
with its tail, it broke a boat right in the middle,
and threw the crew into the water; but it at length
VOL. I. E

50 WHALES AND WHALERS. [PART I.

died, exhausted from the many wounds which the
irons and harpoons had inflicted. The calf was
stated by the whalers to be six weeks old (on what
grounds I do not know), and was twenty-four feet
long. It was cut up in a few minutes, and gave
several barrels of oil. The process was so rapid,
that when I came ashore I found only the head. I
cut out the brains, the weight of which, amounting
to five pounds and one ounce, astonished me greatly.
The whalebone was very soft, and therefore useless.
There were two hundred plates of it on each side of
the roof of the upper jaw. I got the whole roof
cut off, and, intending to dry and preserve it, I
placed it on the roof of a native house ; but on the
following morning I had the mortification to find
that the rats and native dogs had found their way
to it in the night, and had eaten all the softer parts,
so that the rest fell to pieces

A portion of the heart of this calf was roasted
and sent to our table. In taste I found it very like
beef, but it was darker in colour. The cow was
sixty feet long, and measured between the fins on the
belly eighty-two inches. Her skin was a velvet-like
black, with the exception of a milk-white spot round
the navel. As regards the colour of the whale, I have
been repeatedly assured that it is sometimes speckled,
and that even perfect albinos, or cream-coloured
ones, are seen, which must indeed be beautiful ani-
mals. The fat or blubber of this whale was nine
inches thick, and yielded eight tuns and a half of oil.

CHAP. II.] WHALES AND WHALERS. 51

Whales have been known to yield twelve or thirteen
tuns ; but I have been told that so large a quantity
is now very rarely obtained, from the great decrease
of the whales. A whale which yields nine tuns is
at present regarded as a very good one.

The tongue was of a white or ash colour, blackish
towards the root. This organ gave several barrels
of oil, and is a monopoly of the " tonguer," or
" cutter-in." The latter operation is performed in
Te-awa-iti near the shores, where by means of a
windlass the whale is raised to the surface of the
water under a scaffold called the " shears." The
blubber is cut off in square pieces by means of a
sharp spade ; it is then carried to the shore, and
immediately put into the trying-pots. The "cutting-
up" of a whale, secundum artem, is a process which
requires great proficiency, like that of the skilful
dissector, who separates the cutis, and with it at
once all fat and cellular tissue, from the subjacent
muscles. In the whale the blubber is to be re-
garded as the cutis, in the cellular structure of
which the oily matter has been deposited. Shortly
after the death of the fish the epidermis comes off' in
large pieces, looking like oiled and dried satin.

As soon as the process of cutting was over, the
natives, who had come with their canoes from the
Sound, cut off large pieces of the flesh, which they
carried off to feast upon. They also fished in the
evening for sharks, and a curious gelatinous fish,
which fastened in numbers on the sunken carcase,

E 2

52 WHALES AND WHALERS. [PART I.

and which is nearly related to the Myxine glutinosa
of our latitudes.

There are the following whaling establishments
on the coast of New Zealand : —

Te-awa-iti, Entry Island,

Cloudy Bay, Evans's Island,

Parurua, Taranaki,

Banks's Peninsula, Table Cape.
The number of whales annually captured by these
establishments is about 120. Each whale, on an
average, yields six imperial tuns of oil, making, in
the aggregate, 720 tuns, which, before the esta-
blishment of the settlements of the New Zealand
Company, was sold on the spot to small vessels, or
sent to Sydney, when the whaling was carried on
at the expense of Sydney merchants. Those who
were at the head of the establishments in New Zea-
land were paid at the nominal price of 10/. per tun;
I say nominal, because the payment was made in
dear and bad slops, whaling-gear, and, most of all,
in adulterated spirits. The same oil sells in the
London market for 27/. per tun. The value of the
oil of these shore stations is, therefore, at the high-
est, 20,000/.: to this sum must be added 3000/. for
the whalebone, or baleen, for which the whalers
receive 78/. a ton, but which sells in London for
from 122/. to 130/. A large whale yields about
five cwt. of baleen.

I must observe here, that the sort of shore-whal-
ing which I have just described is very detrimental

CHAP. II.] LEGISLATIVE MEASURES. 53

to the whale fishery in general, and the number
of whales has decreased from year to year. The
female whale approaches the land merely for the
purpose of bringing forth and rearing her young.
Later in the year, when the calf has attained a cer-
tain size, the cows leave the immediate nejghbour-
hood of the coast, and return to the " whaling-
ground," where the males share with them the
dangers resulting from the pursuit of man. Would
it not, therefore, be advisable by legislative enact-
ments to put an end to the whale-fishery from the
coasts, and to restrict it to a certain distance from
shore, where it would have to be pursued in ships ?
To kill the calves in order to capture the mother,
or to kill the latter in the time of gestation, is an
unprofitable and cruel proceeding ; but it carries
with it its own punishment. In a few years this
trade, of which, from the geographical position of
the " whaling-ground," New Zealand might have
continued to be the centre, will be annihilated.
Seals, which were plentiful in New Zealand, but
were slaughtered in the same indiscriminate man-
ner, have already entirely disappeared. The pro-
tection proposed would only be such as the govern-
ments of all civilized nations have long bestowed
on their coast fisheries during certain seasons. Un-
fortunately there exists a belief that the female
whale in a state of gestation, or immediately after-
wards, yields the greatest quantity of oil ; but I
have reason to believe that this is entirely un-

54 WHALES AND WHALERS. [PART r

founded. If we may judge from analogy of fishes,
birds, and the whole class of mammiferous animals,
the assertion must be untrue ; and this view is con-
firmed by the testimony of those who carry on the
fishery from ships, that, instead of the whales being
fatter during that time, the contrary is the case,
and that the average result of the fishing on the
whaling-grounds exceeds that of the coast fisheries.
I have also heard that very often cows have been
brought into Te-awa-iti which were remarkably lean,
and did not yield more than five or six tuns of oil.
We must also expect the oil from whales in the
period of gestation to be inferior in quality, from
the great change which then is effected in all the
solid and fluid elements of the body.1

Whilst I am thus pleading the cause of the
whale, I am well aware that the most effective mode
of preserving the fishery would be to spare the cows
and calves altogether, and to kill merely the bulls.
The whalers can distinguish at a considerable dis-
tance a bull from a cow ; — the elevation near the
spout-holes, called the top-knot, being much higher
in the bulls, and this part is always above the
water ; but such an extensive protection is probably
impracticable.

It would suffice if, during the winter season, or

1 From a recent report of a captain of the royal navy of France
it appears that the New Zealand whaling in this year (1842) has
been entirely unsuccessful, and that most of the whalers are begin-
ning to cruise on the north-west coast of America.

CHAP. II.] LARGE PARROT. 55

from May to October, all whaling was prohibited
within a certain distance from the shores of New
Zealand, and a man-of-war cutter kept to enforce
obedience to this rule.

Behind Te-awa-iti the land rises in steep ravines.,
which are covered with various kinds of wood, or
are cultivated by the natives. Whenever the wea-
ther permitted, I rambled through the delightful
and shady forest. It was inhabited by flocks of the
kaka, or large parrot (nestor hypopolius, Wag.), one
of the three species which inhabit the islands of New
Zealand ; it is closely allied to that isolated and
now probably exterminated species, the Philip
Island parrot, and has many peculiarities in its
shape and habits. The bill is more elongated than
that of other parrots, and of a greyish colour ; the
forehead and crown are brown, with a tinge of
green ; the face and ear-coverts yellow, tipped with
red ; the neck, breast, and wings of a dull red, with
a dark-green tint ; the abdomen is of a deep red,
and the tail brownish. The male is smaller than
the female, and of a redder plumage.

This bird lives upon the fleshy and amylaceous
fruits of the hinau (Elacocarpus hinau), of the
tawai (Leiospermum racemosum), of the miro (Po-
docarpus ferruginea), and of the mai (Dacrydium
mai). It only feeds upon the fleshy parts of these
fruits, and has not the power of opening their hard
stones with its beak. The tongue is small, termi-
nating in several filaments. In captivity it feeds

56 TORY CHANNEL. [PART I.

upon bread and potatoes, but most readily on the
latter. These parrots seem to have regular times
of feeding : early in the morning they are found on
the trees which yield their food. During the heat
of the day they play about quietly in the topmost
branches of high trees. Before the sun sets they
assemble and fly with discordant screams over the
forest, alighting sometimes on a dead tree in an open
spot, or where their curiosity is in any way arrested.
When it is dark they become silent ; but rarely an
hour of the night passes that one of their fluting
calls is not heard ; and with the dawn of the morn-
ing they are again in full activity. They nest in
hollow trees, and are said by the natives to lay four
or five white eggs. Their flesh is tender and well-
flavoured, and the natives are very expert in enticing
them by means of decoy-birds, or by imitating their
cry. When one is caught or wounded, the rest
hover about it with screams, and, one after another,
become the victims of their commiseration.

Above Te-awa-iti, towards the southern entrance
of Tory Channel, are two other bays, Wanganui
and Hokokuri. The access to them is over the
hills or by water, as a protruding and rocky shore
separates the bay of Te-awa-iti from them ; this is, in
fact, the general character of the coast in Queen
Charlotte's Sound. In Hokokuri Bay, on a fine flat
of fertile earth about one square mile in extent,
stands a large native settlement. The natives re-
ceived us with their usual politeness, and afterwards

CHAP. II.] TORY CHANNEL. 57

gave us a canoe in which to return to Te-awa-iti.
The man who seemed to be the principal chief was
of a fine powerfully formed figure, with a noble
countenance, and reminded us of a Roman tribune,
wrapped, as he was, in a new native toga.

On another of my excursions I traced Tory Chan-
nel towards its northern entrance, for the purpose
of crossing the neck of land which separates Port
Underwood in Cloudy Bay from Queen Charlotte's
Sound. A more accurate examination of the coast
showed everywhere the argillaceous schist in strati-
fications from east to west, and dipping to the
north. Sometimes no stratifications could be ob-
served, and the rock was of a more granular nature,
but still very soft, and with fissures in many direc-
tions, as if it had been acted upon by fire. I ob-
served in the Straits no indications of any other
kind of rock, except the occasional appearance of
Lydian stone, massy basaltic rocks, and greenstone.
It became very apparent to me, from the various
transitions from one kind of rock to another, that
they had assumed that structure in consequence of
the infusion from below of the trappean rocks, and
the consequent metamorphosis of the slate-rocks.
I could not discover any trace of organic remains
in the latter, and it is therefore most probably to
the transition series that the hills in Queen Char-
lotte's Sound belong.

Notwithstanding the barren quality of this sub-
stratum, and the want of decomposition on the sur-

58 TORY CHANNEL. [PART I.

face, a character common to all the hills of this
formation, the vegetation is by no means defective :
the moisture of the atmosphere makes up for the
deficiency of the upper stratum. The vegetation
reaches to the sea-shore, and does not suffer from
the salt-water.

I visited the island of Moioio, and afterwards
came to a native settlement called Toko Karoro, on
the island of Arapaoa. The natives in the latter
place were sitting around a fire ; some were busy
in carving the head and stern of a new canoe, others
were smoking and talking. This little village is
situated on a tongue of land formed by a branch of
the hills, very narrow on the top, and falling on
both sides towards the sea. This singular position
makes it a very strong place, and easy of defence.
A steep path leads to the summit of the ridge,
where clearings for native cultivations appear in
the ravines. When I use the term " clearings, " I
mean those spots where the forest had been set on
fire : half-burned stems of trees were lying in con-
fusion over each other, and in the places between
were patches of potatoes. The number of pigeons
in these grounds and on the skirts of the forest was
very great ; in less than half an hour I shot twelve.
An intelligent-looking boy, his goodnatured face
painted with red ochre, pointed them out to me
quicker than I could load my gun.

It is also in these open and cultivated spots
that the kakariki chiefly lives. This is a small

CHAP. II.J TORY CHANNEL. 59

paroquet, and the second one of the parrot tribe
existing in New Zealand. It is a very beautiful
bird, and measures eleven inches. The crown is
crimson, with a few feathers of a golden yellow
at the root of the beak ; the rest of the plumage is
green, and the quill-feathers of an azure blue. The
tail is long and arrow-shaped. This paroquet feeds
on potatoes, and on the berries of the Solanum laci-
niatum and other fleshy fruits ; it lives in flocks,
and on the ground, or the lower branches of dead
trees. In some parts of New Zealand it is very
common, but generally follows man, as it is only in
cultivated places that it can find the shrubs which
yield its favourite food.

On both sides of the tongue of land to which I
have alluded, the Sound forms deep bays, perfectly
sheltered, and very fitted for the anchorage of ships.
Opposite to it, on the mainland, is another large
bay, called Oyster Bay, from the thick beds of rock-
oysters which are found there.

After leaving the village we crossed to another
bay, E-Taua. This bay also is spacious and pleasant.
Kingfishers, oystercatchers, tuis,1 and cormorants,2
enlivened the trees on its shores, and many birds
were singing in the forest.

From this bay we crossed the hills in order to
reach Port Underwood. They form a deep saddle,
over which the path leads. Everywhere on the

1 Anthochcera concinuata, Vig. and Horsfield.
* Pelecanus pica, Forst.

60 TORY CHANNEL. [PART I.

surface sharp shingly fragments of slate are strewed
about. Low stunted fern and manuka are abun-
dant. From the top of these hills the northern
entrance of Queen Charlotte's Sound opened to our
view. The island of Motuara bore north-by-east.
We saw the sea over the narrow island of Arapaoa
in Cook's Straits, and our eye wandered over Ship
Cove, Shag Cove, East Bay, and part of West Bay.
The land has everywhere the same mountainous
and intersected character. A few paces farther
another extensive panorama opens : we look into
Port Underwood, a deep inlet, formed on both sides
by chains of hills, from which numerous buttresses
run out towards the sea, and form as many small
coves. Port Underwood opens to the south-west
into Cook's Straits. The coast sweeps round to-
wards Cape Campbell, forming what Cook has
named Cloudy Bay, and a range of high snow-clad
mountains in the middle island, called Kai Koura
(Feast of Crawfish), shut in the view.

The chain of hills which form Port Underwood
to the south-east, in fact all the land which separates
that port from Tory Channel, consists of a succes-
sion of steep and barren ridges. Only here and
there a patch of brushwood or trees relieves the
brown and gloomy tint of the Pteris esculenta. The
chain to the south-west, however, on the other side
of the harbour, is more wooded, although the hills
are equally steep ; its offsets branch into the sea,
and form a few small coves. To the south-south-

CHAP. II.] PORT UNDERWOOD. 61

west these hills turn into the mainland, and the
hilly character of the coast gives way to a com-
paratively level country, which stretches towards
Cape Campbell, and is bounded by the snowy
mountains above mentioned. Here the Wairao, a
moderate-sized river, with a bar at its entrance, dis-
charges itself into Cloudy Bay. The quantity of
level land seems to be largest in the neighbourhood
of this river, and the surface is covered alternately
with fern and groves of high trees.

We descended on a ridge of the hills to the head
of Port Underwood. On both sides of this ridge
the sea forms bays. On the right is a village, with
about sixty inhabitants, and the neighbourhood is
well cultivated. Nayti, the New Zealander who
accompanied us from England, found here many
brothers, which word, however, generally means
cousins. One of them, a very suspicious-looking
fellow, painted over and over with kokowai, never
let the tomahawk out of his' hands, and there was
an appearance of sly hostility in his manner ; indeed,
he was the only New Zealander who gave me any
apprehension, which was probably altogether un-
founded. Nayti, who was dressed in the best Bond-
street style, cut a pitiful figure ; civilization had
taught him nothing but to be ashamed of his rela-
tions. Observing his embarrassment, we withdrew
to some distance, leaving him to indulge his natural
feeling in hongi and tangi, or nose-rubbing and
crying.

62 PORT UNDERWOOD. [PART I.

To the eastward Port Underwood forms another
spacious inlet, called the Inner Harbour ; it is the
most sheltered part of the whole port, but I do not
know whether it is accessible for large vessels.

Towards evening Nayti's relations launched a large
canoe to bring us to Kakapo, a bay on the south
side of the harbour, where there is a whaling esta-
blishment, and where several Europeans are living,
who support themselves by supplying provisions to
a number of ships, which annually resort to Cloudy
Bay. We were welcomed to the house of Mr.
Guard, one of the earliest adventurers in New Zea-
land, where he has been for twenty years.

The western shore of Port Underwood forms a
number of diminutive coves. It is so rocky that
access from one cove to the other, along the coast,
is impossible. The largest bay, near the head of the
harbour, is Robin Hood's Bay, where there is a native
settlement. No European lives there. The next is
Ocean Bay, with a large beach, and some extent of
flat but shingly land. Here are two whaling esta-
blishments. The number of Europeans was thirty,
and of natives about one hundred.

The next is Kakapo, or Guard's Bay. This is
very small, and the hills surrounding it so high that
the sun can be seen only for a short time. The
number of Europeans is only five, and of natives
about sixty, who man the boats, and live on very in-
timate terms with the Europeans. Mr. Guard was
the first man who cleared this beach and settled on

CHAP. II.] PORT UNDERWOOD. 63

it, and the natives came round him afterwards.
Rauparaha's brother, Norua, is the chief of Kakapo.
A daughter of Tupahi also lives here.

Next to Kakapo is Tom King's Bay, also the
station of a whaling-party ; another stands opposite
to it, and is managed by an American.

The geological formation, which I have already
mentioned, can be well observed on an island which
lies nearly abreast of Kakapo. The direction of the
clay-slate is here from north-north-west to south-
south-east, with a south-west dip at an angle of
less than forty-five degrees. In Kakapo the same
slate is traversed by dikes of bluish Lydian stone,
with veins of quartz. On the coast opposite to
Kakapo the slate is harder, and of a black colour,
but not fit for the purposes of roofing.

Whaling alone has attracted the Europeans to
Cloudy Bay. The different bays look indeed like
the Golgotha of the whale, so many remains of that
animal are lying on the beach. But whaling is not
carried on from the shore alone : ships anchoring
during the season in Port Underwood engage with
their boats in the pursuit; and the port is better
adapted for the whale-ships than Te-awa-iti, as the
anchorage is less distant from the entrance, and the
rush of the tide not so strong as into the narrow
southern entrance of Tory Channel. Besides, Port
Underwood is ill adapted for any other purpose :
not even the outer harbour, the only one yet visited,
is a first-rate one, as the prevalent gales — those

64 CLOUDY BAY. [PART I.

from the south-west — blow directly into the en-
trance, and often drag the ships from their anchor-
age. The high and steep hills which enclose the
place on all sides give it a gloomy appearance, the
sun appearing late and setting early. The name of
Cloudy Bay, given by Captain Cook, although he
never entered this harbour, is very appropriate :
it is now called Port Underwood. Rain must be
frequent, from the mountainous and woody character
of the country. I was here three times, always
during heavy rains. A few whalers and traders
found but a scanty subsistence even while whales
were plentiful and provisions from the natives cheap ;
both these advantages have now ceased. The har-
bour, it is true, has the nearest connection with the
level land at Wairao, and it is to the latter that
it must look for any importance it may in future
acquire. The road to that land from Port Under-
wood is even now passable, and has been driven over
by cattle. A Mr. Wilton, from Sydney, attempted
a farming establishment at Wairao, and drove cattle
thither from Port Underwood. He lost his life
through an accident, and I am not aware that any
one has since renewed the attempt.

Cloudy Bay and Queen Charlotte's Sound are
very rich in fish. Nowhere in New Zealand have
I found them in such abundance. They were of the
genera Scomber, Balistes, Serranus, Raius, Labrus.
Mullets also were very plentiful. A fish was often
caught which is nearly allied, even if it be not the

CHAP. II.] CLOUDY BAY. 65

same, to one described by Cuvier under the name
of Trigla papilionacea. The natives call it kumu
kumu. It is of a bright orange-colour ; its pectoral
fins are large and membranous, and of an emerald-
green, bordered with an azure margin. Near the
tail is a spot of velvet black, dotted with white.
This fish is one of the most beautiful known, and it
always caused me pain to see it taken out of its ele-
ment, and in expiring lose its vivid colours. Another
most singular fish often took the bait : this was the
Chimsera calorynchus, which is related to the shark
tribe, and has a most singular fleshy proboscis. Its
colours are very brilliant, of a silvery- white, or grey.
It generally appears at night, at the surface of the
water, preying upon the young of other tribes. The
flesh is somewhat dry, and resembles that of the
shark.

I returned from Cloudy Bay on the 19th of Sep-
tember, and at daybreak on the following day we
left Te-awa-iti on the flood tide, and with a north-
west wind. The southern entrance of Tory Chan-
nel is narrow, and requires a leading wind and a
favourable tide, in which case the navigation is easy
and safe. On leaving the channel the view opened
on the Two Brothers, over the rocky coast of the
Island of Arapaoa. To the southward appeared the
different bights of the coast before the entrance into
Port Underwood. We saw the whole of the coast
towards Wairao and Cape Campbell, and at a dis-
tance towered the Snowy Mountains. To the north -

VOL. i. F

66 WHALES AND WHALERS. [PART I.

ward were the steep shores in the neighbourhood of
Mana and Port Nicholson, which latter place is
about thirty miles distant from the southern entrance
of Tory Channel. At eight o'clock we sailed by
the part of the shore of the northern island which
is called Te-ra-witi (the rising sun). We beat up
against the breeze, and entered the harbour of Port
Nicholson. There is plenty of ship-room at the
entrance, and the dangers which exist are all appa-
rent. The soundings are between seventeen and
eight and a half fathoms. Alter passing the inner
heads a spacious basin appears. Several canoes came
off, and in one of them was an old venerable-looking
chief, Epuni, with his son. At three o'clock we
anchored on the northern side of a large island
called Matin, now Somes's Island, about a mile
from the mainland.

CHAP. III.] 67

CHAPTER III.

Port Nicholson. — Wellington. — Excursion into the Valley of
the Eritonga.

WE stayed in Port Nicholson until the 4th of
October, during which time the agent of the New
Zealand Company completed the purchase of that
place. Nearly three years have elapsed since our
first visit ; and a spot scarcely known before that
time, and rarely if ever visited by Europeans, has
become the seat of a large settlement, with nearly
5000 inhabitants. Where a few hundred natives
then lived in rude villages, fearful of their neigh-
bours, but desirous of intercourse with Europeans,
and just beginning to be initiated into the forms of
Christian worship by a native missionary, there is
now a town, with warehouses, wharfs, club-houses,
horticultural and scientific societies, racecourse^, —
in short, with all the mechanism of a civilized and
commercial community ; at this very place, where I
then enjoyed in all its fulness the wild aspect of
nature, and where the inhabitants, wild and un-
tamed, accorded well with their native scenery,
there is now the restless European, spreading around
all the advantages and disadvantages of civilization
and trade. Although aware that I have long been

F2

68 PORT NICHOLSON. [PART I

anticipated in the description of this place, I must
beg leave to give a few remarks which I gleaned
during this and subsequent visits.

Port Nicholson is situated in a foreland which,
in its longest extent, has a north-east to south-west
direction, and which is formed to the south-east by
the deep indentation of Wairarapa, or Palliser Bay,
and to the north-west by the bight of the coast in
which Mana, or Table Island, is situated. The
outermost point of this foreland is Cape Te-ra-witi.
This is the narrowest point of Cook's Straits, the
distance to the nearest land in the middle island
being only thirty miles. In its geological formation
this foreland is a continuation of the hills which I
have described as forming the chief part of the land
at the other side of Cook's Straits, and it can scarcely
be doubted that formerly both islands were here
connected. The sea having once broken this con-
nection, a rush of the tide, which comes from the
southward, and runs at the rate of five knots an
hour during the spring-tides, took place through
the opening. The winds prevailing in this part of
Cook's Straits the greater part of the year are from
the south and south-east, and often increase to heavy
gales, augmenting the rush of water through the
straits, and making considerable inroads on the coast.
Port Nicholson was doubtless thus formed, and the
general aspect of the foreland, in which the harboijr
is situated, bears decided proof of the wear and tear
of the coasts. At the head of the harbour the hills

CHAP. III.] PORT NICHOLSON. 69

of which Cape Te-ra-witi is the outermost point,
and those which form the eastern boundary, leave
between them a triangular space, formed of alluvial
land brought down by the river Eritonga, or Hutt.
A sandy beach, two miles and a half in length,
borders this alluvial flat, from which the water
shoals to some distance. In consequence of its be-
ing opposite to the entrance of the harbour, a heavy
surf is found here during southerly winds. The
apex of this delta is about seven miles from the
beach, where the hills approach each other and form
the gorge of the river. At a distance of about forty
miles a range of hills, which early in autumn are
covered with snow, shuts in the view. These moun-
tains— the Tararua range — run north and south,
and are therefore best seen from off Entry Island,
or Kapiti. They extend towards the centre of the
northern island, and are connected, by the Rua
Wahine range, with the group of the Ruapahu and
Tongariro. To the westward of this range, that is,
from the centre of the island towards Cape Egmont,
the land is comparatively flat, with slight undula-
tions, Mount Egmont excepted, which stands much
isolated.

The hills which bound Port Nicholson to the
westward, and terminate at Cape Te-ra-witi, and
those which bound it to the eastward, and terminate
at Baring's Heads, are branches of the Tararua
range.

Their geological structure is argillaceous schist,
interrupted, especially on the western shore, by

70 EARTHQUAKES. [PART I.

bulky and irregular dikes of red, black, or greenish
Lydian stone. Sometimes the clay is more quartzose
and granular. This latter I observed on the Tara-
rua Mountains, where it forms a good stone for
building purposes. There are also found other
trappean rocks about twenty miles up the valley,
and on the banks of the river Hutt.

Notwithstanding the very early formation of these
schistous and trappean rocks, shocks of earthquakes
are sometimes felt at Port Nicholson. They are
generally very slight.1

1 Several shocks were felt in May, 1840. " The first move-
ment," says the Port Nicholson Gazette, of May 30, 1840, "took
place at about twenty minutes to five o'clock on the morning of the
26th ; the second, an hour later. The following night there was
another slight shock, and after that several more, which, however,
were so slight as to have been felt by few. The first shock was
by far the severest and longest in duration ; it was not, however,
the cause of any mischief, though it alarmed some of the inhabit-
ants. It appears to have been nearly equally felt all around Port
Nicholson.

" We did not notice anything unusual in the state of the atmo-
sphere, nor in the Appearance of the sky or sea, before the earth-
quake; some persons, however, state they were struck by the re-
markable appearance of the clouds in the direction of the Tararua
range, and others by the stillness of the sea at night-time. We
went out immediately afte<r, or we might almost say during, the
first shock, to observe if anything unusual would present itself to
our attention, but all appeared as usual, and the morning was fine,
clear, quiet, and cool.

" To some the motion appeared from west to east, and to others
from north to south. The first shock appeared to us to undulate
from both of these directions, commencing from north to south,
and ending from west to east ; and the second shock from north to
south, and ending with a motion from east to west. Some persons
declare they distinctly heard sounds which came from the north-
west, like firing cannon ; if so, it is not improbable it will be found

CHAP. III.] PORT NICHOLSON. 71

The best harbour for ships is opposite the em-
bouchure of the river Hutt, and is formed by the
curved peninsula of the western headland. Here
they obtain good holding-ground, with great facili-
ties for discharging their cargoes, and are protected
from the prevailing winds, which are N.W. 200
days in the year, and during the remaining days S.
and S.E. That the harbour is good and convenient
is proved by the fact that more than 200 vessels
have entered and cleared it in safety, although the
entrance, without the assistance of charts, is some-
what difficult, and no care has been taken to erect a
lighthouse. The boundary hills, both to the east
and west of the basin of Port Nicholson, rise abruptly
from the water's edge : but in that peninsular part
where the town of Wellington has been founded,
there is a strip of flat land at their base, about one-
third of a. mile broad, consisting of a soil composed
of sand, shells, shingle, and vegetable earth, and ex-
tending to the western headland of the harbour,

that the volcano at Mount Egmont has again burst forth, or that
the volcano in the interior has increased in its activity. We
should like to learn whether this earthquake was felt in other parts
of the island."

Mount Egmont, as we shall afterwards see, shows no signs of
recent activity, and it is more probable that these shocks proceeded
along the mountain-chain of the Ruawahine and Tararua from the
Tongariro, which mountain and the country surrounding it are
the very centre of modern igneous powers.

Earthquakes, indeed, are often ftlt in the middle island ; the
European settlers experienced them at Queen Charlotte's Sound
and Te-awa-iti, and a rather severe shock was felt in Cloudy Bay
on the 29th of August, 1839.

72 ERITONGA RIVER. [PART I.

where the hills are low and undulating. At the
town of Wellington there is consequently a long
line of water-frontage, with deep water at a few
yards from the shore.

The neck of land between the island of Mana and
Port Nicholson consists of hills, with deep ravines,
intersected by watercourses, where the natives have
some plantations. Of similar configuration is the
neck of land separating the port from Wairarapa, or
Palliser Bay. At high-water the passage from
Wellington to the head of the bay was impassable,
but since I left Port Nicholson a road has been
constructed, connecting the valley of the Hutt im-
mediately with the town. A road has also been
made across the neck of land to the Pararua, a river
which discharges itself into Cook's Straits opposite
the island of Mana.

Having on a subsequent occasion (August, 1840)
explored the valley of the Eritonga, I will here give
a description of that river. My intention was to
have crossed the snowy mountains which are seen
to the northward of Port Nicholson, and to have
entered the valley of the Manawatu, which I was
told by the natives approaches those mountains in
its long and serpentine course, forming a fertile
valley, and afterwards discharging itself into Cook's
Straits. This I was unable to accomplish, from the
difficulties presented by the heavy forest and under-
wood, although surveyors' lines had been cut for
about twenty miles up the valley, from the necessity of

CHAP. III.] ERITONGA RIVER. 73

carrying with us all our provisions, but chiefly from
the unfavourable season at which I undertook the
journey, and in which I had to contend with pour-
ing rains and heavy freshes in the river. Enough,
however, was explored to convince me that, although
the crowd of mountains around Port Nicholson was
remarkable, and the land very thickly wooded, steady
industry and perseverance would find a sufficient
extent of available land for the support of a town,
although connection with a larger agricultural
district would be indispensable. Such a district I
had already pointed out in the country to the west-
ward of the river Wanganui, comprising the level
and undulating land at the base of Mount Taranaki.
I started from Port Nicholson on the 30th of
July, 1840. All my companions were Europeans,
as I could not obtain the services of any natives.
This, however, was of no consequence, as they knew
the valley as little as myself, never having penetrated
far for fear of the Nga-te-Kahohunu tribe, the former
proprietors of the place, and their greatest enemies.
The river Eritonga forms at its outlet a broad basin
in the sandy downs of the coast, and is joined, not
far from its mouth, by three tributaries, the Okatu,
Ernotu, and Waiwatu. During flood-tide it is
easily entered by large boats, which can go up for
about six miles, when the shallowness of the water,
and the danger arising from the snags which are
imbedded in its bottom, prevent their farther pro-
gress. I followed the lines which the surveyors had

74 ERITONGA VALLEY. [PART I.

undertaken to cut along the right bank of the river,
and which soon approach the hills that bound the
valley to the westward. Our road lay over flat
alluvial land, covered to a breadth of about four
miles from the sea-shore with a recent but thick
growth of underwood. Amongst the trees \vas one
which, on being pierced, yielded about half a wine-
glass-full of a well-flavoured milk. I am unable to
say whether this tree, of which I saw only two
specimens in Port Nicholson, and those of a small
size, belongs to the same family as the cow-tree of
Guiana (Galactodendrum), of which Humboldt has
given so graphic a description.

It having at that time been determined to place
the town of Wellington on the banks of the river
Hutt, I found many of the settlers busily occupied
clearing the ground, although it was still very early
in the morning. The first colonists at Port Nichol-
son were imbued with an excellent spirit of industry
and enterprise ; and it was only to be regretted that,
from the land not being yet measured out, the
colonists did not know whether they should be
allowed to retain the spot which they might choose
and begin to cultivate, and thus was wanting the
principal stimulant for exerting themselves, and
thereby fulfilling the first demand on a new colony,
namely, of producing in the shortest possible time a
sufficient supply for its own consumption.

Higher up the valley the alluvial land is covered
with trees, of which the rimu and kahikatea pines

CHAP. III.] ERITONGA VALLEY. 75

are especially remarkable for their size. Both belong
to the genus Dacrydium. The former is one of the
most beautiful trees imaginable, particularly when
young, as at that time its branches bend gracefully
downwards, like those of the weeping-willow. This
is the pine from the branches of which Captain
Cook made spruce-beer. Another tree common in
this part of the valley is the pukatea, and is easily
known by its trunk, which rapidly diminishes in
diameter from the ground upwards. The leaves are
thick, serrated, and of a glossy green, and it belongs
to the laurel tribe. I am not aware that it has yet
been described by any writer. Its wood is white,
and resembles that of the beech-tree. The rata also
is common (Metrosideros robusta). It is the king
of the New Zealand trees, and has the hardest and
most durable wood. ' In the evenings we always
looked for this tree, in order to get some of its peal-
ing and friable bark, the lower layers of which are
found in a dry state, and were used by us for tinder.
These larger trees spread over a number of smaller
ones of various descriptions.

About seven miles from the beach the hills which
enclose the Hutt approach near each other, the river
keeping close under the western range, which slopes
with a steep declivity to its bed. The sides of the
hills are here strewed over with sharp-edged frag-
ments of clay-slate, intermixed with vegetable earth,
which nourishes a vigorous vegetation, but no species

76 ERITONGA VALLEY. [PART 1.

predominates sufficiently to give a distinct character
to the forest.

Up to this place the river has an average depth of
from two to three feet. In rainy weather it often
swells suddenly, from the narrowness of the valley
through which it flows, and from the large supply
rapidly brought down from the hills by a number
of lateral tributaries. The banks near its outlet are
quickly overflowed ; and these sudden inundations,
after a few hours' rain, have several times taken the
settlers lower down by surprise. The river at
present meets with many impediments in its course
from snags, and is capable of great improvement
in this respect.

In the gorge, which, as I have stated, forms the
apex of the alluvial triangle of the Eritonga, the hills
were almost perpendicular ; and, in order to avoid a
tedious and fatiguing road, we got into a small punt,
which had been brought up thus far for the use of
the surveyors. We landed again about half a mile
higher up. This part of the river was truly pic-
turesque. The right bank was steep and abrupt,
nevertheless it was covered with trees overhanging
the river. That beautiful bird the large-crested
cormorant 1 is found here in great numbers among
the higher branches of the trees. It feeds upon eels
and a small kind of fish with which the Eritonga
abounds. They are social birds, and many of their

! Phalacrocorax punctatus.

CHAP. III.J ERITONGA VALLEY. 77

nests are seen together on a tree, which is always
sure to be the one most difficult of access. The un-
broken stillness of a New Zealand forest is remark-
able : the cormorants themselves have something
solemn in their aspect, and are called by the New
Zealanders kauwau, or the preachers. Sometimes,
indeed, the mako-mako1 pours forth at long intervals
its melodious notes ; or perhaps a hawk2 is seen
watching the movements of a smaller bird ; or the
neat fan-tail flycatcher busy in the lower branches.
The vegetation of New Zealand is nourished by the
constant moisture, and, although remarkable for the
freshness of its verdure, there is not much variety,
considering the extent of the island. But of birds
and animals the number of species is still more
limited ; in fact, fewer varieties are found in New
Zealand, in comparison to its area, than in any other
country.

We encamped for the night on a sandbank,
where we found plenty of dry drift-wood. From
this place, where the valley widens a little, the
river follows the western hills, and at its freshes
overflows the left shore, which was covered with
the shrublike veronica. Near the eastern hills
the dark-green foliage and reddish bark of the
totara pine impressed the landscape at once with a
distinct feature.

The following day we crossed and recrossed the
river six times. Its depth is very unequal, and
1 Philedon Dumerilii. 2 Falco brunnea.

78 ERITONGA RIVER. [PART I.

often came up to our middle. It is very rapid in
its course, and, although in many places not more
than thirty yards in breadth, its broad bed, strewed
over with large boulders of basaltic rock, proves
that this child of the mountains does not always
confine itself within such narrow limits. At this
place its course is greatly obstructed by totara-trees
of immense dimensions : two or three are often piled
one above the other, showing how high the river
occasionally rises. About twenty-five miles from its
outlet, on the right shore, was a steep rocky bluff, of
a hard trap-rock, over which fell two cascades.

Higher up, the banks of the river show by their
vertical section the manner in which this valley has
been formed. An argillaceous slate is overlaid by a
layer of boulders and pebbles, of trappean formation,
from ten to twelve feet in thickness. This forma-
tion extends to the foot of the mountains, and proves
that the level of the water in the Eritonga was
formerly much higher than it now is. This is
especially seen a little higher up. On the slopes of
the lateral hills platforms are found, now on the
right, now on the left side of the river, according
to its windings, their elevation on each side being
the same. They extend a square mile or more in
area, and are strewed over with boulders and water-
worn pebbles.

I may here observe that the coast near Palliser
Bay has a terraced appearance, corresponding pro-
bably in level with that just described, for the origin

CHAP. III.J ERITONGA VALLEY. 79

of which we must look not in the subsidence of the
waters, but in a rise of the land after an interval of
repose. These terraces, both on the banks of the
river and on the sea-coast, are far too elevated
for the highest floods or tides ever to have reached
them.

Some of the most valuable land in this part of
the valley is found on these platforms: a thick
mould, or clayey soil, covers the boulders. The
forest is very open, and in some parts consists almost
entirely of tawai- trees, and in others of the totara.
The totara pine is a very stately tree : its stem is
generally five or six feet in diameter, and is without
branches for about sixty feet above the ground. The
branches spring from the stem at an acute angle,
and form several crowns at some distance from each
other. The bark is thin, of a reddish colour, and
generally peals off in longitudinal stripes. Its leaves
are lanceolate and short : they are of a dark-green
colour on the upper surface, and of a sea-green on
the lower. It grows in this valley chiefly in rich
alluvial land, which is exposed at times to inunda-
tions, but it is not found on the lowest banks. In
other parts of the island, however, I have seen the
totara also growing on hills, and it was this pine that
I found occupying the highest elevation on Mount
Egmont, although there it had diminished much in
size, and had become stunted. To the southward of
Mercury Bay, on the eastern coast, and of Kawia,
on the western, the totara is the only tree used by

80 ERITONGA VALLEY. [PART I.

the natives for constructing their canoes. The wood
is very heavy and tough, and its durability is not
impaired, but rather increased, by its lying in the
water. Trees which had been buried in the beds of
rivers, apparently for ages, looked as fresh and un-
injured as if they had been recently felled. Of the
different kinds of timber found in New Zealand
totara seems most to resemble our oak in appearance
and quality, and the forest in the valley of the Hutt
will be of great value to the settlement at Port
Nicholson, especially as the trees can easily be
floated down the river during freshes. There are
harder woods in New Zealand than the totara, such
as those of the rata and pohutukana (gen. Metro-
sideros), and of the kahikatoa (Leptospermum), a
moderate-sized tree, covering the lowest banks on
the river Hutt ; but these woods are too hard, and
can only be worked with great labour and expense.

On the fourth day I joined the party of Mr. Deans,
which was employed cutting a line through the
forest that runs on the slope of the western hills.
Heavy showers of rain and freshes in the river
detained us in Mr. Dean's tent for two days : these
we passed as well as we could in shooting pigeons,
which at this season were feeding in great numbers
upon the aromatic berry of the mai pine or the
seeds and leaves of the kahikatoa.

About thirty miles up the river, on a plateau on the
western hills, I saw for the first time traces of the
natives having visited this district before us. At

CHAP. III.] ERITONGA VALLEY. 8l

this spot the trees were half burnt and decaying,
some lying one over the other in disorder, whilst the
white and bleak stems of others were still standing
upright. High fern had sprung up, as is always
the case when a spot has been cleared for the pur-
pose of cultivation. On the opposite bank of the
river a circular stripe was pealed off from the bark
of totara-trees, a general custom with the natives
when they mark and " tapu " a tree for future use.
But in this case they seem to have been prevented
from felling the trees. These marks were doubtless
made while the Nga-te-Kahohunu tribe still pos-
sessed Port Nicholson, before they retired through
the valley to the eastward, and to Palliser Bay,
where they lived for some time in the dark recesses
of the forest, continually issuing from their hiding-
places to harass their enemies. The present in-
habitants of Port Nicholson, whose original dwell-
ing-place was Taranaki, know nothing of the valley
of the Hutt, nor are they aware of the existence of
the totara-forest, their fears having always confined
them to the sea-coast.

This plateau is situated above a perpendicular
cliff of about thirty feet in height. A creek coming
from the westward discharges at this point a con-
siderable body of water into the Eritonga.

During the time we were detained here the wind
was from the south-east ; the thermometer kept a
daily range from 39° to 50° Fahrenheit, and the air
was saturated with humidity. The only place

VOL. I. G

82 THE VALLEY OF [PART I.

where we could enjoy the sun was close to the
river's edge, or upon a tree turned across it, as the
whole place was covered with bush and forest.
Heavy dews fell during the night, and in spite of
the shelter of the tent our blankets were always
wet through in the morning.

Although the weather continued unfavourable,
we were obliged to resume our route on the morn-
ing of August 4th, as our supplies were rapidly
decreasing. Mr. Deans and two of his men joined
my party, making us eight in number. We forded
the river to its left shore, and crossed and recrossed
it that day sixteen times. In one part the river is
shut in by elevated banks about eighteen feet high,
from which the land runs in flats towards the east-
ern and western hills ; here we walked for about a
mile in the bed of the river. The valley is about
two miles and a half broad, and the land of a very
good quality. The forest is again formed of one
sort of tree, tawai, and is open and park-like. A
soft carpet of moss covers the ground in many
places. One species of moss, in the shape of a di-
minutive fern-tree, was very beautiful. The plants
of the lower scale of vegetation, as ferns and mosses,
were plentiful — the moisture which characterises
the winter in New Zealand being particularly
favourable to their growth.

The bed of the river at this point is crossed by
bars of slaty rock, which strike from north-west to
south-east, and dip in some places with a very

CHAP. III.] THE ERITONGA. 83

acute angle to the south-west, and at others stand
nearly perpendicular. The general breadth of the
river had not diminished, but in many places it was
very shallow.

In the afternoon we halted at a place where two
streams joined to form the Eritonga, one coming
from north by west, the other from east by north.
At their junction they appeared to me to be of the
same size, but as we advanced I convinced myself
that the branch from the eastward formed the
principal source.

During the 5th we had heavy showers of rain,
hail, and snow ; the river was swollen and could
not be forded. We were, therefore, obliged to halt
a day, and on the 6th we followed the left stream,
where some flat land extended towards the hills.
Finding that this did not extend far, and that the
hills again descended close to the river's edge, I
ascended one of them with Messrs. Deans and Eck-
ford, to obtain a view of the surrounding country ;
but on reaching the summit, through supplejack
and underwood, we had the mortification to find
that trees obstructed the view in every direction.
It moreover began to rain, and a thick fog enveloped
everything in darkness.

On the weather's clearing up somewhat, we
climbed to the top of a tree, and thence obtained
a view of the snow-covered hills of the Tararua ;
that which appeared the highest, and for which I
resolved to steer, bore north-east. When we came

G 2

84 THE VALLEY OF [PART I.

down the hill, the day was nearly gone, and we re-
turned to our old shed at the junction of the streams.
Here we were again detained for a day, as the river
was still deep and rapid, and some of our party
could not swim. The freshes, however, decreased
rapidly during the night of the 7th ; we therefore
forded the eastern branch, and followed its course
through a district covered with tawai-forest. The
river, which is here confined between high shores,
preserves the same breadth, but is of greater depth.
On the opposite shore, which likewise forms a pla-
teau, I observed the rimu pine in great abundance.
The section of the cliffy banks shows the same form-
ation as that I have already described, with boulders
and pebbles above ; but the slate below has assumed
a blue colour. We walked for nearly four miles
on the flat, which is about a mile in breadth, but
were stopped by a sudden curve of the river to the
westward. On its right shore the hills were again
precipitous to the height of several hundred feet ;
the force of the current in its winding course has
undermined them, occasioning frequent slips. The
left shore is low, and bears sufficient marks of its
being very often overflowed.

I at first thought that the two branches which
I have mentioned as forming the Eritonga were
branches of one and the same stream, having the
flat which we had passed as an island between
them ; but this is not the case ; the left arm either
• rises in or flows through some swamp, as its waters

CHAP. III.] THE ERITONGA. 85

had the brown colour peculiar to streams passing
through swampy ground. I considered that we
were now about fifty miles from the sea. In the
bed of the river we had the satisfaction of seeing
the Tararua range very near to us. A creek here
joined the river from the eastward ; it appeared to
come straight from the mountains, and I therefore
determined to follow itg^ For this purpose we had
to cross the Eritonga, which we could not have
managed had not a newly-t^fifooted mai, which had
fallen across it, formed a natural bridge. After
scrambling for two hours through dense underwood
and a soft alluvial soil, we reached the creek, which
we crossed, and on the banks of which we en-
camped.

On our route thi|jjday we had seen traces of na-
tives ; — a footpath coining from the eastward, al-
though marked only by the half-broken branches
of shrubs (a common mode among the natives of
pointing out a path through the bush), had been
trodden about a year ago, if the appearance of the
broken twigs did not deceive me. We had also
sure indications that wild pigs were common in the
forest. On the sandy banks of the Eritonga we
observed the footmarks of dogs and cats, but higher
up those of the. pigs only were discernible; and
from the direction of their paths, which are as well
marked as those of men, although more winding, I
concluded that they must have found their way to
this place not from Port Nicholson, but from Pal-

86 THE VALLEY OF [PART I.

liser Bay, or some other place on the east coast.
The introduction of the carnivorous dog and cat
into New Zealand has had a curious and fatal effect
on the feathered races. On the breaking up of the
tribes these animals were dispersed into the forest,
which afforded nothing for their support but the
birds, whose number has greatly decreased in conse-
quence, as can be clearly proved, especially as some
— such as the rails — possess very limited powers of
flight, and one class, the apterix, cannot fly at all, for
the very sufficient reason that it has no wings. We
should have been very glad to have fallen in with
some natives, or with some of the quadruped rovers
of the forest ; the latter would have given us the
means of prolonging our tour, and the former
might have shown us the rcvad to some land un-
known. We, however, saw neither man nor beast ;
and although the natives from the east coast may
sometimes wander in this direction from Cook's
Straits ; and although it may be true, as I have been
told by a native of Hauriri, or Hawke's Bay, that
from a range of hills near that bay may be seen the
fires of Rauparaha in Kapiti ; yet, from all I have
seen in New Zealand, I am convinced that the for-
midable pictures of bush-natives which have been
drawn are purely the result of imagination. The
natives in general are much too civilised and social,
and know their own interests too well, to live in a
gloomy and inhospitable forest. It is true, indeed,
that excursions for surprising and robbing neigh-

CHAP. III.] THE ER1TONGA. 87

bouring tribes are, or rather were, frequent ; and in
that manner the natives become acquainted with
the most secret recesses of the country : but on such
occasions they always return to their settlements.

We had now arrived at the foot of some low
hills, which formed the fore-hills of the Tararua
range, and were covered with fern, manuka, and
the burnt remains of a forest. They were of a
gentle slope, with a clayey soil. In the evening we
had a fine view from them of a range of snowy
hills : we therefore descended on the following day
into a deep valley, which separated us from this
range. In the valley flowed the creek which I have
before mentioned. We afterwards ascended a ridge
which was very open, and covered with high ana*
straight trees. Thus far the weather had favoured
us, but it now again became bad, and thick clouds
reposed upon the heights. We managed, however,
to reach the summit towards evening. The cold
now became very sensible ; the thermometer stood
at 37° Fahrenheit, and in the ravines and on the
branches of trees there was plenty of snow. I could
by no means determine where I actually was, as we
were unable to distinguish the objects many yards
from us ; and besides, the whole range was so
covered with high trees as to have prevented us
from having any view had the weather been clear.
It froze in the night, and more snow fell ; and
when I awoke in the morning the thermometer
stood at the freezing-point.

88 THE TARARUA RANGE. [PART I.

The ridge which we had yesterday ascended
branches off in a westerly direction from the main
range, which runs nearly north and south.

We this day followed the range to the north-
ward, in which direction I had seen a pyramidical
elevation towering somewhat higher than the rest.
Large trees which had been blown down obstructed
our path, a proof of the heavy gales which some-
times rage here. As we ascended we found the
snow in greater quantity. The weather was a
little clearer, and on reaching the highest summit
I climbed up a tree and saw somewhat of the sur-
rounding country. The ridge on which we were
ran to the southward ; its limits were enveloped in
clouds. In the direction of west-by-south I distin-
guished Kapiti, or Entry Island, about seventy miles
distant. Several ranges of hills separated us from
the sea. The hills sweep round, and terminate, as
it appeared to me, in a wooded promontory at
Otaki, twenty miles to the northward of Kapiti.
To the eastward I saw another range of hills run-
ning nearly parallel to that on which we were, and
separated from it by a deep and narrow chasm. In
looking into the valley of the Eritonga I saw that
the whole was covered with wood ; only a small
stripe of its waters was visible. Port Nicholson
was hid from our view by the eastern hills. The
land in the upper part of the valley was composed
of low hills, and I distinguished a swamp about
three miles in circumference. The character of the

CHAP. III.] ROADS. 89

whole was in the highest degree mountainous, and
some time must pass before all the valleys, gorges,
and ravines can be explored, or rendered accessible.
Of the practicability of joining the valley of the
Hutt by means of a road with Hawke's Bay and
the valley of the Manawatu, I have no doubt ; but
it can only be done when the colony is in a much
more advanced state, and when labour is more
abundant and cheaper.

Our stock of provisions was so much exhausted,
that we could not safely pursue our route in the
hope of finding a way out of this wilderness ; I
therefore determined to return by the road by which
we had come. This we accomplished with some
variations, and arrived at Port Nicholson on the
14th of August, after an absence of sixteen days.

From the hills surrounding Port Nicholson I
added to my collection a very curious bird, which
before was only imperfectly known. This is the
bird whose white-tipped tail-feathers are so highly
prized by the natives, and are used as ornaments
for the head in all parts of the island. But the
bird, according to the accounts of the natives, with
which my own observation agrees, has a very nar-
row geographical locality, as it is only found in
the deepest recesses of the primeval forest covering
the hills around Port Nicholson, and between the
latter place and Hawke's Bay. It is called by the
natives Uia, and was received into the ornithological
system under the name of Neomorpha Gouldii. It

90 THE UIA. [PART i.

has been depicted by Mr. Gould, in Part III. of his
very splendid work, ' The Birds of Australia,'
from specimens which I sent to him. The great
difference which exists in the shape of the bill in
the male and female birds induced Mr. Gould for-
merly to regard them as two distinct species, to
which he gave the names Neomorpha crassirostris
and acutirostris ; but it is now well known that
there exists a whole tribe of birds showing the same
generic difference. This bird is of the size of a
magpie : its plumage is of a dark glossy black, in-
clining to a green metallic lustre. The ends of its
tail-feathers are tipped with white for about three-
quarters of an inch ; the bill is white, rather darker
at its base, where it has two wattles of a rich orange
colour — a peculiarity of structure which several
birds of New Zealand possess.

The male bird has a short, straight, and strong
beak, but that of the female is much longer, and
forms a segment of a circle.

Accompanied by a native belonging to the tribe
of the former inhabitants of Port Nicholson, the
Nga-te-Kahohunu, and now a slave, the only per-
son I was told who understood the art of decoying
uias, I* set out for the hills, and, after a long day's
walk, had the pleasure of seeing that the continued
loud and shrill whistling of my guide, uia, uia, uia,
in imitation of the note of the birds, had attracted
four, which alighted on the lower branches of the
trees near him. They came silently and with a

CHAP. III.] ABORIGINES. 91

brisk flight. I fired and killed two or three of them,
but generally they come so near that the natives kill
them with sticks, in order not to injure the precious
tail-feathers.

In the stomachs of these birds I found fruits of
the Elaeocarpus hinau, and also coleopterous and
dipterous insects. Mr. Gould's drawing of this bird
is most characteristic ; but the tree on which he has
placed it, the Corynocarpus Isevigata, is not found
in the forest, which is the only habitation of this
bird, but grows in open places near the coast.

The narrow geographical range of this bird,
which I have already mentioned, is exceedingly
curious ; its extinction, for that reason, may not per-
haps be very far distant, unless the bird is to be
found in the middle island, which the natives, how-
ever, deny to be the case.

The natives in Port Nicholson belong to the large
nation of the Nga-te-awa (river people), and are
about 1500 in number. They are subdivided into
several smaller tribes, living in the different coves
of the harbour. The present natives are not the an-
cient inhabitants of the place, but seized it from a
tribe called the Nga-te-Kahohunu, after they had
themselves been driven from their ancient homes at
the foot of Mount Egmont. They received us at
our arrival with every mark of friendship, listened
to and discussed the subject of our coming among
them with great discretion and good judgment, and
agreed at last to sell the land ; not, however, without

92 NATIVE CHIEFS. [PART I.

a lively opposition having been offered by a chief,
Puakawa (Bitter Sowthistle), who, with simple and
solemn eloquence, warned his people of the cupidity
of Europeans, pointed to the fate of the Tasmanians
and Australians, and pictured a similar fate as await-
ing his own people : the Europeans promised brother-
hood to them, he said, but they were men who spoke
with the lips only (tangata ngutu kau). This chief,
however, was outvoted ; partly through the impres-
sion which our trade had made on the rest, — partly,
I believe, by a higher motive, the desire of acquiring
civilization, protection, and instruction from a Eu-
ropean colony. Poor Puakawa! During my se-
cond stay at Port Nicholson his mutilated body was
found in a field not far from his own village ; his
head had been cut off and his heart taken away.
Some of the Nga-te-Kahohunu, mindful of the in-
juries they had received, and actuated by feelings of
revenge and envy, which had been again called forth
by the recent sale of Port Nicholson, had sallied
from the hilly forest, and had treacherously killed
the chief, who, although at first opposing the settle-
ment of the Europeans, had ever afterwards been
their sincere friend. About forty men penetrated
into the woods to trace the murderers, but they did
not succeed in overtaking them, although absent for
a fortnight. On their return a great many speeches
were made, and it was interesting to see the orators
strutting with long strides and lively gesticulations,
showing how nature led them to employ all those

CHAP. III.] NATIVE CHIEFS. 93

modes of eloquence which with us are only attained
by study. One tribe at Port Nicholson had refused
to accompany the excursion ; and on the return of the
party I had an opportunity of observing the exercise
of that feeble authority which, amongst barbarous
nations, is possessed by one tribe over another.
Those who had marched to revenge the death of
the chief went to the village of the opposite party,
many of whom had become Christians, took away
their pigs and provisions, and feasted upon the pro-
duce of their land. Being in the minority, they
could offer no resistance.

The most influential and active chiefs in Port
Nicholson were E Puni, a man of a very mild and
graceful disposition, and Ware Pouri, his nephew,
who was of a noisy and boisterous character. These
two conducted the sale of the territory for the rest ;
but they had to consult the wishes of a very aged
man, Matangi, who, with white hair and beard, but
with a frame still erect and powerful, formed a link
between the warriors and cannibals of former times
and the present generation, who, emerging from
barbarism, were beginning to turn their minds to
peaceful pursuits, and to embrace the tenets of Chris-
tianity. Matangi had been left heir to Port Nichol-
son by two tribes, also belonging to the Nga-te-awa
nation, who had been the most powerful, after the
land had been wrested from the Nga-te-Kahohunu,
but had emigrated to the Chatham Islands. Some
few individuals of these tribes who are called the

94 CLOUDY BAY. [PART I.

Nga-te-Motunga and Nga-te-Tama, still remained
at Port Nicholson.

Up to the present time, nearly three years since
the purchase, there has not been a single serious
misunderstanding between the natives and the Eu-
ropean settlers ; and my hope that, by a prudent ma-
nagement and forbearing treatment, the evils would
be avoided which have everywhere else followed in
the train of English colonization, has not as yet
been disappointed : nor is it unworthy of remark,
that the tribes at Port Nicholson had had very
little intercourse with Europeans before our arrival
at that place, their only visitor having been a mis-
sionary from the Bay of Islands a short time before,
for the purpose of preventing the natives from con-
cluding a "treaty with the Company's agent, or,
rather, to secure the best parts of the land, not
indeed for the church, but merely for himself.

We left Port Nicholson for Cloudy Bay on Octo-
ber the 4th, with a light northerly wind. When
we came outside the harbour we had squalls, and
afterwards a fine breeze from the north-west, which
was soon succeeded by a calm ; but a fresh breeze
springing up, we anchored in the afternoon at the
entrance to Cloudy Bay, We found there the
barque Honduras, of London, which had come from
a whaling establishment at Otago, on the eastern
coast of the middle island, and was completing her
cargo at Cloudy Bay. We stayed here until the 13th
of October, and then sailed for Te-awa-iti, in order

CHAP. III.] CLOUDY BAY. 95

to take in Mr. Barret, an old trader and whaler,
who was to accompany us to Taranaki. From the
entrance of Cloudy Bay to the south entrance of
Tory Channel the distance is about twenty miles.
The coast between these points is very bold, from
200 to 300 feet high, and the sea breaks against the
weather-worn rocks with tremendous violence. The
aspect of the coast is dreary and barren, the forma-
tion being a yellow schistous clay. In the whaling
season the boats, running out from Te-awa-iti and
Cloudy Bay harbours, are sometimes surprised by a
gale, and obliged to run ashore, where they find
scanty shelter in a small inlet called Barret's, or in
another called Jackson's Boat Harbour, where fre-
quently they are windbound for several days, and
suffer much from want of provisions, their only re-
source being a few shell-fish, and some penguins
which inhabit the hollows of the rocks. All the
year round whale-boats may be seen running to and
fro between Cloudy Bay and Te-awa-iti, Entry Island
and Port Nicholson, and other parts of the coast,
trading for provisions or cruising for whales. In
calm weather the native ventures out in his war
canoe, now, happily, seldom bent on warlike enter-
prises, but on peaceful visits to his friends and rela-
tions. As the prominent points of this coast are
therefore well known to whalers, they have given
names to all, which I shall adopt in concisely de-
scribing them. At a subsequent period I had a run
in a whale-boat from Te-awa-iti to Cloudy Bay on a

96 WHALING HARBOURS. [PART I.

medical visit, and had a good opportunity for in-
specting the coast. A ship must keep clear of the
land on account of some sunken rocks. After leav-
ing Port Underwood we may pass in a boat between
the northern head of the harbour and an irregular
mass of rocks called the Coombe Rocks. About
two miles from this point the shore forms a small
bight, called Raumoa, or Fighting Bay, where at all
times the tide produces a heavy swell. This place
is of some renown in the history of Cook's Straits.
When Rauparaha and the Nga-te-awa tribes had,
after a sanguinary contest, driven away from these
shores the Ngaheitao, the latter, who had settled on
the eastern shore of the middle island, often re-
turned in hostile parties to revenge the loss of their
country. In one of these excursions, Tairoa, the
chief of the Ngaheitao, with many of his followers,
had been enclosed by the canoes of the enemy in
this bight, from which there is no retreat inland.
He saw nothing but certain death before him; but
Rauparaha, the leader of his opponents, deferred the
attack on account of a bad dream ; a fog came on in
the morning, and Tairoa made his escape, to the
great disappointment of his enemies.

