IN QUEST OF A SITE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2818, 18 March 1908, Page 55

IN QUEST OF A SITE.

MR TUCKETT'S EXHAUSTIVE INQUIRIES. Dr Monro, who accompanied Mr Tuckett

the surveyor, on his first expedition in 1844, to the South Island to select land for a New Edinburgh settlement, contributed to the Nelson Examiner of July 20 of the same year, a lengthy account of the journey. At the outset of his rurrative Dr Monro says : ' ' Before proceeding to give an account of what was seen by the expedition, I should wish to point out, in the formation of the New Edinburgh settlement, the introduction, for the first time, of a principle of the plainest and utmost importance, the neglect of which, as I need not remind anyone at all conversant with the history of thia country, has been productive of the most serious mischief, confusion, and distress, and has certainly brought to the door of some party or other a most heavy load of responsibility. I allude to this : That the site of a settlement should be carefully looked for and examined before it is determined on. And yet, in the case of New Edinburgh, notwithstanding all that had gone before, had it not been for the remonstrance of Mr Tuckett, the same fatal error was on the point of being again committed, and the New Zealand Company was on the point of once more landing a large body of immigrants on a part of New Zealand, with regard to the nature and capabilities of which neither it nor any of its agents had anything like accurate information. It would be difficult to over-rate the importance of the service which Mr Tuckett has rendered to the future settlement; and indeed, to the colonisation of the country in general — for the one follows from the other. Whatever may be the opinion of the future settlers about New Zealand as a country — however they may be pleased or displeased with its climate and powers of production — of this, at all events, they may rest assured, that their location at' Otago has not been dictated by a body of men 16,000 miles distant, who know almost nothing about the country, and equally so that it has not been stumbled on by accident ; but, on the contrary, they will learn that Otago was fixed upon after a deliberate survey of all the available land in New Monster, and partly also in Stewart's Island; and a comparison of the merits of different places; and that this was accomplished by means of a personal examination of

them, not merely the* knibours. but also the interior country ; and at an expense of an amount of physical exertion and exposure, which, in my opinion, few men in New Zealand, besides Mr Tuckett. would have encountered. For these and other reasons I am of opinion that the New Edinburgh settlement is much indebted to that gentleman, and that all of us, particularly we who are settled on the Middle Island, are indebted to him also, for it is owing to his exertion"; that the site has been chosen which is best calculated to meet the wishes of the settlers, and consequently to raise the character of New Zealand in the Mother Country." The party of intrepid explorers left Wellington on April 2 in the Deborah, and on the sth were at Port Cooper (Lyttelton). The principal members of the expedition were Mr Tuckett, Mr Davison, Mr Barnicoat, Mr Wither, and Dr Monro. Two exploring parties were formed, and as far as possible a thorough inspection of the Canterbury Plain in the vicinity of the Port was made. A high opinion of the capabilities of the plain for stock and agricultural purposes was formed, but as to its adaptation for a settlement on the system pursued by the New Zealand Company, one great and inseparable drawback was conceived — namely, the want of wood. Dr Monro in this connection, says : " A large body of immigrants suddenly thrown upon it, with everything to do for themselves, and all the difficulties of early settling — with the enormously high rate of wages and provisions which necessarily results from such a combination of circumstances, would find their whole means and time consumed I in procuring one of the first of necessaries — viz., fuel to cook their food, — setting; aside what they might require for building and fencing. . . . Port Cooper must be settled upon a different system." It was Mr Tuckett'e original intention to have walked from Banks' Peninsula to Otago, but so many difficulties were

oiiount^L'd in the matlu nt guides, hearers, etc.. t hat the project was dbandone d, and on April 11 the party resumed tlieii voyage southwards in the Deborah. Moeraki vai called at, and Mr Tuckett landed and proceeded from theie overlanJ to Waikouaiti. The Deborah continued her voyage, and on April 19, "a most lovely day," the anchor was dropped at Waikouaiti. From this point we will allow Dr Monro to tell the story in his OT/n woids :—: —

S .orth af'er anchoring, we went on «horo to lcok about us. Ihe little harbour ' m which the boats of the whalers he in security, and from v hich they sally forth in puisuit of their game, is under the rocky peninsula I ha\e mentioned, and is formed by the mouth of the Waikouaiti River — an inconsiderable stream, which expands in its lower part into a large saltwater lagoon, which discharges itself into

and fills itself again from tlio sea Ijv a narrow passage ; so that, in some respects, it is a, miniature of our harbour. As we entered it. wo passed the shears by which the whalo-3 are hoisted up in the operation of stripping them of their blubber. Further on was a large shed, in which the oil is tried out, greasy in the extreme, and

smelling like a thousand filthy lamps. The > wlicle beach was strewed \\ ith gigantic j fragments of the bones of whale-, and I flocks of gulls, cormorant's, and other sea- | bards, and savage-looking pigs, piouled | about to i^ick «P the refuse. r Jhe place altogether, like other whaling station^, i- I a picture of the most perfect neglect cf anything Like order or neatness. The huts in 'which the men li\c — rickety thing*

—are stuck about in all direi non-. and not one of them possesses a g-aidon. There seemed, however, to be abundance of poultry, as well as dog-s and pigs ; and another common feature cf whaling i stations was also to be seen theie m perj fection, in the shape of a variety of dirty I Nathe women — half-dressed in tawdry

Jv.u o])L'an ( loti.c-. with a proj on mnate number of halt-caste children. The Euro pears In ing at Waikouaiti a'ue unt, I v a-- informed, to about 100 lmlniduals — mo-t of them engaged in v halmg — a considerable number in the emplox ment of Mr Jores, on his farm — some farming on their own account. There i« a Mac ri pa ateo at Waikouaiti. bur !C i^ a \er\ porr one; the wanies are small and filthy. The Natives resident there average about 120 in number. They are a i cry well disposed, inoffensive set of people; and. by the praiseworthy exertions nf the Rev. Mr Watkin-. the Wesleyan clergyman lately resident there, ha\c been instructed in the doctrines of tlie Chrietian religion, and in readmir and -writing, to the full, as well as in any part of NewZealand whigh I ■t isited. The mission ha"> been established there for four

