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bound together with bush-lawyer, Parsonsia, and kohia (the native passion-flower) vines. Often on some high dead tree-stumps one of the small ratas has climbed to show its wealth of orange-red blossoms. If it be spring, large snow-white clusters of the native Clematis will also be seen here. On the fringe of the forest the large-flowered New Zealand myrtle is a common shrub. The white flowers with their numerous long stamens are very pretty, but the chief charm of this shrub is its green-to-bronze-to-red puckered leaves, which make it an ornament for any garden. Another beautiful small tree plentiful in this bush-is the putaputaweta. The trunk of this tree is often much tunnelled with the bores of the mokoroa, which is the larva of a large green moth, and after the moth has come forth the holes are frequently occupied by that fierce*armoured warrior of the cricket family—the weta. The puta injthe name is the Maori for " hole."»\.The tree bears a great profusion of small white flowers, and the foliage—often variegated—makes this tree very ornamental. The kohekohe is a common member of this bush. The botanical name of this tree is Dysoxylum spectabile, and, as this name implies, it is a very handsome tree: its large leaves are unequally pinnate, and are a glossy yellowish-green in colour ; the flowers are a dull waxy-white ; they are succeeded by large green capsules, which burst when ripe'and disclose seeds in "a brilliant orange pulp. This tree has no other relation in New Zealand, and must have reached here from the tropics by an ancient landconnection or have been carried here by ocean-currents. The Queensland cedar, the valuable mahogany, and the cedar of cigar-boxes are all relatives of our kohekohe. In this country the timber of the kohekohe has never to any extent been made use of, but it is, nevertheless, a beautiful timber, and of use for the same purposes as the Queensland cedar. An extremely interesting small tree of this bush is the kaikomako, which, like the kohekohe, also has no relative in this country. In its juvenile stage it is a mass of slender branchlets all interlaced, and bearing a few small three-lobed, wedge-shaped leaves. In time from this tangled mass one or more stems shoot up, and eventually form a small tree with leaves 3 in. to 4 in. long. When the extremes of the two forms are seen apart none but the expert would believe that the two plants are the same. With its adult glossy-green leaves and white panicles of fragrant flowers this tree is very ornamental. There are many other plants in this reserve which could be mentioned with appreciation were there space. Most lowland plants of this province are represented in some part or other, and the reserve, besides being a delightful and beautiful pleasure resort, is also a fair living museum of the lowland plant life of this province. At present, owing to the want of tracks, much of the beauty of the reserve is not disclosed to the average visitor, as, generally, such willhot subject their unwrinkled costumes to the ordeal of scrambling through a tangle of supplejacks, bush-lawyers, and other obstructionist members of this association of plants. Were a few tracks made through the wooded part of this reserve many more people would be enabled to view and enjoy the charming scenery of this natural botanical garden. Day's Bay. Day's Bay is on the eastern side of Port Nicholson, about six miles and a quarter from the Wellington wharves. In ordinary weather the Eastbourne Borough ferry-steamer does this distance in about forty minutes, and on a fine day the trip over is most enjoyable. At first, after leaving the wharf, one's interest is centred on the huge ocean-going steamers discharging the manufactured products of the Old World, and taking in the raw products of this new land ; or, perchance, there may be resting at the wharf one or more of the grey s'm-built cruisers that ensure a safe passage for the huge merchantmen. As the distance increases, the eye wanders to the vast aggregation of buildings called " the city " ; then follows the line of grass-covered hills from Karori to Petone. and from there beyond the Hutt Valley to the Tararua Ranges, where the lofty peaks Alpha and Hector (often snow-capped) arrest the eye. Turning easterly from there the Rimutaka and Mount Matthews ranges come into view ; then appears Pencarrow Head, on which may still be seen the wreck of the luckless ocean tramp " Devon " —a grim reminder to the outgoing sailor of the risks his calling entails. Turning a few more degrees south-westerly, on a clear day may be seen the noble snow-clad peak Tapuaenuku, the loftiest mountain of the ranges on the eastern side of the South Island. By now Somes Island and Ward Island are passed, and Day's Bay lies before us, basking in the warm sunshine of an April afternoon. It is difficult to obtain reliable information concerning the early history of Day's Bay. Mr. J. H. Williams tells me that in the early days the bay was called " Hawtrey Bay." Mr. Williams bought the land about twenty-five years ago from a Mr. Downs, who was the first European to acquire the land from the Maoris. About the time of, or a little prior to, the European settlement of Wellington there was a small Maori pa on the spur that forms the northern arm of the bay, but the inhabitants of it were slaughtered by the formidable and ruthless Rauparaha ; and Mr. Williams states that skulls and other bones were often found by his men when digging on the flat where the school now stands. The reserve starts at some few chains from high water, and extends easterly up the ridge and down the far side to Gollan's Valley. The total area of the reserve is about 623 acres, but about one-half only of this area is forest; the balance is principally open scrub and fern land of no scenic interest. The reserve is roughly bisected by a high ridge running north and south, and from this ridge several steep spurs and gullies descend on the eastern side to Gollan's Valley, and on the western side to the harbour. In most of the gullies there are rapid-flowing rills of perennial water. Viewed from the distance, the bush at Day's Bay is of somewhat sombre hue, and does not possess the charm of the bright greens of the European deciduous forest. As one draws nearer and nearer, however, this sombre canopy of'the southern beeches (the " birches "of the pioneer) is found to cover lower trees arid shrubs of every possible gradation of green. There are two beeches present here, the red-beech {Nothofagus fused), with large toothed leaves, and the black-beech (Nothofagus Solanderi),