The next shallow bight of the coast is called
Barret's Boat Harbour. Although boats must be
hauled up over fearful rocks, this place has often
given shelter to whale-boats in distress. From this
point a difficult path leads into Tory Channel op-
posite to Te-awa-iti. Run-under Point is a rocky
promontory half way between Tory Channel and

CHAP. III.] WHALING HARBOURS. 97

Cloudy Bay : thence the coast sweeps round in a
large curve, forming Island Bay, so called from a
small rocky isle near the southern shore, called
Glasgow Island, from the name of a brig which rode
out a heavy gale there. A furious tide sets into this
bay, agitating the water even in calm weather.

Jackson's Boat Harbour, the next inlet between
the rocks, affords, if possible, less shelter than Bar-
ret's Bight.

Before reaching the southern head of Tory
Channel we pass Lucky Bay, which is of a similar
aspect. The southern head of the entrance to Tory
Channel forms a promontory, and is remarkable
for the broken appearance of the rocks of which it
consists. Through some excavations the waves rush
from Cook's Straits into this channel.

When we were off the mouth of the channel we
had a moderate south-east wind, and waited for the
ebb-tide. As the tide sets into this narrow entrance
with great force and velocity, it must always be taken
into consideration in running a vessel into the chan-
nel. The Honduras had come in the day before,
during a calm, with the flood-tide, and two boats
towing ahead, yet she struck on a rock off the
northern head and became leaky. A pilot is very
necessary, and generally one will come off from
Te-awa-iti on a gun being fired outside the head.

Ten or twelve years ago the southern headland
of Tory Channel was the scene of a sanguinary
contest between the original natives of the channel,

VOL. i. H

98 ISLAND OF ARAPAOA. [PART I.

the Nga-te-Kahohunu, the same who originally
inhabited Port Nicholson, and the tribes of the
Nga-te-awa. Rauparaha, at the head of the latter
people, earned here inglorious laurels by shutting
up his opponents on a narrow tongue of land, and
then exterminating them.

The next destination of the Tory was Kapiti, or
Entry Island, in Cook's Straits, and, leaving
Te-awa-iti for that place on the 15th of October,
we were towed by two boats round the northern
headland of the channel. The coast of the island of
Arapaoa to Cape Komaru, the eastern headland of
Queen Charlotte's Sound, runs nearly in a straight
line, and is extremely steep, on which account many
slips have taken place. It is scarcely possible to find
a more iron-bound shore. At four o'clock in the
afternoon Cape Komaru bore N. W. by N. ^ N. ;
the island of Kapiti, N.N.E. J E. ; the island of
Mana, N.E. by E. ; Cape Terawiti (the Rising
Sun), S.E. by S. i S. ; Point Jackson, W.N.W.

During the night the breeze fell, and we were
beating about between Mana and the Two Brothers.
At three o'clock on the following day we anchored
between Kapiti and the mainland, to the north-
ward of a small rocky island called Tokomapura, or
Evans's Island, which is inhabited by an English
whaling-party. A little to the eastward of the
southern end of Kapiti are two other small islands :
the outermost is called Tauramoria, or Rauparaha's
Island, from its being the usual place of abode of

CHAP, in.] EVANS'S ISLAND. 99

that chief; it is sometimes called Mayhew's Island,
after an American who has a whaling-party there.
The innermost island is smaller, and is called Motu
Narara; it is separated from the southern end of
Kapiti by a narrow channel, which, however, is deep
enough for small vessels. This island is also called
Hiko's Island, on account of this chief's residing
there. On this island also there is a whaling-party
of Americans. As soon as we had anchored, a boat
with whalers came off from Evans's Island, as well
as a canoe manned by natives. We learnt from
them that a battle had been fought in the morning
on the sandy beach of the mainland, from which
we were about three miles distant, between people
of the Nga-te-awa tribe, who have there a large
fortified village called Waikanahi, and another
tribe called the Nga-te-raukaua, who several years
ago came from the interior, and settled on the shores
of Cook's Straits. They have a village at Otaki,
about fifteen miles to the northward of Waikanahi.
We heard that many had been killed and wounded
in the battle ; that the Nga-te-raukaua had been
defeated, and had retreated. My duties as a medical
man called me ashore, but the roughness of the sea
prevented me from landing. Rauparaha sent a mes-
sage, requesting Colonel Wakefield to come to him
on Evans's Island, as he did not dare to visit our
ship, for fear the natives we had on board might
prove to be his enemies. We went on shore in the
afternoon, and found Rauparaha sitting on the

H 2

100 WARS OF THE [PART I.

ground, with his wife Etope, wrapped up in mats
and blankets, and painted with red ochre. He is
between fifty and sixty years old, with remarkably
Jewish features, an aquiline nose, and a cunning
physiognomy. His manner was very restless ; he
was rather sparing of his words, and seemed much
depressed at the issue of the battle. He was very
generally considered to have been the instigator of
this contest, and the secret supporter of the Nga-te-
raukaua. However, he denied the charge, and said
he wished for peace. There seemed, however, to be
no reason to doubt the truth of the accusation, as
he bears an old hatred to the Nga-te-awa, although
belonging to the same tribe ; not, however, to that
clan of it which was engaged in this fray. At all
events, Rauparaha seemed in this case to have played
the dangerous game of keeping on good terms with
both parties. He had gone out on the morning of
the battle in his canoe towards Waikanahi to await
the issue, and, perhaps, to partake of the spoil ; but
he returned when he saw that the Nga-te-awa de-
fended themselves manfully against the superior
force of the Nga-te-raukaua. Rauparaha is related
to the latter, through his present wife ; but many
others of his clan, amongst them E Hiko and
Rangihiro, are more closely connected with the Nga-
te-awa, and are unwilling to join Rauparaha in
his enmity against them. On the morning of the
affray Hiko had been sent for to prevent the battle.
This chief is,;tAby his father Tupahi (who visited

CHAP. III.] NATIVE TRIBES. 101

England), related to the Nga-te-raukaua, and by
his wife to the other tribes of the Nga-te-awa, and,
from his relationship to both, is always chosen as
peacemaker, for which office, moreover, he is well
qualified by personal inclination and talent. In this
case, however, he did not succeed, and soon returned
to his own island.

Such is man in his barbarous state! Though
endowed with many good qualities, his charities are
exclusively confined to his own tribe, which is, in
fact, composed of his blood relations. His neigh-
bours, inhabiting the same land and speaking the
same language with himself, he generally regards
as his natural enemies.

Rauparaha soon left Evans's Island, in order to
go to his own : he promised to come to the ship in
the morning, after we had succeeded in quieting his
fears as to the natives we had on board.

The following morning I went to Waikanahi.
The spot where the affray had taken place presented
a mournful sight: sixteen of the tribe had been
killed in the battle, and many severely wounded.
I was almost the whole day occupied with the latter,
who submitted with great fortitude to the operations
which I found necessary. Only one man, whose
leg was smashed to pieces, preferred death to ampu-
tation. In bearing pain the New Zealander is cer-
tainly not inferior to a European, although he does
not show that stoical indifference to suffering so
highly valued by the Indians of America.

102 MEDICAL AID [PART I.

At our arrival on the beach we were welcomed
with a salute of musketry, which continued until
we entered the fencings of the pa.

All the people of the village were assembled ; and
though grief was expressed in every face, they re-
ceived us with the greatest kindness and attention,
and we were obliged to shake hands with everybody.
They regarded us as friends and allies, for we had
brought with us from Te-awa-iti some of their rela-
tions ; and when they saw the medical men of our
party giving assistance to the wounded, their con-
fidence and gratitude were unbounded. Some of the
women gave themselves up to violent expressions of
grief, cutting their faces, arms, and legs, with broken
muscle-shells, and inflicting deep gashes, from which
the blood flowed profusely. We had brought with
us E Patu, the son of a chief in East Bay, whose
uncle had been killed in the battle. We found the
widow standing on the roof of a hut, deploring in a
low strain the loss of her husband. When E Patu
approached she threw herself upon the ground, and,
lying at his feet, related to him, in a funeral song,
how great had been their happiness, how flourish-
ing were their plantations, until the Nga-te-raukaua
had destroyed their peace and bereft her of her
husband. During this time E Patu stood before
her, convulsively throwing his arms backwards and
forwards, and joining in her lamentations.

An old woman, bent down under the burden of
many years, had her arms and face frightfully cut ;

CHAP. III.] TO THE WOUNDED. 103

she was painted with red kokowai, with a wreath of
leaves round her head, and gesticulated and sang in
a similar manner.

In this place there were no wounded, they had
been carried to the principal and most fortified pa,
which lies a little to the northward. This latter
village was very large ; it stood on a sand-hill, and
was well fenced in, and the houses were neatly con-
structed. Everything was kept clean and in good
order, and in this respect it surpassed many villages
in Europe. The population seemed to be nume^
rous, and I estimated it, together with that of the
first-mentioned village, and a third, about a mile
higher up, to amount, on the whole, to 700 souls.
Several native missionaries, some of them liberated
Nga-te-awa slaves, live here ; and the natives had
built a large house, neatly lined with a firm and
tall reed, for their church and meeting-house. At
the time of our visit they were expecting the arrival
of a missionary of the Church of England from the
Bay of Islands, who purposed living amongst them.

The medical aid which they had given to their
wounded was confined to binding the broken limbs
with splints made of the bark of a pine, or of the
strongest part of the flax-leaves, and carefully pro-
tecting the wounds from external injury by means
of hoops. Some of these bandages had been very
well applied.

I went to the beach on the following day to
attend my wounded patients, and to visit the scene

104 ORIGIN OF THE WAR. [PART I.

of battle. This was at the third village, and many
traces of the strife were visible ; trenches were dug
in the sand of the beach, the fences of the village had
been thrown down, and the houses were devastated.
I heard the following particulars relative to the
cause and commencement of the contest : — Several
years ago the Nga-te-raukaua came from the in-
terior, and formed a settlement on the sea-shore.
The whole coast from Taranaki to Port Nicholson
is a weather-beaten lee shore, and the only place
where large ships can with safety anchor is the
roadstead of Kapiti. Not satisfied with a settlement
which they had formed at Otaki, they wanted to
coine nearer to this place of anchorage, for the ad-
vantage of trading, and their aim, during several
years, has been to drive the Nga-te-awa from Wai-
kanahi, which is opposite Kapiti.

It seems that the attack was concerted a few
weeks ago at some funeral festivities celebrated in
the island of Mana, in honour of Waitohi, a very
old woman, who had enjoyed great renown as a
prophetess amongst the different tribes. She was
a relation of Rauparaha, and mother of Rangi-haiata,
another Nga-te-awa chief. At these festivities Nga-
te-raukaua and Nga-te-awa had assembled together
and committed some excesses by killing several
sheep belonging to a European, for the sake of the
wool, which is in great request for interweaving in
their mats. These festivals lasted several weeks,
and during that time it was said Rauparaha con-

CHAP. III.] FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 105

certed with the Nga-te-raukaua to make the attack,
promising them his aid. On their return to Otaki
they passed Waikanahi : the Nga-te-awa expected
an attack ; however, they passed quietly, but re-
turned shortly afterwards. Early before daybreak
they surrounded the village, and one of their num-
ber, entering a hut, asked a boy for a light. No
New Zealander travels so early in the morning with
friendly intentions, and the boy, knowing him to be
one of their enemies, fired at him, and roused the
tribe. The women escaped to the other village, to
obtain aid, and the conflict began. The aggressors
were defeated, and lost sixty men, amongst whom
were several chiefs.

The Nga-te-awa buried their own dead ; and the
improved state of this tribe was shown by the fact
that, instead of feasting on the dead bodies of their
enemies, they buried them, depositing them in one
common grave, together with their muskets, powder,
mats, &c., a generosity and good feeling as unusual
as it was honourable to their character. The grave
of their enemies they enclosed, and made it " tapu."

I saw in Kapiti some people of the Nga-te-rau-
kaua tribe, who had intermarried with the Nga-te-
awa, and lived there ; for it is a general custom that
the husband resides with his wife among her own
people. The country of the former tribe abounds
with excellent flax, and they use it chiefly in the
manufacture of the fine mats, called Kaitaka mats,
which form the principal presents amongst them-

106 NEW ZEALAND MATS. [PART. I.

selves, and are found all over New Zealand. The
fibres of the Phormium tenax take the dye excel-
lently ; and into the borders of these mats figures
are woven, of thread dyed black and red, which very
much resemble the figures in the ancient Mexican
decorations, and are of a very firm texture. There
is much intercourse between the European settlers at
Kapiti and the natives at Otaki, the principal settle-
ment of the Nga-te-raukaua, a trade being carried
on between them in pigs and potatoes : and I must
repeat my assertion that the hatred of the New
Zealander is never directed against the white man,
who may travel where he likes, and is -never molested
unless his own misconduct give rise to a quarrel.

CHAP. 1V.J 107

CHAPTER IV.

Kapiti, or Entry Island. — Mana, or Table Island.

KAPITI — the " Entry Island " of Captain Cook —
stretches from north to south in an irregular and
somewhat oval shape. It consists of a ridge of hills,
rising in some places to the height of 600 feet
above the level of the sea, with some of its peaks of
a pyramidical form. These hills descend abruptly
to the westward and eastward, forming a rocky and
nearly inaccessible shore throughout the greater
part of its extent ; they are intersected by deep ra-
vines, through which small rivulets descend towards
the sea-shore. At the southern extremity the hills
are more undulating, and their ascent not so steep ;
and here the natives have their plantations. At the
north-east end of the island the rock has been wasted
and broken by the violence of the waves ; and its
debris, mixed with sand, vegetable mould, and peb-
bles of pumice-stone, of different colours, brought
down by the Wanganui river from the active vol-
cano Tongariro, in the northern island, forms an
alluvium which girds the north-east end for about
three miles, and is in some parts half a mile broad.
In this beach there is a lagoon about a mile in cir-
cumference, and only separated from the sea by a

108 ENTRY ISLAND. [PART I.

narrow strip of land. The water is brackish, in
consequence of the sea, during heavy gales, being
driven into it. The surrounding ground is some-
what marshy, and is covered with Phormium tenax,
several kinds of rushes, the manuka (which was, at
the time of my visit, in full flower), and an orchi-
daceous plant with fine flesh-coloured blossoms.
The natives are acquainted with the farinaceous
quality of the roots of this plant, and often eat
them.

Kapiti is about twenty-five miles in circumference.
It belongs to the transition formation, and contains
much ancient trap-rock : clay-slate rocks and grey-
wacke are the most common.

The whole island is covered with a very vigorous
vegetation, mostly of trees, amongst which are fine
timber-trees, especially the rata, kahikatea, and rimu.
In the ravines and on the top of the hills there is
a rich vegetable mould, where the plantations of
potatoes, cabbage, turnips, and Indian-corn thrive
well. Coarse grass of several kinds is found in
some spots, affording, with the green bushes, food
for a few head of cattle which were introduced into
the island some years ago.

From the limited extent of this island, as well as
from its formation, it is of small agricultural or
commercial importance. It perhaps, however, de-
serves attention in a military point of view ; and,
together with the three rocky islands at its south
end, has for many years been a very important place

CHAP. IV.] WHALING STATIONS. 109

for the chase of the black whale. In 1839 the pro-
duce of the establishments on these islands was 466
tuns of oil and thirty tons of whalebone, obtained by
twenty-three boats ; of which six belonged to the sta-
tion on Evans's Island ; two to that on Mayhew's, or
Rauparaha's Island ; eight to two other stations at
Kapiti ; and seven to two stations abreast of Mana.
To this quantity must be added the tonguer's oil, so
called from the man who " cuts-in the whale," for
which he is allowed the oil of the tongue, of the
heart, and of the intestines, for his own benefit.
Including this, the whole quantity of oil may be
stated at 500 imperial tuns. The management of
these establishments, with the exception of that of
Mr. Evans, has been on a very bad footing, as the
whalers were paid in ardent spirits and bad slops,
which were charged to them at exorbitant prices.
Mr. Evans, who finds his men in everything, and
pays them wages according to the quantity of oil
they get, furnished one half of the above quantity of
oil, and his establishment is in by far the best order.
When I was on his island a whale was seen several
miles off: in less than a minute several boats were
launched and in full chase. Like all shore-whaling,
however, that of Kapiti is on the decline, and I do
not suppose that the establishment will be kept up
much longer.

The productions of the vegetable and animal king-
dom in Kapiti are precisely the same as those found
on the mainland.

110 LAND-SHARKS. [PART I,

I have already remarked that there are a few head
of cattle upon the island. They thrive well, and
are claimed partly by Rauparaha, partly by E Hiko,
to whom they were given as a present, or in charge,
by Mr. Cooper of Sydney. Owing to the petty
feuds amongst these people, and occasional sales to
other parties, the stock has not increased, although
there are pasture-grounds and food for a much larger
number.

Kapiti and the adjacent islands have been sold
over and over again to different parties, and spots
may be found to which half a dozen different per-
sons lay claim. The chiefs sell their land as many
times as they can, still finding hungry sharks ready
to purchase, though not very liberal in their offers,
who establish by these means some shadow of a
claim. A future investigation into the land- titles
will afford much work and profit to the lawyers.

Fish of many kinds is taken at Kapiti in great
abundance, and will become one day an important;
article of commerce. We caught with the sieve
large quantities of a curious fish, belonging to the
genus Balistes, about a foot long, and with a rough
parchment-like skin of a brownish colour, which
our carpenter used in the place of sand-paper. The
first ray of the dorsal fin moves in a curiously-formed
joint, and the sailors ascribed to it a poisonous
quality. The fish itself afforded a very wholesome
and agreeable food. Herrings, mackerels, gurnets,
flatfish, several kinds of skate, and a variety of other
fish, may be caught here in any quantity.

CHAP. IV.] MOTU NARARA — TAURAMORIA. Ill

To the eastward of the southern end of Kapiti is
the small island of Motu Narara. It is about three-
quarters of a mile in circumference, and composed of
soft yellow slate, which strikes from north-east to
south-west, and dips to the south-east at an angle of
about forty-five degrees. The vegetation is scanty,
and confined to a few bushes of flax, or Euphor-
bium, and a species of Linum with blue flowers.
On the north of this rocky islet is a sandy beach,
on which stand the houses of the Europeans em-
ployed in whaling, and several huts of the natives.

This island is separated only by a narrow channel
from Kapiti, and opposite to it lies a little valley,
where a rivulet has hollowed out a bed in a hard
siliceous rock overlaid by clay-slate. At the outlet
of the rivulet is a native village. The water in the
channel is deep enough for a small vessel.

Motu Narara possesses a spring of fresh water
close to the sea-shore : it is, however, so small, that
the natives generally procure their supplies from
Kapiti.

Separated from this island by a narrow and shal-
low channel, lies Tauramoria, a barren hilly island,
little more than a mile in circumference. It con-
sists of clay-slate, and its shape is that of an obtuse
cone. On its north-west side are some native huts ;
amongst them that of Rauparaha : and on the south-
east side is a whaling establishment. All these
habitations stand on a narrow rocky beach which
girds the island. *fs

112 TABLE ISLAND. [PART I.

To the northward is Evans's Island, the smallest
of all, and a mere bare rock, just large enough to
contain the huts of the whalers ; but it is the most
eligible place for that business.

By these islands and the southern shore of Kapiti
a roadstead is formed, sheltered from the prevailing
north-west winds by Kapiti, and from the south-
east winds by the three islets, and affording a safe
anchorage for vessels. A ship coming from the north-
ward, and passing between the mainland and Kapiti,
can approach E Hiko's Island within about half a
mile, taking care to keep clear of a reef near Evans's
Island ; or may enter from the southward between
Mayhew's and Evans's Islands in a clear channel.

The island of Mana, situated twenty miles to
the southward of Kapiti, was called by Captain
Cook Table Island, from its appearance. It is about
three miles in circumference, and is exactly opposite
to the outlet of the Pararua River, at the distance
of about a mile. Where trees formerly grew, in
the hollows and indentations of the land, the soil
is good; the rest is covered by fern, native and
artificial grasses, and clover, which are all that can
grow in the thin layer of vegetable earth that
scarcely covers the yellow schistous clay of which
the island consists. But this vegetation is suited
for the pasture of sheep, of which there are about
200 on the island, in very good condition. From
this fact we may conclude that the hills of the same
appearance around Port Nicholson are equally well

CHAP. IV.] MANA. 113

adapted for feeding sheep. Besides these sheep the
island yields food to about thirty head of cattle,
which were likewise in capital condition, and to
some horses. Mana was sold some years ago to a
Mr. Bell, who resold it to a Mr. Petersen in Sydney,
under whom it was held by a German farmer.
During our stay, however, it was the subject of a
lawsuit, and was actually in the hands of two
claimants, each of whom tried to ruin the other by
selling the stock. The roadstead of Mana is a very
bad one, being open to the south-east winds, with a
strong tide setting in.

During the month of October the weather was
very moderate. The utmost daily range of the ther-
mometer was between 52° and 67° Fahrenheit, when
the wind blew from the N.W. or N.E. On the
18th and 19th, the wind being from the S.E., the
thermometer at eight in the morning indicated 50°,
and did not rise above 53° as long as the gale lasted.
From the 20th to the 31st we had very strong
breezes with frequent squalls from the N.W. The
thermometer during that time never rose above 60°,
and never fell lower than 56°. At night the tem-
perature was seldom more than three or four degrees
lower than in the day. In a word, the climate
during this month was as moderate as any European
could desire. Rains were frequent ; and almost
continual winds kept the air pure and fresh.

VOL. I.

114 [PART i.

CHAPTER V.

Return to Queen Charlotte's Sound.— West Bay.— East Bay.—
Island of Arapaoa.

WE left the roadstead of Mana on the 31st of Octo-
ber with a N. W. breeze, and steered for the entrance
of Queen Charlotte's Sound, in order to go into East
Bay, as it is called by Captain Cook, where the
Nga-te-awa tribe have several settlements. The
agent of the New Zealand Company had purchased
from those of this tribe who reside at Kapiti all
their remaining claims to the land on both sides of
Cook's Strait, and he was now proceeding to pur-
chase the claims of those residing in East Bay. Te
Patu, whom I have mentioned before, lives at East
Bay, and we took him with us from Waikanahi to
his own settlement. The wind was favourable, and
we crossed the strait in a few hours.

Before noon we had the Two Brothers on our
larboard side : they consisted of rocks clothed with
a thin vegetation. The sea breaks furiously against
them, and access seems difficult. Seals have now
almost disappeared from the coasts of New Zealand,
but a few sometimes resort here : they do not, how-
ever, escape the pursuit of man, who follows them
into their most secluded retreats. At noon we were

CHAP. V.] COAST OF ARAPAOA.

off Cape Komaru, a remarkably steep pyra.
promontory, which cannot be easily mistaken, and
may serve as a safe landmark for ships running into
the north entrance of Cook's Straits. Off this pro-
montory are the White Rocks, just above water,
consisting of the usual yellow schist. The coast of
Arapaoa, towards Queen Charlotte's Sound, is of a
similar formation, with the same strike and dip.
This part of the coast partakes in its general appear-
ance of the character which I have assigned to the
coast in Cook's Straits, being steep and barren.
Nearly opposite the Two Brothers there is a small
beach, called Kapiti Beach, where the natives often
land when they are prevented from crossing the
straits, and reach the head of East Bay by a short
and easy walk. The natives of the latter place
dread this spot, as from it they can be easily sur-
prised by their enemies. A fear was entertained in
Queen Charlotte's Sound that Tairoa, the chief from
Otago, was about to attack the Nga-te-awa tribes ;
and in East Bay the natives were fortifying their
village against a surprise from Kapiti Beach.

When the Tory first came to New Zealand we
entered Queen Charlotte's Sound between Motuara
and Te Katu, or Long Island. This time we left
Te Katu on our starboard side, and I observed that
the shores were steep and scantily covered with
vegetation. A large ship followed in our track from
Mana, and arrived in East Bay a little after the
Tory had cast anchor. She proved to be the Con-

i2

116 EAST BAY. [PART i.

cordia, the first ship sent out hy a Danish company
for the southern whaling-fishery, which, if success-
ful, will be followed by others of that nation, for-
merly so active in the Greenland fishery. Amongst
the nations engaged in the southern fishery the
Americans rank first, as they employ annually 500
vessels, of from 300 to 500 tons each ; the second
place is held by the English, the number of whose
vessels is, if I am rightly informed, 150 ; the French
rank next, having not less than 140 ships. Besides
these there are a few German vessels, chiefly from
Bremen and Hamburgh.

We cast anchor in East Bay, shortly after noon,
near the island of Matapara, which is about the
size of Motuara, and is in the shape of a cone. As
soon as we had anchored the cutter was sent off into
Naruawitu — called by Captain Cook West Bay-
to get a spar for a foreyard. I embraced the oppor-
tunity to visit that bay, and, crossing the sound
with a fine breeze, landed at the decline of day on
the northern arm of West Bay. In Cook's chart
this arm is very correctly laid down, with the ex-
ception that it turns again to the left, and its actual
head is separated from the southern arm only by a
narrow ridge of hills. It seems that Cook did not
explore the head of the bay. We found no suitable
spar, and, the day being nearly gone, we took posses-
sion of some empty huts, which a Mr. L/ove had
built for the men employed in cutting timber, and
splitting staves, of which 100,000 were lying on

CHAP. V.] WEST BAY. 117

the beach. Fine trees surround this bay ; and the
flat land, which was about a square mile in extent,
bore marks of former cultivation ; but the inhabit-
ants have disappeared: they were the tribe called
the Rangitane. All that remains of this once
numerous people are a few slaves belonging to the
Nga-te-awa, who live at the Oieri or Pylorus River.
After a war of extermination the right to West
Bay was made over to another tribe of Nga-te-awa,
who have never occupied the spot.

Our situation was not without the peculiar interest
which an uninhabited land always excites in the
mind. Behind and around us high steep and wooded
hills towered over the bay in a semicircle. The
night was extremely mild and calm ; the air singu-
larly clear and transparent. The sonorous fluting
call of the large parrots, varied by their harsh scream
when, on a sudden alarm, they started over the tops
of the hills, and then returned to rest, were the only
sounds that broke the deep silence. The water of
the bay was as smooth as glass ; for, being sheltered
on all sides, it was unaffected by the winds which
agitated the sea. Sometimes a parrot would perch
on one of the trees embowering our huts, as if curi-
ous to ascertain who had ventured to disturb his
repose. During the night a solitary cry from one
of these birds might be heard from time to time,
after which everything again became quiet. The
sweet song of the mako-mako,1 which I can only
1 Philedun Dumerilii, Lin

118 WEST BAY. [PART i.

compare to that of our nightingale, although I must
confess that the former is simpler, and therefore
more impressive, and the warbling of the tui,1
whose note resembles that of our thrush or black-
bird, cease at the setting of the sun ; but in the
morning, before he is above the horizon, the little
songsters renew their music with increased vivacity,
and their combined tunes form a pleasing concert.
The only inconvenience we suffered was from the
musquittos, which are always most numerous in
places that have been cultivated but afterwards
deserted. Early in the morning of the 2nd of
November we again took to the boat, and ascended
the southern arm of West Bay. This place has a
beach of flat land, similar to that of the northern
arm. Near the beach the land is swampy, and
covered with juncese, but soon ascends, bordered by
the neighbouring hills. Two rivulets of excellent
water discharge themselves into the sea. There
were many fine timber-trees, especially tawai and
pines. While the carpenter and his mates were
occupied in preparing a spar I went up the side of
the hills. The forest is open ; deep layers of decayed
leaves cover the rocks ; the growth of everything
appeared most vigorous : indeed throughout the
whole of New Zealand nature seems to be eager to
destroy and to reproduce. Large trees, unrooted
and decaying, were preparing new soil for their suc-
cessors, which were just struggling into existence.
1 Anthochaera concinnata, Vig. and Horsf.

CHAP. V.J EAST BAY. 119

The peculiarly nourishing moisture of the soil dis-
plays itself in some ferns, which have germinated
on their parent plant. The forest was enlivened by
many of the common birds, and I brought home one
of a new species, called pio-pio.1 We slept another
night in the bush. After the spar had been got
into the water it would not float, and we were
obliged to lash it under the keel of our boat.

West Bay is a very fine harbour, and, since good
timber is found here, it would be a fit place for
sawing-establishments, and for a village, whose in-
habitants could with ease support themselves by
cultivating the flat and available land. Fine sheep-
walks are found on some of the open hills in the
neighbourhood.

On the 7th of November I examined East Bay,
which consists of three principal branches, on each
of which are native settlements. East Bay is
formed by the island of Arapaoa. One arm is op-
posite Hokokuri, the native settlement in Tory
Channel, and is called Otanarua. The hills ascend
gently from the sea, with a small extent of flat land
of about 400 acres at their base. We found about
200 natives assembled there who had arrived from
Hokokuri, to which place it takes about two hours
to walk ; they had come over to settle about the
sale of their land ; they have plantations here. The
cabbage, which now abounds in Queen Charlotte's

1 Turnagra crassirostris, G. R. Gray. Already depicted by
Forster in his Icon. ined. t. 145.

120 MOKUPEKA. [PART i.

Sound, and which grows wild, was in blossom, and
covered the sides of the hills with a yellow carpet.
There are a number of plants in New Zealand
which are exactly the same as in Europe. Many
of them are indigenous, others have spread with the
cultivation of European vegetables. Such are the
cabbage, Plantago major, Alsine media, Sonchus
oleraceous, Stellaria media, Rumex crispus, Urtica
dioica, Cytisus bullosa, Anagallis arvensis. The
Juncus maritimus, effusus, filiformis, Scirpus la-
custris, Typha angustifolia, Potamogeton natans,
Chenopodium glaucum, maritimum, and others,
must be regarded as indigenous, and, perhaps, the
Plantago major.

On the beach were some huts, the occasional
habitations of the wandering agriculturists. The
beach itself is of a light soil. Higher up the hills
the forest appears ; the trees, however, are not tall
enough for ship-timber.

At the head of East Bay is the village of Moku-
peka, where we were well received, and presented
with roasted potatoes, pork, and an excellent dried
barracuda. This village stands on a spacious beach,
surrounded by hills. Neatly planted taro and po-
tatoes, kept free from weeds, ornamented the fields.
The natives, when they dig the first crop of pota-
toes, leave the small ones in the ground, which
grow during the winter, and give an early harvest
before Christmas. Our friendly host showed us,
with great satisfaction, a field of wheat, which was

CHAP. V.] ARAPAOA. 121

in very good condition, and the seed for which
Mr. Love had given him. This cove, although
small, is one of the largest in Queen Charlotte's
Sound. The sides of the hills appear to be very
eligible for vineyards, as they are sheltered from
the east and south winds.

I next explored that branch of East Bay which
stretches to the westward. It is as large as the
one I had first examined, and is called Anahuko.
There is a small native village here. On the 4th
I traced my way over the hills to Te- a \va-iti, in order
to see something of the interior of the island of
Arapaoa. The track leads from a narrow beach up
a very steep hill, just opposite the little island of
Matapara. Some Europeans reside here during the
summer, after the whaling season is over, for the
purpose of procuring cheap pork and potatoes. It
took me about two hours to reach Te-awa-iti. The
hills are steep, covered with leptospermum, tall
fuchsias with purple flowers, Edwardsias, and other
shrubs. There are two kinds of Edwardsia in New
Zealand, both of which have been introduced into
England : they generally grow near the sea-shore,
or by the banks of lakes or rivers. They belong to
the leguminous plants, an order which is exten-
sively spread in Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and
the American continent. It is therefore more re-
markable that none of the genera found in these
countries are met with in New Zealand : but the
order is represented here by genera peculiar to

122 TE-AWA-ITI. [PART i.

these islands ; namely, Edwardsia, Carmicliaelia,
and Clianthus. There are two fuchsias here : one,
the Fuchsia excorticata, forms a moderate-sized tree,
and is very common ; the other, however, the Fuch-
sia procumbens, is very rare, and at present is met
with only in Wangaroa Bay, to the northward of
the Bay of Islands.

From the top of the hills I had a fine view over
the whole sound. A deep inlet of the sea, looking
like a majestic river bordered by hills, leads to the
head of Queen Charlotte's Sound. In this fiord, as
the Norwegians would call it, is a small island,
bearing the traces of an ancient native fortification.
I was prevented from visiting the head of this inlet,
but ascertained that it is surrounded by a consider-
able extent of flat and well-timbered land, and that
a river of some size discharges itself into it. As I
descended, the view opened upon the southern en-
trance of Tory Channel and Cloudy Bay.

This hill seems to have been the one which
Cook ascended to take his survey of the sound, and
on which he planted the union jack, and left some
coins. Some stones were heaped up and fenced in,
but I did not dare to disturb them, as my guide told
me it was the burial-place of a chief.

I found Te-awa-iti very empty, as the whaling-
season was over, and the natives had followed
Etipi, their chief, to Waikanahi, to assist in the
war against the Nga-te-raukaua. Gardening had
made some progress ; and all the seeds brought by

CHAP. V.] KAP1TI. 123

the Tory had sprung up, and the plants were in
a thriving condition.

A Scotch tailor, whose fate had driven him to
Te-awa-iti, had voluntarily undertaken the duties of
missionary, and the natives had built a house for
him.

Returning in a boat to East Bay, through Tory
Channel, I visited on the way some other small
bays, where natives reside with some few Europeans
amongst them.

The purchase of the claims of the Nga-te-awa
tribes residing in East Bay to the land on both
sides of Cook's Straits having been completed, on
which occasion a general rush — fortunately unat-
tended by any serious consequences — took place at
the distribution of the various articles given in ex-
change, we set sail for Kapiti, which we reached
the following day, November llth. The natives
were making preparations for hostilities, which
it was expected would be renewed by the Nga-te-
raukaua. Warepouri had arrived in Waikanahi
from Port Nicholson, and also some people from
Wanganui and Queen Charlotte's Sound, who had
promised their aid if the Nga-te-raukaua should
make another attack, which, however, they did not
venture to do.

[PART i.

CHAPTER VI.

Northern Shore of Cook's Straite.

OWING to contrary winds and cairn- ^re un-

able to leave the roadstead of Kapiti until the ISth
of November, when we weighed anchor and ran
along the northern shore of Cook's Straits. From
Waikanahi, the native settlement opposite Kapiti,
this shore presents the aspect of low and irregular
hummocks, either downs or covered with fern, and
improving in fertility the farther they recede from
the sea. This district is bordered, at a distance of
three or four miles from the coast, by a wooded
country, which rises gradually into ridges of moun-
tains covered with snow during the winter season.
These mountains, which do not exceed 3000 feet
at their greatest height, belong to a congeries of
hills running towards the centre of the island.
They are of the same system of mountains as tl
the picturesque ridges of which strike the beholder
on first entering Port Nicholson, and which >hut
in the view up the valley of the Eritonga. In the
latter place they are called the Tararua, and their
continuation into the interior the Rua-wahine.
Both are distinguished by a chasm or cleft, which
forms the valley of the river Manawatu.

CHAP. VI.] COOK'S STRAITS. 125

The outward shape of these mountains is very
uniform ; they have everywhere the same longi-
tudinal ridges, with narrow crests, here and there
rising to a somewhat higher summit. The woody
region reaches nearly to the top, and in many cases
they are entirely covered by forest. At their sides
these hills send off ramifications, which form ra-
vines rather than valleys, from which small streams
flow to the sea-coast. These mountains thus form
a good geographical division, as from them on one
side the waters run into Cook's Straits, from Port
Nicholson to Cape Egmont, and on the other side
to the east coast, into Hawke's Bay, or into the
lake Taupo. The course of these rivers is short,
rising as they do not far from the sea-coast ; and
from their flowing between hills, which gjive them
many tributaries, the violent rains often swell them
suddenly, and the streamlet becomes a mountain-
torrent. It then overflows the low alluvial land
forming its banks, and carries with it the stems of
large trees, especially pines, which either remain
fixed in its bed, or are buried near the sea-coast
when driven back and left dry by the tide. I con-
sequently found a great deal of drift-wood at all
the rivers, the quantity bearing little proportion to
the size of the streams. Of these rivers may be
mentioned the Waikanahi, the Wainiea, the Malm,
the Wai-e-rongo-mai, the Waikewa, the Ohou, the
Waiwiri, the Orewenua, and the Wai-te-rawm,
which we passed in rapid succession. At the Wai-

126 MANAWATU RIVER. [PART I.

mea is stationed a large tribe of natives, the Nga-te-
raukaua, whom I have already mentioned as the
enemies of the Nga-te-awa. Their pa, or fortified
village, is called Otaki.

The river Manawatu is the longest of all these
rivers. It takes its rise in the most elevated inland
group of mountains, the Ruapahu. As is the case
with all the rivers in Cook's Straits, the force of
its waters is not strong enough to remove the sand
which is thrown up at its mouth by the south-
westerly and north-westerly winds ; and its depth
over the bar is therefore only six feet at low water ;
the tide rises eight feet. Its breadth at the mouth
is about 300 yards at half-tide.

From all the accounts which I received from the
natives, both in Cook's Straits and in the interior
of the country, the river Manawatu has a very wind-
ing course ; in some places, after making a sweep
of several miles, it returns within a quarter of a
mile to the same spot, and in this manner forms
paddocks of very fertile land, often clear, but in
parts rich in many kinds of timber. Inside the bar
the river deepens sufficiently to admit small vessels
for about fifty miles. The natives of Taupo often
descend it with their canoes to Cook's Straits. Its
embouchure is, according to Captain Smith, in lat.
40° 27' 23" S. From this description it must be
evident that it would be of great importance for the
settlers in Cook's Straits to explore the Manawatu
more accurately, especially as it is reported that

CHAP VI.] MANAWATU RIVER. 127

from its upper part there is an easy communication
with the Hauriri in Hawke's Bay, a river which is
known to have very fertile land on its banks.

About six miles from the mouth of the Mana-
watu, the Rangitiki, a smaller river, likewise owing
its origin to the Ruapahu, falls into Cook's Straits.
It brings, as does also the Wanganui, a great quan-
tity of pumicestone from the Tongariro, a volcano
in the interior.

To the westward of a line drawn from Otaki to
the Ruapahu, and thence to Mount Egmont, the
country is comparatively level. Across this district
the Ruapahu rears its massy head to the height of
about 9000 feet, and is covered with eternal snows.

Several streams run into the sea between the
Rangitiki and the Wanganui, but are smaller and
of less importance : they are the Wai Patiki, the
Waikanahi, the Wai Kopuka, the Mahora, the
Turakina, the Wangaiho, and the Kaitoki.

In the evening of the 18th, the natives whom we
had taken on board — and amongst whom was a fine
young man, E Kuru; the son of the principal chief
at Wanganui — looked out in vain for the entrance
>f the river of that name, which we intended to
isit if large enough to admit the Tory. E Kuru
was an intelligent fellow, but had never seen his
native place from the deck of a ship. To add to
the difficulty, the coast has a great sameness of ap-
pearance, and the mouths of the different rivers
present little peculiarity when viewed from the sea.

128 WANGANUI RIVER. [PART I.

Unable to find the mouth of the river, we stood off
the land during the night, and on the following
morning found ourselves to the northward of Wan-
ganui, which we were unable to reach until the
morning of the 20th ; for on approaching the coast
we found that the water shoaled to a distance of
about three miles ; and it was therefore thought
advisable to send Mr. Barret, our pilot, to explore
the entrance, and to convey E Kuru to his village.
He afterwards reported the depth of water over the
bar to be insufficient to admit the Tory, and we
therefore stood again to the northward. As, how-
ever, one of the Company's settlements has been
formed at the mouth of this river, which is already
inhabited by several hundreds of Europeans, I will
give a few particulars regarding this place which I
have gathered from different sources.

The entrance to the Wanganui river, situated in
latitude 39° 55' 54" S., is half a mile broad, but
at low water its depth does not exceed eight feet,
so that it will only admit vessels of moderate bur-
den. The largest craft that ever entered it was a
vessel of 150 tons. The headlands of the river are
low ; a spit of sand runs off the southern head, and
the channel is near the northern. At low water
the sea breaks across the bar. Inside the bar the
river deepens, and is about 300 yards broad. Its
banks here are low and sandy, and covered with
driftwood and pumicestone, which the river brings
down from its source, which is in the Tongariro.

CHAP. VI.] WANGANUI RIVER. 129

At a little distance from the sea-shore is an exten-
sive flat covered with flax and fern ; farther up the
banks become higher, and form cliffs consisting of
a blue clay, with fossils, which, from all I have
seen, I should judge to belong to the newest tertiary
epoch. About thirty miles from the mouth the
river is enclosed between the neighbouring hills,
which are well wooded, and run towards the Ton-
gariro. Near the latter, however, the country is
again more open and flat, although much broken ;
and the soil consists of pumicestone and tufa, as I
shall hereafter describe when speaking of the in-
terior.

A large tribe of natives live near the Wanganui,
and possess several pas up the river. A station of
the Church Missionary Society is now established
amongst them, and the missionaries have succeeded
in making several converts, but were unable to pre-
vent two sanguinary battles which lately took
place between this tribe and the natives from Taupo
Lake. These latter are able to descend the Wan-
ganui to Cook's Straits in their canoes from within
a short distance of its source.

We landed E Kuru ; and although we were un-
able to enter the river, the possession of the district
was secured for the New Zealand Company, having
been obtained during our stay at Kapiti, wherfc the
principal chiefs of Wanganui, who were then pre-
sent at Waikanahi, had made the land " tapu " for
the Company, on receiving some presents.

VOL. i. K

130 COOK'S STRAITS. [PART i.

The coast from Wanganui to Cape Egmont pre-
sents a cliff of moderate height, on the top of which
the land is flat, and rises with a very gentle slope
towards Cape Egmont. In many places layers of
lignite are found in the cliffs. The whole district
possesses great facilities for agriculture, being co-
vered with flax and fern. The forest begins at some
distance inland.

The rivers along the coast from Wanganui are
the Waitotara, about twenty miles to the north-
ward, the Wenuakura, the Patea, the Tangahohi,
the Waimate, and the Kakapuni, all of which are
small. There are natives on the banks of all these,
and Waimate is knowi as the place where, on the
shipwreck of the barque Harriet, a fierce struggle
ensued between the natives and Europeans, in which
several men were killed on both sides. Although
this conflict, according to all the accounts I could
collect, was causi|d by the Europeans, Her Majesty's
vessel Alligator' afterwards inflicted a severe and
summary punishment on the natives.

But to return to the Tory. We left the mouth
of the Wanganui immediately after Mr. Barret had
come on board. The weather looked threatening,
and it soon blew a gale of wind. The whole coast
from Kapiti to Cape Egmont, and thence to the
northward, is a complete lee-shore, on account of
the prevalence of north-westerly and south-westerly
winds ; a heavy swell sets towards the coast, and, as
the sea to a great distance from the shore has only
little depth, ships are obliged to keep a good offing.

CHAP. VII.] 131

CHAPTER VII.

Taranaki, or Mount Egmont.

ON the 22nd of November we obtained the long-
wished-for view of Mount Egmont, and also of the
Ruapahu, both of which were to a great extent co-
vered with snow. But they were soon again hid
from our view ; and it was only on the 27th of No-
vember, after having experienced much bad weather
and several severe gales, that we anchored to the
northward of the Sugarloaf Islands, about two miles
from the shore. Soon after we had cast anchor a
waterspout rose not far from us. The weather had
now begun to clear up ; and I scrutinized the sides
and lofty summit of Mount Egmont, which, once
thrown up by the mysterious fires of the deep, was
now apparently in a state of repose, to discover whe-
ther there was any possibility of ascending it, an
indertaking which had never yet been achieved.

We had brought from Port Nicholson one of the
>rincipal chiefs, Tuarau, who was delighted to see
•,he land of his birth and to assist the Company's
agent in the purchase of it. Our boat, which was
sent ashore, was unable to land on account of the
surf, but brought back two natives who had plunged
into the foaming sea and swum to it. The meeting

K2

13*2 MOUNT EGMONT. [PART I.

on our deck between them and Tuarau was almost
solemn ; they did not utter a word, and struggled to
conceal the deep feelings which evidently agitated
them.

Our anchorage was not regarded as safe ; and as
the continual gales of the last few days had left a
heavy swell, which made communication with the
shore difficult and hazardous, it was determined that
the Tory should proceed on her voyage to the north-
ward, and that Mr. Barret should remain in Taran-
aki to keep possession of the land for the New Zea-
land Company. I immediately resolved to stay with
him, and we landed on the morning of the 28th. I
could not have found a better opportunity for exa-
mining a district so little known, and determined to
occupy the time until the return of the Tory in as-
cending Mount Egmont, which I expected would
prove in more than one respect an interesting and
profitable achievement. I must mention that Mr.
Barret had lived for several years near the Sugar-
loaf Islands, prior to the period when almost all the
original natives yielded, after a long-continued con-
test, to the tribe of the Waikato, who live about
sixty miles to the northward. The natives of Ta-
ranaki migrated to the eastward, and settled on both
sides of Cook's Straits, and especially at Kapiti, Port
Nicholson, and Queen Charlotte's Sound. Only a few
remained, who could not be persuaded to leave the
land of their forefathers, for which, indeed, all mi-
grated tribes evince the greatest predilection, and

CHAP. VII.] MOUNT EGMONT. 133

cherish the hope that, by the help of the European
colonists, they will one day be able to return and
recover their lost territory. Since the removal of
the majority, the small remnant of the original na-
tives of Taranaki had lived a very agitated life, often
harassed by the Waikato, and seeking refuge on one
of the rocky Sugarloaf Islands, at times dispersed
into the impenetrable forest at the base of Mount
Egmont, sometimes making a temporary truce with
their oppressors, but always regarded as an enslaved
and powerless tribe. They could not, however, be
induced to join their relations, and the reader can
well imagine with what joy they hailed the arrival
of their old friend Barret, and how they cherished
the hope of rising from the degradation in which
they had lived for so long a time, and again becom-
ing an independent tribe.

We landed to the northward of Paretutu, or
Sugarloaf Point, a dome-like cone of trachitic por-
phyry, which rises to about 300$feet, and stands
quite by itself. We turned our whale-boat over,
and made preparations for passing the first night
under it.

As soon as we had landed the Tory weighed her
anchors, and, with a favourable breeze, was soon out
of sight.

On the beach, from which large sand-hills here
rise, I picked up many specimens of the neat and
delicate shells Spirula australis.

The land near the beach is, in some parts, covered

134 MOUNT EGMONT. [PART I.

with shrubs ; in others the loose sand has here and
there acquired some solidity from the roots and fibres
of a running carex, which is the first preparatory step
to its becoming fit for other plants. In several
places behind these sand-hills lagoons of fresh water
are found, which abound with ducks, but contain no
other fish than some large eels, in order to catch
which the natives formerly cut through the sand-
hills and emptied the lagoon. Round these lagoons
the vegetation was very rich, and amongst the shrubs
was the handsome Apeiba australis, which I observed
here for the first time.

Towards Sugarloaf Point large boulders, all
consisting of volcanic rocks of apparently an old
date, as basalts, greenstones, trachyte, augitic rock,
&c., were cemented together into an extremely solid
conglomerate, which appeared to extend like a stream
of lava from Mount Egmont into the sea, but can-
not be traced far. Where the water washes these
rocks the conglomerate is peculiarly hard, and this
is caused by a chemical action of the salt water,
either on the particles of the iron pyrites, with which
several of the rocks abound, and which often cover
the pebbles with a metallic crust, or else on the
black titanic iron-sand which is found on the beach.
In some places this chemical action is accompanied
by the development of a good deal of heat, which is
perceived where, at the retiring tide, the sea leaves
ponds of water between the rocks. A strong smell of
sulphuretted hydrogen gas may also be observed about

CHAP. VII.] MOUNT EGMONT. 135

a mile from high-water mark. The natives have a
whimsical story of an "atua" (spirit), who they say
was drowned here, and is still undergoing decom-
position.

In some places the sandy downs at a little distance
from the shore are covered with a hard crust of
oxydated iron-clay, which forms the most fantastic
shapes of tubes, saucers, &c., evidently owing to the
oxydation of the particles of iron in the sand by
water and air, and subsequent adhesion to each other.
All this interested me much, proving a former ex-
tensive activity of volcanic powers, the centre of
which was Mount Egmont, situated at a distance of
twenty-five miles ; its' summit afforded me a never-
failing object of attraction when it was free from
clouds, or when the morning or evening sun gilded
its snowy summit with a rosy hue.

Aqueous formations were visible on both sides
of Sugarloaf Point ; they consisted of cliffs of yel-
low clay, and in some places contain formations not
of coal or lignite, but of wood, embedded in dis-
coloured blackish earth. Towards Mokau these
formations are especially visible, and form every-
where one of the most remarkable features in the
geology of New Zealand. Elevated about ten feet
above the level of the sea, they consist, according to
all that I could ascertain, of the remains of trees
belonging to species still existing in the island, and
are an indubitable proof that an elevation of the
land above the level of the sea has taken place at a

136 MOUNT EGMONT. [PART I.

period when the same vegetation existed as at pre-
sent. I never found any remains of animals in these
formations, which are however irregular and inter-
rupted.

It is a question of great interest to geologists, to
what cause is to be ascribed the formation of those
extensive coal-fields which form the principal source
of our industry, — whether they have taken their rise
from the submersion of a whole forest, or the float-
ing of uprooted timber into estuaries of the sea or
lakes, or whether they are due to the submersion of
peat-beds. Guided by the principle that the former
epochs in the earth's history can be best deciphered
by studying her present aspect and the alterations
which are going on before our eyes, I have arrived
at the opinion that our coal-formations were for-
merly peat ; that the timber which is deposited in
estuaries or inland lakes will ultimately become lig-
nite, or brown coal, which has lost scarcely any of
the qualities of wood. A river which brings vast
masses of wood to the sea must of necessity deposit
them in a very unequal manner, mixed with allu-
vium of various descriptions, and must imbed in this
formation such testaceous animals as are living near
the spot. Such is the case at present with the New
Zealand rivers ; such are the lignitic formations
which we observe at present above the level of the
sea in this country ; and of the same nature are the
mines of lignite which are worked in many parts of
Germany. Will anybody contend that it is pos-

CHAP. VII.]

MOUNT EGMONT.

137

sible by any agency — whether by the pressure of a
superincumbent formation, or by igneous causes from
below, or by both agencies combined — to convert that
mixture of trees and earthy or mineral substance into
the homogeneous substance which is spread out in
such regular stratifications, and which we call coal ?
I, for my part, cannot credit the possibility of such
a change. It is different with peat, which occupies
large tracts in the countries out of the tropics, very
often in horizontal and equal layers, and which we
see imbedding trees in an upright position. If arti-
ficially compressed it resembles coal far more than
does any lignitic substance that I have ever seen.
I have brought specimens of peat from the Chatham
Islands, taken from a layer not in actual formation,
but covered by a loamy earth several feet in thick-
ness. In these specimens, which it was evident were
formerly pure peat, I can observe a conchoidal frac-
ture and lustrous appearance greatly resembling
coal, whilst in other parts of the same specimen the
gradual transition from true peat is evident. I am
well aware that eminent geologists have contended
for the double origin of coal, and others will only
admit the simple one from wood; but they will,
probably, come to a different conclusion if they turn
their attention more to present processes, and divest
their minds of preconceived ideas regarding a differ-
ence of phenomena in former days.

One of the Sugarloaf Islands also consists of
aqueous deposits, namely, yellow and soft sandstone.

138 MOUNT EGMONT. [PART I.

But the rest of these islands are steep and conical
masses of a greyish trachite, containing much feld-
spar, with scarcely any vegetation on them beyond
the Phormium tenax, Mesembryanthemum australe,
Pteris esculenta, Peperomia d'Urvillei, Microcalia
australis, epacris, linum, &c. Numerous seaweeds
float at their base, amongst which were the Lamina-
ria flabelliformis, Sargassum carpilli folium, Margi-
naria urvilliana, &c.

I found about twenty natives near Sugarloaf
Point ; the place seemed only a fishing station :
the remainder of the Taranaki tribes lived either on
concealed potato-plantations, or farther south near
Cape Egmont. On our arrival being known, they
assembled around Mr. Barret, and with tears wel-
comed their old friend. In a singing strain of la-
mentation they related their misfortunes and the
continual inroads of the Waikato. The scene was
truly affecting, and the more so when we recollect
that this small remnant had sacrificed everything to
the love of their native place. I perceived in the
evening how much they stood in dread of the Wai-
kato. A fire had been observed in the direction of
Kawia, and the fear that the Waikato were again
on their way to Taranaki kept them awake during
the greater part of the night.

The principal village of the Taranaki natives for-
merly stood a little to the westward of Sugarloaf
Point. Besieged by the Waikato, who had come
in great numbers from Kawia, they effectually kept

CHAP. VII.] MOUNT EGMONT. 139

them at bay, with the help of Mr. Barret and eight
other European traders, who at that time lived with
them in the village. Three pieces of cannon in their
possession made great havoc amongst the Waikato.
The exasperation on both sides was great, and the
prisoners captured at occasional sorties were de-
voured. The Waikato at last raised the siege and
returned to Kawia; nevertheless the Nga-te-awa
resolved to quit the district, and, 2000 in number,
they started together with the Europeans. This
took place in November,, 1832. At a second attack
the Waikato destroyed the pa, of which now scarcely
any vestige remains, with the exception of the
fosses; the cannons had been spiked by the Nga-
te-awa on their departure, and were still lying on
the beach.

South of Sugarloaf Point to Cape Egmont and
Waimati, the country, as I ascertained from many
subsequent excursions, slopes very slowly from Mount
Egmont to the sea-coast. In fact, the country is so
level round the base of Mount Egmont that the latter
seems almost to rise immediately from the plain. The
coast forms a cliff of moderate height, and consists
of a yellowish sandy loam — an excellent substratum
for a rich mould which covers the top, and which
increases in depth towards the foot of the mountain.
Near the sea-shore the soil is light, intermixed with
sand. In general the land for three or four miles
from the coast is open, and covered with a uniform
vegetation, especially of flax or fern ; in the little

140 SUGARLOAF ISLANDS. [PART I.

dales, however, are groves of trees, or swamps covered
with bulrushes and reeds.

A countless number of small streams here dis-
charge themselves into the sea : scarcely a mile
was passed without our crossing a streamlet, which
was sometimes knee-deep. They came from Mount
Egmont, or from several small lagoons situated be-
tween it and the coast.

The Sugarloaf Islands are five in number: the
three nearest the shore are Pararaki, Paparoa, and
Mikotai ; then Moturoa ; and afterwards Motuma-
hanga, which is the outermost. Besides, there are
some rocks and reefs. The native name for them,
as well as for the whole district near Sugarloaf
Point, and for the tribe formerly living near them,
is Nga Motu — the Islands.

To the northward of Sugarloaf Point are three
small creeks — the Huatoki, the Enui, and the Wai-
wakaio. Everywhere on their banks are traces of
former cultivation and of native villages, but now no
one lives here : thus the finest district in New Zea-
land is almost uninhabited — a sad instance of the
mutual hatred existing among savage clans.

The natives could not understand what induced
me to ascend Mount Egmont ; they tried much to
dissuade me from the attempt, by saying that the
mountain was " tapu," that there were ngarara
(crocodiles) on it, which would undoubtedly eat
me ; the mysterious bird " moa," of which I shall
say more hereafter, was also said to exist there.

CHAP. VII.] MOUNT EGMONT. 141

But I answered that I was not afraid of these crea-
tions of their lively imagination, and that if they
wanted large payment for their land I must first go
and look at it; that it was possible — though not
very probable — that the monikoura (money-gold)
was found on the mountain, and that if, through
their refusing to provide me a guide, I was the first
to reach the summit, I would make the mountain
" tapu " for myself, according to their own law.
An old Tohunga, or priest, was therefore persuaded
to show me the way as far as he knew it, and with
him, and an American man of colour, I started on
the 3rd of December. Tangutu-na-Waikato, as
the worthy priest was called, was particularly qua-
lified for the office of guide on this expedition. In
the wars between the Nga-te-awa and Waikato, the
latter had carried away his two wives into slavery ;
he himself escaped to the mountain, where they were
unable to find him. There he lives by himself, as
all his kindred are gone, and cultivates small patches
in the impenetrable forest, which supply him with
food. The Waikato often chased him, but he was
always fortunate enough to escape. The old man
was renowned for his skill in the arts and the
mystic lore of a priest of his nation, and had lately
become a zealous missionary ; and although he
almost invariably kept his puka puka (hymn and
prayer books) upside down when he pretended to
sing his psalms or read the service, yet what he
sung and said pretty nearly corresponded with the

142 MOUNT EGMONT. [PART I.

text, as he knew the books by heart. A mat of
his own manufacture, as he had no female to work
it for him, was his only-- -dress ; a hatchet his only
weapon. We did not take much provision with us,
as the party in Nga Motu had little to spare, and
as we had no means of carrying it. I trusted to my
gun and to the stores of Tangutu in the bush.

Our road led us along the beach to the north-
ward. We crossed the Huatoki and Enui creeks,
and then turned into the interior over the downs
and hillocks of the coast, which were covered with
fern and flax, overshadowed here and there by a
picturesque ti (Dracaena australis). About two
miles from the coast we came into a low shrubby
forest, where the soil consisted mostly of a very dark
vegetable mould. Tangutu had here cleared a place
in the middle of the bush, where he had formed a
clean and well- weeded garden, planted with potatoes,
taro, onions, water-melons, and pumpkins. Not far
from this point we crossed the river Waiwakaio, a
rapid but not very deep stream, with a broad and
pebbly bed, all the pebbles consisting of hard and
blue trap-rock. About a mile farther we passed
another deep creek — the Mangorake, a tributary of
the Waiwakaio, where my guide had another potato-
field. The forest consisted generally of tawai ;
here and there might be seen a majestic Rimu pine,
or rata, bearing crimson flowers. There were many
arborescent ferns, and in the deepest shade grew the
Nikau palm (Areca sapida). Sometimes we came

CHAP. VII.] MOUNT EGMONT. 143

to an open spot, several square miles in extent,
probably cleared by natives, but now grown over
with the highest Phormirm tenax I ever saw. The
leaves in many instances were twelve, and the flower-
stalks twenty, feet long ; their flowers contain a kind
of sweet liquid in considerable quantities, the ex-
traction of which forms a favourite occupation among
the New Zealand children. The cryptogamous
plants, ferns, jungermanmas, and mosses, bear in
New Zealand rather an undue proportion to the
phanerogomous — a circumstance which is unfavour-
able to the rearing of bees. I am not aware that
there is any native bee in New Zealand, but in cer-
tain seasons the European bee would find a great
quantity of honey and wax in the Phormium tenax.
Bees have been introduced into New Zealand from
New South Wales : my excellent friend, the Rev.
Richard Taylor, at Waimate, had a hive, and they
were thriving remarkably well ; but in that neigh-
bourhood many European plants had been intro-
duced.