yeai-S ami J q the only Nation south of (-ape Campbell with which I am acquainted. Mr \\ atkm's labours have not boon confined to Waikouaiti, but have extended from Moiraki (Moeraki). 30 miles north of it, to the Bluff, about 130 miles to the southward. Notwithstanding- the short time w Inch has elapsed since its establishment the progress made by the Natives ha& been surprising-; and i s a striking proof among many others of the aptitude of the New Zealander for instruction, and of the eagerness with \\ hach lie embraces it. The great mainspring of activity at Waikouaiti, and in these southern IKu-t- generally, is Mr John Jones, of Sjdiiex, who has, for many years, been engaged >in the New ' Zealand oil trade. Most of the fisheries thereabout-, are fitted out by him; and no is the principal purchaser and and exporter of the oil caught along the coast. Mr Jones is also a considerable landowner — the maximum grant having- been recommended in his case by the commissioner; and he possesses, also, a large quantity of me vtock; a* much, he told us, as 100 horses. 200 head of cattle, and 2000 >iioep. H:i\in<>- called upon this gentleman, he very politely mounted several of our party on horses, and wo proceeded to -\ isit his farm. The soil which ho has selected for his agricultural operations appeared to me very unequal; a lorge portion of it rather sandy, but, where the trees had been cleared away, of a rich loamy quality; and some of the potatoes which we saw growing j n this soil ,were exceedingly fine. The wheat crop, we understood, had not been, uood — probably from insufficient tillage and dirty seed; a large proportion of the prodine turned out smutty. Mr Jones, however, is proceeding with great vigour. He has erected a mest -üb->tantial large barn and other outhouse^, and a threshing and winnowing machine, woiko-d by horses. From the eminence on which we 'stood, we had a. very good view of the district; the surface of which, though not high, is irregular and confuted. Much of it consists of table-topped ridges and low hills, but the sides of these are \ery steep — a circumstance which would present a great obstacle to the formation of roads, and interfere with the general accessibility of the country. A few very nice farms of moderate 6ize might be laid out about Waikouaiti; but there is no extent of agricultural country. What there is, however, is well diversified with timber — one of the first and most important wants of a settler. There is a considerable extent of grazing land. The grass, however, isinferior in quality ; and there is a larger proportion of fern than further north. On the lowest, and apparently the test soils, the fern reigns undisputed, or rivalled only by a very coarse broad-bladed grass; at the same time it reaches to the summits of some of the most fertile-looking hills,

though its possession of the soil theie i-» •contested by a greater variety of vegetation. The Natives, as elsewhere in New Zealand, have cultivated the bush-land, and are further advanced in agriciijture than f their countrymen hereabouts. Their pota- | toes are excellent, much superior to any Native potatoes I have seen ; and almcst | every Maori farmer has a patch of wheat. which seems to have succeeded very well with them. Altogether, between the Natives and the white men — exclusive of Mr Jones's farm — there may be 40 or 50 i acres in cultivation at Waikouaiti. I

In the ■woods, I observed tew<T pine? than in this pan of the country, and more laurel looking trees. Perhaps the commonest tree is one that I was not aware of having <-oen before. It grows to a considerable size, but in a very twisted, irregular thape. Its leaf is of a smooth, glossy, green colour, about the size of the leaf of a Portugal laurel, but more heart-shaped. The Native name of the tree is kapuka. It is commonly called broad-leaf by the white men there. The kohai is also a very common tree in the woods, and grows to a large <ize.

Mr Tuckett arrived after three day's walk, and highly pleaded with the country he had seen. He had been 12 miles to the north of Moiraki; and had examined the country between that place and Waikouaiti — a distance of 30 miles. He brought with him some specimens of coal, which is found in considerable abundance not far from Moiraki. In outward appearance it seemed to me very similar to the coal of Massacre Bay. On the 23rd of April, the Deborah stood across to Otago — a distance of about 10 miles. By land it is fifteen, but, from the nature of the country, it is considered a

good day's walk. Ihe coast about the entrance of Otago has a. forbidding appearance. High and steep cliffs of a reddish coloured rock abut upon the sea, sloping off above in rugged lines of forest. On the mapsi the entrance to the harbour is most inaccurately laid down — the heads being represented as bearing north and south of one another. The fact is that they bear about cast and west, and the harbour runs in a straight line south for about 13 miles. The western head is the higher of the two, and is very bold. At the base of the wall of rock which forms it lies a large field of white sand, which is

! seen a long way off, and may be a guide to the harbour. The eastern head is also bold, but not nearly so high, and more rounded above. It is called Tairoa'e Head, and the entrance to the harbour is immediately beneath it. .Strictly speaking, Otago may be called a bar harbour, but it hardly merits this stigma. A sandbank, with shallow water over it, runs off from the western head, stretching across to the eastern, near which, however, it leaves a channel in which there is never less than throe fathoms of water. With a very heavy swell the sea breaks right across this shoal, but not in ordinary weather in the channel. lam not aware what the width of the channel is, but I believe it is narrow, and several vessels have touched in entering the harbour. When the entrance ha® been properly funded and becomes well known, this probably will not take place. Having passed through this channel, the harbour presents the appearance of a deep bay, terminating- by a sandy beaoh. This appearance is caused by a dry sand-spit, which, about a mile within the heads, runs off from the western shore ; but, as you advance, an oblique passage between the point of ttis spit and the eastern shore is observed, and once round this you are perfectly land-locked, and in water as smooth as a mill-pond. Above this, at high tides, the harbour presents a beautiful sheet of calm water, surrounded by an amphitheatre of wooded hills; but the full extent of it is not seen. At the distance of six miles from the heads, a projecting promontory and a couple of islands divide it as it were into two, and intercept the view. But, when you pass between these islands, another sheet of water seven miles long opens up, surrounded in the same manner by hills, uniformly covered by trees, which clothe them from their summits to their bases, where they hang over and are reflected in the water. The distance between the heads may be about a mile and a-half, and the harbour preserves nearly the same width the whole way up. The available water for vessels bears an exceedingly small proportion to the area covered at high tide. At low water, a great extent of mud flat is laid bare, upon which large flocks of wild ducks, red bills, and other aquatic birds find food. The deep channel is then seen to flow through these like a river, at first (that is to say, towards the mouth of the harbour) near the eastern shore, but soon crossing over to beneath the bold wooded' slopes of the western side, under which it continues up to the islands. Between these, in consequence of the narrowing of the channel there, and the greater rush of water, there is a depth of 12 and 14 fathoms. The upper harbour, also, exhibits at low water extensive sandbanks and flats, with deeperwater near its shores on either side. The Natives say that these channels have only sufficient water for small schooners; and", from what we saw in our boating excursions, their account appears to he correct. Notwithstanding the shoal banks which occupy so great an extent of the area of Port Otaero, there is sufficient room for a great number of vessels to lie conveniently -and in perfect security; and, .in all respects, it must be pronounced an excellent harbour. Up to the very head

