CHAPTER IV.
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CHAPTER IV.
AS in introducing the subject of the discovery of New Zealand and its subsequent history it was deemed to be only in accordance with the demands of justice that we should yield a passing recognition of the claims of the early voyagers, so the reader's indulgence is here solicited to this elementary introduction to the whereabouts of our chosen isle. It is earnestly to be hoped that the geologist, while examining these deposits, may not be inspired with a wish to ply his hammer on the author's head, nor the botanist, while wandering among the weeds which are here offered as the flora of the country, be inclined to prune too fiercely and without discrimination. An attempt has been made to present only what is valuable, but the specimens may be so ill selected, and the bouquet so ill arranged, as to afford little information, and less interest and pleasure; and therefore it will be judicious to propitiate the reader beforehand, in order that a liberal supply of patience and forbearance may be forthcoming, if needed.
The numerous islands which lie scattered over the Pacific Ocean have been divided, by continental geographers, into Western, Central, and Eastern Oceania. Western Oceania comprises Sumatra, the Philippines,
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and other islands north of Australia; Central Oceania embraces Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, and the adjacent islands; and Eastern Oceania, usually called Polynesia, comprehends all the remaining islands from the south of Japan and the east of the Philippines to the island of Salu.
New Zealand is comprised within 34.25 and 47.20 south latitude, and 166 and 178.35 east longitude. It is divided into three islands: the northern, or New Ulster; the middle, or New Munster; and the southern, or New Leinster: a division, perhaps, suggested out of compliment to St. Patrick, as New Zealand, like Erin, was once covered with dense forests and like it also is devoid of any noxious reptiles. The length of the three islands, following a central line, is about 1100 miles, and the average breadth under 100: they are separated by straits of no great average width. The northern island has an area of 54,100 square miles, the middle island of 44,500, and the southern island of 900; forming, in the whole, an area of 99,500 square miles, or 63,680,000 acres. The area, by some authorities, is considered to be 122,582 square miles, or 78,452,480 acres; the difference being caused by nearly doubling the areas of the middle and southern island and deducting one ninth from that of the northern. The area of Great Britain and Ireland is about 120,000 square miles, or 76,800,000 acres.
On the west is the Australian continent within 1150 miles, and Van Dieman's Land within 900 miles; on the
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east the nearest part of the south American coast, in the neighbourhood of Valparaiso, is 6000 miles distant, and Panama 6700; on the north are the numerous islands of the Northern Pacific Ocean; and on the south a few insignificant islands which lie scattered on the face of the waters.
The northern island is separated from the middle by Cook's Straits, which run in a direction from south-east to north-west, being widest at the latter extremity opposite Capes Egmont and Farewell, where it opens out to about 80 miles; while at the south-eastern entrance it does not exceed from 15 to 20 miles; its length may be about 100 miles. During the spring tides the current runs from the south-east at the rate of five knots the hour. The middle and southern islands are separated from each other by Foveaux's Straits, about 40 miles in length, and of an average width of 14 miles.
The principal capes in the northern island are, North Cape, Cape Colville, East Cape, Capes Palliser, Terawiti, and Egmont; in the middle island, Capes Farewell and Campbell, West Cape, and Cape Foulwind; in the southern island, South Cape.
There are numerous small islands scattered all along the eastern coast, and in Cook's and Foveaux's Straits.
On the northern coast of the northern island are the following bays: Sandy and Doubtless Bays, and Wangarooa Harbour; on the eastern coast, the Bay of Islands, Gulf of Hauraki, Bay of Plenty, and Hawke's Bay; on the southern coast, Palliser Bay and Port Nicholson;
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and on the western coast, Porirua, Kawaia, Wangarooa, Waikato, Manakooa, Kaipara, and Hukianga harbours. On the northern coast of the middle island are, Massacre, Blind, and Admiralty Bays, Queen Charlotte's Sound, and Cloudy Bay; on the eastern shore, Pegasus Bay, Port Cooper or Victoria, Akaroa Harbour, and Port Chalmers, on the southern coast, Bluff Harbour; and on the Western Coast, Chalky and Dusky Bays. In the southern island are, Port William, Adventure and Sutton Ports.