The country began now to rise a little, but the
elevation was so slight as to be scarcely perceptible.
Everywhere vegetation appeared most vigorous, and
the primeval forest was often almost impenetrable,
on account of thick creepers, and the thorns, tata-
ramoa (rubus), of which several species are found,
and which tore our hands and faces severely. We
scarcely ever obtained a view of the sun, and the
shade of the trees produced a delightful coolness,

144 MOUNT EGMONT. [PART I.

although the thermometer in open places rose to
90°, and at six in the evening on a hill it stood at
80°. We did not see many birds, and I need scarcely
repeat that the most perfect silence reigned through
the forest. Although we walked on a track, it was
one visible only to the eyes of Tangutu ; and it was
not until after much practice that I could distin-
guish, in the turning or the pressure of a leaf, indi-
cations that the path had ever been trod by mortal
feet. My guide went patiently forward, carrying a
heavy load for me, without a murmur, although a
priest and a person of consequence among his own
people. We soon came to another potato-field of
Tangutu, where he had a house ; he here entered the
forest, and quickly returned with some fern-root and
some dried shark which he had concealed, and which
greatly increased our scanty stock of provisions. In
consequence of the insecurity of their persons and
property, it is very usual with the Taranaki natives
to have plantations of this sort in the forest, which
are often known to the proprietor alone, and to
which he can fall back in times of need. Frequently
Tangutu would on a sudden make me stop on the
way, and, entering the forest, would return either
with a dried fish, or with some oil, contained in a
dilated joint of kelp, with which he would grease
his dark and glossy hair ; sometimes he brought a
handful of leeks, which were always welcome.

At sunset we arrived at the cleared summit of a
hill, where we found several houses for provisions,

CHAP. VII.] ANNOYANCES. 145

which are always built on posts, to guard against
the rats, and also two other houses. A thick forest
surrounded this place on all sides. The plantations
of potatoes, all belonging to Tangutu, and planted
with his own hands, were in tolerably good order.
There was no want of provisions ; and pigeons, pota-
toes, leeks, taro, cabbage, turnips, and the young
shoots of Sonchus oleraceus were all at our command.
Before it was quite dark, flights of the Austral
Nestor passed over our encampment, shrieking in a
dismal manner, and alighted for a moment on one
of the dead trees at the skirt of the forest, to watch
with a stupid curiosity what was going on below ;
but they soon became quiet, with the rest of the in-
habitants of the forest. In the twilight there was
also a small bat flying about, but I did not succeed
in shooting one. During the day a sandfly (ngamu),
a tipula, is very troublesome in New Zealand,
especially near the sea-shore; and, diminutive as
they are, they are perhaps the most bloodthirsty
animals that exist, attacking all the exposed parts
of the body. With the last ray of the sun they all
disappear, but are immediately replaced by the mus-
quittos, which, however, are numerous only in par-
ticular spots, such as the cleared places of the forest.
We had taken our abode in an old house, where
the rats ran over us all night, and two species of
smaller animals, not to be named to ears polite,
were by no means scarce. An old native house is a
hotbed for all this vermin, and after this night's
VOL. i. L

146 FOREST SCENERY. [PART !•

experience I always preferred sleeping in the open
air, or under my own tent, which I found by far
the most comfortable.

Before sunrise on the 4th of December the ther-
mometer stood at 44°. We took an east-south-east
direction, and after descending the hill we had to
pass a large creek flowing to the eastward. Our
road lay over gently undulating hills, which were
covered with a dense forest. The cabbage-palms
were the highest I ever saw. We passed several
other streams, and at noon halted at another plant-
ation belonging to our guide. He rested here
during the day to arrange our provisions for the
continuance of the journey. This field was situated
at the side of a river, which rolled over a pebbly
and rocky bed, and was canopied by the trees on
its banks. From the high tawai-trees1 a graceful
moss hung down in long festoons. This creek was
the Mangorake, which we passed the day before.

The temperature here at noon was 91° in the sun
and 72° in the shade, and I found the heat very
oppressive.

I could not prevail upon Tangutu to start the
next morning, as this was his last plantation. The
sky was overcast, and he said that the weather
would be bad for several days. We had some dried
shark and potatoes, with maize, but not sufficient
to last us many days. Birds are everywhere scarce,
and too small to be worth powder and shot. One
1 Leiospermum racemosum.

CHAP. VII.] FOREST TRAVELLING. 147

bird that I found here is of a new species ; it is
called E Ihi, and belongs to the class of the honey-
eaters.1 Another bird, the tierawaki (Jcterus *»-
fiiator, Less.), is very common. It is as large as a * V*
blackbird, of a jet-black plumage, with red-brown
coverlets of the wings and tail. It has two small
orange-coloured appendages at the base of the beak.
This bird is seen on the lower branches of trees, is
very lively, and has a loud penetrating note. It
always screams when anything attracts its atten-
tion-— huei, huei, tierawak, tierawak. It feeds prin-
cipally on fleshy berries, but also on coleopterous
insects.

Pouring rain lasted during this and the follow-
ing day. On the afternoon of the 7th, the weather
having somewhat cleared up, we started, but had
not proceeded far before the rain again compelled
us to halt. It must be observed that travelling
through the bush in New Zealand is rather a
scrambling affair, and with a load is very fatiguing,
and cannot be kept up for a long time. Fifteen
miles I considered a very good day's work, even in
the open parts of the island. We took up our
quarters under the shelter of a rata-tree.2 Seve-
ral species of the kind to which this enormous
tree belongs were common ; but the pukatea was
the most frequent. I was roused in the night by
the psalm-singing of old Tangutu, who could not
sleep, and was probably afraid that Atua was de-

1 Ptilotis cincta, Dub. 2 Metrosideros robusta.

L2

148 WAIWAKAIO RIVER. [PART I.

termined to oppose our ascending the sacred moun-
tain by means of the bad weather which had now
set in.

On the 8th we several times crossed the Mango-
rake. Its banks are steep, and from one of them
Tangutu dug out a titi : this bird, a Procellaria, or
mutton-bird as it is commonly called, has many
peculiarities. In the month of December it comes
from the sea to the mountains inland, especially
to the fore-hills of Mount Egmont. Here the
female, which is at that time very fat, but after-
wards becomes thin and emaciated, lays one egg,
which is remarkably large for the size of the bird.
Instead of building a nest, she deposits and covers
over her egg in a deep channel under the roots of
trees, or at the sides of a cliff, and never leaves the
place until the egg is hatched. The natives believe
that during this period the female takes no food,
and have accordingly named it " the bird of one
feeding" (e manu wangainga tahi).

On the 9th we travelled for some time on the right
bank of the Waiwakaio river, which is the largest
of those that take their rise on the northern side
of Mount Egmont. Although of very unequal
depth, it is a true mountain-stream ; it rolls over
a broad bed of boulders and pebbles, and often rises
suddenly when the snow melts, or when the rain
has been heavy. Its banks were moderately ele-
vated ; on their top the land was flat, and the whole
was covered with forest of the wildest and most

CHAP. VII.] WA1WITI ISLAND. 149

primeval aspect. We passed numerous tributaries
of this river, some of which were of considerable
depth, owing to the late rains, which had also
formed stagnant pools between the roots of the old
trees. At one place Tangutu conducted us into
the bed of the river, whence we had the satisfaction,
for the first time since we had entered the forest,
of seeing Mount Egmont, which rose to the south-
by-west, covered with snow, but its summit hid in
the clouds. The dense forest on both sides of the
river formed, as it were, a framework to the pic-
ture. My guide suddenly stopped at the bank near
this point, and, clearing away with his hatchet a few
of the young tawai-trees, chanted some hymns, and
begged of me to read a chapter from St. Paul's
Epistle to the Romans. On my asking the reason
of this sudden procedure, he told me that many
years ago, going with a party to fetch kokowai
(red ochre) from the foot of the mountain, they
had been surprised at this spot by a party of
Waikato, and that in the struggle which ensued
his mother had been killed. He had never, he
said, visited that spot without paying a tribute to
her memory.

We stopped for the night on a low island in the
Waiwakaio, called Waiwiti, grown over with kahi-
katoa (Leptospermum), intermixed with a junceous
plant, the Hamelinia veratroides of Achille Richard
(Astelia Banksii), the seeds of which form the food
of the kiwi and weka (Apterix Australis and Ral-

150 RETURN TO [PART I.

lus Australis). The island bore evident marks of
being frequently overflowed, as large stems of drifted
trees were collected on it. The river Waiwakaio
is extremely well adapted for the application of
water-power to manufactories and mills ; and the
whole district of Taranaki, as far as I have yet seen,
rivals any in the world in fertility, beauty, and fit-
ness for becoming the dwelling-place of civilised
European communities.

Our provisions grew very scanty ; and when on
the following day the sky was again overcast, and
the rain poured down in torrents, I almost gave up
the hope of ever reaching the summit of Mount
Egmont, especially as Tangutu now frequently lost
all trace of the right direction. We proceeded,
however, along the left bank of the river, wet to the
skin. The trees over which we had to clamber were
extremely slippery, and, although they preserved their
outward shape, we often sunk knee-deep into their
soft and decayed substance. To appease our hun-
ger we had nothing but the young shoots of a fern,
or the mucous undeveloped leaves of the Cyathea
medullaris ; these, with the heart of the cabbage-palm,
and, in open spots, the roots of the Pteris esculenta,
are, generally speaking, the only eatables that can
be obtained in a New Zealand forest. The rain had
made my gun useless — a matter, indeed, of less con-
sequence, as there was no game, and very few of
the smaller birds. The confidence shown by these
birds proved that they are not often disturbed by

CHAP. VII.] THE SEA-SHORE. 151

the approach of man. The boldest was a fly-
catcher l of an ashy colour, which hopped con-
tinually over the rotten trees, searching for insects.
It builds its nest on the lowest branches of small
trees, where they join the stem, and constructs it
neatly of moss, lining it inside with the soft and
villous cover of the young undeveloped leaves of the
Cyathea medullaris.

The rain continued during the 10th and llth,
and all our provisions were gone. We could pro-
cure no dry wood to make a fire ; we had no tent
with us, and got but little shelter from the trees.
During these nights the forest assumed a beautiful
appearance : the fallen trees, and almost the whole
surface of the ground, sparkled in a thousand places
with the phosphorescence of the decayed matter ; —
we seemed to have entered the illuminated domain
of fairy-land.

When the weather cleared up we determined to
return, abandoning, for the present, the attempt to
reach the summit of the mountain. Taking a dif-
ferent track from that by which we had come, we
again stood on the sea-shore on the evening of the
15th of December.

During our absence plenty had reigned at Nga
Motu : the natives had daily gone out fishing, and
the quantity of fish they took was so great, that
they were enabled to dry large numbers in the sun
for store. Pigs and potatoes had also been brought
1 Miro longipes, Less.

152 EXCURSION RESUMED [PART I.

from the southward. A Waikato chief, with his
followers, had come on a friendly visit from Kawia,
and there was apparently a good understanding
between them and the natives at this place. The
abundance of food enabled me to start again on the
19th, determined, at all hazards, to accomplish the
ascent of the mountain. I persuaded E Kake, one
of the chiefs, to accompany me, who took a slave
with him, and sent on before a female slave to one
of his plantations which lay in our route, with an
order to prepare maize-cakes for us to carry as pro-
visions. The companions of my last trip again
accompanied me, and our party was joined by Mr.
Heberley, a European, who had come with us
from Te-awa-iti, where he had lived for several years
as a whaler, and who was most expert in find-
ing his way through all the difficulties attending
such an expedition as this. This time I was more
fortunate. Although we took a different route, in
order to obtain provisions at the settlements of E
Kake, in four days we reached our last halting-
place at the foot of the mountain. We had to
walk for some distance along the rocky bed and
through the icy water of the Waiwakaio ; but not-
withstanding the force of its rapid current, which
often threatened to throw us down, we heeded not
the difficulty, as we had the gratification of seeing
the summit of the mountain directly before us.
We climbed at last up a ridge rising on the left
bank of the river, and running in a north-east

CHAP. VII.] TO MOUNT EGMONT. 153

direction from Mount Egmont. This ridge is very
narrow, and forms, towards the river, a sharp es-
carpment ; nor was it without some difficulty that
we reached its crest. Higher up is a frightful pre-
cipice, close to the edge of which we had to walk.
Lying down, we looked over into the deep gorge,
which appeared to have been split asunder by vol-
canic agency, and to have been hollowed out more
and more by the action of the river. This ridge
was still covered with wood; but, as we ascended,
the trees gradually became less lofty, and soon gave
way to stunted shrubs. Low and crooked pines,
especially totara and miro, and the manuka, gave
a character to the vegetation as affiliated kinds of
trees do to the mountain-crests of Europe. I found
one plant of a new pine two feet high, and very
much resembling the Taxus baccata of Europe.
The thermometer rose during this day to 76°, and
when we halted in the evening, shortly before sun-
set, it stood at 61°, but fell immediately afterwards
to 51°, and the cold became very severe : our alti-
tude was about 5500 feet. We prepared to rest
amidst the stunted and dwarfish shrubs, amongst
which I observed the Dracophyllum rosmarini-
folium, Solidago arborescens, and several other
compositous plants. We were able to obtain suf-
ficient fire-wood a little way down the sides of the
ridge, where we found many bleak and dry stems
of large dimensions.

The escarpment which I have mentioned con-

154 PLATFORM AND CONE [PART I.

sisted of a blue basaltic lava, overlaid to the depth
of from ten to fifteen feet by a formation of frag-
mentary rocks, boulders, and pebbles, which, how-
ever, I could not accurately examine.

Scarcely any birds were to be seen at this height :
the cry, however, of the parrots re-echoed from the
woody gorges ; and a little bird, which is peculiar
to these heights, busied itself in our neighbourhood ;
it is related in shape and habits to our Sitta, but is
much smaller, and of a dark-green plumage. It is
the Acanthisitta tenuirostris of our Index, and
called piwauwau by the natives.

Not far from this point the ridge forms a plat-
form, from which rises the pyramidical summit.
We reached the platform by descending into a deep
gorge which an arm of the Waiwakaio river has
scooped out of the blue lava. We walked with
ease in the rocky channel thus formed, and soon
came to the source of this arm, which took its rise
from under a frozen mass of snow which filled up
the ravine and remained unmelted, although it was
now the middle of summer. This place, however,
is not to be regarded as lying within the -limits of
perpetual snow, as the duration of this frozen mass
resulted from the fact that the influence of the sun
was obstructed by high walls rising on both sides.
There was very little vegetation here : I collected,
however, a Viola, a primulaceous and a ranuncu-
laceous plant, a Myosotis, and the Microcalia Aus-
tralis, the southern representative of our daisy, which

CHAP. VII.] OF MOUNT EGMONT. 155

it much resembles. We now began to ascend the
cone, which consisted of cinders, or slags of scoriace-
ous lava, of various colours — white, red, or brown, —
and had been reduced almost to a gravel, so as to
offer no resistance to our feet. These volcanic pro-
ducts cannot be distinguished in their lithological
characters from scoriae of the Auvergne. We soon
came to the snow, at a point about 1500 feet below
the summit. The limits of perpetual congelation
in New Zealand correspond nearly with the result
obtained by calculation according to Kirwan's for-
mula, which, taking 59° as the mean annual tem-
perature of New Zealand, would give for the limit
of perpetual snow 7204 feet ; deducting this number
from 8839 feet, which is about the height of Mount
Egmont, we have 1635 feet below its summit as the
lowest point at which the snow is perpetual. Ve-
getation had long ceased, not from the great ele-
vation, but from the entire absence of even a patch
of soil where plants might take root. In the ra-
vines, as I have already observed, the snow was
found much lower down.

As soon as we had reached the limits of perpetual
snow, my two native attendants (the third had been
left behind at the last night's halting-place) squatted
down, took out their books, and began to pray. No
native had ever before been so high, and, in addition
to that awe which grand scenes of nature and the
solemn silence reigning on such heights produce in
every mind, the savage views such scenes with super-

156 VOLCANIC CHARACTER [PART I.

stitious dread. To him the mountains are peopled
with mysterious and misshapen animals ; the black
points, which he sees from afar in the dazzling snow,
are fierce and monstrous birds ; a supernatural spi-
rit breathes on him in the evening breeze, or is heard
in the rolling of a loose stone. It is this imagina-
tive superstition which gives birth to the poetry of
infant nations, as we see in the old tales of the Ger-
mans, which evidently have their origin in the ear-
liest ages of the race, and bear the impress of the
ethics and religion of a people not yet emerged from
barbarism ; but with the Polynesians these fears
lead to gross superstition, witchcraft, and the wor-
ship of demons. My native attendants would not
go any farther, not only on account of their super-
stitious fears, but because, from the intensity of the
cold, their uncovered feet had already suffered se-
verely. I started, therefore, for the summit, accom-
panied by Heberley alone. The slope of the snow
was very steep, and we had to cut steps in it, as it
was frozen on the surface. Higher up we found
some support in large pieces of rugged scoriae,
which, however, increased the danger of the ascent,
as they obstructed our path, which lay along a nar-
row ridge, while on both sides yawned an abyss
filled with snow. However, we at length reached
the summit, and found that it consisted of a field of
snow about a square mile in extent. Some pro-
truding blocks of scoriae, of a reddish-brown colour*
and here and there slightly vitrified on the surface, in-

CHAP. VII.] OF MOUNT EGMONT. 157

dicated the former existence of an active volcano.
A most extensive view opened before us, and our eye
followed the line of coast towards Kawia and Wai-
kato. The country over which we looked was but
slightly elevated ; here and there broken, or with
irregular ramifications of low hills, towards the
snowy group of the Ruapahu in the interior, which
bore N. 60° W. I had just time to look towards
Cook's Straits and distinguish Entry Island, when a
dense fog enveloped us, and prevented all further
view. Whilst waiting in the hope that the fog
would disperse, I tried the temperature of boiling-
water with one of Newman's thermometers, and
found it to be 197°, the temperature of the air being
49°, which, taking 55° as the mean of the tempera-
tures at the summit and the base, would give 8839
feet as the height of Mount Egmont; the whole
calculated according to the tables given in an article
published in the London 'Geographical Journal/
vol. viii., and communicated by Lieutenant-Colonel
W. H. Sykes, F.R.S.

I have above mentioned that the cone, forming
the summit of Mount Egmont, rises from a plat-
form. The cone of cinders and scoriaceous lava is
separated from this platform by a deep saddle, which
descends laterally towards the sides of the mountain.
The high rocky walls, near the source of the Wai-
wakaio, show the composition of the exterior cone
to be a hard lava of a bluish-grey colour, which
resounds to the hammer like phonolite or clink-

158 NATIVE TRADITION. [PART I.

stone, and breaks into large tabular fragments. The
wall where this rock is seen is fissured in a perpen-
dicular direction. There seems to he a great scarcity
of simple minerals in the principal rock of which
this mountain consists.

The natives have no historical account of any
eruption of Mount Egmont, and maintain that the
country at its base is less subject to movements of the
earth than other parts of the islands, especially those
which are the most mountainous. They have, in-
deed, tales which, if divested of their figurative dress,
might be referred to the recollection of former vol-
canic activity : such is their account that the Ton-
gariro and Mount Taranaki are brother and sister,
and formerly lived together, but quarrelled and se-
parated.

The branches or buttresses which Mount Egmont
throws out towards the sea-coast and to the interior
being of inferior height, the cone itself appears to be
very isolated. A ridge of hills runs towards Cape
Egmont; another, that on which we made the
ascent, goes to the north-east-by-east, and a third
towards the interior, in the direction of the Rua-
pahu and the still active volcano of Tongariro.

On the summit of the mountain I found the en-
tire skeleton of a rat, carried there, no doubt, by a
hawk.

After staying for some time on the summit, in the
vain hope that the clouds which enveloped us would
disperse, we retraced our steps, and accomplished the

CHAP. VII.] HEIGHT OF MOUNT EGMONT. 159

descent with comparative ease. The natives ex-
pressed their joy at seeing us again, as they had
already given us up as lost. We encamped on the
bank of the left branch of he Waiwakaio amidst
trees of the Leptospermum species. Our resting-
place — which, from finding the boilin -point to be
207° Fahrenheit, while the mean temperature of the
air was 57°, I calculated to be 2699 feet above the
level of the sea — was the utmost limit of the excur-
sions of the natives : at this spot they obtain the
best sort of kokowai in the bed of the river, which
was for some distance quite yellow from a solution
in its waters of this ochreous substance, which glazed
the rocks with a metallic coating. Immediately on
our arrival our native companions set to work to
make baskets of rushes and flax-leaves, for the car-
riage of this muddy ochre, which they dug out from
swamps formed by the Waiwakaio at its banks.
This substance was afterwards slowly dried at the
fire, and, by further burning and preparing, a fine
vermilion was obtained, which they carried home
as an acceptable present to their families. This
ochre is formed in great quantities in many places
of New Zealand, where water has become stagnant,
and is constantly deposited either from the iron con-
tained in vegetables or from the ferruginous soil.
I have often seen the natives forming weirs at stag-
nant creeks in order to obtain it. They use it for
many purposes : when mixed with shark's oil, it
forms a durable paint for their houses, canoes, and

160 NATIVE USES OF OCHRE. [PART I.

burying-places ; it is also universally in request to
rub into their faces and bodies. The custom of be-
smearing the body in this manner is common to al-
most all barbarous nations, and is adopted for objects
widely differing. When going to battle, the savage
bedaubs himself in order to strike terror and fear into
the heart of his enemy; when joining in the fune-
ral ceremonies or the festivities of his tribe, he em-
ploys the same means to increase the beauty of his
appearance : the custom of covering themselves with
a thick coating of this substance at the death of a
relation or of a friend may have a symbolical mean-
ing, reminding them of the earth from which they
have sprung, and is similar to the practice prevailing
among Oriental nations of mourners heaping ashes
on their heads. The New Zealander also regards
this pigment as a good defence against the trouble-
some sandflies and musquittos. Whether it is the
cause of the sleekness of the skin for which the
natives are so remarkable, I will not pretend to say ;
as this may be owing to their frequent bathing and
continual exposure to the air, or, which is still more
probable, may be a characteristic feature of the Poly-
nesian and other coloured races, in consequence of a
greater development of the vascular papillae between
the epidermis and cutis than is the case with the
white or Caucasian races.

But to return from this long digression, The
Waiwakaio was at this point confined between
high walls overshaded by trees ; here and there

CHAP. VII.] PURCHASE OF LAND. 161

large masses of the perpendicular cliffs had fallen
down and obstructed the bed of the river. In
future times this picturesque valley, as well as
Mount Egmont and the smiling open land at its
base, will become as celebrated for their beauty as
the Bay of Naples, and will attract travellers from
all parts of the globe.

On the 28th of December we again reached the
beach without accident, and with somewhat better
reason to be satisfied with our success than on our
last return. I found a large number of natives at
Nga Motu from the Otumatua and Waimate, as-
sembled for the purpose of selling the whole Tara-
naki district. As the return of the Tory was daily
expected, the beach looked as if a fair was being held
on it. A European also had arrived from Kawia,
accompanied by many natives, for the purpose of
dissuading those at Taranaki from ceding to the
Company their territorial rights ; not, however, from
any disinterested intention, or for the sake of the Ta-
ranaki natives, but because some parties were anxious
to buy the land for themselves, either from the small
remaining body of the original native proprietors, or,
if they would not agree to the terms proposed, from
their conquerors, the Waikato tribes. It was said
that the missionaries were much concerned in these
transactions.

On the 31st I started in the boat for the Waitara,
which is eight miles to the northward of the Sugarloaf
Islands. This river has a bar at the entrance, over

VOL. i. M

162 WAITAKA RIVER. [PART I.

which there is only five feet of water at low tide,
but inside the bar it deepens considerably, and two
miles from its mouth I found the depth to be two
fathoms and a half. The Waitara does not take its
rise in Mount Egmont, but comes from a hilly range
which runs from Tongariro in a south-westerly di-
rection, and is called Rangitoto. It flows through
a fertile and open country. About twelve miles
from its mouth, and situated on the left bank, was
formerly a large and prosperous village, called Puke-
rangi-ora, peopled with 1500 of the Nga-te-awa
tribes. About ten years ago it was taken, after a
long siege, by the Waikato, and nearly 500 of the
inhabitants were slaughtered, fifty of them by the
hand of Te-wero-wero, who is at present a great
" Mihanere " (as the natives call those who have
adopted Christianity, from the word missionary), and
lives at Waitemata or Manukao; the rest of the
population was carried away into slavery. There
are no natives here at present, nor is there any trace
of the path which formerly led from Puke-rangi-ora
round the base of Mount Egmont to the districts
in Cook's Straits.

I returned in the evening delighted with the ge-
neral aspect of the country.

We were now in the middle of summer ; the wea-
ther was very agreeable; the thermometer in the
afternoon stood in the shade at 86°, rising to 100° in
the sun, and generally falling in the evening to 62°.
But I must observe that we were living amidst the

CHAP. VII.] TEMPERATURE. 163

sand-hills of the coast, which were often so much
heated that I could not bear to walk upon them.
But we were never a week without rain, and some-
times had a thunder-storm, after which a delightful
coolness pervaded the atmosphere. The rivulets
always retained their quantity of water ; the humid-
ity in the forest rarely ceased; and the mosses and
ferns continued as fresh as ever. Fishing was at-
tended with great success, and I often had occasion
to admire the expertness of the women in diving for
crawfish in the surf near the Sugarloaf Islands.
The New Zealanders, men, women, and children,
swim well, and can continue the exertion for a long
time ; in common with the North American In-
dians, they swim like dogs, not dividing the water, as
we do, with the palm of the hands, but paddling
along with each arm alternately. Bathing was one
of our favourite amusements, as there was a beau-
tiful pond of fresh water immediately behind our
hut, and great was the mirth and good fellowship
at our daily bathing-parties.

In the beginning of January two messengers of the
Nga-te-awa tribe, who had been enslaved by the Wai-
kato, arrived from Kawia : they brought intelligence
that the Nga-te-raukaua had sent to the Waikato to
request their aid in an exterminating warfare against
the Nga-te-awa tribe in Waikanahi, in revenge for
their losses there. They also told us that the Wai-
kato were prepared to make an immediate descent on
us, in order to prevent the natives of Taranaki from

M2

164 MOTU-ROA ISLAND. [PART I.

selling any of the land, which they regarded as their
property. In consequence of this information we
prepared for defence, in case a tribe of the Waikato
should attack us during the night, although I did
not think that our party had anything to fear. It
was impossible to sleep, as the natives talked all
night as to the possible result of a conflict with the
Waikato. On the following morning they advised
us to shift our habitation to Motu-roa, the largest of
the Sugarloaf Islands, and to take all the women and
children with us. The men resolved to remain on
the mainland opposite the island, and to provide us
with necessaries : if the Waikato should make a de-
scent, they might thus more easily resist, or fly
towards the mountain. We followed their advice,
and lived on Motu-roa during the rest of our stay, as
we daily expected the arrival of the Tory. This
island is a conical rock, extremely steep, about one
mile in circumference and 500 feet high ; the form*
ation is trachyte. The rock contains much augite
and felspar, and includes here and there fragments
of a different formation. The augite appears often
in nests; and micaceous iron-ore occurs in thin veins.
The summit was scarcely accessible, but the native
women, with their children on their backs, walked
up and down the hill, and along steep precipices,
with the utmost unconcern. From time immemo-
rial Motu-roa has been a place of refuge and security
for the Nga-te-awa tribes, but more so of late; since
the departure of the greater portion of them. Wher-

CHAP. VII.] MOTU-ROA ISLAND.

165

ever there was a platform, or level space on the rock,
they had built dwelling-houses and stores, in which
they kept wood and provisions. In case of an attack,
they could, if watchful, easily keep off an enemy.
We took possession of a good house on the north-
west side of the island, about 190 feet above the
water, and placed in a dry niche, with the rock over-
hanging it. The vegetation of the island is con-
fined to flax, cabbage, and parsley, which grow in
the interstices of the rock.

166 [PART i.

CHAPTER VIII.

District from Taranaki to Mokau.

ON the 10th I started on an excursion to Mokau,
situated three days' journey from the Sugarloaves, in
order to visit a large tribe of the Waikato living
there. The son of the chief of that tribe, who had
come to Taranaki a few days before, accompanied
me as a guide. On the hard sandy beach which
lies to the northward of the Sugarloaf Islands we
passed the Huatoki, the Enui, and the Waiwakaio
rivers. The escarpment of the coast shows here
volcanic boulders, kept together by a yellow loam.
This formation is covered with sand. From the
Waiwakaio to the river Mimi the shore consists of
sandy downs. We passed the latter river at low
water. At its right bank is an escarpment, which
consists entirely of sharp-edged volcanic fragments.
A whale was lying on the beach, which seemed to
have been stranded a few days before. An enormous
quantity of drift-wood was imbedded in the sand,
intermixed with human bones, probably the remains
of the cannibal feasts held during the siege of Puke-
rangi-ora. We slept on the banks of the Waitara
river, after having passed several smaller streams.

CHAP. VIII.] INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES. 167

From this point the sea-shore becomes elevated ; the
cliffs consisting of a stiff blue clay, with a formation
of yellow loam above it. We travelled, for the
greater part of our route, over fertile fern-hills, with
beautiful groves of trees. The vegetation continued
down to the water's edge.

We passed the rivers Oneiro and Urenui; the
latter flowed with a sluggish stream through a deep
bed of white mud. After we had crossed this river
we heard voices at a distance, and soon came up
with a European, who had been sent by the Wes-
leyan Missionary in Kawia, and was travelling for
missionary objects to the southward. With him was
a large party of Waikato natives, and also men,
women, and children belonging to the tribe of the
Nga-te-awa at the Sugarloaf Islands. They had
been taken slaves in the last war, and had been
obliged to live at Kawia ; but now their masters
had allowed them to go to Taranaki, for the pur-
pose of paying a visit. They saluted us very heartily,
rubbing noses and shaking hands ; and an old
woman soon began a lamentation over me. I found
out that she was the mother of Barret's wife. The
undisguised joy and sorrow which she expressed
when I told her of the fortunes or trials of her
daughter and grandchildren showed me once more
how equally Nature has distributed amongst the
whole of the human family the kindly affections of
the heart, which are not the privilege of any one

168 GEOLOGICAL FEATURES [PART I.

race or colour, nor increased by civilization, which
indeed too often blunts and destroys them.

The country near the sea-coast bears, in many
places, the traces of former extensive native cultiva-
tion, and the ruins of several pas. Here formerly
lived the Nga-te-toma and Nga-te-Motunga tribes,
the present inhabitants of the Chatham Islands,
who migrated there many years ago. The whole
district between Taranaki and Mokau has not at
present a single inhabitant, although one of the
most favoured districts of New Zealand. Near the
Urenui river we again reached the sea-shore ; the
cliffs were here about a hundred feet high ; the
lowest formation was a marly clay. About twenty
feet above the level of the sea was a formation of
wood, very little altered or carbonized, and ten feet
in thickness, but irregular : above that was a loamy
soil. From the lowest formation I dug out a quan-
tity of protophosphate of iron ; it is found in small
pieces or balls, is of an earthy consistence, and of a
pale-blue colour ; the natives call it puke-poto, and
when freed from the earthy particles and washed
it is highly esteemed as paint. A little farther on
the shore becomes very picturesque ; it consists of
a micaceous, soft, yellowish sandstone, which the
waves of the sea have worn into the most fantastic
shapes ; sometimes it resembles the wall of a fort
with round towers, and surrounded by balconies,
crowned with beautiful shrubs. In some parts, and

CHAP. VIII.] OF THE COAST. 169

at one particular level, large boulders of trap-rock
protruded out of the wall, the soft mixture in which
they had been deposited having been washed away ;
in fact, the whole shore had the appearance of hav-
ing been artificially cut out. This formation ex-
tended as far as Mokau, which place we reached the
following day. My arrival was espied from the first
pa, which is built on a hill near the outlet of the
river. I was welcomed with a salute of musketry,
and conducted in the midst of the assembled chiefs,
who were dressed in their best attire. The sale of
lands, and the colonization of the country by Euro-
peans, engrossed their whole attention, and formed
the subject of our interview. On the following
day we went several miles up the river, and visited
some other pas, which were numerously inhabited;
we were everywhere received with the most studied
attention. Disunion had, however, been spread
amongst them by the arrival of some native mission-
aries, sent from the Wesleyan establishment at
Kawia. The larger and more respectable part of
the little community were not well inclined to them,
as an idea prevailed that the missionaries sought to
convert them only with a view to their own ag-
grandizement.

These natives, which are a subdivision of the tribe
of the Waikato, and are called Nga-te-Meniopoto,
seem to be in very prosperous circumstances. The
river Mokau, which takes its rise in the mountains
of Rangitoto, a hilly range running near the western

170 RIVER MOKAU. [PART I.

coast, flows through a very fertile and moderately
hilly district. On its banks are well-cultivated
spots, bearing potatoes, maize, melons, and taro ; the
natives were also growing a great proportion of the
tobacco that they consumed in the year. Flax
covers extensive districts; and the industry formerly
displayed in manufacturing mats has not yet entirely
disappeared. Their settlement never having been
reached by European visitors or ships, these natives
had retained their unsophisticated virtues. They
sometimes, indeed, have come in contact with Euro-
peans at Kawia, where they exchange their pigs for
foreign commodities. A brig once entered the
river, and from the general aspect it appeared to
me as if there was sufficient depth over the bar for
vessels of moderate burden, at all events for steamers.
Inside the bar I sounded, and found three fathoms :
according to the natives, there is one fathom and a
half over the bar at low-water. Inside the head-
lands the river takes a sharp turn, and forms a deep
and completely sheltered basin.

I returned to Taranaki accompanied by the prin-
cipal chiefs of Mokau, and greatly satisfied with the
reception they had given me, and reached the Sugar-
loaf Islands after an absence of eight days.

After we had waited a great length of time for
the return of the Tory, a brig, the Guide, arrived
on the 31st January, having on board some gentle-
men belonging to the Tory, and bringing the
intelligence that she was refitting at Kaipara, hav-

CHAP. VIII.] TARANAKI. 171

ing grounded on the bar at the entrance to that
harbour. This news relieved us from the anxiety
which we had felt as to the possibility of securing
the Taranaki district for the New Zealand Com-
pany ; as since my arrival churchmen and laymen
had vied with each other to obtain possession of
that district. On the arrival of the Guide a
liberal price was given to the natives for their land,
and the good will of the Waikato purchased by pre-
sents. Thus the New Zealand Company became
proprietors of the finest district in New Zealand,
which offers to the colonist, besides its natural
resources, the advantage of there being no natives
on the land, with the exception of the small rem-
nant of the Nga-te-awa tribe at Nga-Motu.

Since the above was written the settlement of
New Plymouth has been established at Nga-Motu,
or Sugarloaf Point, which must be prosperous even
without a harbour, which is wanting there, as it
possesses cultivable land, extensive facilities of land
communication both with Cook's Straits and along
the coast to Mokau and Kawia, and, as I can state
from my own experience, a very delightful climate.

On the 16th of February we left the roadstead of
Taranaki, and arrived again in Port Nicholson on
the 21st.

172 [PART i.

CHAPTER IX.

On the Climate of Cook's Straits and New Zealand in
general.

IN preparing these few remarks on the climate, I
have had before me a nearly complete series of me-
teorological observations, made at Port Nicholson,
taken daily at 8 A.M., at noon, and at 5 P.M., and re-
cording the temperature and pressure of the air, the
quantity of rain, the winds, and the general state of
the weather during an entire year. The observations
on temperature were not made with the self-register-
ing thermometer, and therefore do not comprise the
greatest degree of heat or of cold : this, however, is
of little consequence. The deductions derived from
the observations made at Port Nicholson will apply
to the whole of New Zealand, but not without great
restrictions, as it is obvious that marked differences
must exist in a country extending through nearly
thirteen degrees of latitude, and in which there are
central and coast positions, hills covered with forest,
and mountains reaching above the limits of per-
petual congelation. It must also be observed that
the year in which the observations were made
was a very wet one, according to the testimony of
the old settlers.

CHAP. IX.] CLIMATE. 173

New Zealand, being situated within the temperate
zone, although nearer to the equator than Great
Britain, possesses, from its peculiar geographical
position, especially from its being insular, and also
from the nature of its surface, a climate so modified
as to resemble that of England more nearly than
that of any other country I am acquainted with.
It is moderate in every respect, the range of its tem-
perature throughout the year and during the day
being very inconsiderable. This is principally owing
to the immense expanse of ocean which surrounds
these narrow islands on all sides, preserving a tem-
perature little varying, and moderating alike the
cold of the antarctic regions and the heat of the
tropics. The continent of Australia — for as such
we must regard it — is too distant to affect the cli-
mate, whi^h it would undoubtedly do if it were
nearer, as New Zealand would then receive an air
heated in its passage over the vast plains of Aus-
tralia, which extend far within the tropics. In
like manner the southerly winds, which, although
at all times the coldest, as coming from a polar terra
firma surrounded by eternal ice, are greatly tem-
pered by the intervening ocean. If, instead of the
latter, a continent extended to within a little dis-
tance of New Zealand, as Europe and Asia do
with reference to England, it would produce all
the phenomena of climate in which we observe
England to differ from New Zealand, such as the
greater cold in winter and during certain winds.

174 CLIMATE OF [PART I.

The east coast, on which Wellington, Auckland,
and the Bay of Islands are situated, is colder than
the western, where the settlements of Nelson and
New Plymouth have been founded, and where the
air is far softer and milder. I ascertained this by
actual comparisons, and in this respect the western
coast must have great advantages over the eastern.
In the interior of the islands the climate is colder
and less changeable, in consequence of the presence
of a snow-clad mountain-group and the greater
distance from the ocean. I found at Taupo the
acacias of Van Diemen's Land, the Ricinus palma
Christi, and potatoes, affected by the frost — a cir-
cumstance which never happens near the coast ; the
leaves also of several trees had become yellow and
deciduous ; the landscape assumed an autumnal tint,
although it can scarcely be said ever to have had a
wintry appearance. At Wellington, on the con-
trary, and along the whole coast, the natives plant
their potatoes at all seasons of the year, the forest
remains evergreen, and the opening of the flower-
buds is merely a little retarded during the season
of winter, the presence of which is only indicated
by more frequent rains and winds.

Owing to the continual interchange which takes
place between the heated air of the equator and the
cold air of the antarctic regions, an almost continual
wind is kept up, which blows either from the
north and the north-west, or from the south and
the south-east. Out of 365 days — the entire year

CHAP. IX.J NEW ZEALAND. 175

— there were only twelve which could be called
calm days; during 213 it blew from the north or
north-west, and during 119 from the south or
south-east. It is difficult to say which wind is the
most violent : the south-east winds are very strong,
but the most severe gales which I experienced were
from the north-west. During the winter months
the latter prevail ; but when the sun has a southern
declination southerly winds blow, in consequence of
the greater degree to which the air is heated under
the equator, and the current of cold air which
rushes in from the south to replace it. These winds
have a very beneficial effect upon the climate : no
sooner is mist or fog formed than they dispel it,
and thus purify the atmosphere, and prevent the
collection of obnoxious exhalations ; they produce
also the remarkable feature of the continual chasing
of clouds, and sudden alternations of rain and sun-
shine, which follow each other in far more rapid
succession than is ever experienced in England,
which has been so unjustly accused of having the
most changeable weather in the world. In this
respect, also, the western coast is less affected than
the eastern ; a violent gale has been known to blow
at Wellington when there was fine weather and
only light winds at Nelson.

New Zealand possesses a humid and moist climate.
If we consider the immense oceanic surface which
surrounds it on all sides, and from which a con-

176 CLIMATE OF [PART I-

tinual evaporation of watery particles proceeds, and
is taken up by the air, we shall readily anticipate
that the atmosphere must be almost constantly at
or near the point of saturation, and that when any
change of temperature takes place the moisture will
at once be condensed and fall in the form of rain.
The wood-covered hills and the forest-lands, which
constitute the greater part of New Zealand, attract
this humidity, and render rains more frequent than
they would perhaps be if the land were cleared. It
rains in New Zealand during all the months of the
year, but the greater quantity falls in winter and
spring, when there is also the greatest number of
rainy days. At Port Nicholson the quantity of rain
from April, 1841, to February, 1842, was 34-49
inches. The quantity of rain which falls annually
at London is only 23*1 inches, according to the re-
sults given by Mr. Daniell ; while in the Hebrides
the amount is nearly twice as large, ranging from
35 to 46 inches. Without pronouncing a decided
opinion from a single series of observations, and
these taken at only one place, and during ten
months, I may, I think, safely draw the conclusion
that New Zealand has a rainy climate, and may be
ranked, in this respect, with several places in Eng-
land. The quantity of rain was distributed over
the months in the following manner : —

CHAP. IX.]

NEW ZEALAND.

177

February, 1841

March

April

May

June

July O .?;)

Ins.
1-86

August .
September
October .ry

3-11

November .

4-12

December .

3'84

January, 1842

Ins.

4-56
4-51
2-31
2-95
5-47
1-16

This quantity fell in 133 days, which were dis-
tributed thus : —

February
March
April .
May .
June .
July .

Days.

9
11
18
17

August

September

October

November

December

January

Days.

14
14
16
14
15
5

The dews are particularly heavy during the win-
ter months, when the surface of the earth is colder*
in comparison to the surrounding atmosphere, than
in the other months. In the interior, where there
exists a long line of lakes, fogs rest upon them in
the mornings, and also upon the river-courses,
especially on that of the Waikato and Thames, but
they are dispelled by the sun when it has risen
some degrees above the horizon, or are driven away
by the winds.

This great quantity of moisture accounts for the
vegetation being so vigorous, even in those places
where only a thin layer of vegetable earth covers the
rocks. Sandy places, which in any other country
would be quite barren, are covered with herbage in
New Zealand ; and the hills, which in lithological
and geological formation resemble those of Devon-

VOL. i. N

178 CLIMATE OF [PART I.

shire, may, in the course of time, be converted into
pastures at least equalling those on the hilly portion
of that county. Everywhere also trees and shrubs
grow to the margin of the sea, and suffer no harm
even from the salt spray. The humidity of New
Zealand is not considered to have much injurious
effect on animal life. Cattle and horses are in as
good a condition as can be expected from the present
scantiness of grass pastures : should they, however,
be found to suffer from the moisture, the cattle can
at all times be driven from the valleys up to the hills,
where the drainage renders the ground sufficiently
dry. I much doubt whether as good a report can
be given regarding sheep, which always seemed to
suffer from wet, as well as from want of suitable
food ; and it cannot be denied that this moisture,
with all its beneficial influence on the vegetation of
the country — which includes the tree-ferns, generally
confined to the tropics, and a species of palm — will
be injurious to those fruits which are claimed as
the ornaments, and almost as the symbols, of south-
ern Europe, — to the olive, the vine, and the orange ;
and that New Zealand does not rank higher in this
respect than the south of England. The humidity
will also, it is to be feared, be injurious to the silk-
worm.

The physical configuration of New Zealand, and
the geological formation of the hills, are in general
such that the rain is rapidly carried towards the
coast in countless streams and rivulets : the lakes,

CHAP. IX.] NEW ZEALAND. 179

with which the interior of the northern island
abounds, have always an outlet ; and it is only in a
very few places that swamps exist, and these are
owing to the clayey nature of the subsoil, but they
are not sufficiently important to influence the gene-
ral state of the humidity of the air, or to become
insalubrious. In the neighbourhood of Port Nichol-
son the rain quickly percolates through the light
upper soil, and feeds the numerous streamlets, which
rapidly carry it off into the sea.

The temperature which, 'from its latitude, we
should expect New Zealand to possess, is extensively
modified by all the circumstances I have mentioned.
The first of these is the narrow shape of both
islands, which gives a very extensive coast-line,
into the numberless harbours and inlets of which
the sea enters ; and as it preserves a certain mean
and moderate temperature throughout the year, it
modifies the climate of land which is surrounded by
it, and uniformity of temperature is in consequence
characteristic of the climate of New Zealand. It is
most humid, as well as most equable, on the coasts,
where also vegetation is fresher than in any other
portion of the islands ; there is no great heat in sum-
mer, no severe cold in winter ; sometimes, indeed,
in the winter nights the thermometer sinks to the
freezing-point, and the stagnant waters in the in-
terior are covered with a thin crust of ice ; but
during the day it is very rare that the temperature
is below 40°. In a moderately convenient house

N2

180 CLIMATE OF [PART I.

fire could be dispensed with throughout the year,
but the habit of having a fire every evening, summer
and winter, may very easily be acquired.

The mean temperature of July— the coldest month
— was at Wellington only 48 -7° ; the greatest cold
during the day was 38° ; the greatest warmth 57°.
On the other hand, in January — the warmest month
— the mean temperature was 66 -4°; the highest
76*5° ; and the lowest 57°. The mean temperature
of the whole year was at Wellington 58*2°, and the
mean temperature of the different months was as
follows : —

Deg.

January . . . 66'4

February . . . 64' 8

March . . - 62'5

April . . .63'5

May . . 51-8

June 51'3

Deg.

July . . . 48-7

August . . .51-2

September. . . 53'5

October . . . 59'2

November . . . 60 '5

December . .64*7

From the foregoing details it will be understood
why I do not consider the climate of New Zealand
much suited to the vine ; 58 • 2°, it is true, is a mean
temperature sufficiently high for a country required
for ripening the grape ; but the mean of the three
summer months, 65-2°, is too low, as a mean sum-
mer heat of at least 66 • 2° is necessary for a wine
country. The mean temperature of the winter
months was not lower than 50 • 7° : in fact, the cli-
mate is not sufficiently excessive ; the winters are too
moderately cold, the summers too moderately warm ;
nor must we forget that there were twenty rainy

CHAP. IX.] NEW ZEALAND. 181

days in the summer months of December and Janu-
ary, which is likewise prejudicial to the growth of
the grape. These remarks are drawn from observa-
tions made at Wellington. But in that place, from
its peculiar position, the temperature is lower than
at other places, for instance, than at Nelson and
New Plymouth. In the latter place I often found
the thermometer as high as 86° in the shade, nearly
10° higher than it ever was at Wellington.

The Valley of the Hutt is exposed to the south
winds, but Nelson is perfectly sheltered from them
by the high mountains of the Middle Island, whilst
it lies open to the balmy winds and warm rains from
the north.

The latitude also must exercise a great influence,
as I have already observed, so that many modifica-
tions must be made in the conclusions above given.

The climate of a country has undoubtedly very
great influence on the physical and intellectual con-
ditions of its inhabitants; we therefore naturally in-
quire— How does New Zealand agree with the human
frame? Is the climate salubrious? To what diseases
does it give rise ? When might it be recommended?
As the atmosphere, by its moderate warmth, its hu-
midity, and constant current, is peculiarly favour-
able to the vegetative powers, as we see in the luxuri-
ant growth of plants, so from the same causes it suits
the human frame. In the families of the mission-
aries and settlers I observed no deviation from the
original stock; the children grow well and strong,

182 CLIMATE OF [PART I,

with fresh and rosy faces, and I am satisfied that in
this respect New Zealand is in no way inferior to Great
Britain. A humid and temperate atmosphere acts
especially upon production, both as it regards growth
of the body and the numerical strength of families.
Nutrition and reproduction are in good order : in re-
spect to the numerical strength of families, the
climate seems to be particularly favourable to the
increase of population ; at least, all the Europeans
have large families. We see the effect of this hu-
mid climate in certain diseases, to which Europeans,
first arriving in this country, are often subjected.
These are abscesses, or boils, and eruptive diseases,
neither, however, of a malignant character, and both
disappearing without medical aid. Amongst the
natives carbuncles and diseases of the mucous mem-
branes are common : here, however, other causes are
acting, of which I shall speak more hereafter. The
European, when once acclimatised, does not suffer
from any of these causes. True inflammatory dis-
eases are uncommon : the south-east wind of New
Zealand is never as keen as our north-easter ; but,
in consequence of the moist climate, such diseases
always assume the character of catarrh. I am not
aware that any endemic diseases exist in New Zea-
land ; influenza, however, and sometimes croup, ap-
pear epidemically, If care is not taken, rheuma-
tisms also make their appearance ; but it is certain
that causes which, in England, would produce vio-
lent colds, and other injurious results, pass over in

CHAP. IX.] NEW ZEALAND. 183

New Zealand without any bad effect, even to those
colonists who are in delicate health.

The purity of the atmosphere, resulting from the
continual wind, imparts to the climate a vigour which
gives elasticity to the physical powers and to the
mind. Heat never debilitates, not even so much
as a hot summer's day in England ; and near the
coasts especially there is always a cooling and re-
freshing breeze. The colonist who occupies him-
self with agriculture can work all day, and the
mechanic will not feel any lassitude whether he
works in or out of doors.

From all this I draw the conclusion* that as
regards climate no country is better suited for a
colony of the Anglo-Saxon race than New Zealand ;
and were this its only recommendation, it would
still deserve our utmost attention, as the future seat
of European civilization and institutions in the
southern hemisphere, since in the other southern
colonies — for instance, in that of New South Wales
— Europeans undergo more or less alterations from
the original stock.

Invalids rapidly recover in this climate, and there
is no doubt that the presence of numerous thermal
waters in the island, and the attractive scenery, will
make New Zealand the resort of those who have
been debilitated in India, and are in search of health.

I subjoin in a tabular form the results of the
meteorological observations at Port Nicholson.

184

METEOROLOGICAL TABLE. [PART I.

s

I

.a

.1

E

j>>0

CO^COtN r— « 01 O t>» i— « i— " O

>*CG 00 CO *^ CO C5 O5 tx CO Ci O CO

g £ C

CO

•£.2 »

otSflS «s TJ« *— i— i (M «n co oo o

•50-50 * 't>.CNT3< O^OlOICOt^tO

2 .9 S I 5?^"*^ — f to <— « i-^ o tx. to

OO<M o-^rco^oco oo

C-1O CTiOOOtOO^^ •— i

« • »..(T><>1 o^t^cpopcp cp

^5 *OCO O^OSO5O5CTJO O

CO01 <MOJiM<NCMCO CO

II

oo oooooo

CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO

g S § 3 S § S § °

|g • • »too oicoco«ocoo

|J* CMCN <M CM . <M C/5 CM CM Ol

t^co*^ i^to^eocotM oo

•sq""

u

COO»OOO

Correspond
to ou

'

i

'

£ -"

CHAP. X.] 185

CHAPTER X.

General Considerations on Cook's Straits.

THE existence of a strait, which separates two long
and narrow islands, extending for 800 miles, from
the thirty-fourth to the forty-eighth degree of south
latitude, is a geographical feature which early at-
tracted the attention of those who wished to colonize
New Zealand. Queen Charlotte's Sound was the
favourite resort of the justly-celebrated Captain Cook,
and, many as were the countries which he visited, he
certainly could not have selected in any of them a more
sheltered or convenient harbour. Here he procured
in abundance — what he most needed — water, wood,
and fish ; he also availed himself of some of the indige-
nous vegetables for the purpose of refreshing his crew
and improving their health. His name is gratefully
remembered by the natives, to whom he left those
things which now form the principal articles of their
trading intercourse with the Europeans, namely, pigs
and potatoes; the cabbage, which he sowed, has
spread over all the open places in Cook's Straits,
and early in spring the sides of the hills are covered
with its yellow flowers.

These straits oifer more secure, convenient, and

186 COOK'S STRAITS. [PART i.

capacious harbours than are to be met with on any
other coast of similar extent. The country around
the harbours consists principally of steep hills clothed
with forest from the water's edge to their summit.
The formation of these hills, a metamorphic slate
and basalt, or Lydian stone, does not form a very
favourable substratum to the thin layer of vegetable
earth which covers them. The natives, therefore,
choose for cultivation the very small extent of flat
land found in the little coves and bays which the
coast forms in innumerable places, and which are
less wooded ; or they choose still more frequently
the bottom of ravines, where they destroy the forest
by fire, leaving the unconsumed stems of the trees
to decay naturally. Here the fertile earth is in
greater abundance, and a never-failing crop of maize,
potatoes, taro, turnips, cabbage, sweet potatoes, or
pumpkins, recompenses their labour. In that part
of the island a European population must there-
fore be satisfied to pursue the same system as the
natives have done, namely, to disperse themselves in
small communities over those little bays, and rear
the necessaries of life, without other labour than
their own, and gradually to work their way up the
ravines, bringing them to such a state as to bear a
low herbage of grass and clover on which to feed
sheep and cattle. The island of Mana has been thus
converted into sheep pasture ; but I am certainly of
opinion that here sheep should be reared chiefly for
their carcase, as the country is not favourable to the

CHAP. X.J COOK'S STRAITS. 187

growth of the wool. Goats, asses, and mules seem
to be more adapted to this part of the country than
the rest of the domestic animals. All those plants
which are natives of England can be produced here,
but not the natives of warmer climates. I have
already expressed a doubt whether the products of
the south of France would succeed, as, for instance,
the olive, the vine, and the mulberry, although it
has been frequently asserted that they would.

A squatting population, therefore, living apart
from each other, but connected by a safe water com-
munication, are the best pioneers for a colonization
of that part of Cook's Straits. Shipbuilders also
should choose a position in Queen Charlottes Sound
where they can command a great variety of useful
timber.

It was a common impression that through the
centre of the Middle Island there was a mountain-
ous ridge rising above the limits of perpetual snow,
and falling off to wards the coast on both sides, leaving
but little land for an agricultural population. From
the concurrent testimony, however, of some Eu-
ropeans and of the natives, I have reason to believe
that the Middle Island has a configuration similar
to the Northern; that its mountains form coast-
ridges, which leave a sort of table-land in the inte-
rior, although from the narrowness of the island
this cannot be of great extent. On the western
coast these hills approach very near the shore, being
broken however in places, and forming some conve-

188 COOK'S STRAITS. [PART i.

nient harbours; they contain anthracitic coal and
limestone, and bear a variety of timber, of which I
must especially mention a new species of the parsley-
leafed pine (Phyllocladus trichomanoides), which the
natives call E Hutu, to distinguish it from the tane-
kaha, another species of the same genus. On the
eastern coast the hills in several places are of a more
gradual slope, like those in the Bay of Plenty, and
forming a rich field for colonial enterprise. Around
Queen Charlotte's Sound and Cloudy Bay there is
a knot of these hills, but the interior table-land
opens towards Blind Bay, and also towards Wairoa
in Cloudy Bay. Thus, it appears that the situation
of Nelson in Blind Bay is the happiest which could
have been chosen in Cook's Straits for opening a
communication with the interior, and also for secur-
ing a sufficient extent of back country for an import
and export trade.

In the northern island, as far as regards the
parts bordering on Cook's Straits, the aspect is
somewhat different. From the part nearly oppo-
site Entry Island to Cape Egmont, and thence to
the northward, a belt of undulating land runs along
the sea-coast, increasing in breadth towards Mount
Egmont; whilst that mountain rises imposingly
with a very gradual slope from the sea-coast, from
which it is distant thirty miles. The land here
consists, as I have already mentioned, of aqueous
strata, which have a comparatively even surface, and
which owe their origin to the rise of the volcanic

CHAP. X.] COOK'S STRAITS. 189

cone of Taranaki. This belt of land consists of
light sandy soil near the sea-coast, not wooded, but
capable of cultivation. This open land is three or
four miles in breadth, at which distance from the
sea the wood begins, and the soil becomes more sub-
stantial and rich. Fern and flax, which usually
characterise the vegetation of open districts in New
Zealand, are also found here, but are intermixed
with some juicy shrubs, plants, and also some species
of grass. Cattle and horses, if allowed a wide range,
would find sufficient food, although it cannot pro-
perly be called a grazing district.

Many rivers discharge themselves into Cook's
Straits. Their number is indeed so great, from
Port Nicholson along the western coast, that they
constitute a feature peculiar to New Zealand. None
of these rivers can admit ships of the largest ton-
nage, but several are navigable for vessels of moderate
burden, and offer great facilities for internal com-
munications. The Manawatu, the Wanganui, the
Patea, and the Mokau are the most important of
them. The harbours connected with this district,
and fitted to receive the larger vessels, are Port
Nicholson and Kawia ; the former is by far the best.
The prosperity of Wellington, which is situated at
Port Nicholson, and is the capital of the New Zea-
land Company, depends chiefly on the agricultural
resources of this district, upon the early construc-
tion of roads to connect it with the town, and
upon the employment of steam-boats drawing little

190 COOK'S STRAITS. [PART i.

water for the navigation of the rivers. These two
latter requisites are essential for raising contem-
poraneously the prosperity of country and town. I
should recommend the colonist who has but little
capital to select the country rather than the town, as
around Wellington there is no great extent of avail-
able land, and its prosperity must be deferred until
it is enabled, by the produce of the agricultural dis-
tricts, to exist as a commercial port. It must be
expected that the rise of the colonies in Cook's
Straits will be slow, although progressive, and that
embarking capital in agricultural pursuits will most
securely and most immediately yield the greatest
advantages.

!

CHAP. XI.] 191

CHAPTER XL

The Natives inhabiting the Shores of Cook's Straits.

THE natives inhabiting both shores of Cook's Straits
were at the time of my arrival placed in a position
which could not fail to awaken my deepest interest.
Although their number is not large, taking them as
a whole, yet they live so much dispersed in small
tribes that they occupy a long coast-line. For the
last fifteen or twenty years they have associated
with Europeans, who have lived amongst them
as traders or as whalers ; and they were annually
visited by many whaling- vessels. Mutual advantage,
and the connection of almost all these Europeans
with native women, from which connection a healthy
and fine-looking half-caste race has sprung up (about
160 in number), kept the white men and natives in
harmony with each other, and has cemented their
union. Thus we find Europeans arrayed against
Europeans in the combats of the different tribes
amongst whom they lived, or emigrating with them
to another locality, or following the hazardous chase
of the whale with a crew of natives. When dead
they were bewailed as brothers by these sons of
nature, and a painted canoe erected as an ornament

192 NATIVES INHABITING [PART I.

over their graves. Many runaway convicts from
New South Wales and Australia were amongst
these irregular settlers, many of whom were men of
desperate character. The society was a curious
motley of men of all nations and colours, who had
lived an adventurous life from their childhood ; yet,
with all these elements of vice among them, the
natives had preserved many of their good qualities ;
and the colonists of the Company found them better
prepared to acknowledge a more regulated state of
society, and to acquiesce in present sacrifices with a
view to their future benefit, than was the case with
the natives in the more northern parts of the island,
although missionaries had lived among them during
a long period. None of these missionaries have
paid Cook's Straits more than a passing visit, yet
many of the natives were initiated into the tenets
of Christianity, and could read and write, having
learned these arts from mutual instruction. The
zeal of these new proselytes went so far as often to
cause me annoyance.

Many changes have taken place amongst the in-
habitants of Cook's Straits during the last thirty
years. Several tribes have disappeared, or have emi-
grated to more distant places, in consequence of war.
The natives who inhabited Cook's Straits at the
time when the country was visited by Captain Cook
and Forster have been replaced by tribes coming
from the western coast and the interior of the
northern island : war, or the desire to be connected

CHAP. XI.J COOK'S STRAITS. 193

with Europeans has produced this result. The tribes
of the Rangitane and Nga-hei-tao, in Queen Char-
lotte's Sound, have gone to the eastern coast of the
middle island : some are held in slavery by the Nga-
te-awa. The Nga-te-Kahohunu, in Tory Channel,
and at Port Nicholson, have likewise given way to
the Nga-te-awa, and live now on the eastern coast
of the northern island, around Hawke's Bay. Two
tribes of the Nga-te-awa, the Nga-te-motunga and
Nga-te-toma, emigrated in a European vessel to
the Chatham Islands. The Nga-te-raukaua, a
central tribe of the northern island, were driven
from their native district, near the sources of the
Waikato River, and settled in Otaki, near the River
Manawatu, enclosed on both sides by hostile tribes.
All yielded to their common enemy, the Waikato.
The latter have expelled almost all the inhabitants
from the finest district in Cook's Straits, Taranaki,
without occupying it themselves. It was not the
desire of new dwelling-places which tempted them
to this warfare, as they themselves possess one of
the most productive parts of the island ; they re-
ceived the impulse from the chiefs of the Bay of
Islands, who, being provided with fire-arms, had
beaten them in several engagements.