of it, there is, at all events, sufficient draught of water for very large boat 6or barges, and, by means of the regular ebb and flow of the tide, with very little labour they will be able to ascend or return, and thus afford great facilities of transport for heavy articles, or country produce between the district intended for survey and the place where vessels will probably anchor. The principal drawback to Otago, as a harbour for a settlement, is the absence of a good 6ite for a town, and, in this respect, it labours under the same disadvantage as Port Cooper. The most eligible locality with reference to anchorage is undoubtedly where the principal wnite residents have at present settled — viz., on tne eastern shore, «t>out a mile and a-half within the heads. But the ground available for building on here is not more than perhaps 20 or 30 acres; and a great part of it consists of immense sand-banks like drifts of snow, without a blade of vegetation upon them, and shifting with every wind, so that you may see cottages half-buried, and garden fences completely overtopped. Further up on the 6ame side is a flat of two or three hundred acres, but, in like manner, it is very sandy, and the water in front of it, for the distance of a mile, is exceedingly shallow. Mr Tuckett has taken up his residence upon a little peninsula, which projects from the western shore towards the islands. The anchorage here is exceedingly convenient ; but there cannot be more than 100 acres of suitable building ground in that locality. In another respect it has a drawback — high wooded hills rise immediately behind it, co that in winter, soon after midday, rhe sun is shut out, and it is cold and damp. At the head of the harbour there is an abundance of land upon which a town might be conveniently built ; but, as I have pointed out above, vessels could not approach within many miles of it. It will probably be found necessary to have the bulk of the town in that situation, with the commercial part of it on one of the limited sites in the vicinity of the best anchorage. We found 1 at Otago about 25 white residents, generally speaking living in good substantial cottages, and cultivating to a small ex.tent. The potatoes grown by them are of excellent quality. I saw also some very good barley, but the wheat was almost universally smutty. The land which they have cultivated is bush land, lightly timbered, upon Tather steep slopes. Some years ago there was a whaling station at Otago, belonging to a mercantile house in Sydney, but it has been abandoned for some time; not, however, I believe, from want of success, but in consequence of the commercial embarrassments in that colony. Great numbers of bones of whales strewed about on the beach, and a sea wall built entirely of their heads, attest that a considerable number must have been killed. The weather, while we lay in Otago, was most beautiful. The 6ky, a great part of the time, was without a cloud, and not a breeze ruffled the surface of the water, which reflected the surrounding wooded slopes, and every sea-bird that floated upon it, with mirror-like accuracy. For some hours after sunrise, the woods resounded with the rich and infinitely varied notes of thousands of tub and other songsters. I never heard anything like it before in any part of New Zealand. It completely agreed with Captain Cook's description of the music of the wooded banks of Queen Charlotte's Sound. During thi6 fine weather, we amused ourselves by boating about and visiting different parts of the harbour. Though everywhere beautiful, its scenery is all alike — steep wooded banks, with projecting rocky promontories, enclosing those beautiful little bays with sandy beaches, so characteristic of New Zealand. Mx Tuckett walked from Waikouaiti to Otago. He departed from the usual route, looking for an available line of road. The -country he found to oppose great obstacles to this, and he seemed doubtful if it could be accomplished without considerable expense. On the 29th of April, Mr Tuckett and I started to walk to Molyneux Bay, 60 miles south of Otago, with the intention of seeing as much of the interjacent country as circumstances would allow. We pulled in Mr Tuckett'e whaleboat to the head of Otago Harbour, where we encamped for the first

night, and not with much comfort, for a heavy drizzling rain had set in. The distance from the mouth of Port Otago to its head is

about 13 _ miles, while the head of the harbour is separated from the sea by a line of low sandhills and swamps, not more

than a tew nunared yards Droad. a peninsula is thus detached, of a triangular chape, the apex of which is Cape Saunders.

As far as we could see, looking down upon this peninsula, it appeared uniformly covered with wood, and though generally

rather steep and broken, affording many long and gentle slopes, which would offer no impediment on the score of steepness to agriculture. At the very head of the harbour the country is open and grassy. There are some exceedingly pretty spots here, and more than usually picturesque combination of bush and open land. Everything being packed up and arranged, we started the following morning, with a clear sky overhead and the ground white with hoar frost. We had three Maoris with us, ac guides and carriers — one of whom only was a southern Native ; of the other two, one came from Taranaki, the other from Porirua — calling himself a brother of Hiko, of high descent. Our course was about south-west, and led us by an easy enough ascent to the summit of a rounded range of hills, at an elevation of 1000 feet, after having walked some four or five miles. From this point we had an extensive view. We looked down upon a plain stretching away to the southward for at least 20 miles, with an average breadth of five or six, bounded on all sides by naked hills of rounded outline. This plain, we learnt from the Natives, was called the Tairii (Taieri). Its colour was a brownish yellow, broken only by the black hue of one or two patches of wood, J 1 +1-,,-, li 4-- n f n f All ™tV. * *V» ennmni^