As the harbours and rivers are more particularly described in the memoranda on the different settlements, it will be sufficient in this place to give them but a passing notice.
The rivers, generally speaking, are afflicted with a bar at the mouth, which presents, in the infancy of the colony, an insuperable impediment to anything like extensive commercial transactions. In the south, the Molyneaux, from this cause, becomes comparatively useless; the rivers in the Canterbury settlement, with perhaps one exception, have been described by a competent judge as rather a hindrance than a benefit; the noble Whanganui opening into Cook's Straits is admirably situated, but available for vessels of only 50 tons, and that at high water; the Manuwatu, the Thames, and the Waikato are also fine rivers, but of limited utility. In the southern extremity of the middle island, and adjacent to the finest land in the country, are rivers of considerable magnitude, the merits of which are but little known at present.
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If nature has dealt thus niggardly with the rivers of New Zealand, she has been more bounteous with its harbours; though, unfortunately, the finest (and there are some which might vie with the best in the world,) are, with one or two exceptions, so placed as to present considerable obstacles to their free use.
Fresh water, wood, and anchorage, are to be had in abundance, but harbours enjoying these advantages are generally mountain-locked. This rocky barrier demands a toll that commerce cannot at present bear; genius, enterprize, and capital, may however do much to remove the mountains and de-bar the rivers. Let the wheat, wool, wood, and other products be available, and the enterprize of the exporter will find a Hobbs to unlock nature's patents.
The entire western coast, from the neighbourhood of Auckland southerly, is as inhospitable as the desert of Africa. A hard pressed vessel, if to the northward, could drive into Cook's Straits and find a welcome; but otherwise, it must give the shore a wide berth, unless desirous of an eternal anchorage.
The northern and middle island differ considerably in their general conformation. The former, consisting of several parallel ranges of hills with rivers flowing through the intervening vallies (running generally north and south); the latter has fewer ranges, but they are never continuous and probably higher; they keep close to the western coast, throwing out spurs which terminate in the ocean by bold headlands, while they slope
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gradually toward the east, forming wide-spread plains, generally of a rugged character. In latitude 42, or rather to the southward of the Wairau plains, a gigantic range is thrown off eastward towards the sea, from which the snow-capped Kaikora. 9300 feet in height, stands boldly forward, erecting a barrier between the settlements of Nelson and Canterbury. The sight of these fine central ranges of snow-capped mountains, when viewed from the distance of a few miles out at sea at the rising or setting of the sun, is singularly beautiful. Though the general character of the hills of the northern island is as above described, some parts of the country exhibit a deviation from this regularity. The most elevated portions appear to be about the centre of the island. Tongariro, one of the loftiest mountains, is situated about 12 miles from Lake Taupo, and 70 from Mount Egmont, from which it is separated by an almost impenetrable forest. It appears to be the centre of a volcanic action, and on its sides and all around are thermal springs in abundance, while from its crater are vomited forth torrents of steam and liquid mud. Stunted coniferous trees support but a precarious existence on its slopes. Prom observations made by Mr. Bidwell, Tongariro, excluding the cone which is 1500 feet in height, was found to be 6200 feet above the level of the sea; the cone starts from a hollow amphitheatre, and at its feet are streams of fresh undecomposed lava. The crater presented a terrific abyss of about a quarter of a mile in diameter, with a probable depth of 800 feet; it
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was however impossible to look below from the rocks overhanging it, and the constant vapour arising from within. Around it were streams of hot mud and water, and in every direction magnificent mountains with perpendicular sides, some having snow-clad summits. Immediately south of Tongariro is the lofty Ruapahu, 9000 feet in height, once in volcanic action. On the west coast, within a short distance of New Plymouth, is Mount Egmont, rising in graceful magnificence from the level country in the form of a cone, having a base 30 miles in circumference, and its summit generally wrapped in snow for about 1500 feet from the apex. When visited by Dr. Dieffenbach he represents an escarpment near the top to be of blue basaltic lava, overlaid to the depth of 10 or 15 feet by a formation of rock boulders and pebbles, and on the summit there was a space, a square mile in extent, covered with snow, through which scoriae, slightly vitrified, protruded. In ascending the cone, rising from a platform, the path lay over cinders and slags of scoriaceous lava of various colours reduced to gravel on the surface. No eruption has taken place within the limits of native tradition. The mountains, generally speaking, are of trap formation.