It must not, however, be imagined that there is
no relationship, no intercourse between these dif-
ferent tribes : they are all more or less mixed,
although feuds still exist between the Nga-te-rau-
kaua and the Nga-te-awa at Waikanahi, and between

VOL. i. o

194 NATIVES INHABITING [PART I.

the natives of the interior of Taupo and a branch of
the natives of Wanganui. It is, however, probable
that the great influx of Europeans into Cook's Straits,
and the spreading of Christianity, will ere long ter-
minate all these hostilities, and that their long-
sustained quarrels will give way to a peaceful
possession of their property, and to those blessings
of security which can only be enjoyed in a well-
organized state of society.

I subjoin a census of the tribes in Cook's Straits,
indicating the larger families to which they respect-
ively belong.

CHAP. XI.]

COOK S STRAITS.

195

TABLE showing the NAMES of the NATIVE TRIBES on both sides
of COOK'S STRAITS, with an approximation to the Number of
Souls in each.

Name of the Place.

Name of the
Tribes.

To what Family
they belong.

Num-
ber.

Remarks.

Port Nicholson

Oario ....

Puketapn . .

Pitone ... i
Nauranga . . J
Kai-ware-ware . i
Pipitea . . . }
Wahi-pirau . . .
Waiwata . . .
Taranaki . . .
Paru-rua and the )
Island of Mana J

Nga-motu . .

Nga-te-toma .

Puke-tapu
Nga-te motunga
Nga-te-rua-mu

Nga-te-toa . .

Nga-te-awa . -\

Nga-te-rua-nui J
Nga-te-awa . .

800
120

{The Nga-te-rua-nui
are closely related
to the Nga-te-awa,
but are regarded by
them almost as a de-
pendent tribes.

Kapiti ....
Waikanahi . . .

Nga-te-toa . .
Nga-te-awa . .

Nga-te-awa . .
Nga-te-awa . .

200
700

The Nga-te-raukaua

Otaki and River 1
Manawatu . . J

Nga-te-raukaua .

Nga-te-raukaua .

600

are in hostilities with
the Nga te-awa in

Waikanahi.

e Slaves to the Nga-

Rangitiki River

Nga-te-apa . .

Nga-te-apa . .

60

{ te-awa, but undis-
I turbed.

(This tribe is a mixed

1 one; the Patu.to-

1 k oto being related to

Wanganui River .

t Patutokoto . 1
1 Nga-te-rua-kua J

Nga-te-tahi . .

900

J the Nga-te-pehi, one
of the Taupo tribes,
and the Nga-te-rua-

kua to the Nga-te-

awa tribes.

( Allied to the Nga-te-

Waitotara . -j

1 rua-kua and Nga-te-

Wenuakura . I
Patea . . . 1

Nga-te-rua-nui

Nga-te-rua-nui .

900

< awa. These natives
j are at war with the

Waimate . . ^

V Taupo tribes.

Puketapu . I

Nga-te-rua-nui

Nga-te-rua-nui .

400

Orangituapek . J

(It umal.ua . .

Taranaki . . .

Nga-te-rua-nui

250

Nga-motu . .

Nga-motu . . .

Nga-te-awa . .

60

1

SHORES OF THE MIDLAND ISLAND.

Massacre Bay . .
Wanganui . . .
Blind Bay . . .

Nga-te-toa . -\
Puke-tapu . V
Nga-te-toma . J

Nga-te-awa . .

400

Rangitoto, or \
D'Urville's Istandf

Nga-te-toa . .

Nga-te-awa . .

60

/•The Rangitane are

Admiralty Islands .
Heoiri River . .

Nga-te-toa . i
Manakurj . . /
Rangitane . . .

Nga-te-awa . l
Rangitane . . I

250

1 slaves of the Nga-te-
1 toa, and are the rem-
| nant of the former
1 possessors of a great
V part of Cook's Straits.

Queen Charl Sound

Anaho . . ' Puke-tapu . \
Moioio . . Nga-te-toa . 1
Te-awa-ki . Nga-motu . . I
Hokokuri . Nga-te-toma . J

Nga-te-awa . .

!60
150
60
120

Cloudy Bay

Nga-te-toa . .

Nga-te-awa . .

400

Total of the

Population

6490

o 2

197

PART II.

CHAPTER XII.

Northern Island — Northern Districts — Pa-renga-renga, or Village
of the Lily — Reinga — North Cape.

AFTER a lapse of several months, which were taken
up by a visit to the Chatham Islands, an interesting
little archipelago to the south of New Zealand, and
to New South Wales, but more especially to that dis-
trict of the latter country which lies on the Hunter's
River, I returned from Sidney to New Zealand in
the Cuba, arriving in the Bay of Islands in October,
1840, after a voyage of only eight days. I then ex-
plored the northern parts of the island, and after-
wards pushed my way to the interesting volcanic
districts in its centre. I had intended to have re-
turned to Cook's Straits, and explored in like man-
ner the middle and southern islands, but various
circumstances prevented my doing so.

A great part of the district to the northward of
the Bay of Islands I explored in company with
Captain Bernard, an adventurous Frenchman, who,

198 NORTHERN ISLAND. [PART II.

to a well-informed and liberal mind, united all that
genuine politeness and savoir vivre for which his
nation was formerly so famous. He was a most
agreeable companion, and various were our adven-
tures in the little schooner of sixteen tons, belong-
ing to him, in which we coasted along the island,
and entered many of the harbours ; but having a
great disinclination to describe personal incidents,
I shall omit them altogether, and will risk the re-
proach of tediousness by giving what will, I con-
ceive, be more useful — a topographical description of
the different parts of the country, and afterwards
look over the whole in a bird's-eye view.

I begin with the district of Kaitaia, comprising
the northern end of the island. Cape Maria van
Diemen, its north-western extremity, is formed of
detached rocks of a hard conglomerate, which is
composed of water-worn pebbles of basaltic lava,
amygdaloidal basalt, greenstone, and Lydian stone.
Inland of this rocky promontory the cape is sandy,
and sand-hills run for a distance of about four
miles along the coast to the eastward, as far as the
Reinga, where the shore again rises into cliffs. The
sand, driven by strong westerly gales, which prevail
here during a great part of the year, has made great
encroachments upon the land, and in fact nearly
its whole northern extremity above the parallel of
Houhoura or Mount Carmel — with the exception
of that part which is situated to the northward of
the harbour of Parenga-renga — has been over-

CHAP. XII.] REINGA. 199

whelmed by it. The sand-hills near Cape Maria
van Diemen are separated by swampy valleys, mostly
covered with raupo (rushes of the genus Typha) :
where the drainage is better, flax and fern grow.
Streamlets discharge themselves from the swamps
into the sea, and on their banks some natives rear
their provisions, consisting of common and sweet
potatoes, water-melons, and pumpkins. There is
but little vegetable earth mixed with the sand, but
the moisture of the climate, and the reflection of the
sun from the dazzling white sand-hills, together
with the extreme northerly situation of the place,
render the vegetation productive, and the fruits
ripen almost a month earlier than in the Bay of
Islands. The natives do not exceed a dozen in
number, and belong to the once powerful, but now
conquered and scattered, tribe of the Haupouri
(wind bringing darkness). They are slaves, but
are suffered to live undisturbed. The little village,
in which they received me with great kindness,
consisted of the most whimsical structures I ever
saw. Each dog and each pig had its sty fenced
in, and the men themselves had similar little sties
to live in : from one of these the patriarch of the
family addressed me with a dignity that contrasted
strangely with the surrounding simplicity.

Reinga, a spot kept sacred by the natives, as the
entrance into " the undiscover'd country, from
whose bourn no traveller returns," is situated some-
what to the eastward of Cape Maria van Diemen ;

200 REINGA. [PART n.

it forms one extremity of a cliff of conglomerate
rock, which cannot be approached from the sea-side,
and which lines the coast for about six miles, and
terminates to the eastward in a conical hill, Te-
wanga-ke, whence the coast is lined by a sand
beach to about the middle of the northern shore.
It is curious to find in New Zealand the belief so
common among barbarous nations, that there is a
cave or passage through which the departed descend
into the nether regions. By the New Zealanders
this entrance is placed at the farthest extremity of
their sea-girt isle (Te-Muri-wenua, or land's end),
the limit of their known world, and the spot with
which, of all others, the tribes to the south had the
least inducement to become acquainted. The cliff
above mentioned is the escarpment of a steep and
narrow ridge, of moderate elevation, which runs
inland towards the harbour of Parenga, but is not
connected with the principal chain of mountains,
which we can follow through the northern island,
since to the southward of the harbour the island
consists of low flats, the greater part of which, as I
have already observed, is covered with sand. These
hills consist of a stiff clay, white or reddish, from
an admixture of oxide of iron, which is often found
in brown crusts on the surface. From the prin-
cipal branches of these hills ramifications run at
right angles, like the buttresses of a fortification,
and form ravines^ which receive small streams of
water. Only a scMity vegetation covers them, con-

CHAP. XII.] NORTHERN ISLAND.

201

sisting principally of manuka (Leptospermum sco-
parium), fern (Pteris esculenta), Lycopodium den-
sum, and some mosses, with here and there a bunch
of coarse, wiry grass, or Phormium tenax. In the
ravines, however, the vegetation is more luxuriant,
and consists of various trees, such as Fuchsia excor-
ticata, puriri (Vitex litoralis), interspersed with
fern-trees and cabbage-palms. On the whole there
is very little wood, although in not very remote
times the kauri pine (Dammara australis) must have
covered all these hills, as is proved by the burnt
remains of large trees of this species, and by the
resin which lies everywhere scattered on the sur-
face. At present there are only a few solitary trees
of this species ; these are to the northward of Kai-
taia, and are of stunted growth. The destruction
of the forest, which was a barrier to the encroach-
ment of the sand, has sealed the doom of this
northern part of the island, and a time may pro-
bably arrive when the whole will become its prey.
Where the kauri once grew the soil is now only
fit for the manuka and the fern. Evidence that
this overwhelming sand-drift is of a modern date,
and is owing to the destruction of the forest, may
be seen on the western coast. Although there, also,
almost the whole is covered with sand, still there
are islands, or oases^, so to speak, rising twenty or
thirty feet above the sand, one or two miles from
the sea-shore, showing on their steep sides the
ancient structure of the land. The sand, working

2O2 DISTRICTS OF THE [PART II.

in the same manner as the waves of the sea, gnaws
at these islands, but has not yet been able to reduce
their level to that of the surrounding land. About
half way between Parenga-renga and the western
coast there is a puriri-tree (Vitex litoralis) half bu-
ried in the sand, but still growing ; it serves as a
landmark to the natives, within the memory of
some of whom the sand has accumulated several
feet in height. At other points on the western
coast the same appearance is presented by some
patches of forest having protected isolated spots of
land, the soil of which is still good and fertile.

From Manga Ke the northern coast sweeps again
in an open bay for some miles to the eastward.
The eastern extremity of this bay is formed by a
rocky peninsula of pudding-stone, worn by the action
of the waves. At high water it is insulated, and,
being difficult of access, was formerly a stronghold
of the Haupouri tribe. A narrow valley here opens
to the sea ; through it flows a rivulet, which winds
between rocks overturned and broken in the most
remarkable manner. Sometimes the sides of the
valley form high and perpendicular cliffs, present-
ing steep and naked walls opposite to each other ;
sometimes they slant down at different angles, or
form tabular masses, or rise into compact pyra-
mids. The rock is the same conglomerate, ex-
tremely hard, and forming solid masses ; but the
narrow valleys between ridges contain a very fertile
soil. The hills have the appearance of a large

CHAP. XII.] NORTHERN ISLAND. 203

mass or layer of firm rock violently broken and
heaved up by gaseous vapours. The highest of the
hills, called Hairoa, is visible at some distance from
the eastern coast, and an arm of the estuary of Pa-
renga-renga, extending to within about three miles
of its base. It rises almost to a point, so that there
is scarcely room for a man to stand on. A little
below the summit the hill is pierced by a vault,
which serves as a frame through which to view the
surrounding country. The worn surface of the
hard rock, which is visible at about 300 feet above
the level of the sea, does net appear to have resulted
from the effects of air and rain, but rather from
the long-continued action of the sea beating upon
the deposited and conglomerated pebbles after the
mass had been elevated and rent asunder by earth-
quakes.

The whole of this place is called by the natives
Kapowairua (literally, a spirit which has become
night — that is, has been annihilated). It was once
occupied by the tribe of the Haupouri, under their
leader E' Ongi, surnamed Cape (North Cape), to
distinguish him from the renowned E Ongi of the
Bay of Islands ; they were attacked by Pane Kar-
eao, the chief of the Rarewa tribe at Kaituia, who
had been called in by E' Ongi's own people to pre-
vent the aggressions of their chief. E' Ongi was
taken by surprise at the dawn of the morning, and
killed, together with a great many of his people ; the
rest were obliged to leave their native land, and to

204 NORTHERN ISLAND. [PART II.

settle in Kaitaia. This happened about ten years
ago ; and as at the same time several of their pas
at the North Cape were taken, nobody has since
lived in the district, and Kapo-wairua was sold by
Pane Kareao to an European. In the direction of
one of the principal inlets in the estuary of Pa-
renga-renga, the few narrow and fertile spots near
the northern shore soon give way to that kind of
narrow ridges and ravines which I have mentioned
above. Having formerly been kauri-land, they
are now very barren. The soil contains layers of
soapstone, or steatite, a material which is very use-
ful in the manufacture of china, and a good deal of
stiff ferruginous clay. The arms of Parenga-renga
inlet extend between the ramifications of these hills,
and generally terminate in swamps, grown over
with what is called the New* Zealand mangrove
(Avicennia tomentosa), named manawa by the
natives. The available land is of very limited ex-
tent.

As regards the northern coast, I have only fur-
ther to observe that up to the North Cape it is
very rocky, alternating with small sandy bays. Off
the North Cape lies a small rocky island, Muri
Motu (Last Island), separated from the mainland
at high wrater only. The promontory itself is high
and bold, presenting very steep sides to both the
northern and eastern coast ; but a flat and swampy
land of about three square miles in extent runs
from the northern to the eastern coast, and sepa-

CHAP. XII.] PARENGA-RENGA. 205

rates this promontory from the hills at Kapo-
wairua.

The eastern coast from the North Cape to the north
head of the harbour of Parenga-renga is formed by
frightful perpendicular cliffs of volcanic conglome-
rate, sometimes alternating with cliffs of a reddish
crumbling loam ; where this is the case the land is
very fertile. In many places quicksand hides the
formation of the land, and forms downs and sandy
beaches. Part of the coast is occupied by a hard
grey stratified sandstone, which can be traced across
the neck of land separating the estuary of Parenga-
renga from the sea. On both sides it is included
by the conglomerate. In this sandstone I found a
small layer of good coal a few feet in length and an
inch and a half broad. The coal formations of
England being overlaid by a similar conglomerate,
it might be thought probable that more extensive
beds of coal would be found in this neighbourhood :
but, from a few fossils which I afterwards found in
the conglomerate, I am induced to believe that this
rock is not of the age of the old red sandstone, but
belongs to a modern tertiary epoch, although it is
certainly curious that the formation of brown coal,
or lignite, which abounds in New Zealand, and
which evidently belongs to the same age as the coal
above mentioned, should have been followed by a
conglomerate much worn and shattered, and indi-
cating, as does the conglomerate of the coal-measures,
H period of great disturbance. The coal, although

206 LIGNITE. [PART n.

in small quantity, is in this case a true coal, and
proves, if really belonging to the tertiary epoch,
that the formation of coal has not been confined to
one period of the earth's existence.

The northern head of Parenga-renga is a black
water-worn bluff, and here the conglomerate contains
some perfect fossils, especially of the genus Turri-
tella and Ostrea. The entrance into Parenga-
renga is easily distinguished by this bluff, as the
southern head is a spit of a dazzling snow-white
sand, which stretches towards Mount Carmel along
the coast, and extends for some miles inland.

From Cape Maria van Diemen, along the west-
ern coast, a long line of sand-hills alternates with a
few cliffy promontories, consisting either of a hard
basaltic lava in irregular masses, or of a reddish
loamy earth with layers of lignite, three or four feet
in diameter, and overlaid by a thick stratum of loam.
The lignite is not peat, but real wood, more or less
carbonized. The pieces of wood, although much
broken and worn, are easily recognised as belonging
to species of trees still existing in the island, espe-
cially kauri (Dammara australis) and Pohutu-kaua
(Metrosideros tomentosa). It will be seen in the
sequel that formations of this description are very
common in New Zealand, both on the eastern arid
western coasts, and that they form, in fact, a lead-
ing feature in the geology of the island.

I must not omit to mention here a small rocky
island, lying about twelve miles from Cape Maria

CHAP. XII.] ENCROACHING SANDS. 207

van Diemen, and three miles off the shore, and called
Matapia. It is covered with countless numbers of
sea-birds.

In crossing from the western coast to Parenga-
renga the road leads for several miles over white and
soft sand-hills. Their desolate aspect is peculiarly
impressive, as almost before our eyes the sand is
swallowing up the only verdant spots which remain.
The similarity of these little plots of land to islands,
presenting in their steep sides layers of lignite and
reddish loam, and the resemblance of the quicksand
to the waves of the sea, are very striking. But ne-
ver did a water-worn island bring so clearly before
my mind the destroying agencies of Nature as this
scene did, since we have here the means of ascer-
taining their quick effects by the plants and shrubs
which are half buried in the sand. Several shallow
but clear rivulets flow towards the western coast,
being the outlet of some small lagoons or swamps,
which afford temporary protection from the sand to
the wooded spots beyond them. A few miles from
the estuary of Parenga-renga the land, being more
sheltered by hills, assumes a better aspect ; the nar-
row ravines are fertile, and covered with high fern,
flax, and brush-wood, and brooks flow through them,
which join the different arms of Parenga-renga har-
bour.

This estuary is not laid down in any chart, al-
though it is an extensive one ; it must be placed at
what is called Sandy Bay in the general charts, in

208 NORTH CAPE. [PART II.

latitude 35° 35' S., and in 172° 57' E. longitude. The
entrance to it is narrow, but is two fathoms deep at
low water. The tide rises ten feet. I must how-
ever observe that, in standing out of the harbour in
our schooner during the ebb-tide, I observed some
rocks in the entrance, about six feet under water,
and vessels must therefore ascertain the exact chan-
nel previously to entering.

The harbour, or the estuary, as it should more
properly be called, is from six to eight square miles
in extent, and sends several branches in different
directions for some distance inland, all of which are
navigable for boats at high water. Good land is
situated at the head of these channels ; one of these
is only a little distance from Ka-po-wairua on the
northern coast. The best anchorage in the harbour
is within the inner northern head, where there is
five fathoms water.

At the North Cape I found the remains of large
native pas, or fortifications, on the crest of the hills.
It will, perhaps, be recollected that, in the account
of Captain King's ' Voyage to New Zealand,' it is
stated that he found this part of the island well in-
habited. Since that time all the inhabitants have
been reduced to slavery in their last wars. For a
long time the whole district was laid under " tapu,"
that is, forbidden to be inhabited, and the remains
of the tribes went to other places. It was only a
short time before my arrival in Parenga-renga, in
the beginning of 1841, that about sixty natives of the

CHAP, xii.] THE LAND'S END. 209

Haupouri tribe had returned to their old country
with the permission of Pane-kareao, the chief at
Kaitaia, intending again to settle here. A Eu-
ropean was living with them, for whom they had
engaged to catch wild pigs, which have overrun
the northern extremity of the island, where they
feed upon fern-root and sea-weeds. A great quan-
tity of fish is taken in the habour, especially skates,
herrings, mackerel, and snappers ; and the natives
were preserving them in great quantities by simply
drying them in the sun.

The whole extremity of the island, from Parenga-
renga to the northward, is called by the natives
Muri-wenua (the land's end), and from my descrip-
tion it will be seen that there is not much to entice
European settlers. There is, however, land fit for
some small farms, with excellent soil, sufficient wood,
and great facilities of water-carriage. But it is to
be expected that the remainder of the original tribe
will return to their native place, and at the same
time it is probable that some one of the private pur-
chasers will occupy his land, and give the natives a
stimulus for improving their condition. A consi-
derable number of sheep would find easy sustenance
on the hills, more so indeed than in most other
parts of New Zealand, as the herbage here is low,
and therefore better adapted for sheep than a high
and vigorous one.

VOL. I.

210 [PART n.

CHAPTER XIII.

Harbour of Houhoura, or Mount Carmel — Rangaurm —
Kaitaia.

AT the narrowest part of the island, from Parenga-
renga to about eight miles to the southward of
Houhoura, or Mount Carmel, the land consists
either of low hills or swamps, and is almost useless
on the east coast, where it is lined by a long sandy
beach, here and there interrupted by bluffs of ba-
saltic rock, which are verdant with groups of the
hardy pohutukaua-tree (Metrosideros tomentosa).
The vegetation of the hills is brown and low, almost
wholly consisting of fern and manuka. On the
western coast the land wears a better aspect, where
no sand-hills intervene. The shore consists of cliffs
about thirty feet high, in which loam and lignite
are observed. They have a sandy beach before
them; and everywhere springs of most excellent
water drip down, proving the moisture of the cli-
mate, even in the height of summer. In conse-
quence of this abundant moisture the natives have
many plantations, which are in a thriving state.
Towards Waro, a high dome-like promontory, con-
sisting of a volcanic clay-stone, or wakke, the land

CHAP. XIII.] MOUNT CARMEL. 211

becomes excellent. This mountain is the com-
mencement of a continued chain of similar hills,
which run along the western coast to the south-
ward, their formation being different varieties of
trap.

Mount Carmel itself is not connected with any
chain of mountains, but forms an isolated hill, and
rises to the height of about 500 feet above the sea.
This mountain protects a deep inlet, which, at the
head, branches off into several shallow channels,
and forms a perfectly sheltered harbour for vessels
of the largest burden, with anchorage close to the
eastern shore : the entrance to this harbour is not
more than forty or fifty yards broad. The moun-
tain is similar in its structure to the main range of
hills, and its appearance is such as to indicate clearly
its formation below the level of the sea. The base
is basalt and clinkstone ; the summit forms a narrow
ridge, from which steep buttresses run out towards
the sea on one side, and towards the harbour on
the other. In ascending we pass from the trap
to a greyish sandstone, irregularly mixed with pipe-
clay, steatite, and massy greenish quartz. On the
top, and to seaward, this hilly group is barren,
although, from the resin found here, we have un-
equivocal proofs that it was once covered with
kauri. Towards the harbour the natives have cul-
tivated portions of the steep ridges ; these planta-
tions alternate with pleasant bushes and groves to
the water's edge. The natives are only about forty

p 2

212 RANGAUNU HARBOUR. [PART II.

in number : they belong to the Haupouri, and are
not therefore an independent tribe. They are now
all Christians, and some of their number had gone
as catechists to Parenga-renga.

They told me that they had once a very large
vessel in their harbour ; and although the surround-
ing country is not a favourable district for the
colonists, this harbour may afford shelter to vessels
which draw too much water to lie with safety in
the Bay of Rangaunu.

Some miles to the southward of Houhoura the
land at once assumes a very different aspect. The
raupo-swamps, and the low barren elevations'- of
the soil between them, give way to an extensive
alluvial district, which stretches from the eastern to
the western coast, and follows the serpentine course
of the Awaroa, a river which empties itself into the
estuary of Rangaunu, a shallow and extensive arm
of the sea, with an open though an intricate
channel for moderate-sized vessels. I entered the
harbour at low-water, in the schooner, which drew
eight feet, and, not knowing the channel, we
grounded several times, although there is but little
danger in fine weather, as the bottom is soft and
muddy. We anchored about three miles from the
north head, sheltered by a spit of sand, and then
went twenty miles farther up the river in a boat,
to a farming establishment of a Mr. Southee. On
a second visit we took the schooner up to the same
place, and anchored close to the house of Mr.

CHAP. XIII.] RIVER SCENERY.

213

Southee, where the river was not much broader
than the length of our little craft. But the tide
presses the fresh water back eight feet above its
usual level, and it is then of considerable depth. It
is one of those rivers the banks of which consist
only of their own alluvium, the channel winding
in a serpentine course ; it has little fall, but the tide
renders it always navigable. The banks are per-
pendicular, and rise two or three feet above the
level of the spring-tides ; towards its outlet, how-
ever, the land is low and swampy, and is overflowed
when winds from the sea raise the water to a higher
levM, or when floods, occasioned by long-continued
rain, come down from the interior.

I will transcribe a few lines from my journal
describing the country in the neighbourhood of the
river : — " At first we passed swamps covered with
mangroves, sometimes only showing their heads
above water, and affording shelter to flights of ducks
and other aquatic birds. When the banks become
higher, the land is perfectly level ; the soil, as is
seen by the section of the river banks, is in some
places a stiff black loam, in others a lighter earth,
to all appearance admirably adapted for grain. The
country is perfectly open in many places, and only
covered with tupakihi (Coriaria sarmentosa), fern,
high flax, and here and there some spots of grass.
In other parts the ti (Dracaena Australis), the stem
of which seldom exceeds half a foot in thickness,
forms almost a forest, or, to express myself more

214 EXCURSION TO [PART II.

correctly, a jungle ; and the beautiful crowns of
these monocotyledonous, mostly dichotomous, or
many-branched trees, with their bunches of delicate
white flowers below the crown of leaves, as in the
palm-tree, give the landscape a most novel aspect,
the more so from my having seen few such open
flats in New Zealand. The higher we went, the
more agreeable was the scene. On the shores were
native settlements, with long seines hanging out to
dry, and many natives at work mending canoes and
their fishing apparatus, for the season is approach-
ing when the shark is caught in great numbers.
Here and there fields of potatoes, kumeras, melons,
and pumpkins, neatly fenced in, and kept extremely
clean, show all the vigour of vegetation for which
New Zealand is so remarkable. Their owners
welcomed us as we went along, but did not evince
any pressing curiosity. The setting sun threw a
stream of gold over the western horizon, which
caused the mountains to stand out in sharp relief
against the sky, and made them appear almost of an
indigo colour. Early in the evening we arrived at
Southee's farm ; it is situated on both banks of the
river, which here forms by its serpentine course
several natural paddocks. The maize, growing ten
or twelve feet high, and the fields of yellow wheat,
bowing under the weight of the grain, showed what
the land is capable of producing. Cattle were graz-
ing about, and the well-stocked farm-yard bore
testimony to an industry such as is very rarely met

CHAP, xiii.] MR. SOUTHEE'S FARM. 215

with amongst the numerous settlers of all classes
who for several years have had almost the whole of
the land partitioned amongst themselves, as the
generality of them have bought the land for the
purpose of speculation, instead of cultivation."

Mr. Southee has about 300 natives around him
in his immediate neighbourhood, who cultivate bits
of land interspersed with his own, and who, for
cheap wages, work for him in various branches of
husbandry, and thus procure for themselves those
European commodities for which they have acquired
a taste. He gives them articles to the value of 21.
for every acre they clear. The mode which he
adopts in clearing the land is to cut down all brush-
wood and vegetation in summer, and to burn it
when it has become dry. Immediately after this
he sows the ground with turnips, and when these
have been gathered, with potatoes, which require
only a little hoeing. The roots and stumps are
then sufficiently rotten, and the ground can be
easily tilled and prepared for grain.

From Mr. Southee's house the river turns, with
many windings, towards the western coast. Higher
up its course it acquires greater fall, and in many
places is obstructed by snags. Its banks are of the
same good description, and are here and there
clothed with groves of kahikatea, rimu, and totara
pines, or of tarairi (Laurus tarairi) and puriri, until
it arrives at Kaitaia. A mission-station and native
settlement is situated about eight miles from the

216 AWAROA VALLEY. [PART II.

western coast, on a hilly eminence, an offset of the
chain of hills which run from near this point
through the interior. Between this chain and the
range of western coast hills which I have above
mentioned, flows the Awaroa, having its source
near that of the Mango-muka — a branch of the
Hokianga river, from which it is separated by the
Maunga Taniwa, a remarkable pyramidical peak
which towers above the chain of hills, being nearly
1500 feet high.

Throughout its course the valley of the Awaroa
is capable of being made very productive, as the
soil is extremely fertile : from Kaitaia it narrows
to the breadth of one mile. Several miles below
Kaitaia the river is joined by another, coming from
the eastern hills in the neighbourhood of Mango-
nui in Lauriston Bay, and at the point of junction
scarcely inferior in size to the Awaroa. Above
Kaitaia the Awaroa is only passable by canoes, in
which the natives carry down food from their
plantations to their principal settlement at Kaitaia.
They prefer the upper part of the valley for culti-
vation, as indeed they usually do ; and their fields
are very extensive, and kept in good order. From
Kaitaia to the western coast the land is equally
good. In some places there is excellent grass,
rather an unusual thing in New Zealand. A
wooden bridge over the river has been built by the
natives, under the guidance of the missionaries ;
and if we cross it, and pass to Waro on the

CHAP. XIII.] NATIVE TRIBES. 217

western coast, several valleys are seen stretching
from the western hills into the plain, in most of
which natives reside. To the northward of Waro
low ridges run parallel to the sea-coast, small creeks
flowing between them, and the light soil there is
eagerly sought after for the cultivation of kumeras
At one of these creeks, the Wai-mimi, there is an
extensive bed of lignite. About two miles to the
northward of Kaitaia is a small fresh-water lake,
containing large eels and two kinds of small fishes ;
crawfish is also found there.

The natives form the tribe of the Rarewa, and their
whole number is about 8000, including all those who
inhabit the valley of the A waroa. Of all the natives
who are under the influence of the missionaries, this
tribe is the most advanced in the arts of civilization.
This must be ascribed partly to the endeavours of
the missionaries and partly to the comparative isola-
tion of the natives, resulting from their having been
powerful enough to resist the aggressions of E'Ongi
from the Bay of Islands, and of the neighbouring
tribes. The traveller does not meet here with that
begging and grasping behaviour which renders the
natives on the coast so importunate ; on the con-
trary, they are a quiet hard-working people, and they
have, for a very small payment, cut a road thirty-two
miles long through the primitive forest, between
Kaitaia and Waimate, in the neighbourhood of the
Bay of Islands ; they have also . cut roads in the
neighbourhood of their own village. During my

218 NATIVE VILLAGE, [PART II.

stay I saw them reap wheat and plough several
acres of land, and the missionaries encourage them
to exchange their former unwholesome food of de-
cayed maize and potatoes for bread. Several of the
natives have one or two head of cattle and horses ;
and I have every reason to believe that here at least
the missionaries will encourage their acquiring
them, in order to dispose of the increase of their
own stock.

The village has quite an English appearance ; a
large church, with a steeple of kauri boards, has
been constructed almost entirely by the natives ;
gardens, with roses, are before the houses, and at
the foot of the hill wheat alternates with vines, with
hops, which thrive extremely well, and with various
fruit-trees and vegetables : there are also several
patches planted with tobacco.

The natives lived originally at the Hokianga, but
about twenty-five years ago they took Kaitaia from
the Haupouri and Nga-te-kuri, who must have
been very numerous, judging from the remains of
their pas on the neighbouring hills. A great por-
tion of these tribes were slaughtered, and the rest
either were made slaves or mixed with the conquer-
ors. About eight years ago the missionaries esta-
blished a station here, the wars between the native
tribes having come to a termination, and they found
it comparatively easy to obtain an influence over
them.

The hills which stretch from Kaitaia, through

CHAP. XIII.] HILLS NEAR KAITAIA. 219

the interior of the country, are wooded, and only a
lew miles from Kaitaia they are covered with kauri-
forest. Near the entrance to Rangaunu Bay are
very fine groves of this valuable tree, mixed with
tanekaha, rata, towai, and other excellent timber-
trees. An arm of the sea, which is joined here by
a fresh-water creek, the Mangake, and which flows
through a considerable extent of forest, affords faci-
lities for floating the timber down, or for establish-
ing saw-mills.

The alluvial land, as already observed, is for the
most part fit for immediate cultivation : the herds of
cattle and horses belonging to the missionaries are
in excellent condition, and show that there is a suffi-
ciency of pasturage.

In the neighbourhood of the mission-station there
is found a white, hard, and very closely-grained
sandstone, which would prove an excellent building-
stone.

The hills near the western coast, on the left bank
of the Awaroa, consist of basaltic masses, of rounded
forms and of moderate height. They are covered
with a mixed forest ; no kauri is found there ; and
all the land to the westward of the Awaroa must be
considered as excellent, notwithstanding its hilly
character. The hills on the right bank, which ex-
tend through the interior of the island, are com-
posed of a soft argillaceous slate, reposing upon a base
of hard volcanic rock,' phonolithe, or clinkstone.
Where the clay stone and the phonolithe are in con-

220 ROAD FROM KAITAIA. [PART II.

tact, a transition from the hard condition of the
latter to the soft state of the former is observable
to the eye of the geologist, and displays an instructive
phenomenon. Very near Kaitaia, about 150 feet
above the level of the valley, a slaty marl crops out
in perpendicular slabs in the depressions of the hills,
and is an excellent material for improving the soil
of certain kinds of fields, and is, in fact, extensively
used in agriculture.

A bridle-road leads from Kaitaia for thirty- four
miles through the forest : it was cut by fifty natives
for as many blankets, and was completed in six
weeks. They were, however, glad when they had
finished their task, as they had suff eed much from
want during the time, as is shown by the following
song, which was sung by them on the occasion :—

Ka ngaro te purapura,

Te pata kai :

Etiki ka mate : ko Taewa ka mate :

Ko te Paki ka mate :

Ko te Matiu ka mate :

Ka ka po nei te manawa :

Ka tahuri au ki te reinga :

He poro kaki ka mate.

The tobacco is gone : we have no food cooked in a pot : Etiki
is hungry : Taewa is sick : Te Matiu is sick : Te Paki is hungry :
all our good cheer is exhausted : we turn back towards the Reinga :
we are sick for some food.

The days of such cheap work are now gone by in

New Zealand. At a distance of seventeen miles

and a half on this road is situated Maunga Taniwa.

The whole valley of the Awaroa cannot contain

CHAP. XIII.] AWAROA VALLEY. 221

less than 120,000 acres of arable land. In respect
to the quality of the soil, the facility of cultivation,
as well as of water communication, the abundance
of excellent wood and of other building materials,
the district is one of the most favoured in New
Zealand. A great portion of the land has been
purchased by a few private individuals ; but if the
intentions of Government, of not allowing more
than 2500 acres to any one individual, is strictly
carried into effect, a great part of these purchases
will come back to the natives, and, without injuring
the interests of the latter, government will have
no difficulty in acquiring a fine agricultural dis-
trict. Kaitaia itself, which is eight miles from the
western coast, and six from Southee's station, is a
desirable place for a provincial town, as it is in the
centre of the district, and in a healthy situation ;
it stands on an eminence commanding a view of
the whole district, and is especially adapted to serve
as a central point and market-place for the sur-
rounding native population.

22*2 [PART n.

CHAPTER XIV.

Harbour of M ango-nui, in Lauriston Bay.

To the southward of Kaitaia the interior of the
island is occupied by a range of hills, which sends
its branches both eastward and westward, forming
narrow valleys that serve as river-courses. The
sea enters into several inlets on both coasts, where
it is joined by the various rivers, if the mountain-
streams deserve that name, and forms several har-
bours. The general height of these hills is less
than 1 500 feet above the level of the sea ; this
height, however, they attain in the Maunga Ta-
niwa. The top of this pyramid, which runs almost
to a point, offers an excellent view of the sur-
rounding land. An old Metrosideros stands on
the summit, overshadowing the heavy growth all
around : the natives have cut steps into its stem to
afford an easy ascent. From this place we over-
look the whole northern extremity of the island
as far as the Bay of Islands, and it will afford an
excellent trigonometrical station. We can here
perceive that the different ramifications of the chain
do not form valleys, but ravines, which only widen
towards the estuaries of the sea. The whole is

CHAP. XIV.] FORESTS. 223

clothed with a thick forest, the dark verdure of
which is uninterrupted, except by the bright green
of a raupo-swamp in the bottom of the ravines, or
by the brown hue of the fern, which covers some
districts, especially towards the coast. The forest
is a mixed one ; that is to say, there is no prevailing
kind of trees, and only towards Mango-nui, Wan-
garoa, and Hokianga are groves of kauri. Many
of the trees, especially the rata (Metrosideros ro-
busta), the totara (Podocarpus totara), the rimu
(Dacrydium cupressinum), the pukatea (Laurus pu-
katea ?), are of immense dimensions. They are
intermingled with fern-trees, especially Cyathea me-
dullaris and Cyathea dealbata ; while the cabbage-
palm (Areca sapida) grows in the deepest recesses.
The mouldy soil, refreshed by continual moisture,
bears numerous other species of ferns, as well as
some beautiful mosses, jungermannias, livermosses,
lichens, and a few kinds of fungi. Many trees
have been uprooted by gales, or have fallen down
from natural decay, whilst all around vegeta-
tion is springing up from destruction, and this
apparent destructive process gives a true, image of
the continual destruction and re-creation of Nature,
and displays those unchanging laws which pervade
the universe, and which are nowhere more power-
fully impressed upon the mind than in a primeval
forest. At first, all the trees in a New Zealand
landscape seem to be of a uniform dark tint ; but,
on inspection, one cannot fail to discover as many

224 FORESTS. [PART n.

varieties of colour as there are species. Their forms
likewise belong to the most beautiful in nature : what,
for instance, can be more delicate than the graceful
rimu-pine with pendent branches ; or the tree-ferns
and stately palms ; or the venerable rata, often mea-
suring forty feet in circumference, and covered with
scarlet flowers — whilst its stem is often girt with a
creeper belonging to the same family (Metrosideros
hypericifolia) ? Sometimes the vines, a foot thick, of
another creeper, the aki (Metrosideros buxifolia),
also with scarlet flowers, are seen running up to
the highest branches of the rata. Of other para-
sitical plants, however, the rata-trees are very free,
by far more so than some pines, such as the puriri
(Vitex litoralis) and some others.

It is remarkable how little this forest is enliv-
ened by living beings : a few birds, it is true,
are found in its recesses, whose notes are various
and melodious ; but at noon they all seem to re-
pose, and the silence is then scarcely ever inter-
rupted.

The formation of which this hilly ridge is com-
posed, so far as the luxuriant vegetation permits of
its being observed, is a yellowish argillaceous rock,
mixed in fragments with the vegetable mould. It
is of various degrees of hardness, and in most cases
may be observed in conjunction with compact ba-
saltic rock, which appears sometimes protruding on
the surface, sometimes laid bare in the river-courses.
The pebbles in the rivers are whinstone of different

CHAP. XIV.] LAURISTON BAY. 225

colours, and varying in point of hardness, and this
rock seems to be everywhere the lowermost, and to
compose the greater bulk of the mountain, having
in its formation variously acted upon and changed
the covering argillaceous rock. Both on the east-
ern and western coast other kinds of rocks may be
seeil) — marly limestone, marble, in junction with
slates, conglomerates, sandstones, and lignite, of
which I shall have occasion to speak more fully
when describing the places in which they occur.
The flat alluvial land extending on the right shore
of the Awaroa to Rangaunu Bay is separated from
Lauriston Bay by an offset from this hilly ridge,
which juts out into the sea, and forms Kari Kari, or
Knuckle Point. These hills are low, covered in
some places with a little wood, in others with fern.
The first place which claims our attention in Lau-
riston Bay is Oruru, where a river, which takes its
rise on the eastern slope of Maunga Taniwa, and
which can be entered by a boat, empties itself into
the sea. On both sides of this river is excellent
level and clear land, which rises slowly towards
Maunga Taniwa. Oruru is separated by low hills
covered with a stiff white clay and a scanty vegeta-
tion from a similar valley, eight miles to the north-
ward, and out of which another river runs into the
sea. The road from Oruru into the harbour of
Mango-nui leads over a succession of steep hills and
narrow fertile ravines. The distance is about ten
miles.

VOL. I. Q

226 MANGO-NUI HARBOUR. [PART II.

I was agreeably surprised to see the native plant-
ations at Oruru. In neatness they exceed every-
thing that would be done by Europeans with
similar means ; but, strange to say, the natives had
preferred the steep sides of a hill to the rich allu-
vium of the valley.

There are not many people living here : those
who do belong to the tribes of the Haupouri, but
Pane Kareao, the chief at Kaitaia, claims the whole
place and the right to dispose of it, as the present
occupants belong to a subdued tribe. The greater
part of the land has been sold, chiefly to Mr. Ford,
who was formerly the surgeon attached to the
missions.

The harbour of Mango-nui is not laid down in
any chart ; vessels rounding Point Surville should
keep close to the southern shore of Lauriston Bay,
and will then have no difficulty in avoiding the
reef of rocks which runs off Oruru in a north-
easterly direction, and which is the only obstacle to
a safe and easy entrance into the harbour. The
channel is not above 100 yards wide, but is very
deep. Several whalers have at different times re-
sorted to this harbour for provisions and repair.
In the narrow part of the channel a vessel can keep
close to the southern shore ; and, entering the basin,
haul close round the southern head, and anchor in
five fathoms water about a quarter of a mile off that
head, where a small number of vessels are perfectly
sheltered. The rest of the estuary is a large basin,

CHAP. XIV.J PU-TE-KAKA RIVER. 227

spreading out into mud flats at low water, with a
channel sufficiently deep for large b6ats, near the
northern shore, up to its head, which is here en-
tered by a river that takes its rise in the hills
separating the harbour of Wangaroa from Mango-
nui. An arm of the latter stretches towards Oruru,
and unites with this river behind an island of mo-
derate size which forms the head of the harbour.
This island conceals mangrove-flats, which lie on
both sides of the channel.

The river Pu-te-kaka is entered by the tide for
about eight miles, and thus far a boat can go up it.
It flows through an undulating open country, the
elevations alternating with large swamps, which
might be easily drained, and would then form good
agricultural land. Higher up, the view is shut in
by the hills towards Wangaroa, which are about
fifteen miles distant, and are covered with kauri-
forest, as are also the hills to the west and north.
The land up to the base of those hills is devoid of
trees. At this point the Pu-te-kaka is only a small
creek, but several times during the year it swells
sufficiently to float large logs of kauri into the
harbour. A melancholy scene of waste and de-
struction presented itself to me when I went up to
see this forest. Several square miles of it were
burning, having been fired in order to make room
for the conveyance of logs down to the creek.
Noble trees, which had required ages for their per-
fection, were thus recklessly destroyed in great

Q 2

228 CONFLAGRATION OF FORESTS. [PART II.

numbers, as, in consequence of the great quantity
of resin around this pine, the fire always spread
rapidly. The cupidity of new settlers too often
occasions the destruction of the forests, to the irre-
parable injury of subsequent colonists. A great
many of these first settlers, doubtful of being able
to maintain their claims to their immense pur-
chases, have no other object than to clear the
greatest possible amount of profit in the shortest
time, even at the sacrifice of a large and invaluable
forest. It is utterly impossible ever to make good
the damage thus done to the real interests of the
country at large, as the kauri-land is so exhausted
that scarcely anything will grow on it but fern
and manuka. Unless the strictest measures are
immediately taken to prevent this reckless destruc-
tion, it is very certain that the forests of this noble
tree will be greatly and irreparably reduced, as the
kauri is already a scarce tree, and is confined to
very narrow limits. These reflections occurred to
me more than once during my wanderings in New
Zealand, having many times seen kauri-forest
burning, not fired for the purpose of clearing the
land, but in order to get a dozen or two of logs :
sometimes the conflagration has been caused by
neglect : in several places, many square miles in
extent are covered with the burnt remains of the
forest.

The trees here were cut up into logs sixteen feet
in length, and four of these logs were generally

CHAP. XIV.] ORURU — MANGO-NUI. 229

obtained from one tree. The work was done by
native sawyers.

About six miles from its outlet into the harbour
the Pu-te-kaka is joined by another river, which
flows through a fine cultivated valley. The north
side of the harbour is hilly, and consists of a red
ferruginous loam, interrupted in some places by
basalt and Lydian stone. The southern head of
the harbour is a narrow peninsula, with table-land
on the top ; towards Point Surville the coast is
hilly, with occasional narrow valleys, most of which
are wooded towards the sea-coast.

There are about thirty Europeans living in this
harbour, chiefly sawyers and storekeepers, and a
few natives. The latter have their fixed habitations
at Oruru, and only come here for the purposes of
trade and work. Most of them are Nga-pui, who
came from Tai-ama near Waimata, and occupied
the land with the permission of the chiefs at Kai-
taia. They have sold the whole of the harbour
and surrounding country to different people ; but
the chiefs at Kaitaia deny that they had any right
to do so, and have asserted their own claim to the
territory by selling the harbour to Government.

Mango-nui is well situated for a small town, as
it commands a sufficient extent of agricultural and
timber land to insure success. There is an easy
communication with the different native settlements
in Lauriston Bay ; and a good path leads to Kai-
taia, which might easily be converted into a road.

230 THE KIWI-KIWI ; [PART n

One of the European colonists here, who had
lately come from Adelaide in South Australia, pre-
sented me with a specimen of that very curious bird
the kiwi, or Apterix australis : it had been killed by
a dog, and was consequently much injured. This
was the only specimen I obtained during a stay of
eighteen months in New Zealand, although I offered
a liberal reward to any native who would bring me
one. In most places the natives told me at once
that none were now to be found, that the dogs and
cats had destroyed them all. In the hilly and gloomy
forests between Mango-nui and Hokianga they were
said still to exist, and also in a swampy mountainous
tract in the neighbourhood of Waimate; but the
indolence of the natives in those districts frustrated
all my efforts. Other places — as the Little Barrier
Island in the gulf of Hauraki, some districts near
the East Cape and the western coast of the Middle
Island, where they are said to be still common — I
had no opportunity of visiting. A bird of such
anomalous structure as the kiwi, differing, as it does,
from all other birds, although most nearly related
to the Struthious order, and having habits peculiar
to itself, had attracted my most eager attention.
That the period is near at hand when this bird
will be extinct is quite evident, and is a point of the
deepest interest to the natural philosopher, on ac-
count of the conclusions to be drawn from such a
fact, as regards certain events in the history of
the animal creation, and the agencies employed to

CHAP. X1V.J APTERIX AUSTRALIS. 231

influence the actual state of many tribes, and the
fluctuations in their relative positions. Happily for
us, the most eminent comparative anatomist of the
age, Professor Richard Owen, has, by a most care-
ful dissection of several specimens, the result of
which is given in the second volume of ' The Trans-
actions of the Zoological Society,' preserved to
science a most complete account of the structure of
the apterix. Unfortunately, no such account exists
in regard to another bird which has disappeared
from the globe within the memory of man ; I mean
the dodo, formerly inhabiting the islands of Bour-
bon and Mauritius. A few observations regarding
the apterix will not, I trust, be considered out of
place.

The kiwi, or kiwi-kiwi, as it is called by the
natives, inhabits the deepest recesses of the forest.
Here, where gigantic trees are interwoven almost
impenetrably with climbers, and where in the in-
dentations of the mountains are formed small open
and swampy spots covered by bulrushes and tufts
of a high carex, or a liliaceous plant, the Hame-
linia veratroides, is its favourite resort. Here it
hides itself in the hollows of the trees during the
day, being a truly nocturnal bird. It generally
lives in pairs, male and female, one pair occupying
a certain district. As soon as night sets in it
leaves these hiding-places in search of food : this
consists of the larvae of coleopterous and lepidop-
terous insects, which it scratches out with its pow-

232 THE KIWI-KIWI ; [PART n.

erful feet, or turns up with its long slender beak.
But insects seem not to be its only food. Professor
Owen found seeds in its stomach, which I ascer-
tained to be those of the Elaeocarpus hinau ; and,
according to the statements of the natives, the seeds
of the Hamelinia veratroides are also a favourite
food with it. Little is known as to the nidification
and incubation of the kiwi ; but I have ascertained
the following particulars from the natives : — They
say that it burrows with its feet, and hollows out
to a greater extent excavations already existing
under the roots of trees ; and in them, on a single
layer of grass, it lays one egg of a greenish colour
and as large as a turkey's egg. They also assert
that the male and female hatch alternately. Their
notion as to the period of incubation is rather
curious, as they say that the bird sits for several
months upon the egg.

During the night the shrill cry of the kiwi is
often heard : the male utters the sound hoire, hoire,
hoire ; the female, ho, ho, ho. By imitating these
notes the natives decoy the kiwi, and catch them
with the help of a dog, or bewilder them by sud-
denly delaying a torch made of the resinous hauri-
pine ; by which plan they catch them alive. A
violent struggle generally ensues between the dog
and the bird, in which the kiwi uses its powerful
legs with great effect. It is said to be very swift
in running, although its feet do not seem better
adapted for that purpose than those of the common
fowl.

CHAP. XIV.] APTERIX AUSTRALIS. 233

Formerly the kiwi served the natives for food ;
it is very fat at some seasons, and its flesh is said
to be well tasted ; its skin, which is remarkably
strong and tough, especially along the back, was
sewn together, and formed highly valued mats.
Never having seen one of these mats, I readily con-
cluded that the bird itself had become very scarce.
I possess, however, fish-hooks to which the feathers
of the kiwi are attached as artificial flies; and to
that purpose they are well adapted. From all I
could ascertain, there exists only one species of
this remarkable bird. The male is distinguished
by being much larger than the female, and by hav-
ing a longer bill ; at least, this is the case in all
the specimens the sex of which was ascertained
— and there are ten or twelve now in England ;
and it was also the case in those which I saw in
New Zealand in the possession of Mr. Colenzo and
the Rev. Richard Taylor, and also in the Museum
in Sydney. This difference of size will account for
the belief that there were two species.

If it be true, as the natives assert, that the kiwi
is found on Little Barrier Island — which is unin-
habited, and is situated about nine miles from the
main — this fact would give rise to curious geolo-
gical speculations. How did a bird which cannot
fly — for its wings, so to speak, are nothing but
small crooked appendages, each about an inch and
a half long, and terminating in a claw — come across
the sea to that island ? It would appear that no

234 THE GUANA. [PART II.

other answer can be given than that the island was
formerly connected with the main. Fortunately
we have proofs of a similar disruption in the exist-
ence, on a small rocky islet in the Bay of Plenty,
of a guana, which on the main has almost become
extinct. I shall speak of the latter remarkable
fact in another place.

CHAP. xv.J 235

CHAPTER XV.

Harbour of Wangaroa.

THE harbour of Wangaroa has already obtained
some celebrity by the catastrophe which happened
to the Boyd, and the murder of her crew and pas- v
sengers by the natives, in the year 1809. It is
situated about twenty-five miles to the northward
of the Bay of Islands. From Point Surville to the
entrance of this harbour the coast is cliffy and steep,
consisting of fragments of volcanic rock very firmly
cemented together into a conglomerate. The en-
trance to the harbour is formed by towering per-
pendicular rocks of the same description, and is
only about 150 yards broad. Pohutukaua- trees
and others overhang these black walls, and form a
very picturesque contrast with them. The entrance
looks as if the solid rocks had been rent asunder by
an earthquake, and the steep opposite sides had un-
dergone a continued friction before they parted.
Deep fissures penetrate the coast, and high cubical
masses are piled one above another in-shore to the
height of several hundred feet. The most remark-
able is Waihi, or St. Peter, a cluster of these solid

236 WANGAROA HARBOUR. [PART II.

rocks on the northern head. The water in the
entrance is of great depth close to the rocks, and
there is no sunken rock or other hidden danger
below the surface. This volcanic conglomerate
overlies a formation of volcanic ashes, which con-
tains carbonized remains of fern and wood.

Nearly opposite Waihi a dome-like elevation
crowns a pyramidical wooded hill, called Hakiri :
the top of this cupola is accessible, although with
great difficulty, and served in former days as a re-
treat for the natives. Its formation is a decompos-
ing trachite, and it has probably been pushed up
into its dome-like shape through the basaltic rock
which is seen at its base ; or it may have wasted
away to that shape from the effects of rain and cli-
mate. To the northward are the hills which sepa-
rate Wangaroa from Mango-nui, and which are
called Tara Tara : their step-like outlines give us
an insi ht into their formation. The south side of
the harbour is likewise rocky, and consists of much
fissured wakke and basalt. The harbour itself is
very spacious and deep, possesses anchorage for the
largest fleet, and is sheltered from all winds. As ;i
harbour it ranks with the best in New Zealand,
and the beauty of its scenery is nowhere surpassed.
There is, however, but little available land in its
immediate neighbourhood : to the northward the
sea forms some inlets with flats, which are over-
grown with trees ; and kauri-timber is found on
the neighbouring hills, but at some distance from

CHAP. XV.] " THE BOYD." 237

the coast, all that grew nearer the sea having
already been cut down or destroyed. Several ves-
sels have here been laden with timber, and craft of
small burden have been built here. About 2000
natives live in the immediate neighbourhood of this
place, part of whom have become Protestant, part
Roman Catholic converts. Mission-stations for
both confessions are established here, and the na-
tives seem to be in a fair state of advancement.
They belong to the tribe of the Nga-pui, who took
possession of the country after the original tribe had
been conquered and nearly destroyed by E'Ongi.
This original tribe was the one that was led on by
the chief George to destroy the Boyd. You ask in
vain for people who took part in, or know much of,
this affair : the short time of thirty-one years has
been sufficient for a whole tribe to disappear. Of
this, however, I became convinced, that a small por
tion only of the blame rested with the natives.
E'Ongi received in his last. fight here the wound of
which he afterwards died.

Besides the missionaries, about a dozen other Eu-
ropeans, mostly sawyers, live in different parts of
this district ; but, with the exception of Mr. Shep-
herd, the Church missionary, no one has made any
attempt to cultivate the soil.

About two miles from the south head of Wan-
garoa harbour a beautiful red and variegated marble
is found on the coast, of a close fine grain, and in

238 WANG AROA^ HARBOUR. [PART II.

sufficient quantity to become of importance for do-
mestic architecture at some future time. This mar-
ble occurs in connection with chloritic and argil-
laceous slates, and seems to belong to the transition
or secondary series, if we may judge from its mineral
character, for it does not contain any fossils.

The entrance to the harbour can be easily found,
being opposite to the northernmost of the Cavelles,
a chain of islands chiefly of basaltic formation, and
extending along the coast towards the Bay of
Islands. The island opposite to the harbour is re-
sorted to by the natives for fishing ; but otherwise it
is a hilly and exposed spot of no importance.

CHAP, xvi.] 239

CHAPTER XVI.

Wangape and Hokianga.

WE now return to the western coast. If we travel
from Kaitaia towards the source of the Awaroa, we
see its valley separated from the coast by undulating
hills of basaltic structure, and covered with forest.
Where the basaltic rock is found, the soil is gene-
rally good ; and I have no doubt that in the course
of time these hills will all be cultivated, and thus
increase the area which I have assigned to the dis-
trict of Kaitaia. I do not include in this the hills
in the middle of the island, to which Maunga Ta-
niwa belongs : they are too steep ever to be any-
thing but forest-land. The coast from Waro to
Wangape, or False Hokianga, fifteen miles to the
northward of Hokianga, is bold and rocky. Wan-
gape has never been surveyed. Its entrance is about
200 yards wide ; it then expands into a fine basin,
surrounded by low wooded hills, and appears to afford
no shelter for shipping. The natives have exten-
sive plantations, and belong to the tribe which lives
at Hokianga.

240 MANGUMUKA RIVER. [PART II.

Passing from Kaitaia to Hokianga, the bridle-
road ascends nearly to the summit of Maunga Ta-
niwa, and then proceeds in a different direction.
We leave it here by turning to the westward, and,
descending rapidly, soon arrive in a valley, through
which a mountain-stream flows, which in its upper
part has formed alluvial land about five or six miles
broad and eight miles long. This river is the Man-
gumuka; its length, from Maunga Taniwa to the
point where it joins the estuary called the Hokianga,
is about twenty miles. At the upper part of the
valley there is flat and fertile alluvial land, bounded
on all sides by wooded hills ; the river, running in a
bed of whinstone pebbles, at some places deepens, at
others shoals, and its banks bear signs of frequent
floods. Lower down its depth becomes more equal,
and for about ten miles from its embouchure into
the Hokianga harbour it admits vessels of moderate
burden. This lower part is bounded on both sides
by steep hills covered with kauri-trees, but the
best of them have been cut down near the water's
edge. So much has been said about Hokianga,
that in speaking of it I may confine myself to a few
words. The estuary is almost wholly bounded by
steep hills, which, after the kauri has been cut
down, will not repay the trouble of cultivation.
But the largest timber-trees, those fit for the Royal
Navy, are nearly all gone : those that remain are
good for logs, but not for spars ; and therefore the
timber-trade alone is not sufficient to repay the set-

CHAP. XVI.] HOKIANGA HARBOUR.

241

tiers. The estuary is joined by several fresh-water
tributaries, which have a little cultivable land on
their banks ; this is especially the case at the prin-
cipal stream, and at the Waima near the entrance
into the harbour ; but the alluvial land bears a very
small proportion to that which is clayey and use-
less. The good land is in the hands of the natives,
who are branches of the Nga-pui and Rarewa
tribes. They have cultivated small patches, and
that portion of the land which they do not make
use of might advantageously be occupied by a small
number of European peasantry. But the nature of
the country forbids any other kind of settlement.
The harbour, however, although a bar harbour, can
be entered by large vessels, and as there is a pilot on
the heads there is no danger. There are already
200 Europeans settled on the Hokianga, traders and
sawyers, who found ample employment as long as
tine spars and cheap labour were to be obtained.
But all this is now greatly changed.

The first Wesleyan mission-station was esta-
blished at the Hokianga, and has been so effective
that nearly all the natives are Christians. There is
a printing-press at Mangungu, from which a few
prayer-books have been issued A Roman Catholic
missionary also resides here during a period of the
year. The hills in the neighbourhood of Hokianga
consist of argillaceous slate, covered with a white
stiff clay, characteristic of the kauri-land. In

VOL. i. R

242 HOKIANGA. [PART n,

several places basaltic rock is found underlying the
slate.

Hokianga is noted for its wet climate, and the
thick fogs which envelop it long after the sun has
risen above the horizon, whilst in other parts of the
sland they are scarcely ever met with.

CHAP. XVII.]

243

CHAPTER XVII.

Waimate, Lake Maupere, and Thermal Springs.

AFTER emerging from the hills which surround
Hokianga on all sides, and which are still covered
with a primitive forest of pines, we descend into a
comparatively level country ; and about fifteen miles
from the head of the harbour we leave the bush,
and the country is open to the Bay of Islands. We
may regard the whole country to the westward and
northward of the Bay of Islands as a volcanic table-
land. If we enter this table-land from Hokianga
we have to our right the Lake Maupere. In its
immediate neighbourhood is an ancient crater,
which forms a regular cone, with the exception
that the western margin has fallen in. .Large
angular pieces of a very scoriaceous and vesicular
lava of different colours, and amygdaloidal basalt,
cover its sides and base. With much labour the
natives have collected these rocks into mounds, and
have cultivated the black soil between them. The
lavas and the crater closely resemble those in the
Auvergne. In general the lavas of New Zealand

R2

244 VOLCANIC LAVAS. [PART II.

are so hard, that time and the atmosphere have
scarcely any influence on them. When we speak
of a volcanic country we generally associate with it
the idea of fertility ; but this is true in particular
cases only. If the ejected matter be mud or ashes,
in forty or fifty years, or even in less time, it is
clothed with vegetation, and fit for planting, as we
see in the fruitful regions around Etna and Vesuvius :
but it would appear that the masses thrown up by
these Polynesian volcanoes have rarely consisted of
such soft substances, but have flowed out as lava,
forming hard scorise, like the slaggy refuse of an
iron-foundry ; and it will therefore easily be under-
stood that the lands immediately at the base of the
numberless volcanic cones which we see in New
Zealand are not always those best suited for agri-
cultural purposes. The lake which I have above
mentioned is about one square mile and a half in
extent, and apparently of great depth. In some
places its borders are steep, and consist of basaltic
lavas. It is perhaps an old crater; and, indeed,
there is a tradition amongst the natives that a large
village with its inhabitants was suddenly engulfed
during an earthquake.