j in some places to form lagoons, in others- | to wind about with many sinuosities. To the westward we saw a great extent of level country of an upland but not mountainous*character. Its general level is not very high, but its surface is singularly broken,. lying in rollers, or like the sea in a heavy swell. The appearance and colour of thistract of country indicated that it was partly, though not purely grassy. I believe it will be found to be covered with short fero principally, with a considerable sprinklingof grass, anise, flax, etc. By a rather sudden descent, we reached the plain or valley of Teiari (Taieri), and I estimated our distance from the head of OtaßO Harbour to be about seven miles. The soil at the upper part of the valleyappears exceedingly rich, covered with a. dense succulent-looking vegetation of coarse grass, sowthistle, ti-ti, etc. This rich soil is, however, of very limited extent. Further down the valley, we passed over a few miles of dry, short grass; but, below thisit became marshy, and we had a great deal of -wading up to our knees, besides crossingmany narrow grass-tree swamps, in which. an injudicious step often plunged us to a> much greater depth. Upon a surface of this sort, it was impossible to walk far or long, so that, after having made a distance of about eight miles, we encamped in & grove of trees, of a few acres in extent, at the foot of a range of hills on the eastern side of the valley. Next day we did not advance more than about 10 miles. A large canal-looking: stream of dark peaty water flows close tothe base of the hills, appearing to crossover from the western side of the valley, in which direction there are several sheets* of water. Our walk was a most fatiguingone ; inasmuch as, if we preferred the narrowstrip of level land by the side of the river, we had to wade through fern and! coarse grass over our heads, to say nothing of swamps— while, if we took to the side of the hills, they were so steep, and the footing so bad, that progression was most fatiguing, and tumbles frequent. The Maoris appeared to the full as much inconvenienced as ourselves by the nature of the ground; falling sadly into the rear, and squatting frequently — reminding us of the character in the "Pilgrim's Progress"" named by old 1 John Bunyan, Ready-to-halt. When we asked them if there was no> path, they answered, " There was their highway," pointing to the river; and they told us that no one ever thought of walkingwhere we were, that there was neither profit nor pleasure to be gained by it. In summer, they eaid, they sometimes came up the river in their boats to fish for eels, and? to catch ducks in the moulting season; and? from the head of the navigation they walk across to Otago — a distance of about It miles. There is a famous cover for pigs, too, between the upper part of the Teiarf valley and the sea. This is a large bush on the upper part of a hill called the* saddle-back, which is a very conspicuousobject for a great distance round. The whalers come up the river in their boats, and Kiil great numl>ere of pigs here, they told us. But, between the noint where they leave the river, to reach this pig preserve and the sea, no one ever attempts to walk. After an uncomfortable bivouac — a good 1 deal cf rain having fallen during the night — we trudged on again, still having close upon our right hand the black, sluggish, deep Teiari River, and, on our left, the precipitous grassy banks, with an intervening level space, occasionally only a fe^r yards in width. It was, as yet, a perfect puzzle to me how this large river was to> find its way to the sea, for in whichever direction I looked the valley appeared completely surrounded and shut in by hills. But, after we had walked for about an hour this morning, following down its* banks in a direction nearly due south, it turned abruptly off at a right angle to the left, or towards the sea, and being* joined by a larger stream of the same character from the south-west, the twounited — forming a stately deep river, at least 150 yards in width — entered a narrow gorge in the hills, with almost perpendicular sides, descending to the water'sedge so steeply as not even to leave footing there for a goat. It was Mr Tuckett'soriginal intention to have reached Molyneux by an inland route, but we found ourselves in face of a broad and deep river, flowing straight to the sea, which we had' no possible means of crossing. There was, accordingly, nothing for it but to climb*

up the hills on its northern bank, and make our way along the ridges towards its mouth, and that we proceeded to do. Having gained the summit of these, we had a good view of the Teiari plain, and I have never seen any place which more strongly warrants the supposition _of its once having been a lake. It is, in fact, & deep basin-shaped hollow, surrounded on

| where we had a very comfortable bivouac, [ although the frost wa6 keen. i Opposite the mouth of the Teiari River, at the distance of about a quarter cf a mile, is a small but lofty island, ui>on which there is a whaling station. .»s cur Maoris refused to accompany us any further, although they lad pr j nijod to trke us to Molyneux. Mr Tuckett ornl I

many jcars in the southern parts of New Zealand, engaged in sealing- and in the whale fishery. In common with many others sirnijarK engaged, his has been a life of great adventure, hardship, and c'anger. Upon one occasion he was wrecked upon the Chatham Islands, and made his passage to New Zealand with his fellow survivors in an open boat. He gave us much interesting information about those parts of the coast known as yet only to the sealers ; and we had many stories of " movina accident of various sorts, and hair-breadth escapes. Our aboriginals at length consented to proceed with us on being paid for the work they had already done, and we set off to make our way by the beach to Molvneux Bay. The distance from the Teiari Island is about thirty miles, but it took us three days to walk it. The first two days it was a constant scramble over rugged and sharp rocks, fissured by many a deep chasm. Of the country on our right we saw but little ; it rises from the water's edge in long ridges, with deep separating

miles back, and covered with a most luxuriant growth of flax and long coarse grass Judging from the character of the vegetation, according to the experience w'lich we have of New Zealand soils, I should pronounce this to be of first-rate fertility. : The tide having ebbed, we descended to j the base of the cliff 6, and walked along a natural pavement formed by the horizontal strata. We wore no f long in perceiving indications of coal in black streaks in the sandstone, and thin beds of richly bituminous shale ; and we picked up several rounded nieces of pure coal cast up by the waves. But, on turning a projected point, we found ourselves in face of a black wall of cliff, which, upon examination, turned out to be pure coal. In thickness, what we saw of it could not be less than 18 feet, while, as the pavement on which we stood was coal as well, extending out to meet the waves, it was impossible to say how much deeper it went. Mr Tuckett was of opinion that in quality it was very superior to the ordinary New Zeahnd coal : but. in thi6 opinion, I could not agree with him. as it appeared to me to have the same conchoidal fracture and resinous lustre as the Massacre Bay coal, as well as that which I have seen from other districts in this country. What was rather remarkable, was its nearness to the (surface. Above it lay a bed of about 20 feet of a conglomerate of small quartz pebbles, on the top of which the soil commenced. We were not able to estimate the horizontal extent of the bed. What we saw ranged only for a few hundred yards, disappearing in some small sullies, which at that point intersect the cliffs. After walking a mile or two further, we stumbled upon an object of equal attraction to the lover of nature. This was an entire and perfectly fresh finback whale,

I from its great activity and power of rapid | movement in the water, it is 6eldom pursued by the whalers. The animal has beon named by Cuvier the Rorqualus Australis, or in English, the Rorqual of the Southern Seas. It is very little known to zoologists ; and it is only within a few years that its existence has been ascertained by the scientific. A short distance further, and the rising ground, which had hitherto been close upon our right hand, turned oft towards the interior; and wo had before us the long beach at the bottom of Molyneux Bay, with a large extent of level country behind it. On mounting to the top of some low sandhills, we came in view of the Molyneux River— a majestic stream of water about a quarter of a mile broad, deep, with well defined banks, flowing close to us parallel to the sea, with a steady, gentle current. Looking up it we couid trace its course through a large extent of alluvial land, by the thick fringe of ti-ti trees upon its hanks, and by numerous proves of wood, producing a most picturesque effect. At the distance of about 10 miles inland, gentle slopes, apparentlygrassy, rose to a moderate elevation, behind which no mountains were visible, save in one direction towards the-north-west, where the white summits of a very far distant rai.ge showed themselves. Following down the banks of the river for a few miles, we fortunately met with a couple of Maoris paddling about in a dingay, who put u6 across it. The schooner was at anchor in the bay waiting for us; and, as the boat was on shore, we were not lonjr of making nur way on board, fully qualified to appreciate the comforts of knives and forks and a good night's rest according to the customs of civilised society. As we had occasion to revisit Molyneux, I shall postpone my remarks upon the district.