We are chiefly indebted to Dr. Dieffenbach for the information we possess of the geology of the northern island. In his progress through the country, while connected with the New Zealand Company, he noted down the principal geological features which came under his observation; these, as far as practicable, have been
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brought together and combined with similar information obtained from other sources.
The plains generally consist of a table land of stiff clay deposited at the original upheaving of the land, overlaid by a thin surface soil a few inches in depth, the result of the decayed vegetation of ages. The banks of rivers and their outlets are rich in alluvial deposits. In the northern island, near Kaitaia, the hills consist of a "soft argillaceous slate reposing upon a base of hard volcanic rock, plonolithe or clinkstone; and where they are in contact a transition of an interesting nature is observable from the hard condition of the latter to the soft state of the former." In some parts a slaty marl crops out, which might prove very useful in an agricultural point of view for some soils.
The Country around Auckland is of a slightly undulating nature, forming small bays open towards the harbour. The soil may be regarded as a soft pepper-coloured sandstone, or sandstone conglomerate with occasional seams of lignite. Copper and iron are worked at Auckland, and are said to have been seen in the islands near the gulf of Hauraki.
In the neighbourhood of Wangarooa Harbour a beautiful close-grained variegated marble is found in some abundance in connection with chloritic and argillaceous slate.
From Roturua to Taurangi the country is of a tufaceous character, undulating, and of a moderate height, well wooded, and with deep vegetable soil on a tufaceous
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substratum, which gives the assurance that "in future times this will be a very rich country, of which Hauraki will be the natural outlet."
The Waipa Valley, extending from the mouth of the Waikato to Lake Taupo, is about 30 miles broad, the lower part being considered very rich, consisting of a volcanic table land with much alluvial deposit; the higher part is broken, undulating, and covered with coarse grass and fern, alternating with groves of the Kahikateea; it is sheltered from the wind, and possesses a pumiceous soil.
Immediately to the eastward of the Waipa is the valley of the Thames, richly wooded, forming a fine and extensive agricultural district.
In the neighbourhood of Taupo the original table land is broken into hillocks, in which regular terraces are visible, produced by the gradual fall of water; the hillocks are of tufa, or lapili of pumice stone, cemented together.
In the vicinity of New Plymouth, near Sugar-loaf Point, are large boulders of volcanic rocks apparently of an old date, such as basalts, greenstone, trachyte, and augitic rock, forming a conglomerate extending to Mount Egmont, though only traceable a short distance. Iron pyrites abound in the rocks, and a black titanic iron sand is found on the beach. Aqueous formations are visible about 10 feet above the sea, consisting of cliffs of yellow clay, containing a discoloured blackened earth,
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the residuum of trees of existing orders, but destitute of animal remains.
The general character of the geology of Cook's Straits is a stratified yellow argillaceous slate on a pepper-coloured soft wacke, interrupted in a few places by basaltic masses, and in others by siliceous slate or lydean stone of various colours, moderately covered by vegetable mould, and more extensively so near the watercourses.
Arriving at the south-eastern coast we come to the beautiful valley of the Hutt, consisting of an argillaceous slate overlaid by boulders and pebbles of trappean formation, from 10 to 15 feet in thickness, covered with a thick mould and clayey soil extending to the foot of the hills. At equal elevations on the hills through which the river runs are platforms strewed with boulders and pebbles, indicating that the level of the river itself was once higher than it now is. A similarly terraced appearance exists on the coast far above the influence of the tides, which would lead to the belief that a rise of the land had taken place.