Several conical craters, similar to that above
mentioned, only with more perfect funnels in their
centres, lie to the eastward of Waimate. The in-
teriors are covered with vegetation, and all appear
to have long been in a state of repose.

A few miles to the southward of Waimate are

CHAP. XVII.] MINERAL SPRINGS. 245

some curious thermal springs. In order to visit
them we leave Waimate, and ascend a hill, from
which three of the volcanic cones above mentioned
present themselves to our view, in an extensive
depression of the table-land below. The field is
spead over with fragments, often more than fifteen
feet in diameter, of a slate-coloured basaltic rock,
the spaces between which are covered with fern and
flax ; while here and there are patches planted with
Indian corn and potatoes. After passing a small
native settlement, and crossing a ravine, we ascend
a ridge of hills, very barren and steep, with a white
clay on the surface, and evidently covered in former
times with the kauri-pine. We now come to a
lake about one mile in circumference. On its shores
are black and half-burnt stems of kauri, and the
soil in the neighbourhood is covered with efflora-
tions of pure sulphur. At a little distance is another
lake, called Ko-huta-kino, smaller than the former,
and near this are the mineral springs. There are
several of them, all close to the lake. The first
which I examined was strongly aluminous, and of a
temperature of 62° Fahrenheit. A few feet from it
was a tepid spring, of a milk-white colour and an
alkaline taste : its temperature was 12.4°. A third
was acidulous, with a temperature of 154° Fahren-
heit. In another, over which rose strong sulphuret-
ted hydrogen gas, the thermometer stood at 133°,
while the temperature of the surrounding air was 80°
Fahrenheit (Dec. 4. 1840).

246 SULPHUROUS BATHS. [PART II.

A small creek discharged itself into the lake
through a narrow gulley. The gaseous emanations
of sulphuric acid have much altered the argillaceous
rock, parts of which have become white and red,
while in other portions it has changed into a species
of clay, covered with sublimations of pure alum,
sulphur, and different sulphates. There are several
other springs in the neighbourhood, which mix
their waters with the creek, and impart to it an in-
creased temperature.

I found here some native women, with their
children, living in a temporary shed. The children
were affected with cutaneous and scrofulous diseases,
especially ringworm and swollen lymphatic glands,
and had been brought to this place for the benefit
of bathing in the warm sulphurous water, the bene-
ficial effects of which were already very visible.
The springs are often visited by the natives for this
purpose, and, as might be expected, are of very great
benefit in many of the disorders most common in
these parts.

The surrounding country, especially to the south-
ward, has to a singular degree the barren and deso-
late aspect so often observed in places celebrated for
their salubrious mineral waters. Scarcely any ver-
dure is seen on the hills of the neighbourhood : it
is only in the ravines that the uniform brown tint
of stunted fern is interrupted by the green of some
sheltered groves.

There seems to be no doubt that the sick will

CHAP. XVII.] WAIMATE. 247

flock to these baths in the course of time, especially
as the distance from the Bay of Islands is trifling,
the communication easy, and the valley well sheltered
from the winds.

Waimate, which is situated about fifteen miles to
the westward of the Bay of Islands, has a very
European aspect. A church has been built, and in
its neighbourhood are the houses of the missionaries,
surrounded by rose-trees, and other plants of foreign
extraction. There is a great want of flowering
plants in New Zealand, and every introduction of
such improves the landscape. In the neighbour-
hood are the poor and slovenly huts of the natives,
forming rather a painful contrast. However, when
I saw the natives in church on the Sunday, most of
them were cleanly dressed in the European style ;
and the work of Europeanfaing them seemed to be
gradually progressing.

Waimate was chosen many years ago as the agri-
cultural settlement of the Church Missionary So-
ciety, and has been ever since the residence of an
ordained clergyman. Although convenient as a
Mission-settlement in many other respects, being in
the common road from the Bay of Islands to Hoki-
anga, and from the southern to the northern districts
of the island, its immediate neighbourhood has no
great pretensions in an agricultural point of view ;
and the produce of the Missionary farm has always
been at a very low ebb. In fact, a great deal of the
land has been relinquished, for the very sufficient

248 VARIETIES OF SOIL. [PART II.

reason that it yielded nothing at all. The soil is a
very light dusty volcanic earth. This is the reason
why the natives have no plantations here, but pre-
fer the ravines intersecting the plain, or go nearer
to the groves, or to the base of the hills which
bound the table-land, where the soil is more sub-
stantial. Some parts of the table-land towards the
Keri-keri have a very superficial stratum of vegetable
earth, and are strewed over with lapilli of ferrugi-
nous clay ; where these are found the soil is almost
useless. Good and bad land, indeed, alternate ; the
latter rather prevailing. On the banks of the Keri-
keri and Waitangi rivers, which discharge them-
selves into the Bay of Islands, the land is of the
best description ; but even there masses of scoriae
have to be cleared away, which will require a great
expenditure.

The Waitangi forms a picturesque cascade near
its outlet into the Bay of Islands. Below the fall
the basaltic rock in the banks of the river shows
somewhat of a columnar structure.

The neck of land which separates Waitangi from
the Keri-keri is claimed by Mr. Bushby, the former
consul of New Zealand, and contains some very
good land and pasturage.

The vegetation which covers the table-land is
but little varied : fern, tupakihi (Coriaria sarmen-
tosa), Dracaena australis and indivisa, and Gaul-
theria, are the most common plants. That curi-
ous lichen the Cenomice retispora is found in

CHAP. XVII.] KERI-KERI RIVER. 249

abundance. A few groves of trees in the neighbour-
hood of Waimate contain chiefly puriri, tarairi, and
high stems of fuchsia.

These groves were formerly used as bury ing-places
by the natives, who suspended coffins containing the
bodies of their dead to the trees, which has made
them sacred, and is perhaps the cause of their not
having shared in the destruction which has attended
the greater part of the forest.

The natives living in this neighbourhood belong
to the Nga-pui, who were formerly one of the
largest tribes in New Zealand, but have very much
decreased, notwithstanding the ascendency which the
conquests of E' Ongi gave them over many other
tribes. They live much dispersed in their small
villages. Remains of their ancient pas are visible
on the hills in the neighbourhood of Waimate.

A few miles to the northward of Waimate is the
Keri-keri river, where there is a mission-station.
The intervening land is very inferior, and especially
around the station ; but higher up the Keri-keri it
is decidedly good. The Keri-keri is a small stream,
forming a fall about two miles above the station,
opposite to which there is a rapid, presenting a
barrier to the farther ascent of the tide. Small
vessels can come up as high as this point. The
estuary of the Keri-keri has the appearance of a
broad river, and presents some fine sites for farming
establishments on its borders.

The waterfall of the river Keri-keri (a water-

250 KERI-KERI RIVER. [PART II.

fall is called Waianiwaniwa in the native language,
meaning rainbow-waters) has a very picturesque
effect. The river is only about twenty yards broad,
but the fall is over a basaltic escarpment ninety-five
feet in height. This basalt overhangs a soft forma-
tion of a grey volcanic sand, which has been washed
away from under it for about thirty feet, so that one
can walk behind the falling cascade. The spray of
the waters gives rise to a vigorous vegetation all
around, and this place was a favourite spot of that
excellent botanist Mr. Cunningham. There is,
indeed, a greater assemblage of the flora of New
Zealand in this neighbourhood than in any other
place so near a shipping-place.

The banks of the Keri-keri are also the only
known habitat of the elegant Clianthus puniceus,
a leguminous plant, which the natives appropriately
call parrot's-bill — ko-waingutu kaka. In the neigh-
bourhood of the mission-station are the remains of
the pa of E' Ongi, the scourge of New Zealand.
His warlike extravagancies, however, have more
than anything else contributed, by exhausting the
strength of the natives, to bring about that state of
repose so favourable to the progress of European
civilization. The blood spilt with the sword which
he received from the hands of royalty, when in
England, was, as it were, the fertilizing dew in the
hearts of the survivors, preparing them for the seeds
of civilization, as he had too much weakened his
enemies for them to think of revenge. But the man

CHAP. XVII.] E' ONGI. 251

was as good a hero as many who have appeared on
the modern stage, and had perhaps more just pre-
tensions to natural talent : and as it is not probable
that he will be honoured with a column as a sign of
public gratitude for his butcheries, we may as well,
in honour of his memory, transcribe from the report
of an eye-witness, the missionary Stack, the follow-
ing particulars of the death and funeral rites of this
warrior : —

" Patuone," he says, " who has just returned
from Wan gar oa, called this evening. I asked about
E' Ongi. He told me several things, all of which
I felt interested in listening to, as connected with
the end of this extraordinary chief. I perceived
that Patuone spoke of him in the most affectionate

i

manner.

" When he and his party arrived at Pinia, where
E' Ongi was, they found him so emaciated, that they
were much affected. They all, as is usual, wept
together ; after which they informed him that they
feared he would soon die: to which he replied in
the negative, saying he never was in better spirits.
After waiting sufficiently long with him to pay him
proper respects, they were about to return, when he
was taken suddenly ill, on which they determined
to wait the result. Perceiving, by his inward
sinking, that he was going, he said to his friends —
' I shall die now shortly, but not to-day/ He
called for his gunpowder ; and when it was brought
to him he said — ' Ka ora koutou.' ' You will be

252 E' ONGI. [PART n.

(or are) well.' This was addressed to his children.
His meris, or battle-axes, muskets, and the coat of
mail which he received from King George IV., he
bequeathed on that day to his sons. After he had
settled these matters, he spoke of the conduct of the
natives after his death, as in all probability likely
to be kind towards his survivors, saying, " Kowai
ma te nia. Kai mai ki a koutou kaore.' ' Who will
desire to eat you all ? None ! '

" He spent his last moments on the 6th instant
(March, 1828), exhorting his followers to be valiant,
and repel any force, however great, which might
come against them ; telling them this was all the
' utu/ or satisfaction, he desired ; which intimated
that he had had the question proposed to him—
' Who is to be killed as a satisfaction for your death ? '
This abominable principle still exists in New Zea-
land of honouring the dead by human sacrifice. His
dying lips were employed in uttering ' Kia toa !
Kia toa ! ' — ' Be courageous ! Be courageous ! '

" As soon as E 'Ongi ceased to breathe, all his
friends in the pa at Pinia trembled for themselves ;
for they did not know but that the Hokianga natives
would fall upon them, and send them as companions
for their dead chief ' to the shades of night.'

" The Hokianga natives, to prevent suspicion,
caused all their people to remain quiet in their huts,
while they went to the pa to see E' Ongi's body
dressed. On their approach, though they had used
the above precautions, they perceived the people in

CHAP. XVII.] E' ONGI. 253

the pa shivering like leaves in the wind, till Patuone
and the others bade them dismiss their fears, for
they were groundless.

" A wish to keep E' Ongi's death private till he
was buried, lest a party should come and attack the
survivors, induced his children to determine to bury
him, or rather to place him on the wahi tapu, or
sacred place, the day after his death. This Patuone
reproved them for, saying — 'I have only just become
acquainted with those who wish to bury their father
alive ! ' He was not buried, therefore, for some days ;
which were spent in paying all the honour which
the New Zealanders were capable of to the remains
of the once renowned E' Ongi. This time the
natives spent in haranguing, crying, cutting them-
selves, dancing, and firing muskets."

There are now no natives whatever living on the
Keri-keri ; and it seems, therefore, useless to keep
up the station. Most of the land on the banks of
the river is the property either of the mission or the
missionaries.

Below the station the basis of the soil is basaltic.
It seems as if an immense crust of this rock had
been elevated to near the surface. To the north-
ward of the Keri-keri, as far as Wangaroa, the land
is mostly hilly, covered, as I have already observed,
in the middle of the island, with primitive forest.
Near the coast almost the whole forest is gone ;
herds of cattle and horses feed well upon the young
fern and shrubs, although there is no grass-pasturage.

254 MARBLE AND LIMESTONE. [PART II.

Sheep looked in a rather bad condition ; but the
principal objection to sheep-farming in New Zea-
land is on account of the seeds of the Acoena san-
guisorba, a herb spreading all over the country :
these attach themselves so firmly to the wool, that
they cannot be separated in the washing. About
half-way between Wangaroa and the Keri-keri, on
the outskirts of the forest, we pass an agricultural
settlement of a European. Some natives live in
the fertile ravines which run off from the hills
towards the sea-shore : off the latter are many rocky
islets. The shore forms several small bays, of which
Mataute is one of the finest. On the slope of the
hills, which surround this bay like an amphitheatre,
an excellent hard greyish marble crops out. The
bay is about two square miles in extent. On its
shore is a native settlement.

Between Mataute and Wangaroa there are two
other bays of similar description — Waio and Tau-
ranga.

In the latter, a marly limestone in horizontal
strata appears on the side of the hills ; it breaks
into slabs about an inch thick. To the northward
the hills inland present a perpendicular escarpment,
and the limestone displays the interesting pheno-
menon of a dendritic dyke of whinstone (Lydian
stone) injected into its aiass. The limestone is
altered where in contact with it, and inclines at an
angle of about forty degrees ; a few paces from this
the strata are again horizontal.

CHAP. XVII.] TAURANGA. 255

On the Bay of Tauranga there is some land cul-
tivated by a European.

Along the coast from the Bay of Islands to
Wangaroa is found in> many places an excellent
reddish and variegated marble, alternating with
whinstone and slates.

From Tauranga a path leads to Wangaroa,
through a beautiful and fertile valley, sheltered by
the hills of the coast from the winds ; in it flows a
small river, which discharges itself into the harbour
of Wangaroa already described.

256 [PART n.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Bay of Islands.

THE Bay of Islands has been more resorted to by
vessels than any other harbour of New Zealand,
and it is undoubtedly one of the best, if not the
very best, in the country. Queen Charlotte's Sound
may, perhaps, be ranked as high, being equally
sheltered and safe. A great deal of controversy
has consequently arisen as to whether the Bay of
Islands would not have been the most eligible place
for the foundation of the commercial capital of
New Zealand. Its advocates refer especially to the
great number of vessels which for several years
have annually resorted to this harbour for the pur-
pose of obtaining provisions and of refitting, and
to the number of Europeans already established
there. But I must observe that the vessels which
selected this harbour came principally for cheap
provisions, which they found as long as there was
no increased demand, and that they went to other
places as soon as the prices rose. It seems to me
that at present more is wanted than a good har-
bour to constitute the most eligible place for the

CHAP. XVIII.] BAY OF ISLANDS. 257

capital of New Zealand, and that the harbour
which offers the greatest facilities for assembling
around it a large agricultural population, and which
possesses the easiest communication by land as well
as by water with the surrounding country, has the
best chance of ultimate success. Now, the Bay of
Islands possesses none of these advantages : the
country which surrounds the harbour consists al-
most entirely of hills, which are steep, although not
of any great height, and alternating with ravines,
which continue far inland. These hills are formed
of a yellow argillaceous stone, and a basaltic rock,
and it is only in the narrow ravines that there is a
little fertile soil. Even where the coast-hills were
formerly covered with forest, it has now disap-
peared, and is only met with some miles inland.
Towards the harbour these hills form diminutive
bays, inaccessible from the land. The different
parts of the harbour are separated by arms of the
sea, so that the construction of roads to connect
them with each other, and with the interior, is
impossible. There is, besides, scarcely sufficient
room in any of the bays even for a moderate-sized
town, unless placed on the side of a steep hill.
The only exception to the mountainous character
of the place is the table-land extending from the
Waitangi towards the Hokianga and the Keri-keri.
But this district, as already observed, cannot be
ranked amongst the best portions of New Zealand,
VOL. i. s

258 BAY OF ISLANDS. [PART II.

and has, moreover, the disadvantage of having no
water-carriage.

Besides this flat district, there is a valley with a
considerable extent of excellent land up the Kaua-
kaua, an arm of the bay, stretching to the south,
into which runs a small fresh -water stream. This
valley is in the hands of a large native tribe, who
cultivate it very extensively.

The number of whaling and other vessels in the
Bay of Islands has much decreased during the last
twelve months. This is chiefly owing to the in-
crease of Europeans, who consumed the scanty pro-
duce of the region. If the necessaries of life ever
come down to reasonable prices in New Zealand,
and if at the same time liberal measures be adopted
towards foreign whalers, there can be no doubt but
they will all again resort to that country, situated
as it is nearer to the whaling-ground than any
other.

There exists already a little town at Kororarika,
a small cove in the bay, which offers great facilities
for shipping, but is difficult of access from the
mainland. The same is the case with Russell, the
proposed Government town, at the mouth of the
Kaua-kaua ; whilst Victoria, the embryo capital of
Mr. Bushby, possessing the finest and most level
site for a town, and commanding the Waimate
table-land, and therefore the best communication
with the interior and Hokianga, as well as with

CHAP. XVIII.] KAUA-KATJA RIVER. 259

the districts lying to the northward, has no place
for the anchorage of vessels, and is, moreover, open
to the whole force of the north-easterly winds.

The Kaua-kaua has the aspect of a broad river,
bounded by steep and wooded hills. In small nooks
on the shore Europeans have erected humble-look-
ing houses. Inns are not wanting, and abundance
of fowls, geese, and ducks render the scene very
homely and English-looking.

s 2

260 [PART n.

CHAPTER XIX.

Wairoa, Kaipara.

PROCEEDING from the head of the Kaua-kaua to
the Wairoa, the principal stream which flows into
the harbour of Kaipara on the western coast, we
follow the windings of a fresh-water stream, which
joins the inlet of the sea, and on the banks of which
the neat and well-tended plantations of the natives
indicate a growing industry. After crossing over
some hills we are again led into the valley of the
river ; and here the eye is attracted by picturesque
groups of limestone, which in various shapes crop
out at the slope of the neighbouring hills, often
resembling ruined castles or towers, sometimes half-
concealed amongst beautiful tree-ferns and other
trees. The valley forms a basin of alluvial and
very fertile soil, as is indicated by the coriaria,
draceena, and phormium, which only grow in the
best situations. The name of the valley, as well as
of the river, is Waiomio. From this point to the
part where the Wairoa first begins to be navigable
for large beats is a good day's journey. The coun-
try consists mostly of low but steep hills, on which

CHAP. XIX.] WAIROA RIVER. 261

here and there are the remains of the former kauri-
forest, half burnt and rotten ; but now nearly the
whole surface of the region is covered with fern
and manuka. The hills alternate with valleys,
which, from the stagnation of the waters, are
swampy, and contain here and there forests of the
kahikatea pine (Dacrydium excelsum), the quickest
growing in New Zealand, and consequently the
least durable tree of this class. A swampy plain
stretches to the eastward as far as the rugged hills
of Wangari Bay : it offers some fine situations for
farms, and would afford excellent opportunities for
forming pasturage by the cultivation of artificial
grasses, as the land is rich, and the swampy parts
might easily be drained. No natives live here ;
but my guides assured me that some slaves had
lately run away from the Bay of Islands, and lived
concealed in the bush — a circumstance which rarely
happens in New Zealand, as the natives are too
much accustomed to a settled life ; and even when
they do conceal themselves, they are obliged to cul-
tivate the land in order to obtain food

The first natives I fell in with were a cheerful
and industrious set, near the head of the Wairoa,
who were cutting and squaring kauri-trees in a very
workmanlike manner. They all left their work on
my arrival, as the evening was approaching, and
accompanied me to the banks of the river, where
they had temporary habitations. The children
amused themselves with rowing-matches, their

262 NATIVE BOAT SONG. [PART II

parents cheering them on, or taking part in the
race ; and I had a good opportunity of observing
the healthy and symmetrical form of their bodies,
the graceful and vigorous play of their muscles:
the scene offered an excellent study for an artist,
or for an admirer of the human form when neither
impaired by an artificial state of life nor distorted
by the arts of fashion. The little boys dipped their
oars into the stream with astonishing precision, to
the measure of the following boat-song, which was
chanted by one of the party :—

HE TOIERE.

E toia ana pehia; ana kokiri e tiaia; e rumakina, e te wawati;
tena, tena, tena te rae ra; e watiia, e te ihu, e waenga, e te kei, e
tango katoa ; e ana te kaha ko te rite, ko te rite, tena wina, tena
wiua, e tiaia, tiaia, tiaia, ana toia, toia, toia ; taki, taki wakarere ;
he ruru kou koua ; tena tangohia, e te rae ra tango mai, he piko
tango atu, tena kia mau ; ae koia ia ; tena kia puta ; koiri, koiri
watiia ; uere tai tua, kia rite, tena toia, toia, toia, e kia ngoto i, i,
i, i pai rawa ; kia rite, takoto wakawiria ; e ka mahue, e ki te wana
toia, toia, toia.

( Translation.}

A CANOE-SONG.

Pull, push, launch, dip, bend, turn,

Now, now, now.

The point there : bend, at the head,
In the middle, at the stern ;

Now pull all together.
Be strong all together, all together.
Dip quickly, now dip quickly,

Dip, dip, dip.
Now pull, pull, pull,
Taki, taki, taki ;
Now fetch the point there ;
Now take in a reef.
Take out a reef ;

CHAP. XIX.J KAIPARA HARBOUR. 263

Now hold fast —

That is it.

Now let it emerge.

Koiri, koiri, watiia.

All together now,

Pull, pull, pull ;.

Dip deep, i, i, i, i.

Very well ; all together ;

Lie down ; twist it ;

Let it go.

Be strong, pull, pull, pull.

We afterwards sat around the fires, and song
followed song until the night was far advanced. It
is not astonishing that savage life should possess
so many charms even for sober spirits. The naivete
of manners, the childlike expression of joy, innate
to people in a state of nature, vanishes before the
formalities of our civilization : the hospitable savage
is changed into a reckoning and deliberating mer-
chant ; the incumbrance of our clothing in a warm
climate makes him stiff and helpless ; and our com-
plicated food soon renders him unhealthy. Is he
the gainer or loser by this change ?

Kaipara Harbour, into which the Wairoa and
other rivers fall, seems to me — on account of the
quantity of timber-trees on the shores of the rivers,
the length of their navigable course, the extent of
the available alluvial land on their banks, and the
immediate neighbourhood of the seat of govern-
ment, Wai-te-mata — to be deserving of an early
attention as a place where capital and labour may
be very profitably employed.

264 SHIPWRECKS. [PART n.

The accident that befell the New Zealand Com-
pany's vessel Tory, which ran on a sand-bank at
the entrance of this harbour, the total loss of the
timber-vessel Aurora, and the wreck of the brig
Sophia Pate, when many lives were lost under cir-
cumstances the most distressing — all of which ship-
wrecks happened in the last two years — have ob-
tained for this harbour a very bad reputation. But
I am inclined to ascribe these accidents to the very
deficient knowledge possessed of the harbour, which
has never been properly surveyed, while incorrect
and untrustworthy sketches pass into our charts as
surveys.

Kaipara is not a bar-harbour, but a channel-
harbour ; it is a large basin, into which a tide,
rising ten feet at full and change, rushes with great
velocity, which, joined with the narrowness of the
channel and our imperfect knowledge of the sound-
ings, certainly occasions great danger. Westerly
winds, which blow without intermission during
some portions of the year, and increase the current
setting into the harbour, are another inconvenience,
as they prevent ships from leaving the harbour at
all times. This, indeed, is the case with all the
harbours on the western coast of New Zealand.
Whether the shoals and sand-banks in the offing
are shifting is not yet ascertained, but it is not
improbable that such is the case. I am aware that,
being no navigator, my opinion cannot claim much
weight, but it certainly appears to me that, notwith-

CHAP. XIX.] KAIPARA HARBOUR. 265

standing all the disadvantages I have enumerated,
there would be no real danger to vessels under the
care of an experienced pilot in entering the har-
bour, if it were properly surveyed and the shoals
well buoyed off. Many large vessels, as the Na-
varino and the Anne Watson, have entered and
left it in safety.

At present there exists only a sketch of the har-
bour from a running survey of my lamented friend
the late Captain William Symonds, which has the
credit of being the most accurate, although it has
been disfigured by a spurious lithograph in Sydney.
Kaipara seems to be a harbour particularly adapted
for steamers, as they can contend with the tide and
contrary winds.

The harbour consists of several arms, which re-
ceive streams of fresh water; the westernmost of
these is the Wairoa. At the point where you
first fall in with this stream in coming from the
Bay of Islands, and 130 miles from the heads of the
harbour, its breadth and depth are those of the
Thames at Richmond. It is navigable for canoes
about eight miles above this place, where their far-
ther progress is prevented by rapids. The Wairoa
rises in the hills, on the northern slope of which
the Waima, an arm of the Hokianga, has its source.
The Wairoa is soon joined by the Otamatea, a river
coming from the hills in the neighbourhood of
Wangari harbour, and this receives in its turn the
Oropaoa from the northward, and the Kaiwaka

266 KAIPARA RIVER. [PART II.

and Wakaki from the eastward. Not far from the
junction of the Otamatea with the Wairoa, the latter
is joined by the Oruawaro, another stream of con-
siderable size, although, as is evident from the
breadth of the island at this part from coast to coast,
not of any great length. Lower down the Tapara
from the south and the Kaipara proper flow into
arms of the estuary. The Kaipara proper follows
a very serpentine course in a moderate-sized valley
formed by the hills which bound the sea-coast be-
tween Kaipara and Manukao harbours, and separated
from an inlet of the harbour of Waitemata, in the
gulf of Hauraki, by a piece of land about three miles
in breadth, and consisting of low hills, over which
the natives frequently dragged their canoes in times
of war. Not far from the highest point to which
the tide reaches in the Kaipara proper another river
joins it, which runs likewise within a very short
distance of Waitemata.

The banks of all these rivers are bounded by hills
of no very great height, which do not generally
reach to the banks, and are often more than a mile
distant from them ; the banks are level, and consist
of a somewhat clayey and fertile soil. The Wairoa
continually carries down a quantity of this soil from
the higher to the lower parts of the river, in conse-
quence of which its waters have a yellow appear-
ance. In the upper part of its course a beautiful
and fertile valley joins it, which begins in the neigh-
bourhood of Hokianga. Here the chief Parore

CHAP. XIX.] WAIROA RIVER.

267

lives with his tribe, and cultivates the land. The
banks of the Wairoa, with the exception of those
parts which are of very recent formation, and of the
portions which have been cleared by the natives, are
covered with a thick forest of timber-trees of all
descriptions, but especially the kauri-pine, which
is always in the greatest profusion in hilly situa-
tions. I am not acquainted with any place in New
Zealand where these trees are more plentiful, of
greater height and diameter, and of easier access.
The natives are constantly employed in felling and
squaring them. The consequence is, that they are
well supplied with all our commodities. One care-
ful chief had collected quite a property from the
fruits of his own labour and that of his tribe. As
they also cultivate a considerable quantity of ground
for their own use, and have a surplus quantity for
sale, it may easily be foreseen that, if justly treated
by their new government, they will prove in time a
valuable and wealthy part of the population of the
colony.

Small vessels can go up the Wairoa as far as the
settlement of a Mr. Stephenson, eighty-five miles
from the heads of the harbour, where there is a
depth of twelve feet ; but only fifteen miles lower
down, at the farm of Mr. Forsyth, the river has
water and a clear channel for vessels of any burden,
and also anchorage close in-shore.

Timber is likewise found on the banks of all the
other tributaries, especially of the Otamatea; and

268 KAIPARA RIVER [PART II.

everywhere there is sufficient land to enable the
colonist to combine agricultural pursuits with the
timber-trade, in which" case alone the latter can
prove profitable in New Zealand.

The inlet, which is joined by the Kaipara proper,
is navigable for large boats as far as the tide runs
up. On the hills between Kaipara and Manukao
there is much kauri, and the river affords great fa-
cilities for conveying the timber down to the sea.
It is very serpentine in its course, and forms a num-
ber of paddocks of alluvial land ; these are at present
swampy, but a little drainage would effectually lay
them dry. This low land is here and there covered
with groves of the kahikatea-pine and the puriri
(Vitex litoralis), but in general only fern and flax
grow on it.

About forty Europeans live on the Kaipara estuary
and its tributaries, and about 700 natives belonging
to the tribe of the Nga-te-Whatua. The Euro-
peans claim a great part of the land, and much
difficulty will arise in settling their various claims,
as the land was sold to them by the Nga-pui, the
natives in the Bay of Islands, who formerly con-
quered and drove away the original proprietors of
the soil. But a short time since these latter again
returned, and their numbers have increased ; where-
as the contrary has been the case with the Nga-pui,
who have silently given up all claims to the land.

There is a Wesleyan missionary-station up the
Wairoa, but in an unfavourable place, there being

CHAP. XIX.] AMD TRIBUTARIES. 269

scarcely any natives within a great distance of the
station. In consequence of this there has not been
here that success which in other parts of the island
has attended the efforts of the missionaries.

The general aspect of the Kaipara and its tri-
butaries is far more open, and the quantity of excel-
lent agricultural land more extensive, than at the
Hokianga, and, from the abundance of its timber,
Kaipara is a place admirably adapted for ship-build-
ing establishments ; its advantages, therefore, as a
settlement, would seem to outweigh the inconveni-
ence resulting from the harbour being situated on
a lee- shore and of somewhat difficult access.

There are many convenient places for a township
and for dockyard establishments on the banks of
the Wairoa.

The hills in the upper part of that river consist
of the stiff whitish clay which characterises kauri-
land, here and there with a basis of a hard argil-
laceous slaty rock : lower down, on the left bank,
are steep hillocks of basalt, surmounting which are
the ruins of some ancient fortifications; on the
right shore, and towards the sea-coast, is a soft
ferruginous sandstone ; inside and round the north-
ern head the cliffs expose layers of lignite, gene-
rally four feet in thickness and superimposed to the
height of about twenty feet by a white slightly
consolidated sand, which softens by exposure to the
water, and on a near examination is found to consist
of decomposed pumicestone, of which large globular
boulders are still compact. The lignite consists of

270 KAIPARA RIVER. [PART II.

half-carbonized wood, besides kauri and pohutu-
kaua, remains of tree-ferns, indistinct impressions
of smaller ferns, and a kind of typha — all which
plants are still found in the island. Extensive beds,
four feet thick, of the same lignite, and overlaid by
sandstone, are likewise found round the south head
of Hokianga ; they are then lost beneath the surface,
but appear again near the north head of the Kaipara.
The intermediate space, near the sea-shore, consists
of sand-hills, which are covered with a running
carex, and farther inland with a scanty vegetation
of fern. In some places hereabouts I met with
small carnelians, magnetic ironsand, and boulders
of brown iron-ore.

In order to reach the harbour of Waitemata from
Kaipara, we leave the Kaipara proper where it nar-
rows and ceases to be affected by the tide. The
road leads over hills of an unpromising aspect, but
a most magnificent prospect over the surrounding
country opens from them to our view. To the
north we overlook the large estuary of the Kaipara ;
to the west the valley of the Kaipara proper, its
meandering stream, and the hills of Manukao,
which are mostly wooded ; to the east grotesque-
shaped hills on the coast ; and by advancing a little
farther we overlook the basin of the Manukao and
Waitemata harbour. The entrance into the Gulf
of Hauraki is pointed out by Cape Colville, the
southern headland, which is about sixty miles dis-
tant, and by the Great Barrier Island, which ap-
nears dimly on the horizon.

CHAP. XX.] 271

CHAPTER XX.

Gulf of Hauraki — Coromandel Harbour — Waiho, or the Thames
— Waitemata Harbour — Auckland.

WHAT is commonly called the Thames is a very
large estuary or gulf on the eastern coast of New
Zealand, containing several harbours, and many
islands of various dimensions, and receiving the
waters of two rivers of considerable size. I give
to the whole the name of the Gulf of Hauraki,
although the natives apply this name only to the
eastern part, which receives the river Waiho, or
Thames, and the river Piako. If the denomination
of "Thames" is to be retained, instead of the well-
sounding native name of Waiho, this part of the
gulf would be most appropriately called the " Frith
of the Thames."

The northern headland of the Gulf of Hauraki is
formed by Point Rodney ; the southern headland is
Cape Colville ; the distance between them being
about forty miles. Cape Colville is the extreme
headland of a long promontory, forming the eastern
limit of the Frith of the Thames ; throughout its
length runs a chain of wooded hills, with a sharp
crest and steep declivitous sides, which are washed

272 GULF OF HAURAKI. [PART II.

by the sea both on the eastern and western coast ;
but on the latter the rocky line is interrupted by
an inlet, which forms Waihao or Coromandel har-
bour : at the back of the harbour the hills, rising
into remarkable pinnacled and pyramidical summits,
serve as excellent landmarks for the guidance of ves-
sels entering it.

To the southward this hilly chain continues
along the eastern coast: at the foot of their western
slope runs the Waiho, or the river Thames. Here
the chain of hills assumes the name of the Aroha
(Love) mountains, and borders the valley of the
Thames to the eastward, shutting it from the sea.
Besides the Waiho, another river, the Piako, flows
in this valley, and has its embouchure close to that
of the former.

Waihao or Coromandel Harbour is twenty-five
miles from Cape Colville and thirty-five from
the mouth of the Thames. It is surrounded by
hills, which on the eastward rise in a series of
longitudinal ridges to the height of about 1500
feet. To the eastward and northward a stripe of
alluvial land runs at the base of the hills; but
otherwise the shores, which consist of a sandstone
conglomerate and trap, are so hilly that they render
all communication difficult between the natives who
live in the different small bays around the shores.
The shore is covered with verdure, and pohutukaua-
trees grow all around. The soil on the lower
hills is fertile, and yields abundant supplies to the
natives.

CHAP. XX.] COROMANDEL HARBOUR. 273

Coromandel Harbour has been resorted to by ves-
sels for the trade in kauri-timber, which is abun-
dant on the hills from Cape Colville to Kati Kati,
in the Bay of Plenty, about 37° 30' S. lat. Kati
Kati is the southernmost boundary of this tree on
the east coast of New Zealand. The spars were
cut by the natives under the direction of the Euro-
peans, and shipped either at Mercury Bay or at Co-
romandel Harbour.

A ship-building establishment might be carried
on here with advantage, as other excellent timber,
besides kauri spars, can be obtained, especially po-
hutukaua, perhaps the most durable crooked timber
that exists. It must, however, be borne in mind,
that, from the rugged nature of the country and
from the scantiness of labour, the expenses of bring-
ing down the timber would be very great.

Coromandel Harbour is better adapted for small
than for large vessels, as, on account of the shallow-
ness of the water, the latter cannot enter far enough
to be effectually protected from the outer swell, al-
though there is good holding-ground. Provisions
of all descriptions, poultry, pigs, and vegetables, can
be obtained from the natives at a cheap rate.

The natives who live in Coromandel Harbour are
subdivisions of the Nga-te-paoa, and are called the
Nga-te-maru, the Nga-te-tamatera, and the Nga-
te-wanaunga. The whole tribe of the Nga-te-
paoa amounts to 5000, who do not all live in Coro-
mandel Harbour, portions of them being established

VOL. i. T

274 RIVER THAMES. [PART II.

at the entrance into the river Thames, at different
parts of the Gulf of Hauraki, and at Mercury Bay.
They have greatly diminished in number in conse-
quence of their late wars, especially those which
they waged with the Nga-pui in the Bay of
Islands. They formerly stood in hostile relation
with the Nga-te-hauwa, who live at Matamata, in
the valley of the Thames, but a short time ago they
made a solemn peace with them.

From Coromandel Harbour to the entrance of
the river Thames the coast is rocky, and there is no
communication between Coromandel Harbour and
the valley of the Thames by land. The hills are
mostly basaltic or amygdaloid, and many fine red
and white carnelians are found hereabouts.

Not far from the entrance into the Thames is a
station of the Church Missionary Society, occupy-
ing a most picturesque position on the slope of the
eastern mountains, which are crowned by a forest of
lofty trees. An arm of the sea, which is joined by
a creek, the Wawakaurunga, bathes the foot of the
hills, where the buildings are placed ; a fertile allu-
vial flat spreads along its left shore, on which stands
a large native fortification, Kaneranga, often con-
taining nearly 2000 inhabitants.

There is no harbour, properly speaking, in the
Waiho, or Frith of the Thames, and large vessels
cannot approach, as a mudbank stretches out be-
tween the Thames and the Piako, which have their
embouchure close to each other : there is, however,

CHAP. XX.] VALLEY OF THE THAMES. 275

a channel into the Thames with a minimum depth
of one fathom and a half at dead low water ; higher
up the depth of the water is three fathoms to three
fathoms and a half. Small vessels have gone up the
river nearly fifty miles, and large boats can ascend
about ninety miles. A channel also leads into the
Piako, but this river is the smaller of the two, and
at low water admits boats only.

I have already observed that the land on which
the kauri-pine grows is, even when cleared, of no
use for any other purposes, both from the rugged
nature of the ground and from the quality of the
soil. But at some distance from the entrance into
the Thames, the eastern coast hills, which, seen
from the valley, look like a steep artificial embank-
ment, are flat on the top, and slope gradually down
to the sea-coast in the Bay of Plenty : the kauri is
scarce ; and the forest is a mixed one, in which
rata, rimu, totara, and hinau are the most conspi-
cuous. Such land is available, if cleared of the
forest ; the kauri being confined to a few steep hills
and ravines on the eastern coast. It is one of the
most remarkable phenomena in botany, that an im-
mense tree such as the kauri should be satisfied
with places where one would scarcely have sup-
posed it could have taken root.

The valley of the Thames is about one hundred
miles long, extending to the neighbourhood of the
inland lake of Roturua, and, with the exception of
the banks of the rivers, where the kahikatea pine

T -2

276 AUCKLAND. [PART II.

grows to great perfection, the whole valley is occu-
pied by fern, flax, and manuka. This vegetation is
interrupted by large raupo (typha) swamps, which
increase towards the mouths of the rivers, where the
country is low and subject to inundations. Flights
of the common brown duck,1 and of the blue-breasted
red-billed water-hen,2 people these swamps. To the
westward the valley of the Thames is bordered by
hills ; but these are only denned and separated lower
down towards the frith. Higher up, the valley of
the Thames may be said to be united with that of
the Waikato and Waipa, with the exception of some
distinct hilly groups. From the hilly ridge several
narrow valleys open towards the frith, and here are
the native settlements of Wakatiwai and Waihopu-
kopu. Opposite the island of Waiheke the land be-
comes comparatively flat and low ; the coast consists
of soft sandstone, in cliffs of horizontal stratifica-
tion ; and this is the character of the country
towards Waitemata, where the government town
of Auckland is situated. In passing from the out-
let of the Thames to the latter place the aspect of
the shores is highly picturesque. A luxuriant vege-
tation covers them to the water's edge, or alternates
with the clearings made by the natives. As we
approach Auckland several regular volcanic cones
rise over the table-land which stretches across the
island to the harbour of Manukao. We pass a
number of islands, of which that of Waiheke is
1 Anas superciliosa. 2 Porphyrio australis.

CHAP. XX.] WAITEMATA HARBOUR. 277

overtopped with stately kauri-pines : from every
crevice of the rocks on these islands, even where
washed by the salt water, the glossy green of various
shrubs meets our eyes. These islands in the Gulf
of Hauraki, luxuriantly wooded as they are, and
divided from each other by deep straits, afford a
succession of ever-changing scenery, and give the
region a variety which is unrivalled by any other
harbour in New Zealand, in most of which steep
and uniform surrounding hills shut in the view,
and confine it to a narrow space.

The harbour of Waitemata is the most important
in the Gulf of Hauraki. It lies at the westernmost
extremity of the gulf, and stretches its ramifications
towards the harbours of Manukao and Kaipara.
The entrance into the harbour is distant from Co-
romandel Harbour forty miles, from the embou-
chure of the Thames forty-five miles, from Point
Rodney forty miles, and from Cape Colville forty-five
miles.

The latitude of the flag-staff in the military bar-
racks at Auckland is 36° 51 / 27", its longitude
174° 45' 20" E.

The northern head of the harbour forms a penin-
sula at high-water. Two conical hills rise here,, of
which that forming the north headr Takapuna, is
216 feet high, of an irregular form, and consists of
a hard basaltic rock ; the other, at a little distance
from it, Takarunga, has on its summit a crater, par-
tially broken in. It is 279 feet high, and consists

278 WAITEMATA HARBOUR. [PART II.

of black and reddish vesicular lava. There is now
a flag-staff erected on it. The navigable entrance
into the harbour is only three-quarters of a mile
broad, as it is narrowed by a reef, the outermost
point of which is marked by a beacon, and is dis-
tant three-quarters of a mile from a curious bastion-
shaped sandstone rock, which may be regarded as
the southern head. Within the heads the channel
widens to an average breadth of one mile ; it has its
greatest depth on the northern shore, and is shal-
low on the southern, on which the town of Auck-
land has been laid out, at the distance of two miles
and a half from the south head.

The depth of the harbour is from six to nine
fathoms in the mid channel, and three and three
and a half at the sides. The inlet continues about
ten miles to the westward, sending an arm to the
northward towards the river Kaipara, and another
to the southward towards the harbour of Manukao.
The northern arm has a deep but very narrow chan-
nel near the northern shore; but shoals and rocks
obstruct the passage leading towards Manukao, ex-
cept for large boats, which can go up for several
miles in the river-like inlet, and between its upper
part and the harbour of Manukao there is a portage
of one mile and a half.

The southern shore, or that on which Auckland
stands, consists of cliffs of a soft pepper-coloured
sandstone, or sandstone conglomerate, with occa-
sional seams of lignite. The country itself is

CHAP. XX.] AUCKLAND. 279

slightly undulating, and forms small bays, which
open towards the harbour, and are partially wooded
at the bottom. The rest is covered with high fern
and manuka. In the immediate neighbourhood of
Auckland there is no wood, but opposite to it a
small stripe of kauri and other forest-trees near the
sea-shore has escaped the general conflagration by
which the greater part of the former woods has
evidently been destroyed. From this spot the town
is provided with timber and firewood. All this land
is bad, as is also that at the head of the harbour ;
but the soil is much better in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of Auckland, and thence towards Manu-
kao, and to the eastward, where it is fit for all kind
of horticultural and agricultural purposes.

One feature which contributes to the beauty of
the scenery around Auckland is the pohutukaua-
trees which line the coast, and which, about Christ-
mas, are decked with purple flowers ; but, unfortu-
nately, one after another these beautiful trees are
cut down, and thus the naked sandstone cliffs are
laid bare, although these trees in no way interfere
with architectural or commercial improvements.

Auckland is well supplied with fresh water, not
only by the small water- runs in the valleys, but also
by springs, from which it is readily obtained by dig-
ging a few feet below the surface.

Several volcanic cones rise in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of the town, at the base of which hard
scoriae for buildings and roads can be obtained, and

280 TAMAKI INLET. [PART II.

which are easily worked ; the sandstone, though soft,
hardens by exposure to the air, and is a good build-
ing material.

A mile to the eastward of Auckland there is a
small bay called Oraki ; it has a narrow entrance,
and forms almost a natural dock, and could easily
be converted into one by means of sluices. To this
place the few natives who form the scanty rem-
nant of the once large tribe of the Nga-te-whatua,
the proprietors of Waitemata, have lately returned
from Manukao ; they cultivate the land, and by
supplying firewood and provisions, and by work-
ing for wages, have made themselves very useful to
the town.

Still farther to the eastward another inlet, com-
monly called the Tamaki, leads towards Manukao ;
and here is the shortest portage into the latter har-
bour, it being only a quarter of a mile across. At
the entrance into this channel is a bar, with six feet
depth at low water, but inside the channel deepens;
vessels of 200 tons have gone up for some distance,
and large barges can go to the portage. The land
on both sides of the Tamaki is excellent ; that on
the right shore is claimed by the Church Mission-
ary catechist Fairburn, whose possessions extend
from this point as far as to the Wairoa river, being
an extent of about ninety square miles. A great
deal of lignite is found on the Tamaki, but no
wood, with the exception of jungle.

The government town of Auckland, considering

CHAP. XX.] AUCKLAND. 281

the short time it lias existed, has made considerable
progress. Its population, which amounts to more
than 2000, has been drawn together from all parts
of the island. A bank has been formed, fine bar-
racks have been built of scoriae ; and were it not for
a general spirit of over-speculation in land, without
any attempt to explore the home resources of the
island, there would be every ground for hoping that
the place would gradually and steadily rise into im-
portance. The thing that chiefly recommends the
situation of this place for the central town of the
northern island is its easy communication with the
coast, both to the north and to the southward. An
inland communication through Kaipara with the
Bay of Islands can be effected in five daysr even
with the present insufficient means of communica-
tion. With the western coast, and with the inte-
rior, over Manukao and the river Waikato, nothing
interrupts the water-communication but two small
portages ; and even with Cook's Straits relations
can be easily established, either by the river Thames,
or the Waikato and Wai pa, and the river Wanganui.

The coast-trade particularly is of the greatest
importance, as the nature of the country will cause
its colonization at many different points at once:
and already a great number of small coasting ves-
sels communicate with Auckland.

We must not forget that the Thames and the
Piako form an extensive agricultural valley, and
that, as their natural harbour, Waitemata is prefer-
able to Coromandel Harbour.

282 ISLANDS IN THE [PART II.

In short, it appears to me that there can be no
question but that the place has been very judici-
ously chosen for the site of a town, as commanding
a great extent of cultivable land in its neighbourhood,
great facility of communication with the coast and
the interior of the northern island, and as being a
central point for the most powerful native tribes,
the Nga-pui to the northward, the Waikato to the
southward, and the Nga-te-hauwa to the eastward,
separating them in a military point of view, but
uniting them for the purposes of civilization and
commerce.

The Gulf of Hauraki contains a number of islands,
of which Aotea, or the Great Barrier, at the en-
trance into the gulf, and Waiheke opposite to the
entrance into Waitemata harbour, are the most im-
portant. The former is nearly eighty miles in cir-
cumference, contains much kauri-forest, and pos-
sesses an excellent harbour at its north-western ex-
tremity; it is called the Great Barrier Harbour,
and has only lately been discovered.

From the Great Barrier I obtained specimens of
a copper-ore in a matrix of a decomposed micaceous
slate. Some of the specimens contained nearly
twenty-five per cent, of copper, the rest was sulphur,
iron, and silica. I could not ascertain the extent
and position of the vein in which it occurs ; but, from
the nature of the surrounding rock, I do not think
it improbable that a mine of some importance will
be found.

Waiheke is about thirty miles in circumference.

CHAP. XX.] GULF OF HAURAKI. 283

It has a harbour for small vessels, and there is an
anchorage for larger ones in the channel which
separates the island from the main. It consists
mostly of a yellow argillaceous rock and basalt ; it
is wooded and hilly, and contains kauri, but has also
many sheltered and cultivable valleys.

Both islands are claimed by Europeans, the lat-
ter by nearly half a dozen different parties. Bar-
rier Island is the property of a merchant in Sydney,
and some Europeans live there. In Waiheke there
are some families of the Ngta-te-whatua and the
Nga-te-paoa tribes, and also a European family.

Ran gi to to is another very remarkable island ; —
between it and the mainland is the best channel
into Waitemata. It is a cone, rising slowly from
the sea, and has on its summit three cones, the
middle one being the highest, a conformation very
common to craters. Rangitoto is an immense heap
of scoriae, which in large hard masses surround it at
its base and the greater part of its height ; and it is
only on the top that a few bushes have taken root.
In the middle cone is a very perfect crater, about
150 feet deep. The highest point of the island rises
to 920 feet above the level of the sea, and com-
mands a most extensive panorama of the surround-
ing country.

The meteorological table at p. 285, which was
kept at Auckland by David Rough, the harbour-
master, and to which has been annexed a table
of the average heights of the thermometer, taken
by Dr. Johnson with Adie's register thermome-

284 METEOROLOGICAL REGISTERS [PART II.

ter, exhibits the state of the weather for one
year.

In Auckland easterly gales generally occur at the
full and change of the moon, and continue for two
and sometimes three days. In the winter months
they sweep with great violence over the exposed
situation of Auckland. From the east the wind
veers to the westward, and soon moderates. The
most settled weather is with southerly winds.

Rains are very frequent, especially in the winter
season. I have not the necessary data for comparing
the quantity of rain with that in Cook's Straits, but
from the scanty observations at my command I am
induced to believe that rains are more frequent here
than on other parts of the coast, which may perhaps
result from the little distance between the western
and eastern coasts. Frosts are rare in Auckland; in
fact, the thermometer never stood lower than 36°
Fahrenheit. The surface of the land being com-
paratively level, no impediment is given to the east-
erly and westerly breezes ; the summer heat is there-
fore very moderate, and the thermometer only once
rose as high as 84°. Many of the valleys in the
neighbourhood of the town, which are sheltered
from the gales, enjoy a mild and agreeable climate.

Earthquakes, which are sometimes felt in other
parts of the island, have not been experienced in the
Hauraki Gulf by the European settlers, nor could I
learn from the natives whom I questioned on the
subject that there existed any tradition of their
having occurred in this region.

CHAP. XX.]

AT AUCKLAND.

285

METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, from 16th September, 1840, to
16th September, 1841.

Months.

Prevailing
Winds.

Average Height of
Fahren. Thermom.

REMARKS.

tforn.

Noon.

Even.

1840:

Deg.

Deg.

Deg.

Sept.,
latter

S.-Westerly

56*

59

558

Five days squally and showery weather.
Two days stormy, with heavy rain from

part.

the eastward.

Eight days tine weather.

Oct.,

first

S.-Westerly

56

57

63

66

54
56

Nineteen days fine weather.
Three days stormy, with rain from the

part.

eastward.

Nine days gale ; squalls and heavy rain
from the westward. . ',

Nov.

S.-Westerly

57
61

63
66

53
53

Eighteen days fine weather.
Two days stormy, with rain from the east-

ward.

Ten days fresh gales, squalls, and showery
weather from the westward.

Dec.

Easterly .

63

66

69

72

58
60

Two days strong breezes and rain.
The rest of the month very fine weather,
with regular land and sea breezes ; the
sea-breeze setting in from the north-

east in the forenoon, and veering to

1841:

the southward in the evening.

Jan.

First part

70

75

64

Ten days fresh breezes, squalls, and

N.-Easterly,

70

76

61

showers.

latter part

The rest of the month light winds, sea

Southerly.

and land breezes, and very fine weather.

Feb.

Southerly
and

68
69

73

74

63
59

Eight days stormy, with rain ; the rest of
the month light winds and fine weather.

S.-Westerly

March

Easterly .

67
65

70
69

59
61

Ten days stormy with rain ; the rest of
the month brisk breezes and fine

weather.

Apr.

First part

59

68

56

Two days heavy gale from the eastward

Easterly,

54

63

54

and much rain..

latter part
W. S.W.

Seven days squally and showery.
The rest of the month fine weather.

May

S.-Westerly

55

50

63
61

56
52

Three days easterly gale, and heavy rain.
The remainder of the month brisk west-

Jane

S.-Westerly

48

56

50

erly breezes and frequent showers.
One day easterly gale and heavy rain.

50

58

51

Nine days fine weather.

The remainder of the month strong breezes,

squalls, and heavy showers from the

westward.

July

S.-Westerly

46
47

56
56

46
46

Seven days fine weather.
Five days stormy and rainy from the east-
ward and south-east.

The rest of the month strong breezee,

squalls, and rain from the westward.

Aug.

First part

49

59

55

Three days stormy and rainy from the

N.-Easterly

50

58

55

north east.

glatter part
S.-Westerly

Seven days westerly gales, squalls, and
showers.

The rest of the month brisk breezes and

fine weather.

On the night of the 20th, the heaviest

thunderstorm that had been experienc-

ed since the formation of the settlement.

Sept.

N.-Easterly,
Westerly.

51

58

50

First five days light showers and fine wea-
ther; three days heavy gale, and much
rain.

Six days light winds, and fine with occa-
sional showers.

Two days strong north-easterly breeze,

ending with much rain.

286 METEOROLOGICAL REGISTERS [PART II.

The MEAN TEMPERATURE of the different Months is represented
in the following Table : —

Months. Corresponding to our Temperature.

January .... July .... 69'3°
February .... August . . . 67 '6°
March .... September . . 65'1°

April October . . . 59'0°

May ..... November . . 56' 1°

June December . . 52' 1°

July ..... January . . . 49 '5°
August . February. . . 54*3°

September . . . March . . . 54' 8°
October .... April. . . . 58'6°
November . . . May .... 58'8°
December . . . June .... 64'6°
Mean temperature of the summer months, 67 '1°

Of the winter months 52'0°

Mean annual temperature .... 59'0°

Difference between the mean temperature! ir.™
of summer and winter, only . . . j

The place which in our northern hemisphere
corresponds in its mean annual temperature to that
of Auckland (situated in lat. 36° 51' 27" S., and
long. 174° 45' 20" E.) is Montpellier, in 43° 36' N.
lat, and 3° 52' E. long. But in Montpellier the
difference between the hottest and the coldest
month is 68°, whereas in Auckland the difference
is only 19 '8°. The heat of the warmest month
in Auckland corresponds to that of the warmest
month at Vienna, which is situated in 48° 12' N.
lat, and 16° 22' E. long. ; but its coldest month
is somewhat below the temperature of the coldest
month of Lisbon, in 38° 43' N. lat, and 13° 49' W.

CHAP. XX.] AT AUCKLAND. 287

long. Such is the equalizing influence exercised on
the climate by the insular position of the country
and the proximity of Auckland to the coasts.

The usual rise and fall of the tides in Auckland
is ten feet ; but they are influenced by the easterly
winds, which sometimes raise them to twelve or
even thirteen feet : the time of high water at full
and change is about 6h. 45m.

The variation of the compass is 14°, the dip of
the needle 61° 7'.

There are other harbours between the Gulf of
Hauraki and the Bay of Islands, in all of which
Europeans are settled, but very few natives. It
would be tedious to do more than briefly mention
them.

1. The harbour of Mahurangi is situated at a
distance of twenty miles from Waitamata. It is
of easy access, the depth of water is sufficient for
every description of vessels, and there is secure
anchorage. It has a southern and a northern pas-
sage, of which the former is the best, and has from
seven to fifteen fathoms water. A division of the
surveying department has been sent there, to lay
out a town ; but the place, though possessed of
some timber, has no particular advantage for a
township.

2. Matakana, a small harbour, a little to the
northward of Mahurangi. It has two fathoms
water at the entrance, with some kauri-timber on
its shores : several Europeans live there.

288 HARBOURS NEAR HAURAKI. [PART II.

3. Wangari, an extensive and sheltered harbour.
In the neighbourhood there is much kauri-forest.

4. Tutukaka.

5. Wangamuma.

6. Wangaruru. In this harbour the ship Buffalo
once took in a large cargo of spars.

CHAP. XXL] 289

CHAPTER XXI.

Harbour of Manukao, or Symonds Harbour.

I WILL DOW proceed in my description of the island,
by relating the particulars of an expedition which
I undertook from Waitemata into the centre of
the island, to the volcanic group of Tongariro and
Lake Taupo, thence to the eastern coast and along
the valley of the Thames, back into the Gulf of
Hauraki. In company with Lieutenant Best, of
the 80th Foot, I started on the 3 1st of March,
1841. At the moment of my departure I had the
disappointment of finding that all the natives whom
I had engaged to accompany me, and whom I had
brought with me from the northward, had ab-
sconded, enticed by promises of high wages in
Auckland. I advise any one who intends to travel
in New Zealand to avoid the towns, if he wishes
to find natives, of whom a great number are re-
quired to carry provisions and baggage. In this
case I was obliged to start without any of these
men, the baggage being placed on a packhorse with
which his Excellency the Governor had kindly fur-
nished me; and we trusted to accident to find
VOL. i. u

290 VOLCANIC CONES [PART II.

natives on the road or in one of the next settle-
ments.

The country between Waitemata and Manukao
is not only highly interesting to the geologist, but
also very promising to the agriculturist. A number
of cones rise above the even table-land, which is in-
tersected by moderate valleys. All these cones are
extinct volcanoes. The most interesting of them
is Maunga-wao, which, according to barometrical
and thermometrical measurement, has an elevation
of 500 feet. Its base, which is lengthened towards
the north-west, is strewed over with large masses
of hard and black cellular scoriae, often forming
ridges, or heaped up by the former inhabitants into
mounds, to enable them to cultivate the light black
soil between. Near the summit, which is on the
southern extremity of the hill, these scoriae are
more friable and of a reddish colour. Here is a
funnel-shaped crater beautifully perfect and re-
gular. The margin is a little lower towards
the north, in the direction of the longer axis
of the hill. The interior of this funnel, which is
about 150 feet deep, contains small gravel of red
scoriae, and is overgrown with short fern. On the
outer surface of fche Jirll about twelve terraces rise
throughout its extent, at regular intervals of about
twelve feet. All the cones in the neighbourhood
of Maunga-wao have this terraced appearance ; and
although the natives, who formerly had settlements
on almost all these hills, have contributed much to

CHAP. XXI.] NEAR MANUKAO. 291

this regular appearance by levelling the steps, they
are evidently in their origin the work of Nature,
indicating the flowing of the ejected masses in one
direction, that of the longest axis, and towards that
side where the margin of the craters is least dis-
tinct. A great quantity of shells and quadrangular
excavations, where their houses stood, bear witness
of the former native inhabitants : the time is still
remembered by old men of the Nga-te-whatua
tribe when all these hills were covered with for-
tified villages and numerous inhabitants. But this
unfortunate tribe, pressed by the Nga-pui from the
northward, the Nga-te-paoa from the Hauraki, and
the Waikato from the southward, have dwindled
down almost to nothing, and their whole number
in the neighbourhood does not amount at present to
more than 200.

As the soil between the boulders is very fertile,
it may be expected that, at no far distant time,
the flanks of these cones will again form sheltered
and productive gardens, as a large quantity of
scorise will be consumed in the construction of
roads, for which purpose they are particularly
adapted. f*

At a distance of two miles from Maunga-wao
is Maunga-keke. This extinct crater differs little
from the former, except that there are scarcely any
scoriae on its base, and its summit is less regular.
It is overgrown inside with brushwood and trees,
and on the top stands an old pohutukaua-tree,

u 2

292 MANUKAO HARBOUR. [PART II.

which serves as a good landmark for ships entering
Waitemata harbour. Other conical hills are visible
at a little distance.

The similarity of these craters with those of the
Auvergne, and especially the similarity of their
igneous products with those of the extinct volcanoes
of that place, is striking. They surpass them, how-
ever, in the preservation and regularity of their
funnel-shaped summits.

The distance across the country from Auckland
to the head of Manukao Harbour is about seven
miles ; the land slopes gently towards the latter,
and is covered with grass, flax, or the beautiful
Veronica speciosa, which at the time of my visit
was covered with its lilac flowers, filling the air
with their perfume. Where this shrub grows it
is a sure indication of the richest soil.

Between Auckland and Manukao there is no
wood, excepting that where the plain is intersected
by valleys a few shrubs grow. At the head of
Manukao are some native huts, called Onehunga,
occasionally inhabited by a few people of the Wai-
kato tribe, who have abundant crops on their neigh-
bouring cultivations, especially of maize.