all sides by hills, with the exception of the narrow gorgxj of wnich I have spoken; and here the continuity of tne lange appears to have been broken by one ot those violent movements of the ctrata, which undoubtedly have been frequent in the geological history of New Zealand. &nd a deep rent has been formed, through which the waters have found an outlet to the sea. About the upper third of the Teiari basin is, in my opinion, available, but the two lower thirds can hardly be called terra firma, being, in fact, an immense gras6-tree swamp, . througn which canals of black sluggish water wind in various directions, and interspersed whh stagnant lagoons. And I very much fear that this swamp is not 6usceptible of being drained, for its level is not above that of the sea. The tide ebbs and flows in the Teiari River for many miles up the valloy. and in the lagoons with which it communicates. It is a perfect sea cf brown grass-tree tops, only relieved by the occasional green of a flax bush or ti-ti growing; along the sides of the canal*, where the ground has some consistence. Along the edges, however, of this bisinshaped valley, much valuable land will be found; and the surrounding hills are, generally speaking, well grassed, with a fair sprinkling of anise ; but there is a great want of wood in the district. The distance from where we commenced the •ascent of the hills over to the sea is about five miles. The surface we found very broken and hilly, with "many land-slips on the Teiari side of the range. Toward* •the sea, the descent is gradual, by lciig ridges, with steep intervening gullies. generally wooded. The soil here appeared ■Of fine quality, judging from » vegetation of tutu, fern, and flax, etc., so luxuriant that we forced our way through it w ; th difficulty. A cold southerly wind was "blowing, with cutting showere of sleet. This, and forcing their way through the bushes, although they followed Mr Tuckett and myself, made the Maoris so miserable that they said they were ready to cry, and sat down and tore up their calico shirts to make leggings, to defend themselves f?cm the briars. We reached the seashore in the ■afternoon, and took possession of a cave,

crested over to the island to see what was to be done. Close to where vye landed, an enormous whale's head, stripped of its blubber was anchored, which I mistook for a large rock, and on a projecting ledge the process of trying out was going on busily. We were rushed up a species of wooden railway by a following 6ea. which thundered into foam about us, a number of men being ready to seize the beat and drag it high and dry. We then

ascended a sort of staircase O'.mg the cr'vc of a steep oliff , \\ ith a rude balustrade to hold on by; and. on a little platform at the top, found a number of grass Lutu, the habitations of the whalers. We were here most hospitably entertained by a Mr Chasland, the head man on the island, while his active Maori wife acquitted herself most respectably of the household duties of cooking and bed-making. Mr Chasland has been resident for a good

gullies, and is clothed with such a dense vegetation of various sorts, that though we sometimes, in despair at the difficulties of our pat'i, turned up to it to seek a better route, we socn gladly returned with torn clothes and panting sides to the naked rocks. I should think that the soil here is fertile, and available for a considerable distance back from the water's edge. On the third day our walk was of a different character: we had left the rugged

and higbJv inclined strata, and passed o\er several miles of beach, consisting of small rounded quartz pebbles, of uniform si?e, of which I took a considerable supply to serve as shot, when we were stopped by a perpendicular line of cliffs, formed by a vertical section of horizontal strata of soft sandstone, at the base of which the immense rollers of the sea broke with a magnificent uproar. The country above these cliffs is perfectly level for a few

whien had apparently 1 cen cast upon the beach by the violence of the gale which we had experienced a few days pieviously. Its skin was very much scratched in places; but, beyond this, we could discover no injury that might have occasioned its death. We estimated its length, by pacing as carefully as vye could, to be 57 feet. It is at a glance distinguished from the black or right whale by the fin upon its back, as well as several other peculiarities of structure.

lr* form is altogether more lengthened and taper; in particular, the head is shallower, with a long snout, m consequence of which the baleen or whalebone is short and of comparatively little value. Its belly, which is white, is fluted by grooves which run from beneath its lower jaw to near the tail. These grooves are of a pale rosy tint. The blubber of this animal is never above a few inches in thickness, and yieldls but little oil ; in consequence of this, and

On the night of the Bth of May, we were obliged, as it commenced blowing, to weigh anchor and stand out to s-ea. Next morning we were to tho southward of Molyneux Ba.v . opposite a bold rocky coast, behind which is a hilly, though not high country, entirely covered with forest. Mr Tuckett, Mr Drake, and myself, went on shore at a whaling station called Tautuki, about 20 miles south of Molyneux. A small river runs into the sea here, forming a boat harbour, which is further protected by a projecting ledge of rock. Ihere are about 15 men engaged in the fishery here, manning two boats. They live in very gcod cottages, each man having at least one Maori woman as a helpmate, and most of them have some ground in cultivation. Altogether, there are about 10 acre 3 under crop, and the potatoes are of first-rate quality. There is no level land here, but the elevations are gradual and not lofty — many of them tablo-topped ; the slopes on the sides of which the strata crop out are stoep, but in the direction of their dip (sufficiently gentle. The country is uniformly wooded. I made an excursion into it with my gun to cater for dinner, and succeeded in shooting several ducks and piwon-s. In the woods there are not many rod and white pines, but a large proportion of rima. A tree, which I have not seen in this part of the country, is also sufficiently abundant there. Its leaf is like the rata. but its stem is clean and cylindrical, of a white colour, a good deal fissured. The Native name of it is pokaka, and with the bark of it a black dye is made, which is equal to the dye of the hinau. I may mention also another dye with which I saw flax stained of a rich reddish brown colour at Molyneux. It is obtained from a shrub or small tree named toa-toa, which is said to be rather scarce. There were several trees in the woods besides, which were quite new to me; and I have nowhere seen a larger proportion of tree-ferns, which, considering the latitude, is rather remarkable. We were told that snow sometimes lies en the ground here to the water's edge for a couple of days ; and, on one occasion, it had been seen of the depth cf 15 inches. From Tautuki we proceeded in our whale-

boats to Waikawa, about 14 miles to the southward. The cliffs along the coast are exceedingly grand — the old red sandstone of which the country here is composed cropping out in bold precipices of great height, against which the long southerly roll breaks like thunder, reverberating in the caverns with the noise of distajrt cannon, and streaming down from -their slippery sides like long white hair. The entrance to the harbour of Waikawa is exceedingly narrow, formed by a bold rocky point on one side, and a sandy beach on the other. There is a rock not far from the mouth of it on which the sea breaks, and there are said to be rocks also in the channel. Inside, it expands into a large sheet of shallow water, four or five miles 'ong by about two wide, into which flows the river of the same name. A very strong tide, as might be exp&cted, rushes through the narrow entrance, on which account, as well as others, it is a very unfit place for vessels of any size although, when there was a whaling station there, a few years ago, several ships entered and left it, I believe, with safety. It is known in Sydney by the name of the Success River — so called after the first vessel which entered it. "We had much difficulty in getting in, opposed by the strong current setting out of it, as well as by a violent wind which blew off shore. After straining at our oars for a considerable time with all our might, hardly advancing, sometimes even appearing to recede, we at length, to our great satisfaction, doubled the point, and jumped ashore in smooth water.

