A Desolate Region.

Ngawha Springs are situated in a wide, shallow valley, a few miles from the main highway between Ohaeawai and Kaikohe, and a more desolate tract of country would be hard to find. Absolutely treeless, the sullen soil gives grudging sustenance even to its covering of ti-tree and heath, as their stunted growth eloquently testifies. The few small huts scattered around, erected for the accommodation of patients, appear strangely alien, so completely out of harmony are they with the stark austerity of the surroundings, and the little patches of gardens, with their depressed-looking vegetables and struggling flowers, only serve to accentuate the incongruity. It is as though ugliness, baring savage teeth, should say: “This is my demesne. Beauty shall not enter here.”