Our accounts of the Geology of the middle island are derived from the memoranda of W. Mantell, Esq., and from occasional notices by other parties. The fundamental rocks of the middle island are metamorphic schists and clay slate, with dykes of greenstone and compact and amygdaloidal basalt with intruded masses of obsidian, vesicular, trachytic lava, and other igneous products. Hornblende and porphyritic rocks, gneiss and serpentine
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occur, but granite has not been observed. A curious boulder bank is found in Blind Bay, the causes of the formation of which apparently puzzle the geologist. The soil of the plains of the eastern coast, which extend a length of 130 miles by an average width of 35, is represented as "a loamy clay, varying to 10 feet in thickness, on a substratum of gravel, slightly coherent and composed principally of pebbles of schist, jasper, and white, yellow, pink, and green quartz." Some of the rivers, near their mouths, have a deposit of wood, about 10 feet from the surface, under a stratum of finely laminated sand. Bank's peninsula is entirely of volcanic formation, with metamorphic rocks cropping out on the crest of some of the ranges, and there are considerable traces of the action of waves considerably above the present high-water level. Two hundred feet below the banks of the Cholmondeley, on the adjoining plains, fossil sharks' teeth are found in abundance; limestone, intermitted with fossil marine shells, are found near Mount Grey; north of this again there is a range of large blocks of water-worn limestone above a red sandstone formation, intersected by vertical dykes of lava. Southward of the Canterbury settlement the country changes from a level plain to the undulating country of Timaru, in which the soil retains the same structure as it has more northward, resting upon vesicular volcanic rock for a short distance dipping to the south; afterwards it changes into small narrow plains among gentle downs. Beyond this, advancing to the south, the calcareous country of Waiouka
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commences, consisting entirely of the remains of shells and corallines, containing encrinites, belemnites, and teretratulae, teeth of sharks, &c, Above Kakanui the country is volcanic upon diluvial gravel and clay; below Kakanui the tertiary blue clay appears, containing volutes dentalia, madrepores, and a few traces of fish and wood. Lower down, below the white bluff, in the same formation, are septaria varying from 1 to 6 feet in diameter, forming the material from which Roman cement is made. These are succeeded by green gritty marls with layers of nodules of iron pyrites; a dark porphyritic rock with broken crystals of felspar traversed in every direction by beautifully variegated veins of quartz and chalcedony. Lower down again the tertiary clay emerges, and the bones of the dinormis are found in great numbers and perfection, resting on blue clay.
A distinguished geologist, reviewing the facts connected with fossil deposits, concludes that the argillaceous strata, containing fossil shells, which exist in the neighbourhood of Whanganui, on the north coast of Cook's Straits, and the clay formation of Onekakara to the north of Otago in the middle island, are outliers of one continuous stratum, and infers, from their height above the present sea level, corresponding with equally raised aqueous deposits, terraces of trap boulders, and tide marks, that an upheaving of the earth took place long before the Pacific became inhabited by the existing species of mollusca. The Moa bed deposits at Waikouiate, though "but of yesterday in geological history," are also refer-
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red to a period very long previous to the arrival of the aborigines in the country when those noble bipeds densely occupied the country.