The country round Waikawa, like that at Tautuki, consists of wooded hills, there being no level or open land. In the hopes of seeing something better, we made an excursion up the Waikawa River. At the head of the large expanse of tide water it is a sluggish dark brown current, but soon becoming of a more lively character, it flows with a clear stream of the tint into which an angler would long to cast his fly, between perfectly defined high banks, from which the native acacia and the endless variety of New Zealand evergreens bend down till they meet the water. Between the foliage that thus hemmed us in occasional glimpses were obtained of lofty banks of wood brightly illuminated by a brilliant sun, while at every turn of the river as it serpentined about a new landscape disclosed itself, of the same character truly, but still of constant beauty and wild freshness. At some distance ahead of us we heard the fall of water, and soon reached a little cascade of four or five feet in height, the first thing of the kind I have seen in New Zealand. We were not, however, in a humour to be stopped, so, having unloaded the boat, we pulled it up over the fall, and about a mile further came to a second, at least 10 feet high. We surmounted this one also and several others, and ascended the river some distance further, until its channel became so broken that to proceed was hopeless. We camped for the night on its banks, in a. valley the lower part of which was poor open grass land, the surrounding hills being wooded. Mr Tuckett ascended one of them, but saw nothing to repay him for his exertion.

Waikawa is totally uninhabited, but the traces of its former occupation by a whaling party are to be seen in old trypots and oil casks and bones of whales.

There was at one time, I believe, a Native settlement here, and_ their clearings are still to be seen, but it is some years since they inhabited the place. Boisterous weather prevented the schooner from nearing the mouth of the harbour, so that it was the 15th before we got on board, after a long ipull out to her Proceeding southward, the coast about 10 miles from Waikawa becomes perfectly level, and continues so to the Bluff, which is the south-eastern corner of the Middle Island. On the 17th we landed the Rev. Mr Wohlers, at Robuki. where he hoped to find a field 1 for the exercise of his benevolent intentions towards the Natives.

Robuki is a long, low, and fertile island opposite the mouth of Foveaux'e Straits, and is the headquarters of the Natives to the southward. Its average population was stated to us at 200 souls ; but it fluctuates very much, as the Natives are great travellers, and well provided with capital large boats, in which they jaunt about in pursuit of profit or amusement. Everyone to whom we spoke agreed as to the most unaccountable fact of their rapidly diminishing in numbers. Having left Robuki, we stood across to the entrance of Foveaux's Straits. On their northern side is the Bluff, having the appearance of a pyramid-shaped hill, three or four hundred feet high, Tising at the termination of the long and level beach

white with snow, and of a most rugged and fantastic outline. Between Waikawa and the Bluff, a distance of 30 miles, and about 16 miles from the latter place, is bhe mouth of the Totoes River, on the banks of which there is said to be a great deal of fine land. The proper name of the river is the Mataura, and of its mouth, Owi; but a Native of the name of Totoe having lived l there, with whom the whalers were familiar, they used to call it Totoes'6 Place; until at length the name of Totoes became current both among the whites and the Maoris. The river is a large one, and flows through a large tract of low country, which extends in a northerly or northwesterly direction behind the wooded hills which abut on the coast south of Molyeeux,

southern Natives of whom Tuawaike is chief. I could not learn where they commerced walking, whether it was from the shores of Cook's Straits or from Port Cooper. However, according to the Native who told us the story with great enthusiasm and much pantomime, they were two years upon their journey, and many of them perished from cold and hunger. To support life, on some occasions they were obliged to kill several children and eat them. At length they reached Tuturau, a dwindled and enfeebled band, but strong enough to commence an indiscriminate massacre of the few inhabitants of that village. Having accomplished this, they stepped into their places, and fatigued with all the hardships and dangers they

| had encountered, they seemed for a time,, at least, to have forgotten the original object of their expedition, and to desirerepose. But one Native, whom they werenot aware of, had made hie escape, and travelling, as may be supposed, with theutmost speed to Robuki, communicated) the intelligence of what had happened, and spread the alarm that Rauparaha wascoming down upon them by this moatr unlooked-for route. Robuki was in a ferment, an immediate gathering of warriors and burnishing of arms took place ; and red ochre was at a premium. They crossed to the mainland in their canoes, and made the best of their way to Tuturau. At dawn of day, one finesummer morning, after a ijreat deal of creeping, skulking, and circumspection, they had completely surrounded the village—themselves quite invisible. The principal man among their enemies was discovered! asleep in the verandah outside his hut. Some slight noise fell -upon hie quick ear, and he started up. He was immediately shot. The others rushed confusedly out of the huts, but were picked off by their securely posted enemies. Several were* taken prisoners, and among these was* Paramatta, now residing at Wakapuaka. In his great clemency, Bloody Jack spared f his life, but out off both his ears, and' 'made a slave of him. To return to our J geography: Having rounded the Bluff headland, the coast trends away to th© north-west, skirted by bare rocky hills, similar to that which forms the Bluff, for five or six miles. It then turns in to theNew River, and is succeeded 1 by a sandy beach nearly 20 miles long, at the westernextremity of which is Jacob's River, theintervening country being quite low,, though diversified by very gentle undulations. To the westward of Jacob's River, high Tocky capes appear to succeed one another till lost in the biue distance. On the 18th of May, we entered t hemouth of the New River, with a light westerly breeze, and ascending about a mile, cast anchor. There is plenty of water in the channel, but the passage isnarrow, with a. strong tide. "Vessels cannot go much higher than we were, as thewater soon shoals. The Native name of the mouth of the New River is Omaw'e. It is a bleak and uninviting-looking place. On one hand (to the southward) you havehigh banks covered with scrub; on theother hand is an extensive shoal, upon which the breakers are constantly tumbling* and foaming; and behind this are thewliite sandhills which skirt the low coast between the New River and Jacob's River. With a Maori for our guide, Mr Wither, Mr Wilkinson, and n;yself set off in theship's jolly-boat to ascend the river as high as we could. After pursuing an easterly course for a couple of miles, we turned round to the northward, but could see nothing like a river — the sheet of water being much more like a large lagoon somemiles across, bounded by a low forest country. We afterwards learnt that theriver divides into two branches: the onewhich contains the principal body of fresh, water ie the Oreti. It turns off to the left as you ascend, runs parallel to the coast for some miles, and then strikes intothe interior. We missed the mouth of thisbranch, and ascended the other, named the Waiopai, which is little else than a

