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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts]

Mountains

Mountains.

The chief mountain range is the western boundary line, the Ruahine, which extends north from the Manawatu Gorge, as far as the Ngaruroro river. Its height varies from 3,000 to 6,000 feet, and its summits are mostly snow-clad during winter. Between the Ngaruroro and Mohaka rivers lies a shorter range, the Kaweka, about 5,650 feet high—a rugged and steep ridge of hills, also covered with snow during the cold season. From these two ranges the land falls seaward in long rolling plains and downs—mostly limestone country—which affords admirable pasture for sheep. North again from the Kaweka range there is a long series of forest-clad hills of varying heights stretching away, in lines approximately parallel to the coast, toward the East Cape. The highest point in these hills is Hikurangi (5,606 feet), an abrupt and precipitous peak, which can be climbed from only one side. The Pukatori range, which extends across the border line from the south, parallel with the Ruahine, belongs mostly to the Wellington district.