The harbour of Manukao, an inlet about fifteen
miles long and eight broad, sends an arm towards
the Tamaki in the Hauraki Gulf. Between these
points, as I have already mentioned, is the shortest
portage connecting the eastern and the western sea.
The upper part of the harbour is shallow, but there

CHAP. XXI.] COUNTRY NEAR MANUKAO. 293

is a navigable channel for small craft nearly to its
head. Part of the shore at the head is strewed
over with hard basaltic lava and cellular scoriae,
and it is not difficult to point out,, in a cone on the
southern shore, the source of this volcanic produce.
The northern shore is cliffy, and consists of strati-
fied greyish sandstone, or sandstone conglomerate.
The stratifications of the latter are sometimes curvi-
linear. The cliffs are wooded with various trees ; I
observed especially Vitex litoralis, which is remark-
able for its dark leaves, pink flowers, and cherry-
like fruit, — Metrosideros tomentosa, Persoonia tora,
Knightia excelsa, Laurus tarairi, Fuchsia excorti-
cata, Myrtus bullata, Corynocarpus Isevigata, Ed-
wardsia microphylla, and the lower shrubs Rubus
australis, Solanum laciniatum, Piper excelsum, and
others. But this vegetation is merely confined to
the coast, as the land which extends from the
north shore of Manukao is not covered with any-
thing of higher growth than fern, rushes, Lepto-
spermum, Drosera, and a few Orchidese. This land
consists of low hills, the upper soil of which is a
stiff clay ; the whole has formerly been covered with
kauri-forest, as is proved by the gum or resin, of
which pieces are everywhere found. This tree
grows now only near the heads of Manukao Har-
bour, and on the hills which extend along the sea-
shore from Kaipara to Manukao. Here the kauri,
as in other places, is associated with other pines,
especially rimu, kawaka, tanekaha, and miro (Da-

294 MANUKAO HARBOUR. [PART II.

crydium cupressinum, plumosum, Phyllocladus tri-
chomanoides, Podocarpus miro) ; larger trees of the
graceful and acacia-like Dacrydium plumosum are
scarce ; in fact, this pine seems to grow only to a
very moderate size. Several creeks, capable of turn-
ing mills, flow into the harbour.

The north head of Manukao is formed by three
rugged conical hills : inside the outer head the
coast presents a bold rocky precipice, alternating
with small secluded bays; but a vigorous vegeta-
tion covers them to the water's edge, and kauri-
trees have grown in places where the precipice is
inaccessible on account of its rapid declivity. About
three miles from the outer headland, the coast
sweeps at a right angle round a cliffy inner head-
land, thus forming a neck of land about three
miles long and as many broad. Round this inner
headland, close in-shore, is the best anchorage in
the harbour, perfectly sheltered from the N.W.
and S.W. winds A swell, which would be liable
to set in from the harbour itself, is broken by a
long sandbank occupying the centre of the basin.

This place is called Karanga-hawe, and is part
of the land claimed by the Manukao New Zealand
Company : it has now no inhabitants, as almost the
whole of its former possessors — a tribe, belonging
to the Nga-te-whatua — have been exterminated :
the remains of their village and plantations are still
to be seen.

The southern shore of the harbour consists of

CHAP. XXI.] MANUKAO HARBOUR. 295

undulating and fertile land, which extends from
Onehunga towards the Waikato. There is a second
channel on that side of the harbour ; and a channel
for boats extends towards an arm of the Waikato
river — the Awaroa — with a very easy portage of
two miles and a half.

The south head is a remarkable steep hill of white
moveable sand, heaped up by north-westerly gales ;
the northern head, however, is a black conglomerate
of a rugged shape.

Although the harbour of Manukao has a bar at
the entrance, there is a deep and free channel three-
quarters of a mile broad close to the northern head.
Once between the heads, the channel is deep and
free from danger.

The tide is full two hours and three-quarters later
in Manukao than at Waitemata, and rises to ten
feet and a half.

A regular survey of this harbour, and, indeed, of
all the harbours on the western coast of the northern
island, is still wanting. This deficiency has probably
arisen from the coast being a lee-shore, and conse-
quently being more difficult to survey ; but it is evi-
dent that that very circumstance renders it more
important that it should be well surveyed.

Manukao is evidently a place of some importance,
from its near neighbourhood to Auckland, and the
facility of communication with that town and the
river Waikato. The best anchorage, and all the
timber, and, moreover, a very good situation for a

296 CAPTAIN SYMONDS. [PART II.

town, are to be found on the northern shore ; but
all the good land is on the southern. To connect
the two sides by a road will be difficult and expen-
sive, from the high price of labour. A communi-
cation between the different parts of the harbour is
always open for boats.1

In 1836 no natives resided in Manukao, having
all been dispersed by wars some years before. Sub-
sequently the remnant of the original tribe — the
Nga-te-whatua — returned : a Waikato tribe, more-
over, had a village on the southern shore, where a
Church Missionary station was established. Almost
all the natives have become converts to Christianity.

On the 2nd of April we left Onehunga, in a
canoe, for Kauwitu, a small native village near the
southern head of Manukao. The natives detained

1 Captain William Cornwallis Symouds, of the 96th Foot, and
Deputy-Surveyor-General of New Zealand, eldest son of the pre-
sent Surveyor of the Navy, Sir William Symonds, accompanied
me during this excursion into the interior. I lament to say that
on the 23rd of November, 1841, he met in this harbour with an
untimely death. Whilst occupied in surveying a township at
Karanga-hawe, he crossed on an errand of kindness and benevo-
lence to the southern shore : the boat was upset ; he was a powerful
swimmer, but before he reached the shore a shark drew him down.
Captain Symonds was one of the few men who carry with them
the respect and love of all who know them. Possessed of a pow-
erful and healthy constitution, which had withstood during seven
years the climate of the East Indies, he was expert in all manly
exercises, his mind was well stored with a variety of knowledge, and
he was a genuine true-hearted Englishman, a kind son and brother,
a sincere friend, and an upright, independent, and public-spirited
man. He was one of the first who directed attention to New
Zealand, and the colony will ever have to deplore his loss.

CHAP. XXI.] COUNTRY NEAR MANUKAO.

297

us two days by demanding an exorbitant sum for
the hire of a canoe ; indeed the effect of their con-
tact with Europeans has been to render them
covetous and extortionate, as among the colonists
they see no transactions but what are based upon
an exchange of money and labour. But their know-
ledge of the value of time and money will remain
for a long time very imperfect.

The northern shore of Manukao is the last place
on the western coast where the Dammara australis,
or the kauri, is found. It is true, that a little farther
to the southward, in Kawia, in latitude 37° 27 ', there
are some dozen trees or so, but they are of stunted
growth. I have already mentioned that on the
eastern coast the range of this pine does not even
reach thus far ; and this fine tree has therefore a
range of less than three degrees of latitude and one
degree of longitude ; and even within these narrow
boundaries it is by no means a common tree. It
generally grows in the neighbourhood of the sea-
coast, but not in parts exposed to the spray, and on
the sides of ravines ; it is, in fact, entirely confined
to hilly situations. Large districts within the above-
mentioned boundaries have formerly been covered
with kauri-forest, but are now bare ; and its destruc-
tion, through waste and negligence, is now going
on in other districts. There is no proof that the
kauri ever grew to the southward of its present
boundaries, although conflagrations of forest have
taken place throughout the island. With the de-

298 THE KAURI-TREE. [PART II.

struction of the forests many trees and shrubs dis-
appear, especially those which required the full
aliment and moisture afforded by the forest : for
instance, the arborescent and several other species
of ferns, which are only found in conjunction with
the kauri.

The kauri is the only cone-bearing pine in New
Zealand ; all the others bear berries, and are there-
fore to be classed amongst the very numerous family
of the Podocarpi or Taxideee.

I cannot omit to mention a fact connected with
the kauri which seems to throw some light on the
formation of amber. The resin which the tree ex-
udates is very hard, and forms large solid masses at
the base of the tree. It is generally of a whitish
colour, but through age, and as it would seem by
exposure to the sea- water, it assumes the gold-yellow
colour of amber, becomes transparent, and very
closely resembles that substance. It appears to me
not improbable that amber is derived from a tree of
the same genus as the Dammara australis, as no
other resin that I am aware of is so hard, or is acted
upon in this remarkable manner by the sea-water.

CHAP, xxii.] 299

CHAPTER XXII.

River Waikato — Wainga-roa— Aotea — Kawia.

IN Kauwitu, on the south side of the harbour, we
fell in with a number of natives from the river Waipa,
who were returning from a visit to Waitemata,
and who agreed to carry our baggage from Manukao
over the portage to the Awaroa, where they had
their canoe, and thence to the Waikato. Lieutenant
Best accompanied them, but I started for the em-
bouchure of the river Waikato, round the southern
head of Manukao, and along the beach. I was
anxious not to disappoint Captain William Symonds,
who had arranged to accompany me into the in-
terior, and I therefore walked during the night, as
it was moonlight, and the air balmy and agreeable,
from Manukao. The distance to the Waikato is
thirty miles, and the coast, which consists of a broad
and hard sandy beach, with soft sandstone cliffs of
a moderate height, runs nearly north and south.
There is only one spot which is impassable at high
water. My path took me near a few poor native
huts, and during the night I met a great number of
natives quietly returning from a great Missionary

300 WAIKATO RIVER. [PART II.

meeting at the heads of the Waikato. The whole
district between the sea-coast and the Awaroa (great
river), which branches off from the Waikato eight
miles from its mouth, is called Tauroa. The soil is
very light, and in some places sandy, but the kumera,
of which there are many plantations, thrives very
well in it. About ten miles from the north head
of the river Waikato sand has been carried by the
winds a long distance inland, and is mixed with a
great quantity of pumicestone, which is often so
firmly imbedded in it as to form a pavement. This
pumicestone, and occasionally pieces of black ob-
sidian, are brought down the Waikato river from
the volcanic group of the Tongarido, which is situ-
ated in the centre of the island, and from which
the Waikato takes its rise.

I have been told that between the Waikato and
Manukao there lived formerly a numerous tribe —
the Nga-te-iwi ; but in the wars with the Waikato
tribes they have disappeared entirely, their name
being only remembered in disputes about boundaries
amongst their successors.

The left shore of the Waikato consists, for about
eight miles from the sea, of shifting sand ; the right
shore is hilly, and at the foot of the hills, near the
embouchure of the river, is the station of the Church
Missionary Society, Maraenui, established two years
ago.

The outlet of the Waikato does not form a bay,
but is a narrow channel, where, at low water, only

CHAP. XXII.] MISSIONARY MEETING. 301

vessels of about thirty tons can enter. But inside
the headlands the Waikato is a stately stream, and
when the tide has increased its depth it is navigable
even for larger vessels for about a hundred miles,
where it is joined by the river Waipa, which is
navigable for boats sixty miles farther.

Near the mission-station are several native pas,
numerously inhabited, but only during certain sea-
sons, as the natives generally live in their planta-
tions higher up, on the banks of the river. About
2500 were present at a meeting which took place
the day after my arrival ; the manner in which it
was carried on, and the eloquent orations of the
chiefs, who, in addressing the assembled multitude,
alluded to their altered and improved condition,
seemed to prove that they are fast progressing in
civilization. Such progress is certainly owing to
the efforts of the missionaries. A great feast and
war-dance concluded the meeting, after which the
natives returned to their homes. The Rev. Mr.
Maunsell, who is at the head of this mission, is a
very zealous minister, and carries on his work with
true Christian disinterestedness. Among those pre-
sent at this meeting was Lady Franklin, who has
done much for the encouragement of science in
the southern hemisphere, as her distinguished hus-
band, Sir John Franklin, the present Governor of
Van Diemen's Land, has done for the same cause,
all over the world, by his important discoveries
within the arctic circle, and who was at this time

302 NATIVE DYES. [PART II.

engaged in the long and arduous task of visiting
many parts of New Zealand.

A party of about seventy natives, who were re-
turning to their homes at Aotea, having offered us
their services, we started in the morning of the 6th,
and, marching in a long file, followed a path on
the hills of the coast towards Waingaroa. The
hills are partly wooded, partly covered with fern
and flax. In the woods the hinau was very plenti-
ful. This tree (Elseocarpus hinau) belongs to the
family of the Elseocarpese, and attains a moderate
size. The natives obtain from it the very durable
and jet-black dye which they use for dyeing their
garments. A greenish mud, which is obtained from
the rivers, and probably contains muriate of iron, is
macerated for a short time with the bark of the
tree and the flax, and this is the whole of the pro-
cess. I have no doubt that this bark will become
an important article of export, as the tree is very
common in many parts of the island. The fruit
forms the favourite food of the large parrot ; and
even the natives do not despise it. They separate
the farinaceous shell from the hard and oily kernel
by friction in a wooden trough, and form it into
cakes.

The hills are steep on both sides, and run parallel
to the coast, to which, after a short walk, we de-
scended. It consists partly of cliffs and partly of
steep slopes ; and the formation is a solid white sand-
stone, composed of comminuted shells and grains of

CHAP. XXII.] COUNTRY NEAR AOTEA. 303

quartz, and often rising to a height of 120 feet.
The rock has broken down in some places, where
prosilient cliffs interrupt the generally straight lines
of the sandy coast. Everywhere creeks and rivulets
fall into the sea.

On the 7th our way led us up and down the coast
hills. These consist of a yellow argillaceous slate ;
and as I descended to the sea-coast I observed in
many places laminar basalt, the plates of which
were often of a rhomboidal shape ; and also com-
pact basaltic rock. Buttresses of the main chain of
the hills run off towards the sea-coast, forming nar-
row valleys. In the widest of these we encamped.
The neighbouring hills were moderately high, of
undulating outlines, and wooded towards their crests,
and the soil of the valleys appeared to be very fertile.
It rained violently in the night and during the
morning of the 8th, but we started in the afternoon,
as the weather had improved and the atmosphere
was clear and refreshing. The sandstone cliffs drew
close to the sea, and we had to follow a dangerous
path on the sides of the cliffs, scarcely practicable
except for goats. We passed a small native pa, in
which were a few inhabitants ; they were the first-
natives we had seen since leaving the Waikato.
We encamped in their neighbourhood : the hilly
coastland had now assumed the character of plateaux
and basins ; and although they were covered with
vegetation, I could discover that they owed their
origin to trap formation. The sandy downs of

304 WAINGAROA HARBOUR. [PART II.

the coast shelter these places ; the soil is a light
fertile mould. The appearance of the land con-
tinued unchanged until we reached the harbour of
Waingaroa. Before we came there we met several
families of natives, who seem to be under the au-
thority of a very intelligent and civil old patriarch.
All the members of his family were remarkably
well-looking. They carried on a lively and joyful
conversation with us till late in the night, and I
felt truly sorry in the morning when we parted
from them.

On starting on the 10th we had only a few miles
to proceed before reaching Waingaroa. Our road
was covered with the Veronica speciosa, which is a
true child of autumn, and grows to the size of a
moderate shrub. On the beach the sandstone form-
ation was again interrupted by irregular dykes of
whins tone. We pitched our tent on the northern
shore of Waingaroa Harbour. This consists of very
picturesque limestone cliffs, corroded by the action
of the water, and half concealed by the over-hang-
ing verdure. The cliffs are from sixty to seventy
feet high. The limestone is more or less crystalline,
and coarse grained; and contains fossils, belonging
to the genera Terebratula, V'enus, Ostrea, Pec ten,
Echinus, and Asterias. At the head of the har-
bour there is a large district consisting of a bluish
clay, without, however, any organic remains. The
southern shore is formed mostly of a soft ferruginous
sandstone. At an arm of the harbour, which here

CHAP. XXII.] WAINGAROA HARBOUR. 305

extends for some distance inland, basaltic rock is
seen, containing small grains of olivin. Woody
Head, or Karaoe, which, forms the southern head-
land of Waingaroa Harbour, appears to consist en-
tirely of this formation. I tried to ascend the
craggy and rocky summit of this group of hills, the
base of which is thickly covered with wood or high
fern, and which rises about 900 feet above the level
of the sea ; but after a fatiguing march I abandoned
the attempt, as I found it impossible to penetrate
through the brushwood without a much greater
expenditure of time than I had anticipated.

In Waingaroa there are about 1200 natives, be-
longing to the Waikato tribe. They are mostly
Christians, and on the southern shore is a mission-
ary establishment belong to the Wesleyan Society.
The natives assembled in the morning of the llth,
and Captain Symonds expounded to them the new
system of government. They were highly pleased
to be in future subject to the English law, the lead-
ing principles of which, as affecting their own posi-
tion, they appeared perfectly to understand.

The harbour of Waingaroa is a long inlet, with
a bar at the entrance ; it has, however, a channel of
twelve feet at low water, and admits smaller craft,
which find shelter in several bays on the northern
shore. Off the southern and northern head of the
harbour are spits of sand, and the navigable channel
is equidistant from both heads. The tide rises ten
ieet, and at full and change it is high water at ten

VOL. i. x

306 WAINGAROA HARBOUR. [PART II.

o'clock. Several small vessels from Sydney, of about
sixty tons burden, visit this harbour regularly for
the purpose of trading in salt pork and flax, which
are obtained from a few Europeans who have settled
here.

Two rivers empty themselves into the harbour,
of which the smaller one comes from the north-
ward, and is called Waingaroa. The larger one
comes from the eastward, and is called Wai-te-Tuna :
it has a channel for boats ; and from the point at
which, on account of falls, it becomes impassable for
boats or canoes, an easy walk of four hours leads to
the banks of the river Waipa.

The coast-hills between Waikato and Waingaroa,
which I have described in the course of my journey,
separate the waters of the Waipa and those which
rise in the hills and run to the west coast. These
hills have an easy slope, both towards the plains of
the Waipa and towards the sea-coast. They are
lowest at the Wai-te-Tuna, where the common na-
tive road- is, and here a communication with the
interior is most easily established. Thus the har-
bour of Waingaroa offers many advantages for a
settlement, especially as the land in its immediate
vicinity is most excellent, both forest and agricultu-
ral. Nevertheless the purchases of the Europeans
have not been so extensive here as in other parts of
the island.

The missionaries have a bridle-road, cut by the
natives, for about six miles towards the harbour of

CHAP. XXII.] AOTEA. 307

Aotea; this we followed on the llth. It leads
along the wooded crest of the hills. The forest
contains many tanekaha or parsley-leaved pines
(Phyllocladus trichomanoides). The stem of this
tree is very straight, and much like that of the kauri,
and its wood is still more durable ; but I have never
seen it growing to the same size, from a foot and a
half to two feet being its usual diameter. The
middle island, especially Dusky Bay, has more
tanekaha, forests than the northern, but this tree
has never been much sought after.

On the 12th we reached Aotea. It is a long and
shallow estuary, with a bar at its mouth, but has
several times been entered by a schooner of sixteen
tons burden. In Aotea the limestone again appears
on the sides of the hills which bound the harbour.
On the northern shore is a Wesleyan mission-station,
and the native population amounts to 1200. They
assembled at the summons of the missionary, who
exhorted them concerning some cases of murder
which had lately occurred, resulting from a belief
in witchcraft. In one case a dying chief had ac-
cused a poor old man of having caused his illness by
makuta, or sorcery. A young relative took upon
himself to revenge the supposed crime, and killed
the man. The majority of the natives felt not only
the culpability, but also the absurdity, of such a
procedure, and were of opinion that it should in
future be discontinued.

We crossed to the southern shore in the boat

x 2

308 KAWIA HARBOUR. [PART II

belonging to the mission. I traced there some
thick beds of lignite under cliffs of a soft ferruginous
sandstone.

From Aotea a two hours' walk brought us to
Kawia. Another good road leads round by the beach,
which is here bounded by hills of drift-sand. At a
little distance behind them the land is flat and good.
We passed many flourishing native plantations
stocked with the common vegetables.

The harbour of Kawia is one of the most import-
ant on the western coast of the northern island.
It has a clear entrance about a mile and a quarter
broad, and with two fathoms at dead low-water
spring-tides. The tide rises twelve feet, and at full
and change it is high water at eight o'clock. The
best anchorage is along the northern shore, where
the depth varies from five to eight fathoms. The
harbour forms an irregular basin, and is joined by
two rivers, which descend from the coast range, and
admit boats ; the one to the north is the Awaroa,
which receives a tributary, the Kauri river, so
named from a few kauri-trees which grow here, and
are strictly " tapu :" from the right bank of the river
the road leads over the hills into the plains of the
Waipa ; the river to the south is the Wai Arekeke,
and here another road leads into the Waipa district,
more circuitous, but less hilly.

The principal geological feature of the estuary of
Kawia is an extensive calcareous formation, which
can be examined on the left shore of the Awaroa

CHAP. XXII.] GEOLOGY OF KAWIA. 309

and on the south side of the harbour. The lime-
stone is of the same description as that in Wain-
garoa, and contains the same fossils, with the addition
of great numbers of a large Ostrea, often a foot in
length ; next to these the Terebratulae are the most
numerous, and in an excellent state of preservation.
The nature of the fossils would seem to place this
formation in the tertiary series ; they are, however,
such as are found in formations of all ages, and it is
difficult to form at present ^decided opinion on this
point. The calcareous cliffs are corroded in various
ways ; chasms have been formed by the dripping
water, and stalactites hang from their sides and
roofs. In one of these deep chasms is the old bury-
ing-place of the tribe of Rauparaha, the Nga-te-toa,
a division of the great Nga-te-awa tribe. But these
places, to which such sanctity is usually attached
by the New Zealanders, have not met with more
respect from the Waikato than has the tribe of the
Nga-te-toa itself, who about twenty- five years ago
were driven from this place to the south, when
Rauparaha settled at Entry Island. On the north-
ern shore are still to be seen the extensive remains
of his fortifications^ trenches, and walls, and I
thought I could distinguish in their construction
that sagacity for which Rauparaha has been always
famous.

The principal settlement of the Waikato, who are
now in possession of this part of the island, is near
the Wesleyan mission-station on the south shore.

310 GOOD SITE FOR A TOWN. [PART II.

They are about 1500 in number, and of late most of
them have become Christians. There are about
forty Europeans settled on the northern shore, who
have lived here for several years past : but the mixed
members of this little community do not keep up
the best understanding amongst themselves ; and it
would be well to establish soon some authority at
this place, as, from its being almost the best harbour
on the western coast, and the only one of conse-
quence between Manukao and Port Nicholson, from
the quality of the surrounding country, as well as
from the immediate neighbourhood of the extensive
and fertile Waipa plains, a town might be esta-
blished here with every prospect of immediate suc-
cess. The greater part of the land in the vicinity
of Kawia is claimed by Europeans.

We settled with our numerous followers to their
entire satisfaction, a shirt or a gown being the pay-
ment to each. Amongst them was a chief, Te Kiwi,
with whom I was particularly pleased. He had
been formerly a renowned warrior in the wars of
his tribe with the Nga-te-awa. Although fully
tattooed, his countenance displayed much mildness,,
and his behaviour to us was conciliating, polite, and
attentive. In his exhortations to the rest of our
companions he often used the powerful weapons of
sarcasm and irony, which had the more weight as
they were delivered without arrogance and in per-
fect good humour. He took great care of his
daughter, a fine little girl, who had volunteered to

CHAP. XXII.] OPARAU RIVER. 311

carry Mr. Best's knapsack. Te Kiwi had become a
convert to Christianity, and had a kind and feeling
heart, although in his younger days a renowned
cannibal. His costume was most peculiar : he was
dressed in a shabby black dress-coat and trousers,
the offcast of a missionary's clerical wardrobe, with
an extremely dilapidated gossamer hat on his head.

On the 20th we went in a canoe to Oparau, a
small river a little to the northward of the Awaroa.
Its banks are of moderate height : the soil is a good
loamy earth, and covered with a luxuriant vegeta-
tion of fern and flax. We halted in a native potato-
plantation, not far from the harbour, as our com-
panions, amongst whom was Te Waro, a chief from
the river Waipa, who had offered to accompany us
into the interior, had not yet all arrived.

The next day our road led us up the hills, which
ascend gently from the sea. We kept along the
ridges, and had to pass several ravines and narrow
valleys. The formation of the hills, as was shown
by the fragments which appeared on the surface, is
volcanic : they consisted of a solid basaltic matrix,
with numerous pentagonal columns of augite. Many
parts of these hills are covered only with fern ; others,
especially in the ravines, are still clothed with forest,
which seems to have formerly covered the whole.
We stopped at a very ancient rata-tree : its stem was
fifty-four feet round, and, having been hollowed
out by fire, served for a convenient shelter to the
natives. It was " tapu," that is, no one was allowed

312 EXTENSIVE VIEW OF THE [PART II.

to cut down any portion of it, the whole having
been set apart for general use. We ourselves pitched
our tent, but it rained so violently during this and
the following day, that everything got wet. In the
night flashes of lightning threatened every moment
to strike the trees around us, and the thunder re-
sounded majestically from the surrounding hills.
During the night we heard the shrill monotonous
voice of the weka, or Rallus australis. This bird,
which has become very scarce, on account of its
being destroyed by the wild dogs and cats, lives in
the darkest recesses of the forest, where the soil has
become saturated with water, and muddy, and where
it finds the insects which, together with seeds, serve
for its food. I kept one for some time, feeding it on
potatoes and cockroaches, of which insect it was
very fond. The natives catch it in snares, or decoy
it by imitating its voice.

On the 23rd we continued to ascend the hilly and
wooded ridge which separates the Waipa from the
sea-coast. From an open spot I had a view of
Kawia and Aotea. Albatross Point bore S. 55° W. ;
the south head of Kawia S, 50° W. ; Maunga-Tau-
tari, a volcanic ridge in the interior, N. 65° E.
Higher up the hills become very rocky and steep :
the formation of basaltic and augitic rock continues.
In some places the hills are only covered with scanty
and stunted trees. When we reached the top an
extensive view opened before us : the broad and open
valley of the Waipa stretched out towards the north-

CHAP. XXII.] VALLEY OF THE WAIPA. 313

east, and was bounded to the east by distant hills.
To the south-west the eye reached to the hilly
chain of Rangitoto, near Mokau, on the western
coast, which bore S. 20° W. In the valley of the
Waipa rose an isolated conical hill, Maunga-Kaua,
whilst here and there a small part of the Waipa
river itself was visible. I had a good view of the
country inland of Waingaroa and Aotea Harbours ;
and I observed that everywhere the coast-hills
descended gradually towards the interior, and that
all these hills were covered with forest. Only some
small spots of the valley of the Waipa were wooded.
On these we observed burnt and bleak stems of old
trees, the only sign we could perceive of the intru-
sion of man upon the dominion of Nature, The
undisturbed silence in which the whole was wrapped
imparted an agreeable repose to the landscape. Pi-
rongia, as the hill on which we stood is called,
seems to be the highest point of the coast-chain : it
rises to the height of 2428 feet, measured themo-
metrically, the point of boiling-water being 207 • 5*,
the temperature of the air 51°, and the mean between
that of the sea-shore being taken as 55° Fahrenheit.
We descended into the valley of the Waipa, fol-
lowing the course of one of its tributaries, which
rolled rapidly * over a bed of rounded and smooth
boulders. At the foot of the hill we halted at a
small settlement of natives. The news of our ap-
proach having preceded us, they placed before us, at

314 NATIVE HOSPITALITY. [PART II.

the moment of our arrival, long rows of baskets
filled with articles of food, such as green calabashes,
kumeras, pumpkins, water-melons, and dried fish.
This is an old native custom in regard to strangers,
and is rapidly giving way to European modes of
hospitality.

CHAP. XXIII.]

315

CHAPTER XXIII.

River Waipa — Mission-Station of Otawao.

IN the evening we arrived at the banks of the Waipa,
and were welcomed in the house of an Englishman,
a trader and old settler. The river was swollen by
the late rains, and had risen about eight feet above
its usual level. The banks being elevated, this made
no difference in its breadth, which was here about
fifty yards. Its average depth was now from one
and a half to two fathoms ; but even in dry seasons
a boat can go up ten or twelve miles higher than
this place. The valley itself has little slope, and
the average velocity of the river cannot be sufficient
to hinder boats from going against the stream : its
velocity per second I found to be nearly two feet and
a half. The banks consisted of a stiff loamy earth,
with layers of sand, but without any fragments of
rocks. All the surrounding country is flat, and of
the most promising description for the growth of
grain. Our English host had a quantity of tobacco
hung up to dry, which he had grown here : it was
of an excellent quality, and the rich soil and humid
climate seem to be well adapted for the cultivation
of this plant.

316 MISSION STATION OF OTAWAO. [PAKT II.

On the 24th we crossed the Waipa in a canoe,
and reached the Church missionary station of
Otawao, which is about nine miles distant from our
resting-place of the night before. Here, for the
first time, we had a view of the snowy head of the
Ruapahu, which is about 150 miles distant.

The mission-station of Otawao was established
about a year ago, and has already been very useful.
It is situated on the banks of a small tributary of
the Waipa : opposite to it, on an eminence, the
Christian natives have constructed their pa, as at
the first introduction of Christianity a sort of sepa-
ration always takes place between the Christian con-
verts and the Heathens, without, however, materially
affecting the general harmony of the tribe. In
those cases in which the majority of the tribe or
of the inhabitants of a village have become converts
to Christianity, the remainder, finding themselves
deserted, and unable to assemble followers for war-
like enterprises, frequently affect to adopt the new
doctrine. At this place, Muketu, the pa of Te
Puata, the principal chief and warrior, which stood
at a little distance on rising ground, was almost
uninhabited, although the native houses in it were
by far the best I had yet seen in New Zealand, and
the carvings on them were executed with much in-
genuity. Te Puata is an old man, and was formerly
the principal chief of the whole Waikato tribe ; his
authority is now transferred to his son, Te-Wero-
Wero, who resides in Manukao. But the veteran

CHAP. XXIII.] MAUNGA-TAUTARI. 317

is still bent upon war, and told me that he would
fight till he was dead. He bears great hatred to
the tribe of Roturua, with which he has quarrels
of an old date to settle.

In this neighbourhood there are several well-
peopled pas, amongst which was that of our com-
panion and guide Te Waro. We visited three of
them, and in all I found many highly interesting
carvings on the houses and fences. In one a papa
tupapakau, or carved mausoleum, erected for Te-
Wero-Wero's daughter, was an extraordinary piece
of native workmanship.

Not far distant from Te-Wero's pa rises a hilly
range, Maunga-Tautari, separating the valley of
the Waipa from another valley more to the east-
ward, in which three rivers flow, the Waikato, the
Piako, and the Waiho, or the river Thames. The
Waikato winds around the northern slope of this
range, and is joined, about 100 miles above its
embouchure, by the Waipa. The valley of the
Waipa, which is therefore formed by Maunga-
Tautari and a range of hills near the western
coast, must be regarded as partly original volcanic
table-land, and partly alluvial soil ; the surface of
the latter is enriched by the forest which in ancient
times covered it. The groves, which are still stand-
ing in many places, especially where swamps are
found in the depressions of the land, consist mostly
of kahikatea : this pine, the swamp-pine (Da-
crydium excelsum), generally occupies low and

318 THE KAHIKATEA-PINE. [PART Ih

swampy ground. It grows rapidly, and attains a
large size, but its wood is less durable than that
of any other pine. Nevertheless, many small coast-
ing-vessels have been built of it ; and it is well
adapted for the inside wood-work of houses : but if
exposed to the outer air and to the humidity of the
climate, it requires a good paint to preserve it from
rotting. The kahikatea bears very numerous seeds
in bunches : the fruit is double ; the upper part,
which is the seed, is blue, and of an aromatic taste ;
the lower part is a sort of fleshy receptacle, not
however a mere hollow cup-shaped cover, but en-
tirely distinct from the seed : it is of a crimson
colour, and is slightly acidulous : both parts are of
the size of pepper-corns. According to the natives,
these berries, which they call koroi, ripen only
every third year. They are eaten with avidity by
the birds, and are considered a great delicacy by the
natives, who also press out the juice and drink it
unfermented.

About ten Europeans are settled in the neigh-
bourhood of Otawao ; and in numerous dispersed
and fortified villages live several distinct tribes, all
belonging to the Waikato nation. On Sunday I
witnessed the assemblage and catechizing of the
Christian natives who live opposite the mission-
station. An old blind native, Haramona, or So-
lomon, as he has been christened, acted as catechist
to the men, feeling his way from one to the other
with his staff, and evincing excellent powers of

CHAP. XXIII.] NATIVE CATECHISTS. 319

memory ; his class sat around him in a circle.
The females were interrogated by a very intelligent-
looking young woman ; and I was much surprised
and gratified to see what progress they had made
in so short a time. Nearly all of them were pro-
ficients in reading and writing, which they had
been taught by mutual instruction. The chiefs, a
few only of whom had become converts, sat at some
distance, and contemplated the whole in silence.
Slaves and the lower classes are always the first
among the New Zealanders to embrace Christi-
anity, the doctrines of which are so effectual in
consoling the oppressed and the unhappy.

We started from Otawao in the afternoon of the
28th, having obtained the guidance and safeguard
of a chief named Titipa, who, with his whole
family and about eighteen of his followers, was
proceeding to pay a visit to their friends and
relations at Taupo. We halted at a plantation
belonging to our guide, near a kahikatea-forest,
where a pig was killed for our entertainment, and
where, on account of heavy rains, we were obliged
to stay the following day. The time passed, how-
ever, quickly, as I obtained from the natives much
information about themselves and their tribe. The
country around was too monotonous to offer much
inducement to explore it, even had the weather
rendered my doing so possible.

On the 30th our direction was easterly, leaving
the river Waipa, the source of which lay towards

320 PAS OF THE NATIVES. [PART II.

the west, among the mountains of Rangitoto. This
range of hills forms a continuation of the western
coast-hills, and connects them with the group of
the Ruapahu. On the western slope of these
mountains is the source of the Mokau river, which
falls into the sea about sixty miles to the north-
ward of Cape Egmont. The general level of the
valley of the Waipa is interrupted by a few isolated
pyramidical hills of a volcanic origin, of which
arms, consisting of tufa and pumicestone, run off
in all directions, often presenting cliffy escarpments
on the sides. We passed two old pas of the Nga-
te-raukaua, a tribe which has now deserted the
interior in consequence of their wars with the Wai-
kato. They live at Otaki, in Cook's Straits, inc on-
stant hostility with the other tribes there, especially
the Nga-te-awa. One of these pas was very pic-
turesquely situated : a streamlet wound its way
around the cliffy pumiceous sides of a hill, which
was covered with verdure, and on which the old
fortifications could still be traced ; farther up we
passed a conical hill, the base of which consisted
of a hard basaltic rock overlaid by pumice, and the
whole covered with fern. Approaching the base
of the wooded range of Maunga-Tautari, which
was to our left, we came to a small native settle-
ment, the inhabitants of which were mostly de-
pendants of our guide Titipa, who claims the whole
of this district by right of conquest. On our road
this day Titipa pointed out a human figure rudely

CHAP. XXIII.] BROKEN COUNTRY. 321

carved in pumicestone, a monument to the memory
of the principal chief of the Nga-te-raukaua, who
fell here in a fight, in which Titipa was the prin-
cipal actor. The range of Maunga-Tautari slopes
here to the southward, terminating in a pyramidical
summit, which we in vain tried to ascend, the path
which formerly led up it having become entirely
grown over with brushwood. The land to the
southward of this range is generally pumice-land,
and is covered with a light black or reddish earth,
in many places very favourable to vegetable life.

From this point our road lay through a singu-
larly broken country. Moderately elevated hillocks
presented here and there cliffs consisting of tufa or
of lapilli of pumicestone loosely cemented together
by volcanic ashes. The cliffs were often lined with
a shrub (Metrosideros hypericifolia), with small
myrtle-like leaves, which fixed its tendrils firmly to
the rock, in the same manner as our ivy does. In
some places the surface of the country formed re-
gular basins, and craggy castle-like formations of
the rock crowned the hills. In the indentations
and ravines appeared some shrubs and trees ; but
the scanty vegetation of fern and coarse wiry grass,
with here and there a solitary dragon-tree, gave
the region a dreary aspect. On the whole, the
pumicestone has not undergone sufficient decay to
allow the growth of anything except scanty grass.
Most of the valley had a north to south direction ;
and there is no want of water, as in every valley

VOL. i. y

322 TEMPERATURE. [PART II.

flows a little streamlet. We pitched our tent in
one of these valleys ; and the natives talked of esta-
blishing a plantation here, in order to be provided
with food on their road to Taupo. In the evening
we were joined by some inhabitants of Taupo, who
were returning from a visit to Otawao.

The temperature of the air showed the difference
between the climate of the coast and the interior.
Although rising at noon to about 70°, it fell in the
evening to 45°, and in the morning we found ice
about half an inch thick covering the ponds and
swamps, and a hoar-frost whitened the plains.
To the northward a thick mist indicated the bed
of the Waikato, and again, at a farther distance,
that of the river Thames. The wind during these
days was from the south-east; towards evening it
subsided into a perfect calm, and the landscape
assumed that clear autumnal aspect which is so
pleasing in Europe.

On the 4th of May we proceeded over a low un-
dulating fern country, and entered a wood, in which
the principal trees were matai and totara. The
former (Dacrydium matai) bears a dark-blue berry,
of the size and shape of that of the whitethorn, the
pulpy shell of which has a sweet and aromatic
taste. The tree is a pine of moderate dimensions,
about seventy feet high at the point where the
branches begin ; the wood is durable, though light ;
it is red, and looks well in furniture. The totara
(Podocarpus totara) is the most durable of the New

CHAP. XXIII.] VARIETIES OF PINE. 323

Zealand pines. The tree attains great thickness,
and is invaluable for ship-building.

Of the different pines in New Zealand, the rimu,
the kahikatea, the totara, and two species of tane-
kaha, bear a double berry, that is to say, the seed
is separated from the pulpous and fleshy receptacle,
which in the two latter approaches to the shape of
a cup, and surrounds a part of the seed ; in the two
former, however, the pulpous part is divided from
the seed, which rests upon it. The miro and matai
bear a drupe, which is crimson-coloured in the
former, with a blue dust, and in the latter dark-
blue, or nearly black. I have not seen the fructi-
fication of the kawaka, or Dacrydium plumosum,
nor that of the new pine which I discovered on
Mount Egmont. The kauri is the only pine bear-
ing a cone.

The forest was interwoven with creepers, and the
road very tedious. We encamped about a mile
from the left shore of the river Waikato. On as-
cending the hill which separated us from it, a novel
scene opened before me. Looking to the eastward
the land appeared as if the waves of the sea had
suddenly become petrified : on the declivities of the
low undulations the white and naked clay appeared ;
in other parts the hillocks were covered with a
stunted fern and a coarse discoloured grass ; and
the brown tint which these imparted to the whole
gave it a barren and desolate aspect. The river was
not visible from the hill ; and in order to see it I

Y 2

3*24 GEOLOGICAL CHARACTER [PART II.

was obliged to descend into the deep channel which
it had dug out of the soft tufaceous and leucitic
lava. The banks which form its channel during
freshes are about 150 yards distant from each other,
but now the river was confined between banks of
six feet high, and within much narrower limits, not
being more than fifty yards broad. Its course was
from S. by E. to N. by W. In some parts it was
deep, and at others it formed rapids ; the water was
bluish and clear, and marked the near neighbour-
hood of the snows and glaciers of the Ruapahu, in
which it takes its rise.

We had a distant view of Horo Horo, a moun-
tain in which the river Thames has its source ; it
bore S. 80° E. We also saw Titiraupena, a py-
ramidical mountain, with naked black rocks heaped
upon its pointed summit, and bearing S. 20° E.

On the 5th and 6th we passed through a coun-
try in the highest degree curious to the geologist.
It was broken into a number of hillocks, most irre-
gularly dispersed over the perfectly level surface of
the original table-land. On the hillocks them-
selves most regular terraces were visible in some
places, and it was plain that they could have only
been produced by a gradual fall of the waters. All
these hillocks consisted of tufa, or the before-men-
tioned lapilli of pumicestone, cemented together.
Everywhere flowed little streamlets, and we passed
two deep creeks, the Maunga Wio and the Wai-
papa, tributaries of the river Waikato. The Wai-

CHAP. XXIII.] OF THE DISTRICT. 325

papa presented a very wild scene. The river, here
about forty yards broad, lost itself in successive falls
in a deep fissure which it had corroded out of the
soft rock. The country now became more desert ;
as the level land, consisting of the same materials
as the hills, was as yet but little decomposed, and
nourished only a stunted vegetation of grass and
fern, and a plant of the family of the Composite.

Near the river-courses the soil was better, and
bore a good many shrubs. Of animal life nothing
was visible, with the exception of the Cigale Ze-
landica, which filled the air with its chirping note,
and a brown ground-lark very common in New
Zealand.1 We passed a number of deep holes in the
ground, apparently produced by the water infiltrat-
ing into the porous substance, and carrying off a
quantity of it by forming a subterraneous rivulet.
Here and there I found pieces of obsidian, and
everything proved that we were fast approaching a
great centre of volcanic action. We passed between
two isolated and very remarkable hills : that to our
left was called Titiraupena, and its top was shaped
like a lofty cupola : that to our right was Waka-
kahu ; it was rugged and broken. We were met
here by many natives, who had already heard of
our approach. We hailed their arrival with even
greater delight than they did ours, as for the last
two days we had been living on short rations : this
they had foreseen, and accordingly brought us seve-
1 Alauda Novie Zelandise, Gmel.

326 SABBATARIAN SCRUPLES. [PART II.

ral baskets full of food. In the evening we reached
their pa, which was called Ahirara. It was situated
on the border of a splendid forest of totara, rimu,
and matai. The country here became more hilly, the
hills belonging to a range which rose into precipi-
tous and fantastic crests, and which may be said to
occupy the left shore of the Waikato after that river
issues from the lake of Taupo. The pa was sur-
rounded with high and rudely carved fences. It
appears that the feeling of security which in the
places near the coast has begun to exercise its influ-
ence has not yet extended so far inland. The na-
tives have some Christian catechists amongst them,
and are occasionally visited by the missionaries from
Tauranga and Roturua. Their number amounts to
about 400.

Only three miles distant from this place is another
pa, the road to it leading through the hilly forest.
This pa stood on a pyramidical hill, which was na-
turally fortified by deep perpendicular chasms. It
contained only a few houses, and had lately been
established by a chief who was desirous of being at
the head of a tribe. Here we stopped on the 8th,
and were received with much kindness by the in-
mates, as they were relations of our guide : however,
a slight disagreement arose on the following day,
which was Sunday. They refused us food, saying
they had become missionaries of late, and had been
told it was the greatest sin to kill a pig or to cook
on Sunday. That we demanded it on that day was

CHAP. XXIII.] THERMAL SPRINGS. 327

not our fault, as we had solicited it the day before.
Titipa started off to a neighbouring Heathen pa,
although the rain fell in torrents, and came back in
the afternoon with a pig.

About three miles from this place I saw masses
of white vapours rising in jets, and the natives told
us that they were caused by the hot-springs (puhia).
The way to them leads through a valley, on the
sides of which I again observed the curious terraced
appearance which I have lately mentioned. The
springs, three large and many small ones, were
situated at the base of a range of low hills, of
a conical shape, and consisting of scorise. They
ranged in a linear direction from north-west to
south-east. The larger ones are formed in the
shape of a funnel, with a diameter of about twenty-
four rfeet. The water, which was not easily ap-
proached, had a milk-white, clayey appearance, and
was continually in a state of ebullition, or thrown
up in jets : it had a slightly acidulous taste. Steam
issued from a number of crevices at the sides of the
funnel ; the gas was sulphurous, and efflorescences of
sulphur and alum lined the rock ; there were also
some traces of sulphate of iron. The temperature
of this milky and muddy mass was above the boiling-
point of water, as the mercury rose to 216° Fahr.,
the highest gradation on the scale of my thermo-
meter. The margin of the funnel was much altered
in its chemical composition, and formed a yellowish
or reddish clay. The Leptospermum scoparium

328 BOILING MUD-PONDS. [PART II.

clothes the margin of the springs ; and although
continually exposed to the rising steam, the verdure
is little altered.

I started in the morning of the 10th for some
other hot-springs which I had descried at a dis-
tance. They are about a mile to the southward of
those above described, but on the opposite slope of
the hills, and are arranged in the same direction of
the compass, that is, from north-west to south-east.
They are situated in a ravine, bounded on the other
side by a range of steep and precipitous cliffs. I
was alone; but met three natives, who were going
back to Taupo, and who offered to be my guides.
The first springs I came to were four in number,
and close together. They issued through gravel,
and were two feet and a half deep, and about two
feet in diameter. The thermometer, when its bulb
was brought to the bottom of the spring, rose to
the boiling-point. The water was nearly clear, and
had an agreeable acidulous taste and a slight smell
of hydrosulphurous gas ; a thin crust of alum and
sulphur was deposited at the brink of the spring.
The taste of the water, however, was not quite the
same in all the springs. At a little distance were
boiling mud-ponds, or stufas ; and still farther, steam
and sand were thrown up, and constituted a com-
plete volcanic range of miniature hills. The mud
and sand had formed regular truncated cones, of
which one was about fifteen feet at the base, and ten
feet high ; inside this cone was a funnel, about two

CHAP. XXIII.] BOILING MUD-PONDS. 329

feet in diameter, and filled with clear hot water, in
the centre of which the bubbles rose continually.
In one large pond there were eight such cones. In
seeing these cones one would almost be inclined to
think that those regular craters which are found
close together in Waitemata and Waimate have
been formed in the same way — namely, as immense
stufas, which have been elongated, and have sub-
sided in that direction in which the water over-
flowed. The external appearance of the small and
large craters is perfectly alike, although the latter
are on an infinitely larger scale.

The most stupendous of these boiling ponds was
about a quarter of a mile farther on. Here a steep
cliff, about sixty feet high, white, oxidized, corroded,
and undermined, presented itself. At its base was
a large pond, continually boiling, with a white
foam ; throwing out jets of fluid eight to ten feet
high, with great violence and noise. The tempera-
ture of this pond was likewise above the point of
boiling water. The pond, round which was depo-
sited a white clay, was apparently very deep ; but I
could not sound it, being unable to find amongst
the light volcanic materials which covered around it
a stone of sufficient weight to attach to my line. I
returned to the pa full of the impressive scene I had
just beheld. My party had started ; but from a
neighbouring potato-field I soon procured a guide,
and proceeded towards our evening resting-place.
The natives here chiefly cultivate the forest-land on

330 FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY. [PART II.

the sides of the hills, which yields them the best
crops.

If I wished to describe the country through
which we passed, I could not do so better than by
saying that it resembled land over which a flood
had swept, leaving it torn, or in many places ridged
with terraces formed by slow subsidence, but alto-
gether devastated and dreary. Shallow ravines had
been formed here and there, often turning at sharp
angles where the water had found resistance ; the
declivities of these ravines were covered with gravel.
Sometimes a higher cliff appeared, consisting of a
tufaceous conglomerate ; the upper soil was pumice-
stone gravel, and was covered with stunted fern and
lichens; here and there was a moor-ground with
rushes ; there were also swamps and numerous rivu-
lets, near which the vegetation had a fresher aspect.
After sunset I arrived at a range of hills covered
with wood, and presenting sometimes a cliffy, some-
times a sloping aspect to the eastward. Here was a
small pa, the ascent to which was steep and rocky,
and which had been chosen by a tribe of the Taupo
people as a place of security against the inroads of
the Nga-te-Kahohunu from the east coast. It is
called Tutaka-moana. In the "evening our killing a
pig and cooking it on a Sunday was the subject of a
lively controversy between our companions and the
natives of the pa. Titipa, although not yet a Chris-
tian, was well read in his Bible, and proved to them
that there was no commandment to refuse a hungry
wanderer food on a Sunday.

CHAP. XXIV.]

CHAPTER XXIV.

Lake Taupo and Tongariro.

WE started on the llth of May for Taupo lake,
which was only at a short distance. The road lay
in the valley, or alternately ascended or descended
the hills. From the last of these, a ridge with
a steep ascent, the great Lake Taupo burst on
our view, and was greeted by us all with delight.
Across the lake was the Tongariro bearing S. 20° E.,
and to the north-west and north were the mountains
Titiraupena and Wakakahu.

The rocks of which these hills consist is a leu-
citic lava of greater firmness than that we had
lately passed, and here and there I found fragments
of porphyry. Very near the lake a sand appears in
the section of a small landslip about fifty feet above
the present level of the lake, consisting entirely
.of small crystals of glassy felspar ; and the same
sort of sand is at present found at the borders of the
lake itself. This proves that the level of the lake
was once much higher than it now is, and that it
has broken through the barrier of cliffs which sur-
rounded it, thus, perhaps, overflowing the lower
country and giving rise to the formation of the

332 LAKE TAUPO. [PART II.

land which I have endeavoured to describe, since
the mass of water which thus escaped must have
been very considerable.

On the margin of the lake was a small beach, the
sands of which were grains of leucit. It was
bounded on both sides by prosilient promontories
clothed with shrubs. The Edwardsia and the ka-
raka-tree were again prevailing, and a very beautiful
shrub, a Dracophyllum with rose-coloured flowers,
was in full blossom. On the western promontory
were some houses ; but most of the inhabitants had
departed for a war excursion to Wanganui and Cook's
Straits, and the rest of the tribe lived at a different
part of the lake. Being, however, apprised of our
arrival, some men, with women and children, made
their appearance in the evening, bringing plenty
of provisions in their canoes, and the most friendly
understanding was soon established. With Eu-
ropean commodities they were as well provided as
the natives on the coast ; these they generally ob-
tain from Cook's Straits, since Wanganui, by the
establishment of a small colony of the New Zealand
Company, can now provide them abundantly.

I will now cast a retrospective glance over the
country which I traversed, from the mouth of the
Waikato to the borders of the Taupo lake. Of this
the valley of the Waipa forms the most important
part. This valley is bounded to the westward by a
range of coast-hills, to the eastward by the range of
Maunga-Tautari. It has an average breadth of about

CHAP. XXIV.] WAIPA VALLEY. 333

thirty miles ; is even and flat in its lower part, espe-
cially up to the point at which the river Waipa joins
the Waikato : higher up the country is broken and
undulating, covered with a vegetation of fern and
coarse grass, alternating with groves of the kahikatea-
pine. The lower part rivals in fertility the best dis-
tricts in the island, the valley being a vocanic table-
land with much alluvium. It has the advantage of
being sheltered from the gales which are so preva-
lent on the coasts of New Zealand, and would
therefore be particularly adapted for grain, tobacco,

(safflower, and hops. It must, in fact, be regarded
as the most sheltered region in the whole country ;
and if the vine and mulberry will grow anywhere in
New Zealand, it must be here. Higher up the
valley, and between the Rangitoto mountains and
Taupo, the country will be available, when the
increasing population creates a demand for land.
Even where the country is pumiceous, it is covered
with a coarse grass, which I feel convinced would
be eaten by cattle, and better sorts of grasses would
soon, by a little exertion, be spread over the surface.
The soil near the watercourses, and in the little
valleys, is excellent, and would produce everything
needed for home consumption.

The peculiar recommendation of the Waipa valley
is its easy communication with the sea, as the river
is navigable for sixty miles above its junction with
the Waikato. Of the harbour on the west coast

PWaingaroa is perhaps the easiest of access from this

334 WAIPA RIVER. [PART n.

valley, as there the coast-hills are lowest ; but
Kawia has a finer harbour, and Nature has pointed
out that place as a most advantageous site for a
township. It must, moreover, not be forgotten that
the valley of the Waipa has an almost uninterrupted
water-communication with Waitemata or Auckland.

The natives who inhabit the Waipa belong to
the tribe of the Waikato, and live in small but well-
peopled villages : they are, perhaps, the finest set of
people in New Zealand, are familiarized with Eu-
ropeans, and very anxious to receive them into their
country. There is a great demand among them
for European commodities, which will create a lively
intercourse between both races.

A great part of this country is not yet sold, but
the chiefs have made numerous applications to Her
Majesty's Government on the subject.

The Waikato river, although a considerable and
deep stream after it issues from Lake Taupo, and
towards its outlet after its junction with the
Waipa, is of less consequence than the Waipa, as in
the middle part of its course the navigation with
canoes or boats, if not actually interrupted, is yet
rendered difficult by rapids, and the country through
which it flows is bad above Maunga-Tautari, being
composed of a pumiceous or tufaceous gravel. To
convert the river throughout its course into a canal,
if such a measure should at any future time be re-
quired, would not, I conceive, be very difficult, as it
has steep banks and a sufficient supply of water.

CHAP. XXIV.] LAKE TAUPO. 335

By a work of this nature a complete water-commu-
nication would be opened throughout the island by
means of the Taupo Lake and the Wanganui and
Manawatu rivers, which take their rise in the same
mountain as the Waikato, and are navigated by the
natives nearly from their source down to their
embouchure in Cook's Straits.

Lake Taupo appears to be 1337 feet above the
level of the sea, if we may trust a measurement with
Newman's thermometer, which gave the thermal
point at 209*5°, at a temperature of 65° Fahrenheit.

The natives are afraid of trusting themselves on
the lake whenever there is the slightest indication
of bad weather. It being a large basin, and on most
sides surrounded by cliffs, which are divided by
gulleys, the waves are frequently very high, and
prove dangerous to the canoes, which have here no
gunwhales, and are called tiwai. For two days
the natives dissuaded us from venturing upon it,
although my companions were very impatient, and
pressed them hard. " You do not know this lake,"
they said ; " it is worse than the sea."

Knowing well from experience in Switzerland the
nature of inland lakes, I readily yielded to this
advice, being aware, moreover, of the futility of
pressing the natives in such matters. I have always
indeed made a point in New Zealand of keeping my
patience and composure in all discussions with the
natives, and have in consequence fared well. I re-
commend the same system to all those who have

336 LAKE TAUPO. [PART II.

occasion to travel amongst savages, who, by the bye,
are in this respect often our superiors.

At the end of two days we started in a canoe,
which was very large, but was quite full of men,
women, children, dogs, and pigs. We now perceived
that the natives had been right, as the waves of
the Take still rose high even from the moderate
winds which we had had the last two days, and the
canoe was very deep in the water. If we had been
upset we should not have had much chance of saving
ourselves by swimming, as the western shore consists
of high cliffs of a trachytic rock, which are washed
by the deep water. We landed, and encamped for
the night at a small bay where there is a native
settlement. Behind this bay the hills are very
steep, and about 1600 feet high, and rise to a very
narrow crest at the top : they form an amphi-
theatre round the bay. The side toward the lake
was formerly wooded, and is so still in many patches,
although it is so steep that I found it difficult to
ascend ; yet the natives, nevertheless, grow their
vegetables in places where the wood has been de-
stroyed by fire, and the extremely fertile soil brings
their crops to great perfection.

From this point we continued our voyage to Te-
Rapa, a native village at the south-west end of the
lake. This was the place where the relations of
our excellent guide, Titipa, lived, and where we
were to stop for some time. The principal chief,
Te-Heu-Heu, and many of his followers, were absent

CHAP. XXIV.] LAKE TAUPO. 337

on a war excursion to Cook's Straits, but the re-
mainder received us in a very friendly manner, ex-
pressing their joy by firing off their muskets. Fern
was spread before the house of the chief, where the
principal men sat. A similarly prepared place was
assigned for our seats. The natives one after the
other welcomed us with displays of their native
eloquence ; but they threw a blight over our pros-
pects of ascending Tongariro, by telling us that the
chief, who was absent, had laid a solemn " tapu " on
the mysterious mountain. From this difficulty,
however, I hoped to be relieved by a little nego-
tiation. We pitched our tent, and the natives soon
brought us presents of pigs and excellent vegetables.

Lake Taupo is situated in a straight line be-
tween Cape Egmont and East Cape, the direction
of which is nearly N.E. and S. W. From bearings
of the compass of points of the coast astronomically
ascertained, its latitude is 38° 45' S., and its longi-
tude 176° E. In this N.E. to S.W. direction the
country is impressed with the traces of volcanic
action, which indeed is still going on, and had its
principal point of activity in the crater of the Ton-
gariro, the base of which is about twelve miles
distant from the lake. There are besides innumer-
able boiling springs, solfataras, and stufas, in the
same line, and its easternmost boundary is the
island of Puhia-i-wakari, or White Island, which
must be regarded as the summit of a crater, sti 1
active, and but little elevated above the level of the

VOL. i. z

338 LAKES AND RIVERS. [PART 11.

sea. Besides these proofs of a powerful volcanic
action, there is in that geographical line a chain
of lakes, most of them intimately connected with
the eruptive character of the country. Of these
lakes Taupo is the largest ; it has an irregular
triangular shape, its greatest length is about thirty-
six miles, its greatest hreadth not less than twenty-
five ; its borders are in many places deeply indented.
Several rivers fall into the lake from the southward,
and the common outlet of all of them is the Wai-
kato. These rivers take their rise in the snow-
covered group of the Ruapahu and Tongariro, and
from the hills in the neighbourhood of Hawke's
Bay. They flow through a low alluvial plain,
about fifteen miles in length, and of a triangular
shape. On both sides this flat is bounded by hills,
which are broken by narrow ravines; an isolated
dome-shaped hill, about 500 feet high, rises from
this flat. One of the rivers flowing through the
alluvial land is called by the natives Waikato,
being in fact the largest of all the rivers or creeks
flowing into the lake. Where it enters the latter,
it has formed a long and low spit of mud, over-
grown with bulrushes. This river carries down a
large quantity of pumices tone, which mixes with
the alluvial soil, or is carried by the Waikato to
the sea. The northern and western shores of the
lake are the most hilly, while the eastern shore is
much more open. Here, to the north-east, a vol-
canic cone marks the place where the river Wai-
kato issues from the lake.

CHAP. XXIV.] HOT-SPRINGS. 339

x

The most interesting hot-springs and fumeroles
are in the delta which the Waikato has formed in
entering the lake on its left shore, and on the sides
of the hills which hound the delta to the south-
west. The scenery on the western shore of the
lake is magnificent, vigorous trees overhanging the
black trachitic or basaltic escarpments of the shore :
here and there are native houses and cleared places
on the precipitous hills. Where this shore joins
the delta of the Waikato there is a narrow belt of
flat land, on which stands the village of Te-rapa.
Behind it the hills rise to about 100 feet above the
lake. In ascending, the ground is found to be of
a high temperature ; the surface is often bare, or is
scantily covered with mosses and lichens ; it is
formed of a red or white clay of a soft and alkaline
nature, which the natives use instead of soap, and
sometimes eat.1 Gaseous effluvia seem to have con-
verted the rock of the hill, which is basalt, and
sometimes amygdaloid, into this clay. When we
approach the top of this amphitheatre of hills, the
scene which presents itself is very striking. Va-
pours issue from hundreds of crevices, and in most
of these places there are shallow springs, the bottom
of which is a soft mud, into which a stick can be
easily driven ten feet. The temperature of the
water is from 200° to 212° Fahrenheit. In some
springs it has an argillaceous, and in others a sul-
phurous taste. A subterranean noise is continually
heard, resembling the working of a steam-engine,
1 Carbonate of magnesia.

z2

340 HOT-SPRINGS NEAR [PART II,

or the blast of an iron-foundry. By placing some
fern over a crevice, and their food (potatoes, ku-
meras, or pork) upon it, the natives have a ready
and convenient oven.

