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TRAVELS
IN
NEW ZEALAND;
WITH CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE
GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, BOTANY, AND
NATURAL HISTORY OF THAT COUNTRY.
By ERNEST DIEFFENBACH, M. D.,
Late Naturalist to the New Zealand Company
IN TWO VOLUMES. --VOL. I.
LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1843.
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REPRINT PUBLISHED BY
CAPPER PRESS
CHRISTCHURCH. NEW ZEALAND
1974
Printed offset by The Caxton Press, Christchurch
from the copy in the Canterbury Public Library, Christchurch
London: Printed by William CLOWES and SONS, Stamford street
[PREFACE]
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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 impossible; 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 picturesque 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-
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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 colonization, 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 contemplating the arrangements of Nature in distributing 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]
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CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
PART I--COOK'S STRAITS.
CHAPTER I.
General Remarks.... 1
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 Valley 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 . .. 124
CHAPTER VII.
Taranaki, or Mount Egmont. . 131
CHAPTER VIII.
District from Taranaki to Mokau . . 166
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CHAPTER IX.
The Climate of Cook's Straits and New Zealand in general . . . . 112
CHAPTER X.
General Considerations on Cook's Straits . .. 185
CHAPTER XL
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--Rangaunu--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 XVII.
Waimate, Lake Maupere, and Thermal Springs . . . 243
CHAPTER XVIII.
Bay of Islands.... 256
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CHAPTER XIX.
Wairoa, Kaipara . . . 260
CHAPTER XX.
Gulf of Hauraki--Coromandel Harbour--Waiho, or the Thames--Waitemata Harbour--Auckland . . . 211
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 . . . 331
CHAPTER XXV.
Rotu-kaua--Rotu-Mahana--Tera-wera . . . 374
CHAPTER XXVI.
Rotu-Kareka--Rotu-rua--Rotu-iti . . . 386
CHAPTER XXVII.
Journey to Tauranga . . . 398
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Journey into the Valley of the Waiho, or Thames--Mata-mata--Piako . . . 409
CHAPTER XXIX.
Some Remarks on the Botany of New Zealand . . . 419
[LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS]
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ILLUSTRATIONS.
VOL. I.
View of Taupo........ Frontispiece.
Mount Egmont........ To face page 131
Rua Pahu.......... 331
VOL. II.
Te Waro.......... Frontispiece.
Balaena Antipodum....... To face page 177
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