which I have mentioned already. On the southern side of the straits Stewart's Island rises with steep wooded slopes, to an elevation of 2600 feet. This was the height found by a trigonometrical calculation — guessing, of course, at the length of the base. The highest land in the island is immediately above the straits. To the southward, it gradually sinks down in a wedge shape, becoming low and level. The level land to the north of the Bluff is not visible, from the deck of a vessel at a .greater distance than a few miles, and appears to extend a long way into the interior. Distant langes of mountains are seen behind it. the most remote densely

and communicates with the low country which extends inland behind that bay. Three days' journey up the river in a whaleboat is the Native settlement of Tuturau, a land of plenty according to the accounts of the Natives, possessing a most fertile soil, and waters containing an inexhaustible supply of eels. We had planned an expedition to this place, when most unfortunately severe weather 6et in, which prevented it. Tuturau possesses also a certain celebrity, as being the most southerly point gained by a body of northern Natives belonging to Rauparaha' 6 tribe, who made their way by land to that place, with the intention of attacking the

large mud flat, covered at high water in its lower parts, but, when the tide is out, exposing an immense surface of brown rushes, intersected by stagnant canals. At a distance of about 12 miles from the sea this expanse of water terminates, a low forest country closing upon it, and supplying it with streams of inconsiderable size from different directions. Weather of the most boisterous character detained us in the same place for three days. The wind was so violent, accompanied by heavy rain, occasionally sleet, that it was impossible to make any use of our boat ; and, from the same cause, we saw but little of the surrounding country. It is mostly wooded, with dear spaces here and there, covered with a poor vegetation of wire-grass, and nearly, though not entirely, level. It seemed to me that the worst soil was near the water's edge, and that it improved as you advanced inland. At a height of a good many feet above the level of the water, and at some distance from its present margin, there are low ■sandhills, end other traces of the sea ■oooupying a lower position at present with reference to the land than it formerly has had. Between the present and what we assume to have been the former water level, the soil seems very poor, and thus a belt of barren land 6kirts the sea, and also in places extends into the forest in open glades, which are universally the lowest ground, oe evident by the stream-

lets which meander through them. But there is a great deal of fine, gently undulating forest land here, and the soil in all situations, where from superior level it has not been removed by former action of water, indicated fertility. While we lay in the New River, Mr Tuckett made excursions to the Bluff and to Jacob's River. Not having seen the Bluff Harbour, except from a distance, I can say little about it. It was universally admitted to be a fine harbour— secure and capacious. A great extent of it is a mud flat, dry at low tides, very different from the extensive sheet of water which at other times it presents. The waters of the New River and of the Bluff approach within four or five miles of one another, the intervening country being low, poor, and swampy. Jacob's River, about 20 miles west of the New River, is said to contain a very # considerable body of fresh water, but it is not accessible for anything larger than very small schooners. The coast between the New River and Jacob's River is a sandy beach of regular outline, forming a large, and rather deep bight. The indentation on the old maps in this situation, at -he head of which is marked the Knowsley River, bears more resemhlance to the reality, than the bulging sweep of the coast line here in the most recent maps — that attached to Dr Dieffenbach's work. In the old maps, too, it may be observed that above this indentation

is marked, "Lagoons na\igable for large ships." Ihe Natives still tell of inland lakes, which may be the origin of this. To the west of Jacob's River, a river is said to flow into the sea opposite Centre Island, which has its source at no very great distance in an inland lake. This lake, by the Maori accounts, is like the sea, extending a great distance to the northward, within a very few day 6' walk of Jackson's Bay, on the west side of the island.

From the high land at the Bluff, or above the mouth of the New River, in fine weather the view must be most extensive and striking Unfortunately, during the 10 days we lay at anchor, we had not one day during which the horizon was uniformly clear, and could obtain only partial glimpses of the landscape. In the foreground looking to the north, the eye' ranges over a great extent of level country between Jacob's River and the New River, partly open, partly forest. On the right hand is seen the sheet of water of the Bluff, and the level district extending to the north of it till it rises "by gentle ascents into the wooded hills above Waikawa. _ But behind the coast in this direction, the level country sinks down below the horizon, or in the clearest weather the faint blue summits of a far distant range are dimly visible. Turning to the west, a mountainous country rises behind the level land, with all the

magnificent features of forests, precipices, and stupendous and fantastic summits densely white with snow that never melts. From what we were told, the climate about the Bluff is inclement. Gales of wind are frequent, accompanied by heavy and lasting rains. The cold is said never to be very severe. On the 28th we dropped down with the tide, and stood over for Paterson's River jn Stewart's Island. The width of the straits is not more than 15 or 16 miles, but the distance to Paterson'6 River, which is not at their narrowest part, is considerably greater. The numerous islands Jaid down in the maps in the middle of the stiaits, rendering their navigation apparently intricate and dangerous, have no existence. In fact, Foveaux's Straits are perfectly open and safe. But a short distance from Stewart's Island, there are many little rocky islets, between which there sweeps a strong tide, so that the approach to Paterson's River is dangerous to a 6t ranger, and perhaps to every one, unless there is a breeze which will give command of the vessel. Paterson's River, called also by the whalers the Neok, is a first-rate harbour, and a very pretty place. The numerous islands which lie off its mouth, and its deeply indented shores, form as pleasing a combination of water, rock, and wooded slopes aa can well be pictured. But, excepting the harbour, there is little about the place cal-

