MOUNT EGMONT.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 14, Issue 1142, 8 April 1870, Page 3

MOUNT EGMONT.

The following is from a recent number of the TardnaM Herald -. — Those who have '; a 1 little spare time to enj oy a ramble among " the wild and majestic works of Nature, would do well to spend a few days upon and aboutthe lofty and, beautiful Mount Egmont, "which rises to nearly 9,000 feet from its rich level forest-clad plains. To ascend its lofty cone is a matter of toil, ;the'' gradient being very steep, and comSosedof small stones and sand which slip bwnward with the feet. In clear weather, the prospect from the summit is magnificent. With the assistance of a good. glass, a large portion of the Waikato country is; visible, also the active volcano : Tongariro, vomiting its black smoke ; and .;, the; Buapaho : mountain with its snowcovered crest, rising to the height of 9195 ; feet above the sea. On a very fine day, , the country round Wellington and Wanganui, all the Kaikoura mountains, Cook .Straits,, from end to end, and round the coast to New Plymouth, also the Nelson, Canterbury and Otago Mountains, in the Middle Island, may be seen. The base of this lovely .mountain is rich in vegetai tion,— trees, shrubs, ferns, and flowers of every hue. There is, also, a fine waterfall, which is named after Mr. Dillon Bell (Bell's Falls), v having beeu found by that - gentleman many years since. It is- on the Hangatahua or Stony river. This beautiful unbroken sheet of water falls about a hundred feet from a nar--1 row opening in the rocks about six feet wide into a large. basin. The cliffs on each side form a half-circle, and rise to ;.: .about throe hundred feet high, are richly clustered with shrubs, ferns, and flowers even to the highest peak. Near the same 1 locality, exists a spring of warm water which runs from beneath a high cliff into • a swift" running stream, as cold as the ice itself. Around -this place are some valua- . ble interesting trees, cordylines, &c. The Cordyline indiyisa is a very striking tree, from to fifty feet in height, and is ; surrounded with beautiful foliage, its leaves being from five to seven feet in length, and eight to nine inches broad, and is: composed of a strong flax fibre. It is free from gum, hard and fast growing, and might be planted for its fibro apart from ornament, at the rate of 800 or 900 trees per acre. This is considered by Mr. Buchanan to be a distinct species from the one found in Dusky Bay, and is much more ornamental and branching. A very fine sample leaf has been given us by Mr, Henry, of the Spring Bank Nurseries. showing the fibre cTeaued. The Senecio olseagnifolius, a very ornamental shrub, something of the Ithododendron habit, with specks of yellow flowers, and the surface of its leaves covered with a white thread net- work, is also very hardy and fast growing, and is be found on the tops of the ranges 500 feet.above the sea level. In the same neighborhood are to - be found the beautiful Oiirisia macrophylla which resembles the Chinese primrose — besides many of the most lovely and rare ferns that are to be found in New Zealand. We might mention that on the heights of Mount Egmont,' plants of the Scotch heather, sown some two years since, and "many" blue currant plants, between eight : ' ! and ten-inches high fare- to be-seen. They —have-keea- Ranted here for the purpose of gathering the honey.