Thermal springs are very abundant in the northern island, principally in the neighbourhood of Taupo. This lake is situated in lat. 38.45 and lon. 176 east, it is 1337 feet above the level of the sea, of a triangular form, measuring 36 miles by 25, and mostly surrounded by high pumice-stone cliffs with hills adjoining, some of which latter are 1600 feet high. It is fed by one or more rivers, and encircled by some fine rich land. There are also several thermal springs in the vicinity of Waimatee in the Bay of Islands and near the Kahutakino Lake. These springs are aluminous, alkaline, and acidulous; the thermometer ranging in each at 62, 124 and 154 Fahrenheit respectively, while in the shade it stood at 80. The "gaseous exhalations of sulphuric acid have much altered the argillaceous rocks which are covered with fine sublimations of pure alum, sulphur, and of different sulphates." The numerous thermal springs around Taupo range from N. E. to S. W. have "clear and agreeably acidulous water slightly smelling of hydrosulphurous gas," and some indicate the presence of salts. "Mud and sand are thrown up by others, forming a complete volcanic range of miniature hills," the cones of which are truncated and of various heights, some measuring 15 feet at the base and 10 feet in height. "One of the most impressive features existing in this spot is a pond, just below a white cliff 60 feet in height, which is continually
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boiling and throwing up jets of fluid, with great violence and noise, from 8 to 10 feet high; the edge of the pond is coated with a white clay. In the delta formed by the Waikato entering Taupo are some fine springs covering an area of 2 square miles and separated by a thin crust from subterranean and volcanic caverns, whence issue incessant noises; the crust is a foot in thickness and of a hard white stratum of pumiceous earth, sulphur, and a chalcedony, entire or under formation, resting on soft and often hot mud. Occasionally this crust falls in, and fearful scaldings are the consequence. In the smaller springs the natives cook their meals.
Passing from Taupo, along the line of volcanic action in the direction of White Island on the eastern coast, we reach the lakes Rotu-mahana, and Rotu-rua, which Dr. Dieffenbach describes as presenting "one of the grandest views he had ever beheld." Surmounting the hills which enclose the former, there appears "a deep lake of a blue colour surrounded by verdant hills." In the lake are "several islets, some showing bare rocks, others covered with shrubs, while on all of them steam issued from an hundred openings between the green foliage without affecting its freshness. On the opposite side is a flight of broad steps like white marble with a rosy tint, with a cascade of boiling water falling over into the lake."
A little to the northward of Taupo is lake Rotu-rua, in form nearly circular, and about 24 miles in circumference; on its banks are numerous hot springs emitting
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columns of steam and water 2 feet in diameter to the height of 3 or 4 feet, and around are deposits of a jasperlike formation. Some of these springs possess petrifying powers. Around are cones of sulphur, and in the neighbourhood is one of the finest villages in New Zealand, the inhabitants of which use the water for boiling. A stone of carbonate of magnesia, resembling the meerschaum, is found in this locality.
One would be doing an injustice to New Zealand if its iron ore were to be passed over with only a cursory notice. On the coast of Taranakee, and on the northern coast of Cook's Straits, not far from Whanganui, a per oxide, or protoxide of iron may be seen glistening in rich abundance. It is scarcely possible to conceive a mine offering greater facilities for working: a shovel and a barrow is the only investment in machinery that is necessary. It is represented by competent judges to possess the qualities of the best Swedish steel, yielding from 38 to 59 per cent, while the English ore yields only 30 to 35. The price of foreign steel varies from £20 to £40 the ton, and the north of Europe exports annually 22,000 tons. Iron is found in the ore near Auckland.
Coal, the prime deposit of every country, rich though they be in gold or silver, is found in many places: on the river Waikato, on the banks of the Manakau 40 miles from New Plymouth, and at Massacre Bay 50 miles to the west of Nelson, on the Selwyn 40 miles from Christchurch in the Canterbury Settlement, at the Saddleback 5 miles from Dunedin, and at the mouth of the Moly-
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neaux river in the Otago settlement. This coal has been accurately tested on board Her Majesty's vessel the "Acheron." The consumption is one fourth greater than the Newcastle coal (New South Wales), but it possesses no trace of bituminous matter. That of Massacre Bay and Canterbury contains much sulphur, the Otago much less, and the Waikato is free from it.
Copper is found near "Auckland and Nelson and worked profitably, and gold has been discovered on the northwest coast of the northern island.