The shore of the lake at Te-rapa is rocky ; the
rock is basalt, containing much augite. Some pieces
are tabular, with a smooth surface. Smaller boul-
ders are cemented together into a conglomerate by
the sediment of the springs : wood, which is en-
crusted and polished, and of a white appearance,
and rolled pieces of pumicestone, give the conglo-
merate the appearance of an osseous breccia. Close
to the water's edge there are ponds of hot water,
which, formed either by nature or artificially by the
natives, are used as bathing-places. The tempera-
ture in them ranges from 95° to 1 25° Fahrenheit ;
the water of the lake itself streams in the neigh-
bourhood of the shore ; one to two inches below
the surface the thermometer is often 110°, but
lower down sinks to 60°.

These hills continue along the delta of the Wai-
kato. They hide the Tongariro from our eyes, and
it is only by ascending them that we get a sight of
its snowy summit. All along their side we see a
thick smoke issuing from numerous ravines,. but the
most curious assemblage of springs is about a mile
from the north-west corner of Te-rapa. About
half a mile from the base of the hills a tepid pond,
having a temperature of 125° Fahrenheit, discharges
itself into a cold river. A little farther on, in a
S.E. direction, is a large boiling spring. It forms

CHAP. XXIV. 1 LAKE TAUPO. 341

— j %

a hollow basin nine feet long by eight broad, and
about fifteen feet deep. The cold river above
mentioned is twelve fathoms distant, and the spring
would appear to discharge itself into it by a subter-
ranean passage. The sides of this pond are of sili-
ceous sinter and magnesite, which shows the process
of gradual deposition. The ground all around
sounds hollow. The clear, transparent water is in
a state of continual ebullition, and after a repose of
a few seconds it is thrown up with violence to a
height of four or five feet. Its taste is slightly
and very agreeably saline. Proceeding from this
spring in a direction S. 30° E., we came to ano-
ther large basin of hot water, but not in a state
of ebullition. It discharges its waters likewise
into the river, and is a circular funnel, surrounded
by the same sinter. Its temperature is 120°. The
taste of the water is in all respects like that of the
former spring. The sides of the funnel are lined
with green Confervse. A few paces from this,
towards the hills, is another large basin. Its
waters are greenish, and a little sulphate of iron
colours the lamina of the sinter. Its temperature
is 180°. Near it are some small cold and muddy
ponds.

Without describing all the warm ponds, although
nearly every one of them has something singular
about* it, I will only observe that they are very
numerous, and that close to the warm springs
there are some very strong cold saline ones.

342 HOT-SPRINGS NEAR [PART II.

The whole of this assemblage of springs covers
an extent of about two square miles. Many of
them are difficult and dangerous to approach, as
the whole area seems to be only a thin crust over
subterranean and volcanic caverns. The surface is
hard, white, and thin ; below this is a whitish
pumiceous and friable earth ; then a yellowish
earth, containing sulphate of iron or sulphur ; then
a chalcedony, perfect in some places, in others in
process of formation. The whole is about a foot
in thickness ; and below this is a grey, soft, and
generally hot mud. It often happens that this
crust breaks in, and dreadful scaldings not unfre-
quently occur. Near one of the springs beautiful
saucer-shaped aggregations of silex shoot up, not
unlike fungi on a moist surface.

These hot-springs contain a great quantity of
silex, of which are formed the stalagmitic efflo-
rescences above mentioned, and which petrifies in a
very short time all substances that are thrown into
the water ; it also forms deposits of a chalcedony
that nearly resembles in colour and solidity the
flint of the English chalk. This generally indis-
soluble substance is here held in solution, not only
in consequence of the high temperature, but chiefly
by the alkaline elements of the water. In some
springs there are also found sulphate of iron and
sulphuretted hydrogen gas, which is perceived by
the smell. In the nature of their component parts,
in their periodical issue in jets, and in their high

CHAP. XXIV.] LAKE TAUPO. 343

temperature, which must be regarded as boiling,
these springs seem most to resemble those of Iceland.
I shall have to describe others which rival them in
grandeur. It will readily be imagined that the
impression which this assemblage of volcanic waters
makes upon the mind of the beholder is one of no
ordinary kind ; knowing as he does that only a thin
and frangible crust, spreading over an immense
area, separates him from a heated mass, the source
of whose heat is still a mystery.

Although these springs issue from what may be
considered a delta, yet the greater part of it is evi-
dently an original formation, and the alluvial soil
only occupies a small part. The hills which bound
the valley to the westward terminate in a remark-
able rounded hill, with a saddle-like indentation on
its top, and called Pihanga te Waheni na Tongariro
(Pihanga the wife of Tongariro). The Waikato
flows round the southern slope of this hill, and
there enters the flat country.

In ascending the hills behind Te-rapa, after
passing the fumeroles on the sides, we cross over
some excellent fern-land, and enter a forest, which
principally consists of matai, kahikatea, and hinau
(Elaeocarpus hinau). I observed here for the first
time a new and beautiful species of Dracaena, with
broad leaves, striped purple and green. But soon
the vegetation becomes stunted, and I found myself
in a desert mountainous region, surrounded by
rugged hills. On the flat ground which lay be-

344 VOLCANIC MOUNTAIN [PART II.

tween them, the rain and melted snow had collected
into ponds, and in the furrows which the rills had
made in the pumiceous soil there was ice. The
vegetation consisted of several kinds of coarse tufty
grass, dry and yellow from the cold of winter.
There were scarcely any other plants in the hollow,
but on ascending the ridge I found some curious
ones ; several of them were compositous plants.
A dwarf Dacrydium, and a very small Gaultheria
with purple berries, were the most interesting.
The season, however, was not favourable for bota-
nizing. The crest of this range was covered with
large fragments of black vesicular basalt, ten or
twelve feet in diameter. From it opened a very
novel view over the heights of the Tongariro, from
which a cold south-easterly wind blew with much
violence. Our height seemed to be 3468 feet above
the level of the sea, and 1576 feet above the level
of the Taupo lake, as the temperature of the boil-
ing water was 206'5°, and that of the air 490.1

Separated from us by a valley about three miles
broad, rose a bulky group of mountains, of which
a very truncated cone, the Tongariro, bore due
south. This cone was only partly covered with
snow ; white vapours rose from time to time from
the top. From the sides of the hills upon which
it stood, and which were steep and bare, smoke

1 Mr. Bidwill found, near the same spot, on the 5th of March,
that the barometer stood at 25 iJ inches, and the thermometer at
45°.

CHAP. XXIV.] OF TONGARIRO. 345

issued from several crevices. From this point we
were unable to see the Ruapahu, although it is
only separated from the Tongariro by a narrow
valley. It exceeds the Tongariro in height, and is
at this time of the year covered with snow very
low down, as I afterwards perceived when in the
valley. Even in the middle of summer the Rua-
pahu reaches above the limits of perpetual snow.
To the westward this group of mountains descends
gradually into the valley, and beyond it is the
Hauhunga-tahi, which, like the Pihanga, is called
the "wife" of the Tongariro in the figurative ex-
pression of the natives. Hence the eye sweeps over
a moderately undulating country to Cook's Straits,
where, at a distance of about seventy miles, Tara-
naki, or Mount Egmont, appeared rearing its peak
above the clouds. It bore S. 60° W. The whole
of the country between the Tongariro and Mount
Egmont seemed to be covered with impenetrable
forest, with the exception of the immediate base of
the former, which was covered with discoloured
and coarse tufty grass.

In the valley below is a lake of about three miles
in length, the Rotu-Aire, which forms the prin-
cipal source of the river Waikato. Another lake
of less extent was visible, surrounded by wooded
mountains, of which one was the Pihanga. They
formed a perfect basin for the lake, the level of
which was evidently above that of Rotu-Aire. It
is called Rotu-Ponamu.

346 VOLCANIC MOUNTAIN [PART 11.

We descended the hill through a very thick
brushwood, which, however, near the borders of
Rotu-Aire gave place to trees of high growth, espe-
cially matai and totara. In this forest the natives
had cleared large patches of ground, and the vigour
of the plantations showed the primitive fertility of
the soil. The repast with which they furnished us
consisted of a small fresh-water fish 1 boiled into a
soup, and most excellent potatoes and turnips.
After passing this plantation we halted for the
night at a village on the borders of the lake, where
we were well received, and enjoyed in the evening
a full and. clear sight of the Tongariro gilded by
the setting sun. Rotu-Aire was bordered on one
side by a stately forest, in every part of which
patches of native cultivation and houses were seen.
The base of the Tongariro itself had a seam of
forest, and the landscape was altogether one of the
most attractive I had seen in New Zealand. Seve-
ral pas were visible, and enlivened the scene, and
on a rocky tongue of land, which stretched into the
lake, there was a very large fenced-in village. But
here, after having reached the foot of Tongariro, to
ascend which we had come so great a distance, we
met with an obstacle which quickly put an end to
all our gratification. We could not persuade the
natives to allow us to ascend the principal cone,
which we might have accomplished in four hours.
The head chief of the Taupo tribes, Te Heu Heu,

1 Elaeotris basalis, Gray. See " Fauna."

CHAP. XXIV.] OF TONGARIRO. 347

was absent on a war excursion to Wanganui, and
before he went he had laid a solemn " tapu " on the
mountain, and until his return they could not
grant us permission to ascend it. This " tapu "
was imposed in consequence of a European traveller
of the name of Bidwill having gone to the top
without permission, which had caused great vexa-
tion, as the mountain is held in traditional venera-
tion, and is much dreaded by the natives, being, as
they tell you, the " backbone of their Tupuna," or
great ancestor, and having a white head, like their
present chieftain. Mr. Bidwill has since published
a short account of his ascent in his 'Rambles in
New Zealand,' from which I will here give an ex-
tract, taking the liberty to alter the native ortho-
graphy as given by him : —

" One great peak of Tongariro slopes up from the
lake ; but while I was there I could never see the
top of it, in consequence of the quantity of vapour
always rolling up the side of the mountain from a
great many hot-springs which are visible on its
sides. From one of these a considerable stream of
water runs into the lake, but gets cold by the time
it reaches it. The side appeared quite barren, with
the exception of a small belt of wood about two-
thirds up the visible part of the mountain. Rotu-
Aire may be said to be the real source of the Wai-
kato, as the stream which runs out of it is called
by the natives; those which run into it are very

348 MR. BIDWILL'S ASCENT [PART n.

insignificant. The mean of four days gave for the
barometer 28A inches ; thermometer about 56°.

" March 2, 1839. Several of my natives being
unwell, I left them behind till my return, and started
for Tongariro with only two of the lads I brought
from Tauranga. Peter went with me, and several
people from Rotu-Aire. As usual, the men carried
the children, and the women the potatoes, &c. The
procession was closed by one or two pigs, which,
from the opposition they made to the efforts of their
drivers, seemed to have as great a dread of Tonga-
riro as the Mauris themselves. The road led over
a tolerably level country covered with grass of many
different kinds ; the most common was a large wiry
one, which I should not think good for cattle.
There were, however, many which would be well
worth cultivating. I have sent specimens and seeds
of most of them to England, where I think they
will thrive as well as in their native place. As we
skirted the base of the mountain, in order to get at
the best place for the ascent, we found the ground
in general marshy, and crossed a great many small
streams and nearly dry watercourses filled with
large stones. The great width of these places
would indicate that at some seasons of the year the
whole of this country would be impassable from the
quantity .of water. This was a very dry season,
although it had nearly exhausted the torrents. We
were on Tongariro all day, but the peak was never

CHAP. XXIV.] OF TONGARIRO. 349

visible, in consequence of the mist which always co-
vered the upper regions. I several times accused
the natives of leading me astray, as I could not
make out the direction in which we were going, as
compared with that of the peak as I had observed
it from Taupo. About four o'clock we arrived at
the junction of two considerable watercourses,
where my guides said we must stop, and, as I could
not see any vestige of wood anywhere else, I agreed.
After we had been there about half an hour, the
clouds rolled out of the upper end of the valley
where we were, and I saw that the cone was close
to us, and then found that this, if any, was the
proper place to ascend, which the natives still main-
tained was impossible. The trees which grew here
were small stunted coniferous or taxaceous and
composite ones. There were none except on the
sides of the watercourse, and they did not lift their
heads above the level of the top of the bank on which
they grew. The stream which runs here down from
the mountain is, I have no doubt (from observations
I made afterwards, compared with what I observed
at the time of the general direction of the country),
the one called the Waipa,1 or western branch of
the Waikato. It is here a noisy mountain-torrent,
about four feet deep. I regret that I did not ask

1 Mr. Bidwill is here mistaken ; the Waipa has its source at
some distance from the Tongariro, to the north-west of it, in a
range of hills called Rangitoto. What he saw was the Wanganui,
which falls into Cook's Straits.

'350 MR. BIDWILI/S ASCENT [PART II.

what they called it, as it is very likely that they
knew it to be a branch of the river called the Waipa
when it flows farther to the north. I found out
that the road we had travelled was one which for-
merly led to some part of the Waikato country, but
now disused, and that it was the only place where
the base of the cone could be seen ; that nobody
had ever approached nearer than we now were ;
and that the reason was, they were afraid. They
said that formerly when they passed this point of
the road they used to cover their heads with their
mats, because it was etapu' to look at the mountain,
or at least the peak. The night was exceedingly
cold, but I did not feel it so much as I did on the
Waikato. I found here a most curious little plant
of the yew family (Dacrydium) ; it was not larger
than a clump of moss, and was mistaken for a moss
by me when I first saw it. I found here also the
curious Forstera sedifolia, and many new composite
plants and Veronicas.

" March 3rd. — When I arose in the morning I
was astonished to see the mountains around covered
with snow, except the cone, which was visible from
its base to the apex, and appeared quite close. The
natives said the mountain had been making a noise
in the night, which, at the time, I thought was
only fancy : there seemed to be a little steam rising
from the top3 but the quantity was not sufficient to
obscure the view. I set off immediately after break-
fast, with only two natives, as all the others were

CHAP. XXIV.] OF TONGARIRO. 351

afraid to go any nearer to the much-dreaded place ;
nor could I persuade the two who did set off with
with me to go within a mile of the base of the cone.
They, however, made a fire of such small bushes as
they could collect, and waited for me till I got back.
As there was no road, I went as straight towards
the peak as I found possible, going over hills and
through valleys without swerving to the right or
left. As I was toiling over a very steep hill I heard
a noise which caused me to look up, and saw that
the mountain was in a state of eruption : a thick
column of black smoke rose up for some distance,
and then spread out like a mushroom. As I was
directly to windward, I could see nothing more, and
could not tell whether anything dropped from the
cloud as it passed away : the noise, which was very
loud, and not unlike that of the safety-valve of a
steam-engine, lasted about half an hour, and then
ceased after two or three sudden interruptions ; the
smoke continued to ascend for some time afterwards,
but was less dense. I could see no fire, nor do I
believe that there was any, or that the eruption was
anything more than hot water and steam, although,
from the great density of the latter, it looked like
very black smoke. I toiled on to the topt)f a hill, and
was then much disappointed that the other side of
it, instead of being like what I had ascended, was a
precipice, or very deep ravine, with a large stream
of water at the bottom. With some difficulty I
managed to get down ; and, on ascending the other

352 MR. BIDWILL'S ASCENT [PART n.

side, I found myself in a stream of lava, perfectly
undecomposed, but still old enough to have a few
plants growing among the fissures. As I progressed
towards the cone, which now seemed quite close, I
arrived at another stream of lava, so fresh that there
was not the slightest appearance of even a lichen
on it, and it looked as if it had been ejected but
yesterday. It was black, and very hard and com-
pact, just like all the lava I have seen in this coun-
try; but the two streams were very insignificant,
not longer at the utmost than three-quarters of a
mile each. I had no idea of the meaning of a ' sea
of rocks ' until I crossed them ; the edges of the
stony billows were so sharp, that it was very diffi-
cult to pass among them without cutting one's
clothes into shreds. I at last arrived at the cone :
it was, I suppose, of the ordinary steepness of such
heaps of volcanic cinders, but much higher. I es-
timate it at 1500 feet from the hollow from which
it appears to have sprung. It looks as if a vast
amphitheatre had been hollowed out of the sur-
rounding mountains in order to place it in. The
sides of all the mountains around are quite perpen-
dicular, and present a most magnificent scene.
Thermometer at the base of the cone, fine sunshine,
65° in sun ; no shade to be had : barometer 25i4.

" The cone is entirely composed of loose cinders,
and I was heartily tired of the exertion before I
reached the top. Had it not been for the idea of
standing where no man ever stood before, I should

CHAP. XXIV.] OP TONGARIRO. 353

certainly have given up the undertaking. A few
patches of a most beautiful snow-white Veronica,
which I at first took for snow, were growing among
the stones, but they ceased before I had ascended a
third part of the way. A small grass reached a
little higher, but both were so scarce that I do not
think I saw a dozen plants of each in the whole
ascent. After I had ascended about two-thirds of
the way I got into what appeared a watercourse,
the solid rock of which, although presenting hardly
any projecting points, was much easier to climb
than the loose dust and ashes I had hitherto scram-
bled over. It was lucky for me another eruption
did not take place while I was in it, or I should
have been infallibly boiled to death, as I afterwards
found that it led to the lowest part of the crater,
and, from indubitable proofs, that a stream of hot
mud and water had been running there during the
time I saw the smoke from the top. The crater
was the most terrific abyss I ever looked into or
imagined. The rocks overhung it on all sides, and
it was not possible to see above ten yards into it,
from the quantity of steam which it was continually
discharging. From the distance I measured along
its edge, I imagine it is at least a quarter of a mile
in diameter, and is very deep. The stones I threw
in, which I could hear strike the bottom, did not do
so in less than seven or eight seconds, but the greater
part of them I could not hear. It was impossible
to get on the inside of the crater, as all the sides I
VOL. i. -2 A

354 MR. BIDWILL'S ASCENT [PART n.

saw were, if not quite precipitous, actually overhang-
ing, so as to make it very disagreeable to look over
them. The rocks on the top were covered with a
whitish deposit from the stream, and there was
plenty of sulphur in all directions, but the specimens
were not handsome, being mixed with earth. I did
not stay at the top so long as I could have wished,
because I heard a strange noise coming out of the
crater, which I thought betokened another eruption.
I saw several lakes and rivers, and the country
appeared about half covered with wood, which I
should not have thought, had I not gone to this
place. The mountains in my immediate neighbour-
hood were all covered with snow, and much below
me. I could not see the sea in any direction. The
natives said that from a mountain near, which they
pointed out, I could see Taranaki and the island of
Kapiti, in Cook's Straits ; and as this was much
higher, I ought to have seen both places from this
spot, but the south and east were entirely invisible
from the cloudy state of the sky. I had not above
five minutes to see any part of the country, as I was
enveloped in clouds almost as soon as I got up to
the top. As I did not wish to see an eruption near
enough to be either boiled or steamed to death, I
made the best of my way down. It unfortunately
happened that the highest part of the crater's edge
was to leeward, otherwise I might have stayed there
a little longer. I had not got quite down to the
sandy plain I have spoken of when I heard the noise

CHAP. XXIV.] OF TONGARIRO. 355

of another eruption, but am not certain it came from
the crater I had just visited. I thought at the time
it came from another branch of Tongariro, to the
northward, on the top of which I had seen a circular
lake of water when on the peak. I was half frozen
before I reached the ravine, and thoroughly drenched
by the mist, so that I was very glad when I found
the place where I had left the natives and the fire.
I got back to the tent about seven in the evening.
The barometer stood when at the base of the cone
at 26*1 inches, but I could not take it up farther
than the streams of lava, as I had quite enough to
do to get myself along, without having anything to
hold. The natives said they had heard the eruption
which took place as I was returning, arid that the
ground shook very much at the time ; but I did not
feel it, perhaps because I was too much occupied
with the difficulties of my path."

According to the observations of the barometer
which Mr. Bidwill made at the base of the cone,
where the mercury stood at 25io inches, and assuming
that his estimate is correct as to the cone itself being
1500 feet high, it would appear that the summit of
the Tongariro is about 6200 feet above the level of
the sea. That it was not covered with snow must
be ascribed to the increased temperature of the cone
itself, caused by the internal ebullition. The limits of
eternal snow must, however, be lower on the moun-
tains which form the group of the Tongariro than

2A9

356 LAKE ROTU-AIRE. [PART II.

they are on the coasts, if Mr. Bidwill was not de-
ceived when he says " the mountains in my imme~
diate neighbourhood were all covered with snow, and
much below me /" Those who have travelled among
the snow-covered ridges of Switzerland are well
aware of the illusion of a snowy mountain appearing
to be below the point on which the beholder stands,
while it is, in fact, much higher. The cause of this
is, that distant mountains are taken to be much
nearer than they actually are, from the rays of the
sun being reflected from the dazzling snow, and
showing every feature with great distinctness. The
mountains here described by Mr. Bidwill as covered
with snow are evidently higher than the cone of
the Tongariro, or that which was ascended by him,
and form what the natives call Ruapahu, situated a
little to the south-east of Tongariro.

Rotu-Aire is one of the sources of the Waikato
river. The waters of the lake are carried off by a
considerable stream which flows at the southern
slope of Pihanga, and, after a course of a few miles,
joins the principal stream, which comes from the
Ruapahu, and discharges itself into Taupo lake. The
natives cannot ascend with their canoes from Taupo
into Rotu-Aire, on account of rocks, which obstruct
the bed of the mountain-creek, and also by reason
of the numerous rapids, the level of Rotu-Aire above
the sea being 1709 feet, or 372 feet more than that
of Taupo. The temperature of the thermal point

CHAP. XXIV.] EARTHQUAKES. 357

at its shores was 208-8°, and that of the air 53° ;
the mean between the latter and that at the level
of the sea being taken at 55°.

The Tongariro must be regarded as the centre of
the modern volcanic action of the northern island
of New Zealand ; but the traditions of the natives
have preserved no account of an eruption of any
great extent; they however assert that sometimes
thin showers of ashes are ejected from it, and are
carried by the wind to some distance. They also
say that they sometimes see a luminous reflection
on the sky over the top of the crater. It is not
ascertained whether the group of Tongariro is also
the centre of the slight earthquakes which are felt
in New Zealand from time to time. They have
been experienced at Port Nicholson, at Kawia on
the western coast, at Mata-mata in the valley of
the Thames, and at Cloudy Bay in the middle island.
In Mata-mata the shocks were only felt in the hills,
and not in the valley.

The natives of Taupo and Rotu-Aire, at the base
of Tongariro, told me of slight shocks, which pro-
ceed from the mountain, and which have occurred
from time immemorial, but they have never been
sufficiently important to impress a trace on their
traditionary legends, unless we assume that some of
their myths are records of events which have really
happened : such, for instance, as the tale that the
two wives of the Tongariro, Pihanga and Hauhun-

358 LANDSLIPS. [PART n.

gatahi, were formerly united with him, but quarrelled,
and removed each to a distance. That in like man-
ner Mount Egmont and Tongariro were once united,
but the two had a dispute, and separated. At Mau-
pere, a lake between the Bay of Islands and Hoki-
anga, the natives have a tradition of a large pa
having sunk into the lake. A similar occurrence
really happened at Rotu-rua, but the latter was an
event entirely local, as the pa was built on the de-
posits of hot springs, which form a very thin cover
over an undermined or soft subsoil. We might
be induced to regard Lake Taupo, with the Ton-
gariro, the chain of lakes which runs to the east
coast, and the numerous fumeroles, solfataras, and
hot-springs in their neighbourhood, as one connected
hearth of volcanic action, which terminates in the
island of Puhia-i-Wakari, or White Island, which
is also a smoking solfatara.

Besides the Waikato river, the Wanganui and
the Manawatu, the most considerable rivers in the
northern island, take their rise in this group. Like
the Waikato, the Wanganui receives a tributary
from a lake which is situated at the southern base
of Tongariro : this lake is called Taranaki. The
natives descend the Wanganui to its embouchure at
Cook's Straits in four days.

The Manawatu seems to possess greater advan-
tages. According to the natives of Taupo it is a
very winding stream, and consequently forms pad-

CHAP. XXIV.] PUMICESTONE CLIFFS. 359

docks. Its shores are less hilly than those of the
Wanganui, and are partly open fern or flax land,
and partly wooded.

The Rangatiki is a smaller river, also coming
from the Tongariro, and falling into Cook's Straits.
In Cook's Straits, and at the mouth of the Waikato,
I observed a great quantity of pumicestone : all this
is carried down from the Tongariro by the rivers
Wanganui and Waikato ; and it is not improbable
that considerable quantities of it are borne by the
currents to the shores of New South Wales, where
I found it, especially in Newcastle, at the mouth of
the Hunter's river. The eastern and the southern
shores of the Taupo lake consist of high pumice-
stone cliffs, which are continually undermined, •
broken down, and carried away by the current of
the Waikato.

The natives of Rotu-Aire are a division of the
Taupo tribes, and amount to several hundreds.
With the exception that they would not allow us
to ascend their mountain — and to grant the per-
mission was, perhaps, really out of their power
during the absence of their chief — they were very
friendly to us, and appeared to be in a very primitive
state, which, however, was not, in my opinion, at all
to their disadvantage.

On the 21st of May we returned to Taupo, driv-
ing before us two pigs, a present from our kind
hosts. Our road led us along the base of the
Pihanga, and I gained with difficulty the precipitous

360 NATIVES NEAR [PART II,

and rocky basaltic shore of the Rotu-Ponamu, which
is surrounded by almost impenetrable underwood.
This little lake lies in a perfect funnel, formed by
the surrounding mountains, which rise on one side
to a crest of considerable height. It is about a
mile and a half in circumference, and apparently of
great depth, and has no visible outlet. In looking
down two days before from the summit of the neigh-
bouring hills, I thought that its level was above
that of Rotu-Aire, which is about a mile and a half
distant, and I was glad to find this opinion con-
firmed by a measurement with the thermometer,
which showed the boiling-point at 208° Fahrenheit.
This, with a mean temperature of 55°, gives for the
height of the level of Rotu-Ponamu 2147 feet above
the sea, being 438 feet above the level of Rotu-
Aire, and 810 feet above the level of Taupo lake.

From this point a very good road leads through
a delicious, dark, and beautiful forest into the upper
part of the delta of the Waikato, the region of the
mineral springs which I have above described.
When we arrived in the Rapa, we found that two
missionaries had come the same day : one, the Rev.
Mr. Brown, from Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty;
and the other, the Rev. Mr. Chapman, from Rotu-
rua.

Everywhere round Lake Taupo are small native
settlements, but the population seems to be scanty,
considering the excellent land in the neighbour-
hood. I do not estimate their total number at

CHAP. XXIV.] LAKE TAUPO. 361

more than 3200, including those at Rotu-Aire.
The general name of the tribes is the Nga-te-tua-
retoa. Their principal points of communication are
the coast at Otaki, a settlement of the Nga-te-rau-
kaua, and at the mouths of the Manawatu and
Wanganui, in Cook's Straits. With the natives of
the latter place their communications have more
frequently been hostile than friendly. They attacked
them in 1840, but were repelled with great loss;
and, as already mentioned, they had again gone
thither with hostile intentions. The Church mis-
sionaries have a few native catechists here, and
Christianity is beginning to spread amongst them.
Heu Heu, the principal chief on the lake, told Mr.
Chapman, at his last visit, that he would only have
one more fight with the tribe at Wanganui, to settle
his old grievances, then make a durable peace, settle
down, and "believe." The natives whom I met
were decidedly the best specimens of the race that
I had seen in New Zealand, and excelled in their
hospitality towards strangers, in prudent attention
to their own affairs, in cleanliness and health, most
of those who live on the coasts, and who have
become converts to Christianity. I shall always
remember with gratitude the manner in which we
were treated by Te Heu Heu's brother, a grey-headed
old man, who, in the absence of the chief, held the
highest authority over the tribe.

In regard to the animal kingdom, the centre of
the island is as scantily provided as the rest. The

362 CLIMATE AND NATIVES [PART II.

native rat still lingers here and there, although it
has disappeared on the coast; the native dog has
become a mongrel ; ducks, teals, the red-billed
porphyrio or pukeko, a large bittern, a tern, two
kinds of gulls, cormorants, and some of the smaller
birds which also inhabit the coast districts, are
found here. In the lakes are three kinds of fresh
water fish, of which one is an eel : these form a
great part of the food of the natives. The craw-
fish is also found here, as indeed it is in all the
fresh-waters of New Zealand. Wood is sufficiently
plentiful to supply the wants of the natives, although
on the whole the country is rather scantily fur-
nished with it. The canoes are generally made of
totara.

The climate, as was to be expected, is rather more
severe in the interior than on the coast, but it seems
to be more equable. We often had frost in the
morning, but towards noon the thermometer rose
to from 65° to 70°. Although the season was far
advanced, we enjoyed the most beautiful weather at
the very time that excessive rains fell at Auckland.
Several times in the night violent winds descended
from the heights of the Ruapahu, blowing almost a
gale, and more than once upset our tent. When
this occurred we were almost benumbed with cold
whilst endeavouring to refix our tent according to
the shifting of the wind ; but the natives from the
neighbouring pa always came quickly to our help,
generally rushing in a state of nudity out of their

CHAP. XXIV.] OF THE INTERIOR. 363

warm houses, and, with mirth and laughter, soon
helped the pakea (stranger) to put up his house.

If Tongariri is the right way of spelling the name
of the volcano, instead of Tongariro, it is a very
appropriate name, as it means " angry south wind ;"
and I can easily imagine that violent gales, occa-
sioned by the inequality of the temperature, often
agitate the waters of this great lake, and that it is
not without good reason that the natives are so
careful in trusting themselves on it in their flat
canoes.

The scenery of Taupo lake, the whole character
of the landscape, the freshness and peculiarity of
the vegetation, with the white smoke rising around
from so many hot-springs, are singularly beautiful,
and well calculated to attract visitors from all parts
of the world. The excellent disposition of the
natives will ensure every one a good reception who
does not come with the arrogant and ridiculous
prejudices which are too frequently characteristic of
a European traveller.

On the 25th of May we took leave of our friends
at Te-rapa. There were so few men in the village,
that we could not get any new guides for Roturua,
but our former guide Titipa offered to conduct us
to Motutere, a well-populated pa on the east side
of Taupo lake. We accordingly took a canoe, and
passed the mouth of the Waikato, which is divided
into three arms, of which the largest is about 100
yards broad. Here we landed, and came to a pa.

364 EMBALMED HEADS. [PART II.

the high fences of which stretched about half a
mile along the banks of the lake, which were
strewed over with pumice intermixed with small
pieces of black obsidian. The village, although full
of well-constructed native houses, had no inhabit-
ants, as it was a pa used only as a place for the tribe
to assemble in in times of war. I had leisure to exa-
mine it, and found most of the houses ornamented
with carvings, and containing the usual domestic
utensils of the proprietors. In some boxes which
stood upon poles were the bones of children and
adults, deposited here as their final resting-place.
In the vestibule of one of the houses I found the
head of a young girl in a basket, prepared in the
manner which has long been so well known, and
of which so many specimens have been conveyed to
Europe. This was the first time that I had seen
one of these embalmed heads. The custom was
once very common, but is now falling rapidly into
disuse. Not only the heads of enemies were thus
prepared and planted upon the palisades which
surrounded the pas, but also the heads of relations,
as a missionary assured me ; and these served from
time to time to excite violent grief and expressions
of sorrow in the surviving relatives. The high
poles which surrounded this pa were carved at the
tops with human figures in a defying position, and
with a fierce expression of countenance.

Not far from this place we crossed another river.
Here a rocky promontory, connected with the main

CHAP. XXIV.] A CHRISTIAN SETTLEMENT. 365

by a low strip of land, stretches out into the lake.
The alluvium on the banks of the lake is gradually
increasing, as is shown by low parallel ridges along
the shore, indicating the former margins. Towards
evening we passed another large creek nearly oppo-
site the outlet of the Waikato, and arrived at Motu-
tere, a large pa built on a tongue of land which
reaches out into the lake. The natives were few,
as the greater part were living at a settlement in
the neighbouring hills, where they had their planta-
tions. This was a Christian settlement ; and Abe-
rahama, or Abraham — such was the name of the
principal man — lodged us in the church. Titipa
warmly recommended us to our new entertainers,
and the next morning took his departure. He had
become so attached to us, that he could scarcely tear
himself away. He turned back again and again,
to see us once more, and to expatiate upon our
merits to those into whose kind keeping he had
safely delivered us, and to recommend them to treat
us with, the same care as he had done. He had
shown himself during the whole period of our ac-
quaintance with him a noble fellow, and of the
most generous and disinterested disposition.

The rocks near Motutere at some places ap-
proach close to the banks of the Taupo lake, at
others retreat farther inland, where they form high
cliffs. They are composed of a clayey lava, some-
times hard and basaltic, sometimes striped like jas-

366 INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF [PART II.

per. From Motutere we enjoyed a fine sight of
the Ruapahu and Tongariro.

26th. — The reason why Titipa would not accom-
pany us any farther was, that hostilities existed
between the tribe of Roturua and his own, that
of the Waikato. Three natives remained with
us, but, being slaves, they had nothing to fear.
Abraham, however, had promised to procure us
men ; we therefore started on the 26th in one of
his canoes, and pulled for a few miles along the
shore. We then landed, and struck inland over an
extremely hilly country, to a settlement in the
forest, where we found a good number of natives
very busy in constructing houses and clearing the
land for the coming spring. They have an imple-
ment made of very hard wood with a horizontal
piece attached to it, and with this tool they work
very expertly. A tufaceous gravel constitutes part
of the soil covering these hills, which show in some
places great fertility. The tribe living here is
called Nga-te-terangita, a division of the Nga-te-
tuaretoa.

It is evident that forest has at some former
period covered a greater extent of land in the
neighbourhood of Taupo than it now does ; it does
not appear to have been destroyed by volcanic erup-
tions, but by the fires kindled by the natives in
order to clear the ground for the purpose of cul-
tivation. Notwithstanding this former forest, the

CHAP. XXIV.] CLEARING BY BURNING. 367

soil seems to be almost entirely made up of tufa-
ceous and pumices tone lapilli ; and it appears to me
to be very probable that the vegetable earth which
must have existed in such places has nitrated
through the porous subsoil, and it may therefore
be expected that a judicious over and underworking
would greatly improve the land. I will make one
observation here, which, although it cannot be new
to practical farmers, is at variance with the opinion
of a great many colonists who are not farmers, and
may, perhaps, be useful. The colonists to whom
I allude believe that burning the vegetation which
covers the land, whether consisting of fern, bushes,
or forest, improves its condition. In large tracts
of alluvial soil, which is per se generally rich, as
on the plains of the Mississippi, in the deltas and
courses of the Rhine and Danube, the burning of
the forest must certainly be the quickest way of
clearing the land, and the loss of vegetable matter
in the process of burning, where there is a great
depth of alluvial soil, cannot be of any great import-
ance : but in New Zealand the plains are not,
strictly speaking, the produce of the rivers; they
are a table-land, composed of a stiff clay, which can
scarcely be worked, and which was deposited as we
now find it, not by the rivers, which are too insig-
nificant to produce such results, but at the original
formation and heaving up of the land. At the
borders and outlets of the rivers there is only a
small extent of true alluvial soil, the rest derives all

368 INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF [PART II.

the fertility it possesses from a vegetation which
has covered it from the beginning, has decayed
annually through ages, and has thus formed a layer
of vegetable mould, in most cases very thin. If
this vegetation he burnt down, the wind carries
away the light ashes — another vegetation springs
up, but less vigorous than the first, until by re-
peated conflagrations the land becomes perfectly
exhausted.

Large districts in New Zealand have in this
manner been rendered very poor. If the soil is
originally covered with a forest, the vegetation after
the first conflagration is a luxuriant underwood;
if this is burnt down in its turn, high fern and flax
spring up ; if the burning is repeated, the new flax
is much lower, the fern less vigorous ; they inter-
mix with the Leptospermum and Gaultheria, which
delight in a meagre clayey soil, until at last stunted
fern, rushes, club-mosses, and meagre shrubs of Lep-
tospermum are the only plants which the soil is
capable of producing; and many places are even
quite bare, and show the white clay, which re-
sembles pipe-clay. As the natives, from a know-
ledge of the nature of their plains, prefer, with few
exceptions, the scattered ravines and hills for their
plantations, they are continually lighting fires in
order to clear a road when they are travelling, and
these have not failed to produce their natural effect.
In New South Wales I observed this destructive
influence to a still greater degree. When travelling

CHAP. XXIV.] CLEARING BY BURNING, 369

up the river Hunter I saw spots in the forest where
large gum-trees (Eucalyptus) had been burnt ; their
existence was indicated by a heap of reddish ashes,
and although many months had elapsed since the
trees were consumed, yet not even grass had sprung
up in their stead.

On the night of the 26th we had a great many
natives within and before our tent, listening with
profound attention to an explanation of what con-
stitutes a European state. According to the no-
tions they have acquired from the missionaries, the
Europeans are divided into —

1. Mihaneres (missionaries).

2. Hohios (soldiers).

3. Rever(a (or devils).

4. Cookies (or slaves).

The devils comprise all who are neither mis-
sionaries, soldiers, cookies, as the captains of vessels,
merchants, or gentlemen, with which latter subdivi- '
sion they have but lately become acquainted. To
the cookies belong the artisans, sailors, and so on ;
and they are, according to a New Zealander's notion,
the slaves of the captains, missionaries, or gentlemen.
The Protestant natives regard their Roman Ca-
tholic brethren as belonging to the devils: they
are called pikipo, which M. Pompalier, the Roman
Catholic Bishop of New Zealand, explained as being
derived from episcopm, which seems to me the most
probable derivation. The Protestant missionaries
however, say that it means piki-po — always bowing

VOL. i. 2 n

370 ROUTE RESUMED [PART II.

— (piki, bend — po, night). The Protestants, there-
fore, call their bishop pihopa, while the Roman
Catholics have retained the title pikipo for theirs.
The spirit of intolerance, in which the natives are
confirmed by the missionaries of both religions, has
taken a strong hold on their minds, and its effect
has been, that the Roman Catholic converts have
more firmly connected themselves with those of
their countrymen who continue heathens ; and their
ancient feuds are now carried on under the garb of
religion. It is very fortunate for the New Zea-
landers that a third estate has been established in
their country by the introduction of Her Majesty's
Government, of which missionaries, soldiers, and
devils are equally beloved children, owing to it
equal obedience, and enjoying equal rights.

The natives promised us guides to Rotu-rua if
we would wait a few days, until they finished the
houses which they had begun ; but my companion
was anxious to be again under the roof of a Euro-
pean, as for several weeks past our food had con-
sisted only of fresh pork and potatoes, without the
luxury of salt Qr anything to give it a relish. As
for myself, I bore it very well, although I generally
found that the disuse of salt and the uniformity of
food caused one or two abscesses, to which I am
not subject at other times. These are very common
amongst the Europeans on their first arrival in the
island : slight wounds are also found not to heal
well and quickly. But this seems to be the only

CHAP. XXIV.] TO ROTU-RUA. 371

effect produced by the moisture of the air during
their acclimatization, as sickness is scarcely known
amongst those who have been for some time in the
country. After we had in vain tried all our powers
of persuasion to obtain guides before the time
which they had named, we started on the morn-
ing of the 27th with our three remaining natives.
I had to make a heavy sacrifice, as I was obliged
to leave behind me nearly all my Taupo minerals,
and specimens of the mineral waters of the country.
The remainder of our luggage made six heavy loads,
of which each of us had to carry one. Our stock
of provisions was very scanty; our natives were
strange'rs to this part of the island, and did not
know the road to Rotu-rua, but we trusted to our
good fortune to find both food and road. We
returned to the shores of the Taupo lake, and
travelled along its eastern bank. The road was
very bad ; pebbles of pumice and soft sand made
walking very difficult. We passed cliffs of pumice-
stone, which were elevated about one hundred feet
above the level of the lake. In some places there
was a greyish lava of a striped and variegated ap-
pearance, resembling jasper. We came in the even-
ing to a pa near the north-east corner of the lake.
It was newly built on a neck of land that separated
a small lagoon from the lake, into which, however,
the water of the lagoon was discharged by a little
stream, which guarded one side of the pa. Around
this village the hills were very rugged and steep.

2 B 2

372 ROUTE TO [PART n,

The small tribe of natives who lived here at first
received us well. They cooked some potatoes for
us, and, as a cold south-easterly wind blew, we
went into a house to eat them. This house was
their Ware Karakia, or church, as they had lately
become " missionaries," and they appeared so exas-
perated at the idea that we should seek shelter
in a church, that from this moment we were pro-
nounced to be " devils," and all good feeling to-
wards us was gone. We quitted the building
immediately, and pitched our tent; but all our
efforts to obtain provisions, and a guide to show
us the road, were in vain. We renewed our en-
treaties on the following day, but could get nothing
from them except a small basketful of potatoes,
which a man presented to me in consideration of
two needles I had given to him. These natives
were quite the reverse of our kind friends at Te-
rapa ; but I afterwards heard that the tribe con-
sisted chiefly of men who had formerly been slaves,
and that they were noted for their churlishness and
want of hospitality. In spite of all possible caution
and forbearance on my part, I have several times
met with a bad reception, and always found the
cause something connected with missionary, I will
not say Christian, observances. The misunder-
standing generally arose from some exaggerated
idea of what was required of them by the mission-
aries, a fault very usual among new and zealous
converts.

CHAP. XXIV.] ROTU-RUA. 373

Two native travellers, who belonged to the tribe
of the Nga-te-meniopoto, on the upper part of the
Mokau river, and were returning to their homes
from a visit to the Waipa, were in the pa, and pre-
sent during the discussion. They expressed their
indignation at the inhospitable treatment we re-
ceived from their countrymen, who would not even
tell us our road. The only information we got was
from these two strangers.

374 [PART n.

CHAPTER XXV.

Rotu-kaua — Rotu-Mahana — Tera-wera.

ON the 28th of May we started, with scarcely any
provisions. We still followed the borders of the
lake. The land is here low table-land, strewed
over with pumiceous gravel. Its aspect is very
unpromising, as the only vegetation is a yellow
tufty grass and a few composite plants, which,
however, were dried up. When we were about
eight miles from the pa, and in no very good
humour, we were not a little pleased with the
sudden apparition of a family of — pigs. A large
sow immediately received a deadly wound, and in
less than ten minutes the natives who were with
us had cleaned and cut the body into six parts, and
each of us burdened himself with a piece. They
were probably wild pigs, and therefore the property
of any one who can shoot them ; but, to secure
myself from reproach, I left a pair of trousers,
together with the entrails of the pig, on a neigh-
bouring bush, and also our camp-kettle, which I
thought had now become useless ; but in the even-
ing I learnt that our own attendants had taken
both trousers and camp-kettle with them. They

CHAP. XXV.] WAIKATO RIVER. 375

told me it was a custom that the stranger should
have food, and, if he could not get any given him,
he was entitled to take it where and how he could.
The disappointment which our last night's hosts
would feel when they perceived by the entrails that
we had obtained for nothing what they had refused
to give us even at a high price, tilled our three
natives with delight, and was the subject of much
mirth during the whole evening. We took up our
quarters on the banks of a large bight, which the
lake of Taupo forms at this place, and from which
the Waikato issues. Large blocks of a black
basaltic lava were lying along the verge of the
water. We obtained sufficient fire- wood from a
totara-tree which had been washed on shore. The
only other wood within our reach was slender
stems of the kahikatoa. On this side of the lake
wood is very scanty, and is only seen on the top
and in the ravines of the Maunga-Tauhara.

The Waikato is here a very considerable stream,
about three hundred yards wide, and apparently
very deep. At a distance of about ten miles from
us white smoke rose at different points in regular
jets, showing the existence of hot-springs of consi-
derable size. On the 29th we followed the shores
of the bight, and here also steam was issuing at
many points on the banks, and from the water of
the lake itself near the margin; in the lake the
water was lukewarm. Several streamlets coming
from the Maunga-Tauhara here discharge their

376 THE MAUNGA-TAUHARA. [PART II.

warm waters into the lake. They have a hydro-
sulphurous taste, and the air in the neighbourhood
smells sulphurous. At this place we left the lake
of Taupo, and struck inland towards the foot of the
Maunga-Tauhara. A drizzling rain fell, and our
journey became very disagreeable, as we had scarcely
a path, and followed at hap-hazard the direction in
which we thought Rotu-rua to be situated. We
passed holes and crevices from which steam issued,
and the whole base of the mountain was enveloped
in a belt of smoke. The country, although table-
land, was intersected by ravines, and presented dells
or hollows ; it was broken in many places, and had
a remarkably barren appearance : what little vege-
tation there was of wiry grass and manuka bore in
many places the traces of burning. We passed a
solfatara, with fine crystals of sulphur and efflores-
cences of aluminous salts. In their neighbourhood
the country is still more blighted. After we had
passed the base of the Maunga-Tauhara, we slowly
descended towards a lake which was situated on its
north-eastern slope, and around which the vegeta-
tion appeared much fresher. As the rain continued,
and we were already wet to the skin, we halted
about a mile from the lake. It is about three
miles in circumference. At its northern end are
cliffs of a white colour, and thick white vapours
which issued there enveloped that end almost con-
tinually. We had pitched our tent about a mile
from the lake, but, as we had no water near us, we

CHAP. XXV.] ROTU-KAUA. 377

had to send the natives to the lake for it. On their
return we found, to our great annoyance, that the
water was strongly impregnated with alum ; hut we
were obliged to use it, as the rain-water which was
washed down the tent had a smoky taste still more
disgusting. This was the most miserable night I
ever passed in New Zealand. My friend Symonds
was very ill, and the only medicine I could give
him was a tea from the aromatic leaves of the
Leptospermum, but made with alum-water. We
had not found any fern, and were obliged to sleep
upon the hard and wet bushes of the same plant,
which served us, therefore, for tea, medicine, bed-
ding, and fire-wood. We could only venture to
distribute a small allowance of pork, as we did not
know how long it might be before we fell in with
any other provisions. It rained during the whole
night, and drenched all our clothes and blankets.
The aluminous lake, as I afterwards ascertained
from the natives, is called Rotu-kaua (bitter lake).

On the 30th of May a warm and sunny morning
restored our spirits. We dried our clothes and
started through a country which gradually improved.
In some places it was a moorland, in others covered
with fern and flax. We passed several creeks, and
after two hours' walk arrived suddenly at the shores
of the Waikato. The river had hollowed out a
deep bed, and its banks were formed of high cliffs.
It was apparently very deep. On its left shore were
some Maori houses, but nobody was to be found in

378 POTATO PRESERVES [PART II.

them. Our call was only answered by a remarkably
distinct echo which resounded from the hills. The
river was about 200 yards broad, had a rapid cur-
rent, and was very winding To increase our
scanty stock of provisions I fired at some ducks,
which were the only living creatures visible, but
they were too shy to afford me a good chance, and
I missed them. We were quite at a loss how to
proceed from this point, but at last we struck to the
eastward, after having spent a long time in search-
ing for the proper place for fording a deep and
rapid creek which here discharged itself into the
Waikato. We went towards a range of hills which
run nearly from north to south, with branches ex-
tending towards the table-land of the Waikato
river, with narrow valleys between ; the top of this
range was barren and thinly covered with vegeta-
tion, but in the gorges shrubs and fern proved the
fertility of the soil. We intended to cross this
range, and made therefore for one of the gulleys.
How great was our own delight and that of the
hungry natives with us when we found a fine po-
tato-ground in the gulley, and leeks and cabbages
growing wild ! The sides of this small ravine con-
sisted of cliffs of pumicestone or tufa ; and here the
proprietors of the potato-ground had hollowed out
deep caves, which were secured from without and
were full of potatoes. Snares made of flax-leaves
were laid all around the entrance, for the purpose
of destroying the ruts. In one of these excavations,

CHAP. XXV.] FREE TO TRAVELLERS. 379

about thirty feet below the surface of the cliff, I
found some charcoal of monocotyledonous and
dicotyledonous plants ; a curious discovery, as prov-
ing that those cliffs of tufa and pumice were formed
after vegetation already existed in the country. The
remains, however, were too indistinct to enable me
to distinguish the particular species of plants to
which they had belonged, except that the monocotyle-
donous plant appeared like the remains of a typha.
One of the holes tilled with potatoes had been left
open for the use of travellers, as is customary in
New Zealand, and to us this liberal custom proved
a great relief.

The next morning we espied, through the thick
mist which covered the neighbouring hills, two
natives. They soon came down to us, and proved
to be two respectable " Mihaneres " going from
Taupo to Turanga or Poverty Bay. They told us
that this journey would occupy them ten days, that
the road led up and down hill, and that most of
these hills were devoid of forest. Their arrival
proved of great benefit to our party, as they told us,
as indeed the compass had already told me, that we
had gone in a wrong direction. We induced them
by a present of two blankets to hide their own load
and show us the way to Rotu-Mahana, whither,
they said, it was three days' walk ; they also carried
potatoes for us : I suspect, although they said no-
thing to us to that effect, that they had some share
in the providential potato-ground, which was what

380 WAIKATO RIVER. [PART II.

is called a travelling potato- ground, serving as it
were in the place of an inn. We again diminished
our loads, and, amongst other curiosities, a wooden
carved head of the old chief Waikato, made hy him-
self, and which I had carried during many weeks,
here found, to my great sorrow, a resting-place.
We had to go back to the banks of the Waikato,
and follow its right shore for several hours. The
country was flat, although intersected by gorges and
ravines. The Waikato had a very deep bed, and
its banks showed cliffs of pumicestone. Although
the river was deep and rapid, yet nothing could be
more apparent than that it had had no part in the
formation of the valley. How considerable must
have been the volcanic eruption that covered this
immense district with pumicestone or lapilli, which
show, where they are exposed in sections, a uniform
character throughout, and seem not to be the work
of any subsequent eruptions ! From the slight de-
gree of decomposition which had taken place in
these lapilli, I should imagine that they must have
been ejected at a comparatively recent date in the
earth's history. We passed several hot-springs,
from which clouds of steam arose, and many solfa-
taras, which were small hillocks of the purest sul-
phur covered with a black crust. We halted at
night near a rapid creek, a tributary of the Wai-
kato. The land was perfectly level, but preserved
its barren character. A large swamp separated us
from another group of powerful springs, which, as

CHAP. XXV,] THE ROTU-MAHANA. 381

I afterwards heard from Mr. Chapman, the mission-
ary at Rotu-rua, are very interesting from their pe-
culiar petrifying qualities ; some specimens of which
we saw at his house.

On the 1st of June we passed a hill at a short
distance to the northward of our route. It was of
considerable elevation, and had its original composi-
tion almost entirely converted into red or white
clay by the hot gases which issued from its whole
surface. Towards evening we reached the hills
which surround on all sides the Rotu-Mahana
(warm lake) . When we arrived on the crest of these
hills, the view which opened was one of the grandest
I had ever beheld. Let the reader imagine a deep
lake of a blue colour, surrounded by verdant
hills ; in the lake several islets, some showing the
bare rock, others covered with shrubs, while on all
of them steam issued from a hundred openings be-
tween the green foliage without impairing its fresh-
ness : on the opposite side a flight of broad steps of
the colour of white marble with a rosy tint, and a
cascade of boiling water falling over them into the
lake ! A part of the lake was separated from the
rest by a ledge of rocks, forming a lagoon in a state
of ebullition, which discharged its waters into the
Rotu-Mahana. We descended to the lake, but a
heavy rain came on, and night surprised us.

After having crossed a streamlet of a blood-heat,
we found ourselves up to our knees in a muddy
swamp, without knowing how to proceed, as our

382 CASCADE OF WAKATARA. [PART II.

native attendants were still far behind. At last
they arrived, and led us to a higher piece of ground,
where we pitched our tent, as we did not venture,
though all our provisions were exhausted, to go
any farther, for our two guides, who were well
acquainted with the place, said there was a very bad
swamp to be passed before we could reach the native
settlement, and that it was doubtful whether there
were any natives there. They tjiemselves, however,
started, and promised to be back early in the morn-
ing with a canoe and food.

On rising the next morning we found the lake
covered with waterfowl, among which were the
beautiful porphyrio, ducks, and snipes, and also gulls,
which feed upon a small fish that abounds in the
lake. Before our guides returned, I had shot a
great many of the unwary pukeko, or porphyrio,
which proved excellent game. Some natives came
in a canoe to fetch us over the lake to their settle-
ment. Mr. Chapman, from Rotu-rua, was probably
the only European they had ever seen, as this lake
has not been visited by any other that I am aware
of: but, nevertheless, they very kindly brought
potatoes and fish with them. We were first con-
veyed to the cascade which we had seen the evening
before, and which is called Wakatara. The steps
proved to be the siliceous deposits of the waters of
the hot pond above it. We ascended the steps,
which are about fifty in number, from one to two
feet broad, many of them, however, having subdi-

CHAP. XXV.] BOILING PONDS. 383

visions resulting from the gradual deposition of the
silex. The water which falls over them was mode-
rately tepid. The steps are firm like porcelain, and
have a tinge of carmine. The concretions assume
interesting forms of mamillary stalagmites of the
colour of milk-white chalcedony; and here and
there, where the rounded steps overhung the former
deposits, stalactites of various sizes were depending.
The boiling pond on the top, which was clear and
blue, could not be approached, as the concretions at
its margin were very thin and fragile. The pond
was about ten yards round, and perhaps one hundred
feet above the level of the Rotu-Mahana. The water
which is discharged into the lake from this pond
and from other places warms its waters to 35° Fahr.
above the temperature of the air, that is, to 95°.
There are also springs in the lake itself, as in many
places bubbles are seen rising up. On the banks of
the lake are a great many openings from which
steam issues. We afterwards landed on a small
rock in the lake, composed of a felspathic lava ; the
natives had some houses on it, and cooked our food
over a steaming crevice, while I bathed in the warm
lake.

The Rotu-Mahana is not more than a mile in cir-
cumference. We crossed from it in a canoe into the
lake of Tera-wera. The stream connecting them is
tepid and of a temperature of 85°. It is more ap-
propriately called Kai-waka (canoe-spoiler), as the
canoe often touches the rocks of which the bottom

384 LAKE TERA-WERA. [PART II

is formed. It is rapid, but narrow and serpentine.
From its banks issue numerous hot-springs, and
another flight of siliceous steps ascends the border-
ing hills. Into the Kai-waka a cold stream also
discharges itself, which is the outlet of two smaller
lakes on the right shore, called Rotu-Makariti (cold
lakes). When we came into the Tera-wera lake,
the shores became steep and rocky (trachitic). To
our right there rose a curious mountain consisting
of several truncated cones, and exactly resembling a
fortification, as the upper borders of the cones were
fringed all around with perpendicular rocks. This
hill is called Motunui-arangi. The rocky shores of
Lake Tera-wera are lined with pohutukaua-trees ;
other vegetation also overhangs the cliffs and peeps
out of the fissures of the rock. I was someAvhat
surprised to find the pohutukaua-tree (Metrosideros
tomentosa) on this inland lake, as it is a tree which
I never before found but on the sea-shore. This
may perhaps be regarded as another confirmation of
the theory that the lakes which run in a continued
chain from Taupo to the eastern coast are the re-
mains of a former arm of the sea, and have been
shut up from it by an uplifting of the land. In the
summer, when the pohutukaua-trees are covered
with their red blossoms, the scenery at this lake
must be most beautiful.

We came to a small native settlement in a nook
of the rocks, which hung over it on all sides. In
this little bight were several warm springs, which

CHAP. XXV.] WARM BATHS. 385

the natives had surrounded with stones, and had
thus formed basins, in which they were continually
sitting. These warm waters served them in the
place of fires, as they jumped in as often as they
felt cold, and this mode of treatment did not seem
to do them any harm, as they looked remarkably
healthy. I imitated their example in the night, and
found the bath very agreeable. Our kind hosts
gave us the best reception in their power.

In the morning I ascended with some difficulty
the highest of the hills surrounding the little bay.
I observed from the top a small lake, which bore
south 60° east, and in the same direction, and situated
among the hills, were two smaller lakes, the Rotu-
Makariti (cold lakes), which I have mentioned
above as discharging their waters into the Kai-waka.
The country over which I looked was of a very
hilly description, and only partially wooded. The
tops of the hills were covered with a low brown
vegetation of grass and fern, and their configuration
bore proofs of their volcanic character.

VOL. i.

386 [PART n.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Rotu-Kareka — Rotu-rua.

THE lake of Tera-wera is about three miles long,
and of the same breadth, although of an irregular
shape. We crossed, coasting along the rocky shores
to its eastern extremity, where we passed a well-
populated pa. Here the lake of Tera-wera is sepa-
rated from the lake Kareka only by a neck of land
a mile in breadth, and forming a well-cultivated
ravine. Our two native guides had returned in the
morning, to continue their journey to Turanga.
At Tera-wera we were joined by a party of natives
from Rotu-rua, armed with muskets, and driving
some pigs. They were very noisy fellows, with the
exception of those who seemed the first in rank. I
had heard before that the natives of Rotu-rua were
the most primitive tribe in New Zealand, and still
resist the inroads of European manners, and these
men confirmed the report. They soon took care
of all our loads, after they had examined our persons
and expressed aloud their astonishment. Their
curiosity, however, was somewhat importunate. I
heard afterwards that they had just returned from

CHAP. XXVI.J LAKE OF KAREKA. 387

a taua, or a robbing excursion, into the country of
the Waikato, with whom the tribe of Rotu-rua is
in constant hostility. When we arrived at Rotu-
rua Captain Symonds and myself found ourselves
each minus a shoe, which our guides had probably
pilfered; but we got them again for a salvage, as
they said that they had found them. At Kareka
they fired their muskets as a signal for a canoe from
the other side of the lake, and at length a woman
came paddling over in a perfect nutshell : it was so
small that the least movement would have upset it ;
and as there was no possibility of its carrying all of
us, I at first determined to walk with my natives
along the shore, but eventually we were carried
over in the same canoe at its second trip. The na-
tives of Rotu-rua did not cross the lake, but quitted
us at Kareka, following another road which led to
their own home. They did not like to have any-
thing to do with the Christian natives on the other
side of the lake. The lake of Kareka is of an irre-
gular shape, about six miles in circumference ; the
shores are hilly or rocky, generally wooded, and the
soil of a fertile description. The lake is as pic-
turesque as those I had already passed. I was told
that at a little distance from this lake is another,
the Rotu-Kakai, but I did not see it. We pitched
our tents in the evening at a small settlement, the
commencement of a village of natives who had lately
become Christians : they were all busily occupied in
building, and amongst the houses was a large struc-

2c2

388 LAKE ROTU-RUA. [PART II.

ture for a church. As usual, I had to dispense re-
lief to the sick ; and I made a little jalap-powder,
the only medicine which remained to me, go a long
way.

On the morning of the 4th our hosts conveyed
us in a canoe to the northern end of the lake, whence
we crossed a chain of low wooded hills, about seven
miles broad, on our way to Rotu-rua. The road
lay through ravines, which, although at present
much above the level of the two lakes, seemed to
indicate a former communication with both of them.
The morning was fresh and stirring, and our road
as beautiful as the primitive wildness of the country
could make it. It was still early when we descended
towards the large lake of Rotu-rua, which is here
surrounded by a low flat, consisting of pumicestone,
gravel, and decayed earth. We passed a small
lagoon of rather sulphurous water, separated from
the lake, and soon arrived at the mission-station of
Mr. Chapman ; that excellent man received us with
the greatest kindness under his hospitable roof.
We stayed here during a week ; and I had a good
opportunity of becoming acquainted with the lake
of Rotu-rua and its neighbourhood.

