Paper II.

Memorandum of a Journey into the Interior,

In which I Succeeded in Crossing the Ruahine Mountain Range, with Notes on the Peculiar Local Botany of that Region, Etc.

By W. Colenso, F.L.S.

[Read Before the Hawke's Ray Philosophical Institute, October 14th, 1878.^*]

With Additional And Copious Notes.

"Upon the sides of Latinos was outspread
A mighty forest;—
And it had gloomy shades sequestered deep
Where no man went."—

Endymion. Keats.

"Alloi kamon, alloi onanto."—Some toil, others reap.

Ancient Proverb.

On a former occasion I narrated my first visit to the Ruahine mountains, in which, after much toil, I succeeded in gaining the summit, although I failed in crossing the range.

I should not now greatly care to say anything more about it, but for three reasons:—(1) To note particularly the localities of the peculiar Botany of the interior,—then, for the first time found, and not since, I believe, detected;—(2) To leave on record some mention of the difficulties of travelling in New Zealand in those earlier days, before there were either roads or horses, and when even

^* "At the close, Dr. Spencer proposed, and Mr. J. A. Smith seconded, a unanimous vote of thanks to Mr. Colenso for his very interesting Paper, which was also earnestly supported by the Rt. Rev. Chairman (the Bishop of Waiapu), and warmly accorded by the meeting, with a further particular wish, that the same should be recorded." Ext., Proceedings, Trans. N.Z. Inst., 1878, vol. XI. p. 570.

page 30 the route itself was necessarily so very difficult and different to what it is now:—and (3) to show that I did accomplish my original intention,—"perseverando vinces"!

As may he readily supposed—by those who have heard my first attempt to cross the Ruahine—I had had quite enough of the toil and hardship attending that journey soon to repeat it on the E. sides of the range; yet being still greatly desirous of visiting those Natives living beyond it, I was determined to do so as early as circumstances would permit. This, however, I saw could not be again attempted for some time, as I had not only a great deal to do at home in a newly-formed Station, where everything depended on myself; but I had also a large amount of other distant travelling to perform;^* besides it seemed all but impossible to get Natives to accompany me,—although they were quite ready to go with me on other journeys,—the last one having so greatly disheartened them.

During that year, (1845,) I was laid aside for some time through a severe attack of low fever, and when I had scarcely recovered I had to travel on foot in mid-winter to Poverty Bay on important business, and back to my residence at Waitangi;—and then, by the coast line, to Palliser Bay and Wellington, and to Ohariu and Ohaua in Cook's Straits,—and back again to Hawke's Bay through Wairarapa and Manawatu. Being the first European who travelled through the then dense and all but impassable forest ("70 mile Bush, S.") lying between the Ruamahanga in Wairarapa and the Manawatu rivers, where I also gained several rare Botanical novelties. And then I had a similar amount of heavy travelling on duty to perform throughout the following year, 1846; during which year I spent seven months in my tent.

Therefore, it was not until early in the year 1847 that I again recommenced my journey to Patea; this time by the "round-about-way" of Taupo.—I should here however mention, that during the preceding year I had been twice on foot over this new ground as far as Tarawera, between Hawke's Bay and Taupo Lake; and had made every enquiry relative to the Patea natives and the route thither,—though the information received was almost nil.

Having got all ready for our journey, myself and five natives (including my old friend Paora, who was still very desirous of seeing his mother's tribe), we started from Waitangi on the 9th February. Crossing the Ahuriri harbour in a canoe, for which we had to wait there some time, and travelling on, we brought up for the night at a small maori village on the banks of the Petane river,—about two miles above the present School-house, but not by the present near road thither.

The next morning, breakfast over, we again moved on, stopping at Kai-

^* See Note C, Appendix.

page 31 waka to roast a few potatoes for onr dinner, and halted for the night at a place on the hills called Wahieanoa. Wind very high this day, and suffering from a half-sprained ancle. At night for a long time in constant succession the noisy Petrels kept flying-in from the sea to their breeding homes in the cliffy sides of the high hills beyond us. I had often heard them on former occasions, when spending a night at Petane and Tangoio, and other villages near the sea, but this night they seemed by their cries to fly much lower, possibly attracted by our fires. The natives on foggy nights make fires in suitable spots on the high hills near their nests or burrows to attract them, and kill numbers of them easily with their sticks. They are very fat, and are considered dainties.

———"Above, in the light
Of the star-lit night,
Swift birds of passage wing their flight:—
I hear the beat
Of their pinions fleet:—
I hear the cry
Of their voices high
Falling dreamily through the sky.
But their forms I cannot see."