Our knowledge of the Botany of New Zealand is chiefly derived from the memoranda collected by Dr. Dieffenbach. An attempt is here made to arrange these into classes, condensing at the same time the information afforded by others. It is not possible to be otherwise than struck with the poverty of the flora of New Zealand, and it is therefore desirable to remember that its genial climate receives most kindly all importations, which gratefully acknowledge the warmth of their welcome by transcending, if possible, or at least emulating, their original loveliness. It has been calculated that one sixth of the plants in any botanic region are monocotyledoonous; that in tropical climates the dicotyledonous exceed the acotylydonous, while towards the polar regions the latter prevail. In islands remote from a continent the monocotyledonous are more numerous than that above stated.
The undue preponderance in New Zealand of the cellular and cryptogamous plants, or lower kinds, viz, 245 out of 632 species, is justly considered as an evidence of
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the recent formation of the islands, and moreover gives a tropical character to the vegetation. Out of 632 species 314 are dicotyledons, and 318 monocotyledons and acotyledons. More than one half of the entire vegetation is flowerless, such as ferns, mosses, sea weeds, lichens, and fungi; the first mentioned alone occupying more than one third of the whole, varying from the most minute conformations to trees more than 30 feet in height; the grasses are about one quarter the number of ferns,, and the sedge tribe is in about the same proportion.
Among the most valuable trees belonging to the monoecia monadelphia are the following:--
Dammara Australis--natural order, coniferae: native name, Kauri. Principally confined to the northern parts of the northern island. It is the only cone-bearing pine in New Zealand, and generally grows on hills of argillaceous slate covered with a stiff white clay, attains a height of 70 to 90 feet without a branch, and is a handsome tree of a yellowish colour. It furnishes the most valuable spars for the largest ships, and yields a kind of copal. The forests containing these trees have been subject to a most wasteful expenditure, and if remedial measures are not early adopted, the trade in them will suffer very severely.
Dacrydium cupressinum--(Taxaceae: Reemu). This pine grows to the height of 60 or 70 feet without a branch, and from 12 to 14 feet in circumference. It is called the red pine from the colour of its foliage, and like all the pines of the same order has most beautiful pendu-
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lous branches of a lovely green resembling the weeping willow. It furnishes a hard wood free from knots, and is useful for house-building and for furniture.
Dacrydium Excelsum (Taxaceae: Kahikatea). Called the white pine from the colour of its bark. It grows occasionally to the height of 90 feet without a branch. The timber is sound but light and sappy, not durable, shrinks from exposure being a quick grower, and free from knots. It grows on swampy ground. It is used for lining rooms, and produces a red berry much esteemed by the natives.
Podocarpus ferruginea (Taxaceae: meeroo). Grows from 40 to 60 feet in height, and 8 feet in circumference. It produces a smooth close-grained dark timber which freely splits and is extremely durable.
Podocarpus totara (Taxaceae; totara). Grows to the height of 60 feet without a branch, and from 15 to 24 feet in circumference, resembling the oak. It furnishes a heavy and very valuable wood, splits freely, is durable both above and below ground, and well adapted for shipbuilding.
Phyllocladus trichomanoides (Taxaceae: tanikaha). Grows to the height of about 60 feet, and 9 feet in circumference. It is an elastic and tough wood, admirably adapted for deck planks, and by some supposed to be better than the Kauri for spars: it also affords a reddish dye.
Areca sapida (Palmaceae: tee palm or cabbage palm). A species of the valuable plants which include the betel
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nut. It is a most graceful tree and covers extensive tracts, rising to a height of 30 or 40 feet, with a circumference of 3 feet. Its leaves are useful for roofing, and the heart of the undeveloped leaves is eaten by the natives.
Of the Monoecia polyandria we have the Caladium esculentum (Araceae: taru). This plant is said to have been brought by the New Zealanders on their immigration.
Of the Monoecia, triandria--
The Typha angustifolia (Typhaceae; raupo), which covers extensive low and marshy grounds. The reed is very useful in roofing houses, and as furnishing materials for bedding when the flower is baked. The roots are greedily devoured by wild pigs.