This lake is about twenty-four miles in circum-
ference, and nearly circular. The hills which sur-
round it are low, but to the westward they rise to
the height of about 800 feet. This latter range is
wooded; and wood is also found at some other
places near the lake, giving a rich variety to the

CHAP. XXVI.] LAKE ROTU-RUA. 389

scenery ; but generally the country is open and
covered with fern. The singular distribution of
the woods shows that a great part of them have been
destroyed artificially. In some places there are the
black stems still standing. The destruction was
evidently occasioned by the natives burning the
wood when clearing patches for cultivation. This
method they were obliged to repeat frequently, as
the soil soon became exhausted, compelling them to
seek fresh spots of ground.

The circumstance that renders the lake of Rotu-
rua particularly interesting is the number of hot-
springs which at several places rise close to its
banks : those on the south side of the lake are the
most powerful ; they consist of numerous smaller
or larger basins, and from several of the openings
every five minutes a column of steam and water, of
two feet in diameter, is thrown up with great
violence to the height of three or four feet. All
around the springs a jasper-like deposit is found,
which is either soft, like chalk, or forms what is
called porcelain jasper and magnesite. In some
places it is of a white or greyish colour, and when
soft adheres to the tongue, in which state the
natives use it for making pipes, which, however,
are nowr scarce, as the European pipes have super-
seded them. The largest village is built close to
the springs, and the natives have from time imme-
morial used them as a natural kitchen for boiling
their food. The water of several of these springs

390 NATIVE VILLAGE. [PART II.

is clear and nearly tasteless, and its temperature is
above the boiling-point. The pa, which is the
finest I have seen in New Zealand, occupies a large
surface, which is actually intersected by crevices
from which steam issues, by boiling springs, and by
mud volcanoes. It requires great care even for the
native to wind his way through this intricate and
dangerous labyrinth. Accidents are very common,
as the thickness and solidity of the insecure crust
upon which the pa is built are continually changing,
and the ground sometimes suddenly gives way at a
place where shortly before it appeared to be perfectly
firm. At one time a part of the village close to the
edge of the lake subsided several feet, and the water
took its place. The palisades are still visible, and
standing upright under water. In some places only
a narrow path leads through a field of boiling mud ;
and in the neighbourhood of the pa are a great
many of those curious mud-cones which I have
already described. Some of them were ten feet in
height.

The structures in this pa — the houses, doors, and
palisades — displayed the most ingenious pieces of
native workmanship. I have nowhere else seen
carvings in such profusion, and some of them were
apparently very old. Many of the figures are repre-
sentations of the progenitors of the tribe, and the
collection of figures in and around each house may
be considered as serving as the genealogical tree of
its owner. Each of the representations of the human

CHAP. XXVI.] MISSION-STATION. 391

figure bears the name of some tupuna, or ancestor,
and the whole is actually a carved history. Nowhere
in New Zealand have I seen anything that could
be regarded as an idol, although some persons have
said that such exist. This absence of all carved
gods among the New Zealanders appeared to me a
very attractive trait in their national character.
They are too much the children of nature, and
perhaps too intellectual, to adore wooden images
or animals, and I often heard the heathen natives
deride the pewter images of the Holy Virgin which
the Roman Catholic priests have brought into the
country. They are superstitious, it is true, but not
more so than we should expect as the result of the
influence with which their mind is instinctively
filled by the powers of Nature. What a noble
material to work with for the purpose of leading
them towards civilization ! Within the pa some
were busy carving, or working at canoes, whilst
others enjoyed the dolce far niente. The whole
scene was complete in itself, and singularly inter-
esting. Comparing the upstart settlements of mis-
sionary natives with this old heathen pa, the former
really look extremely miserable and tame.

The mission-station is on the eastern shore of
the lake. About 150 natives, who have become
Christians, have built themselves houses there. A
valley runs from the station to the eastward, and in
several places is rich and fertile. In its upper part,
about three miles from the mission-houses, are more

392 VOLCANIC FORMATIONS. [PART II.

hot-springs of sulphurous water, together with sol-
fataras, or cones of pure sulphur, and mud volcanoes.
A warm stream comes down the side of a hill, and
has left a whitish deposit in steps ; fine crystalliza-
tions of sulphur are also deposited in large quantities.
On the north-east shore the lake is evidently making
inroads. The hanks form cliffs, which are under-
mined by the water during south-westerly winds, and
fall into the lake. About thirty or forty yards from
the banks there are the remains of trees standing
upright in the water, evidently at the places where
they grew.

If the country around the lake of Rotu-rua is not
very fertile, it cannot be called barren, and might
be much improved by a good system of agriculture.
Near the mission-house we find, firstly, a black
mould a few inches thick, then pumice-gravel one
foot thick, below this a yellow sandy loam about
six feet thick, and afterwards another bed of gravel.
This is the general composition of the land around
the lake, and proves that the country was subject to
successive volcanic eruptions. If this soil is pro-
perly under and over worked, it will become very
fertile. Even without such careful and expensive
treatment, everything appears to grow well in the
missionary's garden. I was much pleased with the
very healthy appearance of a great number of Euro-
pean fruit-trees.

It is right that I should make one observation
about the climate in this interior district. It is

CHAP. XXVI.] ISLAND OF MOKOIA. 393

far more chilly than I ever experienced it on the
coast : in the morning and evening the thermometer
sank often to the freezing-point. Several kinds of
acacias, from Van Diemen's Land or Australia, and
also the ricinus-tree, had been frozen ; and the mis-
sionary told me that it was scarcely possible to grow
the acacias, although on the coast they are never
attacked by frost, and are as vigorous as in their
native land. Almost in the middle of the lake, but
somewhat towards its eastern shore, is the island of
Mokoia. It is about a mile long, and hilly, with a
belt of low land around it. The hills rise to the
height of about 300 feet above the lake, and are in
many places covered with shrubs and small trees.
From having formerly been the principal abode of
the Rotu-rua natives, and their great stronghold
against the Nga-pui and Waikato tribes, it was
always well cultivated, and grasses, both native and
European, plantain, chickweed, and others, which
in such cases generally spring up, vary agreeably
the usually brown tint of the lower native vegeta-
tion. Formerly the mission-station was on this
island, and many of the shrubs which were planted
in the garden of the station are still remaining. On
the flat land are fields of sweet potatoes, for the
growth of which the light soil is peculiarly adapted.
Here, again, the chief attraction is the thermal
springs which issue close to the margin of the lake.
The natives have banked them up from it by a sur-
rounding wall of stones, but where the springs are

394 NATIVES OF ROTU-RUA. [PART II.

too warm they admit a sufficient quantity of cold
water from the lake to bring them to a bathing
temperature. Some of the springs have a slight
taste of sulphuretted hydrogen, and others contain
small iron pyrites; their temperature is from 100°
to 120° Fahrenheit.

The lake of Rotu-rua, like that of Taupo, con-
tains eels, and another species of fish of a small
size ; also a well-tasted crawfish, and a bivalve shell-
fish called kakahi : all these serve to the natives as
food.

The natives of Rotu-rua bear the general name
of Nga-te-Wakaua ; their number amounts to about
5000. They were once renowned for their bold
resistance to invaders, and for their warlike habits ;
but E'Ongi, who dragged his canoes from the east
coast into the lake, made a great slaughter amongst
them. They had assembled, 3000 in number, on
Mokoia island, but had only four muskets, and
E'Ongi found no difficulty in mastering them, and
carried off about sixty children, who, however, after
being brought to the east coast, contrived to escape
by feigning sleep, and returned again to their
homes. E'Ongi also took all their canoes, and
dragged them over the portages to the east coast,
but lost them in a gale of wind.

The Rotu-rua natives had provoked this attack
by an act of treachery on their part : thirty natives
from the Bay of Islands paid a visit to the great
pa on the island of Mokoia, trusting that some old

CHAP. XXVI.] NATIVE WARS. 395

differences which formerly existed between the
tribes of both places had been forgotten ; — this, how-
ever, was not the case : it was secretly concerted by
the Rotu-rua natives that they should feast their
guests with all honour, and afterwards sing the
war-song together ; but that at the end of the
song, which terminates with "Let us kill them,
let us kill them," every Nga-pui should be sacri-
ficed. This murderous plan was put into execu-
tion ; two, however, of the intended victims escaped,
and brought the news of this treacherous outrage
to the Bay of Islands.

The natives of Rotu-rua were afterwards engaged
in war with all the surrounding tribes, with the
single exception of the Taupo natives. Their chief
conflicts were with the Waikato, the natives at
Mata-mata and Tauranga, on the east coast; and,
indeed, the history of the Rotu-rua tribe for the last
seven years is full of those incidents of robbing and
war excursions, with occasional feats of cannibalism,
which characterize the feuds so prevalent in this
country. Although during the last two years
there have been no actual disturbances, yet a
durable peace is not yet made. The natives at Mu-
ketu, about twenty miles to the southward of Tau-
ranga, belong to the same tribe with those of Rotu-
rua, and are always their associates in their aggres-
sions, especially in those against the natives at
Tauranga. Muketu is the only place on the sea-
coast which this tribe holds, and their great aim

396 NATIVE CUSTOM. [PART II.

in these hostilities has been to obtain possession of
Tauranga, which is a better harbour than Muketu.

It is known that in many of the islands of the
Great Southern Ocean the curious custom exists
of changing arbitrarily words of the language, and
of making others " tapu," or forbidden; nay, in
the Sandwich Islands an attempt was made to in-
troduce an entirely new language in place of the
old one. I found the traces of a similar custom
amongst the natives of Rotu-rua. Wai (water) has
been changed into ngongi ; kai (food) into tami, or
kami. The name of a place near Tauranga, where
a great fight took place, and many of the natives
were killed and eaten, is Waikeriri, but they call
it Ngongi-Keriri. The cause of this singular inno-
vation is, that the old word becomes sacred, either
from a chief adopting it for his name, or from some
other event sanctifying it.

On questioning the natives, as I usually did, re-
lative to the natural history of their country, I
heard a curious tradition connected with a totara-
tree in the neighbourhood. Near this tree, they
said, their forefathers killed the last moa. From
the few remains of the moa that have been found,
it has been declared by Mr. Richard Owen to be
a struthious bird, and of very large size.

I was assured by Mr. Chapman that there are
some native rats still to be found in the district ;
but although I took the greatest trouble, I could
not obtain one to determine the species.

CHAP. XXVI.] CHAIN OF LAKES. 397

The Rotu-rua lake discharges its waters, by a
deep stream about a quarter of a mile long, into
another lake, which, although called Rotu-iti (the
small lake), appeared to me to be as large as Rotu-
rua. It is of a very irregular shape, and sur-
rounded by fern-covered hills. On a conical hill
of basaltic lava which projects into the lake is a
native pa, well fortified, but only scantily inhabited,
probably from the natives at present living dispersed
over the country, and only resorting to this strong-
hold in time of war. From the Rotu-iti it is a
short portage into a river which leads to Muketu
on the east coast.

It may not be inexpedient to recapitulate the
chain of lakes which I have mentioned in the
course of my journey, together with a few others
which I had no opportunity of visiting, and which
complete that remarkable series which runs with
short interruptions from Tongariro to the eastern
coast.

1. Taranaki. 2. Rotu-Aire. 3. Rotu-Ponamu.
4. Taupo. 5. Rotu-kaua. 6. Rotu-Mahana, con-
nected with, 7. Tera-wera. 8, 9. Rotu-Makariti.
10. Rotu-Kakai. 1 1. Rotu-Kareka. 12. Rotu-Rua,
connected with Rotu-iti. 15. Rotu-Ihu. 16. Rotu-
ma. 17. Okataina. There is also a river flowing
from the lake of Tera-wera, and discharging itself
into the ocean at Wakatane ; it serves the natives
as a passage for their canoes.

398 [PART 11.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Journey to Tauranga.

AFTER having availed ourselves of the kind hospi-
tality of the missionary for several days, we crossed
the lake on the morning of the 14th of June, for
the purpose of continuing our journey to Tauranga,
on the eastern coast. We induced four other na-
tives to accompany us, in addition to the three who
had come with us. These men engaged to accom-
pany us to Auckland. One of them, who had been
taken as a slave from Manukao, went with us chiefly
for the purpose of applying to the Protector of the
Aborigines appointed by Government, to obtain
back some of the land which formerly belonged to
his relatives. The poor fellow, who was a very well-
informed man, and a clever mechanic, afterwards
met with a refusal at Auckland. Many similar
cases will doubtless be submitted to the consider-
ation of the Land Commissioners, and I conceive
that they ought to be decided, not according to
English laws, but according to the equity of the
case.

On the north-western banks of the lake I ob-

CHAP. XXVII.] REKA-REKA. 399

served similar alterations to those on the eastern;
the lake had encroached upon the shore, and broken
trunks of trees in their natural position were stand-
ing under water at some distance from the present
margin. We passed a native settlement, Reka-
Reka : the land around it consisted of low, fern-
covered, and fertile hills ; but the natives had their
plantations about three miles from the lake, near
the forest, where the land was still more fertile.
Here we pitched our tent in the midst of the tribe.
I observed that many of the natives were occupied
in preparing a kind of food which I had not seen
before : it consisted of the amylaceous seed-covers
of the hinau (Elacocarpus hinau), which they pow-
dered and made into cakes. It appeared to me to
be rather insipid, although it is, I have no doubt,
very nourishing.

The next day .we entered the forest covering the
hills which run along the eastern coast, and which
separate the interior and comparatively open table-
land from the sea. The forest was mostly tawai
(Leiospermum racemosum), miro, and hinau ; the
Dracophyllum, which often grows to the size of a
small tree, and the reddish leaves of which render
it a very remarkable and beautiful shrub, was here
and there to be met with. If the reader can ima-
gine a pink that has become so gigantic as to have
reached the size of the hazel-nut tree, he will have
some idea of the appearance of this shrub. I also

400 ACTION OF WATER. [PART II.

observed several kinds of Aralia, a very curious
form of plants. From the top of a very slender
stem the long narrow leaves spread in a circle,
hanging down in the shape of an umbrella.

. The first part of the road was flat and very good,
and had been cut by the natives for the convenience
of the missionaries ; but it soon became a narrow
path, across which the luxuriant vegetation of creep-
ing plants often produced a perfect net-work. The
soil was pumiceous gravel, richly mixed with vege-
table mould. Afterwards the land became more
hilly, and its configuration and external outlines
were often extremely picturesque : the tufaceous
and pumiceous formation assumed castle-like forms,
and the rivulets had cut out deep channels in the
soft rock, leaving high banks. Notwithstanding
the softness of the material, it must have required
a great length of time to hollow out these rivulets,
which I am inclined to ascribe entirely, or almost
entirely, to the action of running water. Some
spots were devoid of trees, and were covered with
high fern (Pteris esculenta) ; they bore evident
marks of» having been cleared of the forest by fire.
It is remarkable that this fern universally appears
wherever a spot has been thus cleared, even in the
middle of the primitive forest, where it never grows
so long as the trees are standing. I have no doubt
that the highly farinaceous root of this very com-
mon plant, which was formerly the principal food

CHAP. XXVII.] EXTENSIVE PROSPECT. 401

of the natives, will one day be brought into use.
At all events, it is an excellent food for pigs, which
feed almost entirely upon it, and grow very fat.

On the 16th we still continued our route through
the forest, and, from the quantity of creepers (Smi-
lax), walking became very difficult. Towards noon,
however, we emerged into open land. The forest
terminated so abruptly, that there could be no doubt
of its having been consumed by fire up to its pre-
sent limit. If any other proof were wanted, the
large and half-consumed stems of trees which lay
at its verge were quite sufficient to. convince the
most sceptical. A splendid and most extensive pro-
spect here burst upon our view : the range of hills
which we had passed sloped gradually towards the
east coast, spreading out into flat land near the sea-
shore. Before us was the Bay of Plenty : to judge
from its present appearance, it may well be said to
have been prophetically so called by Captain Cook.
To the northward the whole coast-line towards
Witianga, or Mercury Bay, presented itself, at which
place the coast-hills resumed bolder forms; the
Mercury Islands also were visible : to the eastward
was the island of Tuhua, or Mayor's Island, and
several smaller rocky islets. More to the south-
ward was Puhia-i-Wakati, or White Island, emit-
ting from time to time volumes of white smoke ;
and to the southward our eyes followed part of the
coast, which retained its smooth outlines.

Before we arrived at the perfectly even land
VOL. i. 2 D

402 MISSION-STATION. [PART II.

nearest the coast, we passed several swampy valleys
of small extent, formed by the ramifications of the
hills ; and at last we followed the narrow crest of
one of these ramifications down to the plain. The
vegetation everywhere indicated the richest soil,
and the most prominent plants were fern, flax, and
veronica. Towards sunset, after a very fatiguing
journey, we approached the homely-looking build-
ings of the Church mission-station, surrounded
with gardens, and a planted shrubbery of acacias,
ricinus, and peaches, which was almost the only
vegetation in the shape of trees which we saw, as
for several miles around the station there is no
wood. Captain Symonds was welcomed to the
house of the Rev. Mr. Brown, and I was kindly
received into the family of Mr. Stack, a very active
and unassuming missionary, to whom my best thanks
are due for the hospitality I received at his hands
for nearly a week.

I at first supposed that those singularly-formed
mountain-ridges which are observed in Queen
Charlotte's Sound, consisting of clay-slate and oc-
casional dykes and interruptions of Lydian stone
and basalts, might continue throughout the island,
and thus diminish in a great measure the chances
which a colony would have of success, as, from their
steepness and from their everywhere forming narrow
ravines, and small bays near the coast, they promise
little reward to the labours of a European agri-
culturist ; but, having passed from the western to

CHAP. XXVII. j TAURANGA. 403

the eastern coast, and having thus seen a large part
of the interior, I came to the conclusion that there
is no regular system of a mountain-range running
through the island. The hills which I passed from
Rotu-rua to Tauranga are tufaceous ; they are of
moderate height and undulating, and, although
their surface is wooded, the depth of the vegetable
soil and the tufaceous substratum leaves no doubt
in my mind that the whole coast district, down to
and even beyond Hawke's Bay, will in future times
form a very rich country ; and that the natural
outlet of its produce, from its easy communication
with the valley of the Waiho, or Thames, will be
the Gulf of Hauraki.

Tauranga has only been visited by small vessels
of about two hundred tons. Although over the
bar there are four fathoms water, the channel is
very narrow, not being more than one hundred
yards in breadth ; and from its bending at a sharp
angle, large craft would have great difficulty in en-
tering it. Its southern headland is formed by a
solitary conical hill, Maunga-nui, of about five
hundred feet in height, which is connected by low
land with the main. It consists of basaltic lava,
large blocks of which lie on the sides and are
strewed around its base. There are many traces of
a former and very extensive native village on its
sides ; but in consequence of its being exposed to
the attacks of a tribe of Rotu-rua natives, who live
at Muketu, it has been deserted, and the natives

2 D 2

404 TAURANGA. [PART II.

live at the other side of the harhour. Some time
before my arrival eleven natives had heen seized
and slaughtered ; and these mutual depredations
have now been carried on for several years to such
a degree that the natives of Tauranga were unable
to plant sufficient ground to supply them with food,
having been besieged and shut up in their fortified
places : the fertile district in which they live has
therefore been of no use to them. The northern
head of Tauranga spreads out into low and level
land ; and some islands of considerable dimensions,
and of the same structure and configuration as the
mainland, are separated from it by broad channels
of the sea. Although at present the principal
anchorage for vessels is in the inner harbour, not
far from the mission-station, I am inclined to think
that the islands just mentioned might offer safe
places for anchoring, even for larger vessels.

The remarkable phenomenon of these large
portions of land being separated from the main
shows that great changes have taken place in
the geological condition of this coast, which
has wasted away, and been separated either by
the inroads of the sea or by volcanic agency.
The coast at Tauranga and on those islands is from
forty to eighty feet above the level of the sea, and
in the cliffs thus formed we find that the geological
formation is a yellow loam, surmounted in many
places by beds of peat, containing a great quantity
of undecayed wood, and averaging between four and

CHAP. XXVII.] ISLANDS. 405

six feet in breadth : the upper layer is a yellowish
earth, or decayed pumiceous matter. The lignite,
occurring in large quantities, must be of great im-
portance to Tauranga, as there is no other fuel for
several miles around.

One of these islands is called Pane-pane, and
stretches from Maunga-nui to the southward. It
is about three miles broad and seven miles long.
Another, running in the same line with the former,
but nearer the coast, is called Matakanga. It is
about the same size. A larger one in the same
line is called Moa Opareoroi. The one nearest the
coast, and of a square shape, is called Tangoia. Off
Muketu is the island Motu-iti, of considerable
extent, and said to have been purchased by the
Americans. Off the entrance of the harbour of
Tauranga is a small island, which I attempted to
reach in a boat, but was obliged to put back on
account of the heavy swell. It is situated about
three miles from the southern headland, and con-
sists, I am told, of basaltic lava. It is a mere rock,
but possesses some interest as being the only spot,
that I know of, in New Zealand where the new
species of reptiles l exist which were brought over
by me to England. The specimen from which Mr.
Gray of the British Museum has furnished the
description came from that island. It is an inter-
esting question whether this island has been con-
nected at any time with the mainland, and whether
1 Hatteria punctata, Gray.

406 NATIVES NEAR TAURANGA. [PART II.

the causes which seem to have brought about the
near extermination of that animal on the mainland
have not been in action on a rocky island which is
scarcely ever visited by the natives.

In the harbour of Tauranga the land loses con-
tinually by the encroachments of the sea. During
a very heavy gale of wind last year the coast at Te
Papa (the mission-station) lost ten feet. All along
the east coast stems of trees are seen under water ;
this I state on the authority of Mr. Wilson, an
intelligent missionary. Some of the rivers are
nearly choked up by the quantity of wood carried
down ; this indeed is a circumstance of very frequent
occurrence in New Zealand.

At a greater distance from Tauranga is the island
of Tuhua, or Mayor's Island. It consists, according
to the accounts I collected, of very rugged basaltic
rocks and obsidian in situ, with narrow but fertile
valleys. It is inhabited by a tribe of about two
hundred natives, who cultivate the land, and occa-
sionally provide passing whalers with provisions.
They have been subject to many attacks from the
tribes of the mainland, first from the Nga-pui in
the Bay of Islands, and afterwards from the natives
at Wakatane on the east coast. The latter at-
tempted, about three years ago, to surprise them
during the night, but were observed by the natives
of Tuhua, who live in an almost unapproachable
pa. They allowed them to come near, and then
rolled large blocks of stone from the summit of the

CHAP. XXVII.] NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 407

hill into the fleet of canoes, which killed many of
the aggressors, and the rest were forced to retreat.
Since that time these islanders have been left un-
disturbed.

From several places near Tauranga, Puhia-i-
Wakati, or White Island, is visible. It is a low
island, still in volcanic activity, and produces a great
quantity of sulphur. Already several cargoes of
this mineral have been brought to Europe, where
it has been sold for 8/. per ton. The sulphur is
very pure, containing ninety per cent. The island
is claimed by an Englishman, who lives opposite to
it on the east coast, in Wakatane, and who is one of
the oldest settlers in the country.

The natives at Tauranga belong to the large
tribe of the Nga-te-awa, and live in three strongly
fortified villages. Their number amounts to about
three thousand. Most of them have been converted
to Christianity by two missionaries of the Church
of England and by two Roman Catholic priests.
The missionaries of both persuasions reside here,
and oppose each other as much as they can, and of
course the native converts do the same. The num-
ber of converts to each creed is about equal, although
the Roman Catholic mission was established much
later than that of the Church of England.

Tauranga was in former times an important place
for the pig and flax trade ; and several European
traders have lived there for many years. But from
different causes the flax-trade has dwindled away

408 TRADE AT TAURANGA. [PART II.

almost to nothing, chiefly in consequence of the
facility of obtaining European articles at a cost less
than that of dressing the flax. The trade in pigs
is still carried on ; and the traders obtain many
pigs from the valley of the Thames, from Mata-
mata.

Little of the land at Tauranga has been sold,
with the exception of one piece to the Church mis-
sionaries, which is called Te Papa (the flat). The
natives are not inclined to sell any land, and their
number is sufficiently large to enable them to
occupy and cultivate their beautiful district them-
selves, if a durable peace were established among the
different tribes.

CHAP. XXVIII.] 409

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Journey into the Valley of the Waiho, or Thames — Mata-mata.

ON the 22nd of June we went in the boat of the
missionaries up an arm of the harbour which runs
to the northward, and then followed a path towards
the coast-hills, as we intended to cross them into
the valley of the Waiho, or river Thames. Ascend-
ing some low fern-hills, we arrived towards evening
at the margin of the forest. The ascent was very
gradual. We halted here at a small stream which
falls into the sea to the northward of Tauranga.
Continuing the following day through the forest, I
found that these coast-hills were comparatively flat
on the top, while on their western slope, where
they bound the valley of the Waiho, they termi-
nated abruptly, like an artificial embankment of
the table-land of the Thames. Before we de-
scended into the valley we followed for a while a
rivulet about thirty yards in breadth, which takes
its rise in the coast-hills, and then falls over their
almost perpendicular western slope from a height
of at least eight hundred feet, forming a magnifi-
cent cascade. In consequence - of the thick wood

410 WAIHO RIVER. [PART u.

which at present surrounds the fall, only part of
the sheet of water is visible at any one place. Mak-
ing our way over rocks which lay in the bed of the
river, we approached to the very crest of the fall,
and looked down upon the descending waters.

The Maunga-Tautare bore S. 35° W. from this
point.

We soon reached the banks of the Waiho, which
flows at a distance of about two miles from the hills
in a S.E. to N.W. course ; and crossed it to its left
shore, its depth being about six feet in the middle
channel, and its current moderately rapid. Appear-
ances indicated that the water was at its average
height, and we had not had much rain during the
last few days. Its width was about that of the
Thames at Richmond, and on its banks strata of
gravel were exposed more or less decayed, and either
pumiceous or tufaceous. The point at which we
crossed was about fifty miles from that at which the
river falls into the Gulf of Hauraki. The vegeta-
tion consisted of fern, Dracaena australis, Lepto-
spermum, with some rushes ; here and there also a
little grass. Although the soil was not alluvial,
nor apparently very fertile, yet it seemed to be ca-
pable of considerable improvement by judicious cul-
tivation. We halted here for the night, although
tire-wood was rather scarce ; the manuka shrubs,
however, served us for fuel.

It rained all night, and our tent ran great risk of
being blown down. The weather, however, cleared

CHAP. XXVIII.] NATIVE CHURCH. 411

up a little in the morning, and we started for Tapiri.
The road was in a sad state, as the water had in
many places become stagnant, owing to the almost
complete flatness of the land and the absence of all
drainage, and also in some places to the nature of
the soil, which was clayey. Here again I had occa-
sion to observe how injuriously the frequent fires of
the natives had acted upon the quality of the land.
Travelling nearly westward, we reached a forest of
pines, chiefly kahikatea-trees and totara. There
were cultivated grounds in the forest in places
where the trees had lately been burnt ; and many
large but unfinished canoes, hewn out of huge stems
of totara, proved the neighbourhood of a well-
peopled native settlement. We were soon observed
by some of the inhabitants, who, with a hearty wel-
come, accompanied us to their village, Tapiri. This
forms the habitation of the Christian part of the
tribe ; the heathens live about a quarter of a mile
farther off in a substantial antique pa called Mata-
mata. In Tapiri the natives showed us with pride
a fine church, which was eighty feet by forty, and
which they had just finished. It was a most sub-
stantial building, and they had constructed it en-
tirely by themselves. Internally it was supported
by two well-finished columns : the lining was fern-
stalks placed close together and intertwined with
stripes of split wood.

In Mata-mata I saw the tomb of the principal
chief, who died two years ago ; it was a very exqui-

412 MATA-MATA. [PART II.

site piece of sculpture, and we all admired it greatly.
Some of the houses also are finely carved. I under-
stood that the heathen natives are inclined to be-
come Piki-po, or Roman Catholics. In several
cases some members of a family have become Pro-
testants and the others Papists, merely, as it would
seem, from a motive of opposition.

The natives at Mata-mata and Tapiri belong to
the tribe Nga-te-hauwa, a subdivision of the large
Waikato tribe, and amount to about 1500 people.
They were constantly at war with the Nga-te-Wa-
kaua at Muketti and Rotu-rua, and with the Nga-
te-Paoa, at Puriri, in the Gulf of Hauraki. But
last year they concluded a peace with the latter ; in
confirmation of which a feast was given, at which
two hundred pigs were killed and eaten.

There was formerly a mission-station at Mata-
mata, and the house, although half in ruins, is still
standing ; in the garden European fruit-trees, roses,
asparagus, and other vegetables, have run wild, and
the strawberry is spreading over .the country. The
station was deserted by the missionary in conse-
quence of a misunderstanding between him and the
natives. There is a European trader living at Mata-
mata, whom the natives supply plentifully with
pigs, which he sends to Tauranga.

At mata-Mata the soil is very fertile in conse-
quence of the woods not having yet been destroyed.
The plain is here well adapted for the cultivation of
grain, and I was much pleased to see the natives

CHAP. XXVIII.] RIVER THAMES. 413

working together in a large piece of land containing
about three acres, which they had fenced round,
and in which they were about to sow wheat.

We started on the 26th in the direction of the
Gulf of Hauraki, for the purpose of reaching the
Piako river, which flows through the same valley,
or, to speak more correctly, through the same low
table-land, as the Waiho, or Thames. This table-
land is between twenty and thirty miles broad, and
is bounded to the eastward by the basaltic coast-hills
already mentioned, which are called the Aroha
(Love) Mountains, and do not exceed 1500 feet in
height, and to the northward extend in an uninter-
rupted chain to Cape Colville. To the southward
the valley continues to the neighbourhood of Rotu-
rua, and the coast-hills are there connected with
the Horo-Horo Mountains, in which the river
Thames has its source. Throughout their extent
these mountains are abruptly separated from the
plain, and, in fact, bound it like an artificial wall.
To the westward the valley of the Thames, or rather
that part of the interior table-land which we call
by that name, is connected with the table-land or
valley of the Waipa and Waikato, and is bounded
by the basaltic coast-range near the western coast.
There is, however, a separation caused by the
Maunga-Tautari Hills. The lower part of the
valley of the Thames is separated from the Waikato
by hills which run toward the Gulf of Hauraki,
Near the eastern slope of these hills flows the

414 WAIHO AND PIAKO. [PART II.

river Piako ; at the western slope of the eastern
coast-hills flows the Waiho : both are in the same
valley, and discharges themselves into the gulf
close together. The length of this table-land is
nearly one hundred miles.

The Waiho about forty miles from its embouchure
is still a considerable stream, which would admit
small steamers ; the Piako is navigable for boats.

The mountains which bound this valley are gene-
rally wooded, especially those to the eastward, from
which the Waiho receives several tributaries of suf-
ficient size to be useful for floating timber down
from the hills. The valley itself is free of wood,
except near the banks of rivers, where the forest
principally consists of the kahikatea-pine. We
passed several large raupo (typha) swamps, and
crossed a tributary of the Piako, which was swollen
by the late rains.

The next day, in travelling down the valley, we
passed many swamps, but a perfect drainage of them
might be easily effected. The soil was better, and
here and there it was covered with grass. Towards
evening we reached the Piako river, which is about
forty yards broad, and is deep and rapid.

On the 28th we followed the right bank of the
Piako, and came towards noon to two houses which
had been built by the natives for a European who had
purchased a large district of land from them. The
Piako here closely approached the western hills. A
little lower down was a small settlement, from which

CHAP. XXVIII.] THE PIAKO. 415

the natives soon brought a canoe,^ and conveyed us
rapidly down the river, the banks of which were very
beautiful. The river, being much swollen, reached
at some points nearly to the foot of the banks, but
in most places they appeared to be above the highest
floods. They were slightly wooded, and patches of
forest alternated with open spaces covered with a soft
grass. Captain Symonds compared the scene to
some of the Indian landscapes. The chief of the
village received us with great civility, and soon pro-
vided us plenty of food, of which we stood much
in need.

To the westward the Piako was here closely
bounded by the hills, which consist mostly of an
amygdaloidal basalt, having on their surface a white
exhausted clay. Wood is only found in some small
valleys and ravines. Amongst the trees are kauri-
trees, but these are rather scarce. From the top of
these hills an extensive view opens towards the
western coast, the lower part of the river Waikato,
and the Gulf of Hauraki, the different islands in
which are easily discerned.

The Piako is a river of inconsiderable length, and
comes from a hill in the neighbourhood of Maunga-
Tautari, called Maunga-Kaua.

During our day's journey I observed a large block
of a tufaceous rock about twenty feet in diameter,
which was lying in the middle of the table-land :
it afforded me another proof that the formation of
the plain was connected with the primitive forma-

416 THE PIAKO. [PART n.

tion of the land, and that very little of it owes its
origin to alluvium. Boisterous weather, heavy
gales, and almost continual rain, which came in
sudden squalls from the S.W., detained us in our
tents during nearly a week. The Piako rose very
high ; even if the weather cleared up for a moment,
we could not stir about, as we were surrounded by
itsover flowed waters. At length, on the 5th of July,
the weather became more settled, and our consider-
ate friend the chief prepared his largest canoe to
bring us down the river. Some European traders
had formerly lived at this place, but they have now
quitted it, as the natives prefer bringing their pigs
themselves to Auckland, where they know they shall
obtain the market-price. The little tribe inhabiting
this village belongs to the Nga-te-Paoa ; they gene-
rally live at Coromandel Harbour, but their farms,
if they may be termed such, are up the Piako river.
They have great quantities of pigs, which have run
wild, but are easily caught by dogs. The common
domestic fowl has also emancipated itself ; but the
cats, which, on becoming wild, have assumed the
streaky grey colour of the original animal while
in a state of nature, form a great obstacle to the
propagation of any new kind of birds, and also tend
to the destruction of many indigenous species. The
causes which, in different countries, modify the ani-
mal world, form one of the most interesting subjects
of study. What a chain of alterations, in the dis-
tribution and number of animated beings, takes

CHAP. XXVIII.] SPECIAL CHANGES. 417

place from the introduction by man of a single
animal into a country where it was before unknown !
If a geological cause, such for instance as a diminu-
tion of the size of the island, attended by an altera-
tion in the climate and a diminution of the means
of subsistence, has contributed to the extinction of
the struthious moa in New Zealand, and of the
dodo in the Mauritius, it is no less sure that, since
New Zealand began to be inhabited by its aboriginal
race, the agency of man has effected a part of that
eternal fluctuation in the organic world, the know-
ledge of which has been one of the most important
results of modern science. The introduction of the
dog, the cat, and the rat, the first of which, some-
times called pero (Pero, Spanish}, was probably first
brought here by the Spaniards, must have produced
great changes, and undoubtedly diminished the
number of some other classes of animals ; they are
perhaps the cause that the New Zealand quail
(Coturnix Novae Zelandise, Quoy et Gaim.) is so
scarce in the northern island, — and also the guana.
Similar changes have also been effected in the vege-
table kingdom by the introduction of European
plants and by the operations of man. The common
dock (Rumex crispus) already covers large districts,
in spite of all the efforts of the Europeans to eradi-
cate it : how much the destruction of the forest by
fire has favoured the spreading of certain species of
indigenous plants I have already pointed out

The shores of the Piako in this part of its course
VOL. i. 2 E

418 PIAKO TO WAIHEKE. [PART II.

were grown over with brushwood, and the lower
we descended the more we found the land on both
sides overflowed, so that we actually sailed over
what is in summer a swamp of raupo and flax. The
tops of both plants reached above the surface of the
water. As the weather again became squally, our
natives did not venture to leave the river, and we
pitched our tents on some elevated ground, but were
surrounded on all sides by the low swampy delta,
intersected by deep arms of the river, in which the
water was black. We started, however, early the
next morning, with the ebb-tide, and in the after-
noon reached in safety the mission-station at Puriri,
on the right shore of the Waiho, and near its mouth.
On the following day we started up the gulf, but
could not reach Auckland, as a gale of wind com-
pelled us to take refuge in Waiheke, the largest and
most fertile island in the Gulf of Hauraki. It con-
sists mostly of trap formation, and is for the greater
part wooded.

CHAP. XXIX.J 419

CHAPTER XXIX.

Some Remarks on the Botany of New Zealand.

IF we estimate the whole area of the three islands of New
Zealand to be about 80,600 square miles, or 51,584,000
square acres, we shall be astonished to hear that the
whole number of plants at present known, including the
marine plants, does not amount to more than 632 species.
This small number is not perhaps due to our little acquaint-
ance with New Zealand and to the want of a sufficient bo-
tanical exploration of the country ; for although there is no
doubt that some more species will be added when we shall
have examined the rugged and snowy mountain- crests of the
middle island, yet it appears to me that their number will
not materially alter the asserted fact, that, for the extent of
its surface, and for the varied localities which it offers to
the growth of plants, — as mountains reaching above the
limits of lasting snow, stony and exposed ridges, burning
and extinct volcanoes, valleys and ravines with a fertile soil
(where moisture and moderate warmth, so favourable to
vegetable life, continually prevail), volcanic table-land,
swamps and morasses, downs on the sea-coast, &c., — the
flora of New Zealand is distinguished by a scantiness of
species. In this latter respect the vegetable corresponds with
the animal kingdom, which, however, is still more deficient.
Several zealous botanists have bestowed their labour on the
plants of this country. Captain Cook, in his first voyage,
in the year 1769, was accompanied by Sir Joseph Banks
and Dr. Solander, who landed at several points of the
east coast of the northern island, in Queen Charlotte's

2E2

420 THE BOTANY OF [PART II

Sound and Dusky Bay. In 1772, during Captain Cook's
second voyage, the two Forsters, father and son, aided by
Dr. Sparmann, explored Queen Charlotte's Sound and
Dusky Bay, and the result of their joint labours was
Forster's ' Prodromus,' in which he described 174 species.

In 1791 Mr. Menzies accompanied Vancouver, and
brought to England from Dusky Bay a large number of
cryptogamic plants, which were described by Sir William
Hooker.

It was only in the year 1822 that Captain D'Urville, and
his naturalist, M. Lesson, continued the labours of these
botanists ; and the result of their researches and those of
former botanists were embodied in a ' Flora of New Zea-
land/ by M. Achille Richard, who described 538 species,
of which 380 were phanerogamous, and 158 cryptogamous
plants.

The largest additions to our knowledge of the botany of
New Zealand were, however, made by Allan Cunningham
in 1826, and Richard Cunningham in 1833 and 1834,
and were arranged by Allan Cunningham, and published
by Sir William Hooker in his ' Botanical Magazine ' and
in ' The Annals of Natural History.' Since the too early
death of the two brothers Cunningham, both of whom fell
victims to their zeal for the science of botany, Sir William
Hooker, that highly distinguished botanist and amiable
man, is devoting much of his time to the botany of the
islands in the Southern Pacific, and especially to the flora of
New Zealand. We may expect to obtain soon from his
pen a manual which shall comprise all that is at present
known.

Although in its flora New Zealand has some relationship
with the two large continents between which it is situated,
America and Australia, and even possesses a number of
species identical with those of Europe, without the latter
being referable to an introduction by Europeans, yet the
greater number of species, and even genera, are peculiar to
the country, which astonishing fact had already forced itself
upon the minds of the first explorers. New Zealand, with

CHAP. XXIX. J NEW ZEALAND. 421

some of the adjacent islands (the Chatham, Auckland, and
Macquarie's), forms a botanical centre. It is sufficently
distant from both continents to preserve its botanical pecu-
liarities, and it offers in that respect the most striking
instance of an acknowledged fact in all branches of natural
history, viz. that the different regions of the globe are
endowed with peculiar forms of animal and vegetable life.

The number of species at present known is 632, of which
number 314 are dicotyledonous or endogenous plants, and
the rest, or 318, monocotyledonous and cellular plants. To
what can this remarkable disproportion be due — so con-
trary from what is the case in other countries? Is it
owing to the geological fact that New Zealand is of recent
formation, and that in such countries the plants which are
regarded as inferior, the cellular and cryptogamous plants,
make their appearance before the more developed flowering
ones ? Without discussing this difficult question, I merely
observe that the visitor to the distant shores of New
Zealand will be struck by the scantiness of annual and
flowering plants, of which only a very few possess vivid
colours, and would attract the attention of the florist. In
their place he will find a number of trees and ferns of various
descriptions, of which the greater part of the flora consists.
But these give at once a distinct character to the vegeta-
tion. If the traveller should happen to come from New-
South Wales, he cannot but observe either that the glaucous
colour of a New South Wales landscape, produced by the
Eucalypti, Casuarineae, Acacias, and Banksias of its open
forests, which is only relieved in certain alluvial situations
by a fresher green, and in certain seasons and localities by
a variety of beautiful flowers, has given way in New Zea-
land to the glossy green of a dense and mixed forest, or
that the landscape, when it is covered with the social fern,
has assumed a brown hue. In the former general aspect,
together with the tree-ferns, palms, and Dracaenas which
abound in New Zealand, that country resembles one situated
between the tropics, and especially the beautiful islands of
the Pacific.

422 THE BOTANY OF [PART II.

Let us now take a rapid view of the genera and species of
the islands.

There are 245 species of CELLULAR or FLOWERLESS plants.
Of the tribe of the Algce, or seaweeds, 48 species are known,
several of which are true cosmopolites, as they occur in both
hemispheres — on the coasts of New Zealand as well as on
those of England. They belong, amongst the Fucoidece,
to the genera Sargassum, Turbinaria, Carpophyllum, Cys-
toseira, Castralia ; amongst the Laminar iece, to the genera
Durvillea, Macrocystis, Laminaria, — several species of the
latter are used by the natives to contain oil and other fluids;
amongst the Floridece are the genera Amansia, Rhodo-
menia, Thamnophora, Plocarnium, Rhodomela, Laurencia,
Chondrus, Chelidium, Hypnea, Halymenia. I may observe
here that pigs on the sea- shore feed extensively upon some of
the seaweeds.

Of the lichen tribe as many as 28 species have been
already described ; and the volcanic nature of the country,
in which large districts are covered with basaltic and scori-
aceous rocks, and at the same time the moisture of the
climate, are very favourable to the development of these
forms of plants. Those described belong to the genera
Parmelia, Cetraria, Sticta, Nephroma, Cenomyce, Stereo-
caulon, Alectoria, Cornicularia, Ramalina, Usnea, Collema,
Csenogorium. A most beautiful and interesting kind is
the Cenomyce retispora, which is found in the greatest
abundance near the Bay of Islands. Some of the genera
mentioned contain species which are extensively used in
dyeing, and it is probable that such are also found in New
Zealand.

The fungi are also represented by some species. Cham-
pignons are found everywhere in the island where horses
have been introduced. Another fungus, a boletus, which
grows on the weather side of the tawai-tree (Leiospermum
racemosum), and to an enormous size, is used by the natives
as an excellent tinder. To the fungi also belongs a very
curious plant, parasitical on a caterpillar, viz. the Spheerin
Robertii, called hotete by the natives.

CHAP. XXIX.] NEW ZEALAND. 423

In mosses and livermosses New Zealand is very rich.
Most of them were collected by Menzies, many also by
Cunningham and D'Urville. As Menzies collected all his
specimens in the middle island, the mountainous and wooded
character of which increases greatly the moisture of the
climate, it is probable that many more genera and species
will be discovered, as the interior of that island has scarcely
ever been investigated by a botanist. The number of the
species described is 72, belonging to the genera Sphagnum,
Gymnostomum, Polytrichum, Dicranum, Trichostomum,
Leucodon, Zygodon, Orthotrichum, Neckera, Bartramia,
Codonoblepharum, Bryum, Leskea, Hypnum, Racopilum,
Jungermannia (of which latter alone exist 27 species), An-
thoceros, and Marchantia.

Of all plants, however, \heferns and fern- like plant.? are
the most numerous in New Zealand, as they are not only the
most common plants as regards the number of the genera
and species, but especially as regards the number of indi-
viduals of one and the same species : covering immense
districts, they replace the Gramineee of other countries, and
give a character to all the open land of hills and plains.
Some of them grow to 30 feet and more in height; and
the variety and elegance of their forms, from the most
minute species to the giants of their kind, are astonishing.
Although 94 species of ferns are already known, every day
adds new treasures to our knowledge. There exist three
tree-ferns, the Cyathea medullaris, dealbata, Dicksonia
squarrosa. The Mahrattia elegans also assumes a tree-like
appearance: The Cyathea dealbata is the highest ; I
measured some 40 feet in length. These trees generally
grow in groups.

The genera of ferns which are found in New Zealand
are — Amongst the Lycopodiacece, the genera T'mesipteris
(1 sp.), Lycopodium (9) ; amongst the Filices, — Botry-
chium (1), Ophioglossum (2), Gleichenia (2), Todea (1),
Ligodium (1), Schizaea (2), Grammites (2), Polypodium
(4), Niphobolus (2), Lomaria (6), Allantodia (1), Asple-
uium (7), Csenopteris (1), Doodia (3), Pteris (9), Adiantum

424 THE BOTANY OF [PART II.

(3), Cheilanthus (2), Lindssea (3), Loxoma (]), Dick-
sonia (1), Aspidium (7), Nephrodium (2), Cyathea (2),
Trichomanis (5), Hymenophyllum (13).

The number of MONOCOTYLEDONOUS or EXOGENOUS plants
is very small in comparison with the cellular ones : there are
76 species. The grasses have given way to ferns. Near
the coast I have never met with grass in any other way than
in simple specimens. A little more I found in the fertile
district of Kaitaia ; and on the barren volcanic table -land in
the interior a coarse wiry grass takes the place of the fern, —
a species, however, which does not gratify the eye with its
verdure, as it has always a dirty yellowish colour. The
want of the bright green of the grasses near the coast gives
an extraordinary effect to artificially planted grasses, which
indeed contrast singularly with the brown tint of the fern.
The number of Graminece, or grasses, which have been
described is only 24, belonging to the genera Agrostis (9),
Phalaris (I), Danthonia (1), Avena (1), Brornus (1),
Schrenodorus (1), Triticum (2), Poa (3), Arundo (1), Pas-
palum (1), Rottbcellia (1), Spirifex (1), Torrena (1). It
must, however, be observed, that some more exist, which
have not yet been described.

If the useful Graminece exist in such a small proportion,
the useless, or almost useless, Cyperacece, or Sedge tribe,
are represented by an almost equal number — as many as
20 species. They are found especially on the sandy downs
on the sea-shore, and in swampy and stagnant places.
There are the following genera: — Cyperus (1), Fuirena
(1), Trolepis (2), Scirpus (1), Vauthiera (1), Elseocharis
(2), Schoenus (1), Lepidosperma (1), Lampocarya (3).
Gahnia (1), Morelotia (1), Uncinia (1), Carex (4).

The nearly-related Restiacece andJunceez have also several
representatives — Leptocarpus simplex, Luzula picta, Jun-
cus maritimus, effusus, filiformis. The latter species covers
large districts, hills and plains together, with a stunted fern
and a Lycopodium : it is a sure indication of little depth of
soil, and of a subsoil through which the water cannot perco-
late. Another genus belonging to the same family is Astelia,

CHAP. XXIX.J NEW ZEALAND. 425

which is found everywhere near the banks of the rivers, in
shady and moist or overflowed places, and is also frequently
an epiphyte on trees.

The family of the Palmes is represented in New Zealand
by the Areca sapida. In the deepest recesses of the forest
the traveller enjoys the sight of this graceful tree, which
grows throughout the island, and often to the height of 40
feet, and a foot in diameter. It is a useful tree to the
natives, who call it nikau, and use its large pinnate leaves
for roofing their houses. The undeveloped plaited leaves,
or the heart, are also eaten by them.

The nearly-related Asphodelece have more species, and,
as tree-ferns and the Areca palm give a character to the
gloomy forest, so several members of that family are cha-
racteristic for open alluvial ground, especially the genera
Dracaena, Cordyline, and Phormium.

The Cordyline australis, or Dracaena australis, forms
jungle on the alluvial banks of the rivers. The flax grows
everywhere : a variety with yellow-striped leaves is scarce.
The plants belonging to the Asphodelece are Arthropo-
dium cirrhatum, Dianella intermedia, Dracaena indivisa,
Cordyline australis, strict a, another undescribed species, and
Phormium tenax.

A climbing plant is very common in the New Zealand
forest, which winds from tree to tree, and often renders the
path scarcely passable. This is the supplejack of the Eu-
ropeans, kareao of the natives. It is a useful plant for the
latter, as it serves to support the thatch-work of the houses.
The New Zealand pigeon feeds especially upon its red
berries. It belongs to the Smilacea, and is the Ripogonum
parviflorum of R. Brown.

Of the Iridece of Jussieu, the genus Libertia has 3 species
— grandiflora, ixioides, and micrantha.

The family of the Orchidea, of which so many species
exist on the American continent and in Australia, has also
several on New Zealand. The terrestrial Orchidece are
Thelymitra Forsteri, Orthoceras strictum, Microtis Banksii,
Acianthus rivularis, Pterostylis Banksii, Gastrodia sesa-

426 THE BOTANY OF [PART II.

moides. As epiphytce on trees grow Earina mucronata,
Dendrobium Cunninghamii, and Bolbophyllum pygmseum.
Of the Aroidece the natives cultivate the Caladium escu-
lentum, which they call taro. According to their tales,
it is not an indigenous plant, but their ancestors brought it
with them at their first immigration.

O

The swamps of New Zealand are generally covered with
the Typha angustifolia, which often also covers extensive
districts of low ground, especially in the valley of the
Thames. The same species is common to both hemi-
spheres. Under the name of repo, or raupo, it is a most
useful building-material to the natives, who form the walls
and roofs of their houses with bundles of them, impenetrable
to rain, which they tie together with the mangi-mangi, a
climbing fern, the Lygodium articulatum of Achille Richard.
The natives also eat the root of the repo., which is somewhat
amylaceous.

Amongst the climbing -plants which seek the support of
larger trees, the principal one is the Freycinetia Banksii,
also a monocotyledonous plant, belonging to the family
of the PandanecB of Robert Brown. It attaches itself prin-
cipally to the kahikatea-pine. It flowers in September; and
the natives are very partial to the sweet bractese of its blossoms.

The number of PILENOGAMOUS or ENDOGENOUS plants
is 314.

The Piperacece. — Of these we have the Piper excelsum
and the Peperomia Urvilleana. The former is the New Zea-
land representative of the Piper methisticum of the Sandwich
and Tonga Islands: although bearing the same name —
kawa — it is not used by the New Zealanders to make an
intoxicating drink : its leaves, however, form a good and ap-
parently healthy substitute for tea. It grows everywhere
throughout the island.

Of ConifercB and Taxidece 8 species have been described,
and they give the most valuable timber. I have already
mentioned in the course of this volume the geographical
limits of the only cone-bearing pine, the valuable kauri, or
Dammaru Australis, which is confined to the extreme north of

CHAP. XXIX.] NEW ZEALAND. 427

the northern island. To the south the totara and tanekaha
prevail in many places, although it can scarcely be said that
one species of pine ever forms a forest, as is the case on the
old continent. The mai and the miro must be separated
from the Taxidese into a peculiar genus, as the fleshy part
of their seeds does not surround the seed in the shape of a
cup, as it does in the true Taxidese, but they bear drupes.
The kauri, the rirnu, the kahikatea, and the totara attain
the greatest size, and are the most common ; the kawaka
and miro are scarce, and form only small trees. The native
and scientific names of the pines are —

Kauri . . . Dammara Australis.

Tanekaha . . Phyllocladus trichomanoides.

Miro _,,«., . . Podocarpus ferruginea.

Totara . . . Podocarpus totara.

Mai . . . . Dacrydium mai.

Kawaka . . . Dacrydium plumosum.

Kakikatea . . Dacrydium excelsum.

Rimu . . . Dacrydium cupressinum.

I must here observe that there exist three more species of
pines, of which one is called hutu by the natives, and is a
Phyllocladus ; another is a dwarf Dacrydium, on the Ton-
gariro volcano; and the third, which I found on Mount
Egmont, is apparently a Podocarpus.

The family of the Urticece contains the genera Urtica
(2 species), Elatostema (1), Hedycaria (2) ; and Cunning-
ham also enumerates, from Banks's collection, the Brous-
sonetia papyrifera, but which has not been seen again, and
seems not to be an indigenous plant. ,

The following families contain the genera: — Labiatce
(gen. Micromeria), Eoraginece (gen. Anchusa and Myosotis),
Convolvulacece (gen. Calystigia, Ipomea, Dychondra), Gen-
tianece (gen. Gentiana, Sabsea), Loganiece (gen. Genio-
stoma), Apocynece (Parsonia), Oleinece (Olea), Sapotece
(Achras), Myrsinece (Myrsine).

Of the extensive American family Epacridece are four
genera, of which especially Dracophyllum is very remark-

428 THE BOTANY OF [PART II.

able. The genera are Cyathodes, Leucopogon (2 species),
Pentachondra (1), Epacris (1), Dracophyllum (5).

Of Ericece we have the genus Gaultheria (3 species),
also extensively spread in New South Wales.

Campanulacece — Wahlenbergia (1), Lobelia (5).

Styllideae — (gen. Styllidium, Forstera).

•Goodenovice — (gen. Goodenia, Scsevola).

Of Composites are the following tribes and genera : —
1. CichorcBfB (gen. Scorzonera, Sonchus, Picris). 2. Ver-
noniacece (Shawia). 3. Asteroidece (Solidago, Lageno-
phora, Aster, Haxtonia, Vittaclinia) . 4. Senecionidece (gen,
Bidens, Cotula, Myriogyne, Soliva, Craspedia, Cassinia,
Ozothamnus, Helichrysum, Gnaphalium, Arnica, Senecio,
Brachy glottis).

Of Rubiacece exist the genera Opercularia, Galium,
Coprosma, Ronabea, Nertepa, Geophila, Viscum, Loran-
thus.

Of Conece — gen. Alseuosmia.

The UmbellifercE contain the genera Hydrocotyle, Petro-
selinum, Ligusticum, Peucedanurn, Apium.

The Araliacece, spread especially in South America, are a
remarkable family. They contain in New Zealand the genera
Panax, Cussonia, Polyscias, and Aralia. The latter con-
tains two species, the Aralia Scheffleri and crassi folia, whose
peculiar forms never fail to strike the traveller, especially in
the shady forests of the east coast.

Of Oxalidece — gen. Oxalis (9 species).

Of Geraniacece — gen. Geranium (2), Pelargonium (1).

Of Hypericinece — gen. Hypericum.

Of Meliacece — gen. Hartighsia (1).

Of Sapindacece — the Aledryon excelsum, the berries of
which are used for making oil. Dodonese (1).

Of BombacecB, the Hoheria populnea.

Of Tiliacece— Entelia (1).

Of Eleocarpece — Eleocarpus (1), and Friesia (1).

Of Sterculiacea; — gen. Plagianthus (3).

Of Malvaceae — Hibiscus ( 1 ) .

Of Linece — Linum (1).

CHAP. XXIX.] NEW ZEALAND. 429

Of Caryophyllea — Arenaria (1), Stellaria (1).
Of Elatinea— Elatine (1).

Of Pittosporece — Pittosporum (9).

Of Droseracece — Drosera (2).

Of Violariece — Erpetion (1).

Of FlacGurtianece — Melicytus (2).

Of CrucifercB — gen. Nasturtium (1), Cardamine (1),
Alyssum (1), Lepidium (1).

Of Magnoliacecc — Drymis (1).

Of Ranunculacece — Ranunculus (5), Clematis (3).

Of Corynocarpea — a genus related to the Myrsineis,
Corynocarpus Isevigata.

Of Griselinea — Griselinea (1).

Of Saxifrages we have the Quintina serrata; 3 species of
Weinmannia ; gen. Aikama, and Leiospermum, of which the
species racemosum is a good-sized tree, which forms exten-
sive forests all over New Zealand.

Of Orassulacece — the gen. Tillaea.

Amongst the Ficoidece there exists, besides one species of
the genus Mesembryanthemum, the Tetragonia expansa, or
New Zealand spinach, which, however, in the northern
island is very rare.

Of Passifloracece exists the Passiflora tetrandra.

Of Cucurbitacea — the Sicyos Australis.

Of Haloragece — the gen. Cercodia (3), Goniocorpus (3),
Myriophyllum (1).

Of OnagrariecB — the Fuchsia (2), and the Epilobium
(18).

The family of the Myrtacea, although less numerous
in genera, yet possesses some of a very extensive distri-
bution, and others form some of the most beautiful and also
most useful trees existing. The genera are Leptospermum
(2), Metrosideros (9), Eugenia (1), Myrtus bullata, — the
latter also common to Chilian forests.

Of Rosace a, the Acoena sanguisorba is common to New
Zealand and Van Diemen's Land, besides three species of
Rubus.

The extensive family of the Leguminosa has three genera

430 THE BOTANY OF [PART II.

which are quite peculiar to New Zealand; these are Ed-
wardsia, Clianthus, and Carmichaelia.

The family of the Rhamnece has the genera Cardopetus,
Pennantia, Pomaderris, Corokia, Ixerba.

That of the Coriariea — the Coriaria sarmentosa, a very
common shrub, the leaves of which contain an acrid poison,
and often produce violent symptoms if eaten by cattle.

The family of the Rutacea has the genus Melicope (2
species).

Of Euphorbiacece, the Euphorbia glauca grows amongst
the shingle of the sea- shore and on barren hills.

Of Santalacea, the genus Myda is represented by three
species.

Amongst the Thymelceai, Jussieu, the genus Pimelea has
six species, mostly shrubs.

Of the Proteacece, the Tora (Persoonia tora) and Rewa-
rewa (Knightia excelsa) are the only known species. The
latter yields a very beautiful wood, and with its dark-purple
flowers would be a very ornamental tree. It is the New
Zealand representative of the Banksias, of which such a
variety of species are known in New South Wales.

To the Laurinece belong two trees, which are very com-
mon in some parts of the island. The Laurus tarairi
and calicaris are especially found to the northward, around
Waimate and Kaitaia, where they form groves on the banks
of rivers. The Laurus tawa covers the upper regions of dry
hills in Cook's Straits, especially on the Tararua mountains
at Port Nicholson, where it forms continuous forests.

Of the Atherospermece, the Laurelia Nov. Zeland. grows
likewise in the northern island, forming a moderate tree.

Of the Polygonece we have the genera Polygonum (3) and
Rumex ("2).

Of the Chenopodieee — the genera Chenopodium (1) and
Salicornia (1).

Of Amaranthacece~—\he Alternant hia denticulata.
Of Peronychicce — the Mniarum biflorum.
Of Plantagineai — the Plantago major and varia.
Of Primulacece — the Anagallis arvensis and Samolus
litoralis.

CHAP. XXIX.] NEW ZEALAND. 431

Of Scrophularinea, the genus Veronica has as many as
9 species. Some of them, peculiar to New Zealand, form
shrubs, and bear very beautiful flowers. To the same family
also belong the Gratiola sexdentata and Euphrasia cuneata.
Amongst the plants found by me on Mount Egmont is a
new species of the genus Ourisia (fam. Scrophularinese),
not yet described (Sir William Hooker).

Of Cyrtandracece, is the Rhabdothamnus Solandri.

Of Solanece, the berries of the Solatium laciniatum are
eaten by the natives, and its leaves used as cataplasms for
ulcers. They also eat the leaves of another small species of
the same genus.

Of Myoporinece, the Avicennia tomentosa is the Man-
grove of New Zealand, covering the shallow inlets in the
northern part of the North Island.

Of Verbenacea (same order as the teak), theVitex litto-
ralis is the Puriri of the natives and the New Zealand oak
of the colonists. Its quality of splitting renders it an ex-
cellent wood for firing.

END OF VOLUME I.

WILLIAM Ci.owKsund SONS, Stain

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