11th. Early this morning we recommenced our journey; the westerly wind still dreadfully high so that on those exposed heights we could scarcely stagger on against it! Halted at Te Pohue to breakfast; thence on, by the mountain pass Titiokura, to a little village on the banks of the Mohaka river called Mimiha, where we halted for the night.—

In ascending towards the crest of the pass—Titiokura, I was much pleased in again observing that fine plant Ourisia macrophylla; it grew in large beds, or patches, in boggy and damp spots by the sides of the mountain streamlet, and being in full flower and undisturbed looked well with its large glossy leaves. I had first met with this fine plant in 1841, in the country between Poverty Bay and Waikare Lake, but then it was not in flower.^* Dr. Dieffenbach had also found it growing at Mount Egmont. This is one of the few fine "garden flowers" of New Zealand. Here, on the high ground among the fern, grew my new species of Coriaria (C.Kingtana),^†—presenting much the same appearance as when I originally discovered it in 1841; this plant, in a soil it loves, would look well in the foreground of a large shrubbery. On the summit I discovered

^* Roots, however, which I obtained and planted at the Bay of Islands, subsequently flowered. Vide, "London Journal of Botany," 1844, vol. III. p. 19.

^† "Lond. Journal of Botany," 1844, vol. III. pp. 20, 21. I don't know under which of his three species of this genus in the "Hand Book", Sir Joseph Hooker has placed this (to me) very distinct plant,—I mean, distinct from the other N.Z. species,—possibly under C. thymifolia; but quœ. I have long been convinced of our having four, or, perhaps five species of this genus in N.Z,

page 32 several Botanical novelties: viz.—a fine bushy species of Gnaphalium (G. prostratum), of low growth but with numerous ascending branches bearing a profusion of flowers. This plant was also found by Sir J. Hooker in the Antarctic Islets, who has given a fine drawing of it in his Flora Antarctica, tab. 21. A peculiar tufted Rammculus with small leaves on long petioles and bearing very long scapes (R. multiscapus): a low shrubby species of Coprosma (C. depressa), bearing sweet berries which were good eating: and a very low plant of Gaultheria having large edible fruit hidden under its leaves,—reminding one of the allied Whortle-berry of one's native Land; this plant,—which also grows plentifully on the open downs of Taupo, and elsewhere,—is, I suspect, placed by Sir J. Hooker, under G. antipoda, as a var. of that species; but it varies greatly from the true G. antipoda, which is a very common plant,—particularly at the N. parts of this island, and differs widely from it in habit, &c. Among the crags I found,—a curious species of Exarrhena (E. saxosa), densely covered with coarse white hairs: a minute species of Pozoa, a pretty little plant, resembling the coast species (P. trifida), but smaller in all its parts, with coriaceous sessile leaflets and bearing bristly hairs: and, hidden among the stony cliffs, a very small Fern of compact cæspitose growth, a species of Grammitis,—which Sir Jos. Hooker has included^* under Polypodium Australe, but which is, in my opinion, very widely different from all the states I have seen of that plant,—as well as from my Grammitis ciliata,^† (a rare and little known Fern, which I also believe to be specifically distinct,)—although, in the "Hand Book", Sir J. Hooker has also included this, and others also, with it. Two additional species of the genus Uncinia (U. leptostachya, and U. rubra,) I also obtained here; this latter species often gave to some parts of the dry plains in the interior quite a red hue when viewed from a distance, so that, at first, I wondered what it could possibly be that made them look so strangely red.^‡ From a small isolated hill near the centre of the pass is a delightful view of Ahuriri and the southern part of Hawke's Bay including Cape Kidnappers;—

———"Where the round ether mixes with the wave;"—

—this landscape is well worthy of a drawing. I have often in passing this way, when the weather was fine and air clear, contemplated it with admiration.^§

"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness."——

The old road by the ancient maori track through the fern, in descending from Titiokura to the banks of the river Mohaka, was then very different to what it is now; for, on nearing the high banks of that river, a sharp turn was taken to the right running parallel with it, by which you descended into a small stream at a place called Mangowhata, and crossed it at the very edge of a cataract, on indeed the slippery brink of the bed of a single rock forming the fall, which curved suddenly upwards towards the verge, and having a deep dark pool close within; and then, on landing on the opposite side you climbed up a steep ascent until you came again quite as suddenly on to the very brink of the cliff, by the edge alone of which the track lay! This was owing to the high hilly back ground immediately above falling very abruptly towards the cliff in front. Both those perpendicular spots, situated too within a few yards of each other, were very dangerous, and, as a track, fearful to look at; and, in travelling towards the interior, you could not see them owing to the thick overhanging fern and other herbage growing on the brink, until you were on, or partly passed, them, and then it was too late to think of retreating. I supposed the height of the waterfall to be about 80, and that of the adjoining cliff about 120, feet. The small stream in the summer season was often lost in fine spray before it reached the bottom, where it fell into a semi-circular basin, or large pool, having thickets of white pine and other trees on the low banks around it. After my first surprise on my first visit, in which I was very nearly carried over, I always managed to crawl along on my hands and knees through the fern and small manuka. shrubs (Leptospermum). Once passed this place, however, the descent to the Mohaka was gradual and easy, which indeed was the sole reason of the old natives adopting that course.^*