Of the Dioecia polyandria--
The Taxus matai (Taxaceae: matai). It grows to the height of 50 feet, and about 14 feet in circumference. The wood is of a red colour and easily worked.
Of the Dioecia decandria--
The Coriaria Sarmentosa (unknown--tootoo). A shrub from which a kind of wine is sometimes made. The seeds of the berry are poisonous. Cattle and sheep are very fond of it, and in consequence suffer severely at times. It covers extensive districts.
The Vitex littoralis--(Verbenaceae: Pureeree) is chiefly in the north: grows from 30 to 50 feet high, and from 12 to 20 feet in circumference. It is a hard and durable wood, from which property it derives its
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name of iron wood. It is useful for forming the foundation of houses, fencing posts, and generally for purposes where hard wood is required; it moreover splits readily.
Leptospermum Moparium (Myrtaceae manuka). This is a small tree or shrub very extensively spread over the country. It emits a beautiful scent when in flower, and tea is made from its leaves. The wood is useful for paddles and handles to axes.
Metrosideros robusta (Myrtaceae: rata). A parasitic plant winding round other trees when young; bearing very handsome crimson flowers. It is considered the king of New Zealand trees. Its wood is extremely hard and durable, its colour a reddish brown. A very ancient one near Kawaia harbour is 54 feet in circumference and hollow. It is well adapted for work in which crooked wood is required.
Metrosideros tormentosa (Myrtaceae: pohutukawa), chiefly confined to the north; a gnarled, hard, close-grained, brittle, and tough wood. It is used for shipbuilding and farming implements.
Elaeocarpus hinau (Tiliacaae: hinau). Grows to a considerable height. The timber is white, and frangible on exposure. It affords an excellent puce colour or jet-black dye, and throws out curious excrescences from its branches.
The following may also be noted as peculiar to New Zealand, the Zuncus filiformis. A rush which covers large districts in the northern island, and indicates po-
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verty of soil, and a retentive subsoil. The ripogonum parviflorum (Smilicaceae: kari). A supple jack interlacing the forest in a most perplexing manner; very extensively spread: it is used for thatching huts or for hurdles. The black birch, which is represented as harder than the pine, and valuable for ship-building; it is a certain indication of great poverty of soil.
The native Kei-kei, a parasitic plant, which grows on the branches of trees, in form like the flax and gives a peculiar appearance to the New Zealand forest. The central leaves and fruit are edible.
The Phormium tenax (Liliaceae) which abounds with a delicious honey when the flower assumes a crimson tint. It has 12 leaves, the flower-stalk springing from among them to the height of 12 feet. It produces a most excellent flax, which is used for ropes, dresses, mats, writing materials, and a thousand other purposes, &c.: when luxuriant, that is, the leaves about 5 feet in length, it indicates a rich soil. It appears all over the country.
The Agropyruin repens (Graminaceae). A species of couch grass: appears early in spring. The Lolium (Graminaceae). A species of rye grass. The Chaetariae hystrix (Graminaceae). A kind of porcupine grass which affords when young a food of which sheep are very fond. The native sow-thistle, wild cabbage, and turnip are supposed to have been introduced. The Toi-toi appears all over the country: it is a reed like grass, growing to the height of 8 or 9 feet: when young it is a favourite with cattle and horses. The leaf is used for thatching, the
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reed for the internal decoration of houses, the plume, when gathered at the proper time, for bedding, and the roots are eaten by swine.
As a general rule, New Zealand may be regarded as destitute of fruits, though capable of producing them to any extent and to great excellence.
The stranger will be enchanted with the noble Clematis Albida, a forest creeper which twines its white flowers with much taste amongst the rich green foliage. The Tree Fern, with its lofty stem and far-spreading pendent head, is the personification of elegance. The Fuchsia Excortica, with its barkless trunk and blood-stained corolla, is preeminent among the trees of the forest; and as an embodiment of fragrance and utility, the humble anise, spread over many a million of acres, imparts a most delicious scent to the passer by, while it affords to the sheep and cattle a most nourishing article of food.