! culated to be valuable or useful. The , soil seems good, and yields excellent potatoes; but the surface of the country | is too broken to be available for agrionfI ture. Messrs Barnicoat and Davison made j an expedition up the river which flows into the harbour, but found no level or available land. We were informed that about 70 or 80 white men live on Stewart's Island, and about as many Natives. Paterson's River appears to be their head' quarters. We were much .gratified by seeing here an instance of very considerable enterprise, and! this was a vessel of 40 tons burden, nearly finished. The builder of this vessel is a Captain Joas, assisted by a single carpenter. These two men have been two year? at their task, and were just on the point of reaping the reward of their industry and perseverance, as they expected to launch her in a week. Captain Wing, who accompanied us on shore, pronounced the craft to be most substantially and well constructed. The white men in Stewart's Island, judging from the specimens we saw, live in a tolerably comfortable manner, without much sweat of their brow. They have good substantial cottages, which are kept in a very tidy state by their Maori wives, and abundance of pigs, potatoes, and poultry. No whaling is carried on here, but what they require, and cannot produce themselves, they obtain in. exchange for fresh provisions, with which they supply vessels that occasionally call, or for sealskins, which they now and then pick up. On the Ist of June, we were again at anchor in Molyneux Bay, and Messrs Tuckett, Barnicoat, and Wilkinson, end myself landed there to walk to Otago, Mr Tuckett wishing to make himself 'better acquainted with the interjacent country, which appeared to him the most valuable district that he had seen. We started from the mouth of the river, being on its southern shore, and walked the first day about 12 miles in a westerly direction, skirting as it were the base of the hills which descend upon the level plain at the lower part of the river. The next day we struck more to the north, and walked about 10 miles over a country which certainly deserves the name of downs, to a place called Ivikatea, where we had appointed a rendezvous with Mr Wiltshire, who kindly brought the heaviest of our things up the river to this place in his boat. Ivikatea is at the point where the Molyneux River divides into two branches the Kuau and the Matau, which water a delta of low level land extending from that point to the sea. The two branohes of the river unite further down, thus enclosing an island, which is called Bloody Jack's Island, because that gentleman was born upon it, and claims it. Leaving Ivikatea and crossing the river in a boat, Messrs Barnicoat, Wilkinson, and myself proceeded to a place called Kaitongata, on the bonks of a small lake, one of two to the north of Molyneux Bay, which communicate with one another, and with the river, by a deep canal-like stream ; while Mr Tuckett was to reach the same point by water. Through the ignorance of our guide, we had to walk through a swamp at least four miles across, up to the tops of our legs in water dose upon the freezing point, in seme places encrusted with ice; and were at length stonTied by a stream which was quite nn-

fordable. At this point our Maori, though a professing Christian, showed that he was not altogether weaned from his heathenish euperetitions. The place happened to be

tabooed, as also it would appear everything about it. He would not permit us to light a fire, nor would he smoke, which was the only species of nourishment we had, until long after dark, when the boat arrived and released us from our comfortless position About a mile north of the Kaitongata lagoon, i 6 another called Rangitoto, in the dialect of the country, Rakitoto, as the former is named Kaitakata. This is a very pretty sheet of water, quite a lake in fact, about seven miles long with a breadth of one or two. Its shores are firm and well defined, and the 6urounding country has the general appearance of pastoral swelling uplands. Our route lay along the banks of this lake, the greatest length of which lies in a north and 6outh direction. When leaving it we ascended some very gentle slopes of rich land, still pursuing a northerly course, having gained the top of which, we came in view of a large basinshaped plain, of which we had not heard a single word from any of the white men on the coast, though alwaje endeavouring to extract from them what information we could regarding -the geography of the country. This plain our Maoris told us was Tokomairero. It 6 colour was the uniform yellow of dry grass, and its length seemed to be about 12 miles, with an average width of four or five. Night overtook us looking down upon our discovery, and, as there was no wood within reach, there was nothing for its but to camp where we were. With considerable difficulty we collected as many twigs of small shrubs as eufjSced to boil some tea, after which we immediately turned into our blankets. The night proved one of the coldest we had during our whole excursion; and when the morning dawned we rose stiff and benumbed and white with hoar frost. Our shoes were frozen as hard as marble; and, miserable as- we were, we could not but laugh at the futile attempts to thrust our feet into them. It at length 6truck us to set fire to the few twigs upon which wo had slept during the night, and in this way, having at length thawed our shoes and got our feet into them, we started, a dense frosty fog hanging over the ground, and completely obscuring the landscape. Towards midday, however, the sun broke out, and the weather proved brilliant. The leneth of the plain is _in a north and south direction. Having walked along it, we «assed over an easy ascent of about 100 feet, and found ourselves lookine down upon a lake named the Waihola at the --nuthorn oxtremitv of the Teiari Plan. The 1-r ■' '1. -— V.uts La=

I every indication of fertility, while the swelling bare hill* which rose around us reminded me \ cry muc.i of some of the pastoral districts of Scotland, Peebleshire for

instance. We found a nice grove of wood on the banks of the Waihola Lake, and had a most comfortable bivouac. Out of the Waihola Lake, and some other lagoons

in that direction, the principal branch of the Teiari River rises. We followed down its banks, at the fcot of steep hills, upon its eastern she re, till we reached its june-

tion with the branch coming from the northward, which Mr Tuckett and I upon a previous occasion had traced. We accordingly stood exactly opposite the spot

where we had before been. Here we were fortunate enough to find a mogi on the i banks of the ri\er, in which frail bark one ! of our Maoris proceeded down to. its mcuth, and undertook to bring up canoes for us, while we took possession, of a bark hut and waited his return. The following morning he came up, accompanied by Te Raki, the principal and almost only Native of the distiict, each of them in a small canoe. I have already 6poken of this gorge of the Teiari, but, upon this occasion, we had a better view of it than before. The river, broad and deep, enters a rent in the hills, which descend on either 6ide with inaccessible precipices into its black waters. Above, the hills are high, rugged, and densely wooded, so that, as we sat in our ca-noee and gently glided down with' the tide, we could not but congratulate ourselves that we had been saved what must havo proved a most fatiguing walk. From the mouth of the Teiari River we proceeded northward by the beach. Long ridges descend to the water's edge here, with steep intervening wooded gullies. Tho land seems feitile, but its surface is rather une\on. We left the beach at the mouth of a stream named the Kaikarai, from which a walk cf about six miles brought us to the head of Otago Harbour. We had an opportunity in the latter part of our walk of becoming acquainted with some of the resources of

the Maoris. Our provisions were exhausted with the exception of a little rice, whioh we shared with them, but this they thought rather unpalatable food. So, having6tumblcd upon the remains of a. whale on the beach, they cut off a large slice of the blubber, whioh was cooked in a Maori oven, and eaten with great relish. The next morning the dog- caught a rat, at which their eyes sparkled, as an alderman's might do on the contemplation of a turtle. The rat was immediately spitted, roasted, and eaten, after grace had devoutly been said over the dieh. Twoof our party had the curiosity to taste, and pronounced it far from bad living: but we were all rather sharp set. Our whaleboat, accoiding to appointment, arrived for us, and having been out exactly 10 days, we regained the ship. On the shore opposite to where she lay, already some appearance of the infant New Edinburgh showed itself. Tents were pitched here and there. Bricks were being landed on a temporary jetty; and a great number of Maoris had collected^ whose fires, surrounded by a dusky circle of blankets, sent up numerous smokes, while their perpetual discussions about the value of the land they were going to sell caused a din of human vo : ces in the wilderness forests of Otago, the like of which had perhaps never before broke their silence.