The natives have turned their attention to producing potatoes, maize, melons, pumpkins, and gourds, and have generally discarded the natural productions of the country from their diet roll. The koomera or sweet potatoe is still a favourite, and his European fellow promises to attain to as great a celebrity as it has attained in Ireland.
The Flax plant deserves a more lengthened notice than it has received; gratitude for being an ever present help in many an hour of need induces me to recall its many merits; writers on New Zealand have delighted to sing its praise, and I must perforce, if not from inclination,
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join the chorus. Perhaps the importance of the plant may be better estimated when we remember that in 14 years we have paid Russia £11,000,000 for the hemp used in one of our chief dockyards. That in 1845 we exported flax yarn to the amount of 23,288,725 lbs. and that our woven flax goods, such as linen, exported in the same year, amounted to £3,000,000. The Flax plant is indigenous to New Zealand and grows most luxuriantly. The best kind, Tiori, grows near Taranaki. The experiments in 1852, at Woolwich dockyard, speak very decisively in favour of the New Zealand flax. Two patent bands of similar material and construction were submitted to be tested: a patent band of the best Russian hemp 5 inches in width broke at 2 tons 7 1/2 cwts, while a patent band of New Zealand hemp 5 inches in width broke at 5 tons. A patent band of Russian hemp 3 inches in width broke at 1 ton 10 cwt, while a patent band of New Zealand hemp 3 inches in width broke at 2 tons 15 cwt. A common rope of 2 1/4 inches in circumference of the best Russian hemp broke at 3 tons 12 1/2 cwt.; very good rope bears a strain of 1 ton to the inch. Manilla hemp fetches from £50 to £70 per ton, and New Zealand hemp (if properly cleaned) the same sum, with this additional advantage, that when worn out it is worth £10 per ton.
Of animal life there is little to be said, for, always excepting the sand-fly and musquitoe, of whose existence no one who has ever been in the interior has had a doubt, there does not appear any superabundance. The gigantic Dinormis, which stalked in solitary grandeur
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amidst the dense and scarce penetrable forest, has disappeared.
The Kiwi, that strange natural anomaly which took to his heels before his wings were finished, is now only to be seen in the darkest recesses of the bush; while the Mutton Bird, a concentrated sheep, burrows far out of sight.
The Tui a handsome glossy-plumaged bird affords much entertainment to his neighbours by the amazing extent of his imitative powers, his never-ceasing restlessness, and when dressed in his black suit with his bands on, by the declamatory style of his exhortations.
The Mako-mako--sweetest of songsters, whose early chime, resembling the most enchanting notes of the distant peal of bells, subdues and elevates the mind, oft have I almost breathlessly reclined enamoured of thy song, attuned to melody, and impressive from the very simplicity of its strains.
The Kaka, of the parrot tribe, makes ample amends for the harshness of his voice by the substantial and delicate flavour of its flesh when appearing at table.
The Kapuka, akin to the pigeon, is represented as reviving our reminiscence of game.
The Tirakara, an elegant little bird, whose lively movements in pursuit of the fly show off his fan tail and black and white plumage to advantage.
The Crested Cormorant, or Kauwa, is a beautiful bird and shares with the Tui the duties of public preacher.
The Water-hen, Wood-hen or Weka, Wild Duck, Teal, Quail, and Hawk, are not dissimilar to their European
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brethren and need no particular notice, except, perhaps, in the case of the Wood-hen, whose wings appear to have been intended only to assist in the use of his legs.
If animal life is scarce, venemous reptiles and insects are happily unknown. Bats, lizards, grasshoppers, caterpillars, ants, centipedes devoid of poison, spiders, blowflies, musquitoes, sand-flies, and an invaluable selection of vermin nearly complete the list. The indigenous rat is almost exterminated, and the wild dog is considered an importation. The bee has taken quietly to his transportation, and is reported to repay his passage money by swarming seven times a year.
The adjoining seas are reported to abound in fish of an excellent flavour.