12th. This morning we crossed the Mohaka, which is pretty rapid here, without very great difficulty;—by means of long poles to which we secured ourselves, and by wading diagonally;—in some places, however, we could scarcely keep our footing, and there is a cataract just below.^† The bases of the cliffs,

^* Some 2—3 years after this, a party of Natives from the interior bringing some pigs for sale at Ahuriri,—several of the animals went over this cliff and were killed; this, however, was not the first time of such happening. The wonder with me was, how they managed to get them along at all! But not long after that, on the Maoris getting horses this track (with many other similar ones) was completely abandoned.

^† On one occasion I was shut up here on the W. side of the Mohaka in time of flood for nearly 3 days, with very little to eat! While we were there waiting the subsiding of the waters, another travelling party of Maoris arrived, also from the interior, who were going in the same direction to the coast; after consultation we managed to cross and to escape, by collecting with no little trouble dry raupo (Typha) leaves and flax flower-stalks, wherewith to make a big moki, or catamaran,—also, green flax leaves to twist into ropes. Having finished our huge unwieldy raft, which occupied more than a day in making, it was thrown into the river, and towed up through the still water a considerable distance, to allow for the strength of the current, now very groat, besides we all feared the waterfall below; then, our baggage, myself, and dog being on it, it was dragged and shoved and drifted amid much uproar to the opposite shore, the natives swimming and propelling! Taken altogether, with the dark frowning cliffs on either side, it was a scene worthy of a sketch.

page 34 near the water's edge were closely covered with a matted vegetation of a small species of Viola (probably V.Cunninghamii), which bore fruit plentifully but was without flowers. Travelled steadily on to a place at the edge of a forest named Te Waiparatu, where was a stream of water, and where we halted to roast "our roast" (potatoes); thence, resuming our journey, four hours more walking brought us to Pirapirau, a small village of Tarawera district: much fatigued today with the hot dry and dusty pumice! which overlies much of this country.—

I gained, however, a few new and interesting plants; among which were,—a new species of our endemic genus Melicytus (M. lanceolatus), making, as I think, the sixth species of that genus found in N. Zealand; also^*; two species, or varieties of Aristotelia, now placed under A. fruticosa. I also noticed, on the higher grounds in the forests, some remarkably large specimens of that curious genus Griselina, which, from their huge grotesque yet dumpy trunks, seemed very aged; here, also, were some large specimens of Carpodetus serratus,—one which I measured being 4ft. 5in. in girth; a distinct species of Drimys, (originally discovered by me in 1841, on Huiarau,) D. axillaris, a much larger and handsomer tree than the species found at the N., was also common here: this plant would make a fine shrub for a shrubbery if it would live away from the forest's shade.—On the barren pumice plains near Tarawera grew commonly in clumps a new species of low shrubby Dracophyllum. (D. subulatum). In the streamlets, deep down in the narrow ravines which intersected this pumice-stone plain, were many elegant fresh-water Algæ,—of the genera Conferva, Tynda-ridea, and Oscillatoria, of various colours,—one, in particular, possessing a steel-blue metallic appearance; of all these I secured specimens for Home. From the sides of a small river near the village I obtained a peculiar looking Grass, Gym-nostichum gracile; and from a cliff overhanging the stream, a fine new species of Gaultheria (G. oppositifolia), which greatly pleased me. Strange to say I have never found another plant of this species, although from its size, large green leaves, and unique appearance, it is not easily overlooked. In subsequent years when passing by this way I often obtained good specimens from it.

Monday, 15th. Rose early before 5 and started at 6; halted at 7.30, at a place called Opitonui to breakfast. This was a truly pretty spot; in a grassy patch near, that neat little plant of Liliaceœ,—Herpolirion Novœ-Zealandœ abounded, enlivening the place with its flowers; yet it was the only locality I ever saw it in: the discovery of this gem pleased me very much. After leaving Opitonui the travelling was wretched! up high hills and through lately burned forests,—black prostrate trees and ashes! without any vestige of a track, so that we were often at a loss. We all wanted water greatly during this day's hot march; at last I found some in a large hole in a Tawhai tree (Fagus ?fusca),^† which, dark-coloured and nauseous as it was from the leaves of the tree, seemed like nectar to our dry throats. The Fagus trees of this forest were remarkably fine and straight;

———"forests huge,
Incult, robust, and tall, by Nature's hand
Planted of old;"———

and standing largely apart, so that there was no difficulty in travelling through them; this is mostly the case in the forests of this tree, where there is little or no undergrowth, owing, no doubt, to the shedding of its leaves, which thickly cover the ground. Our easy travelling, however, was not without danger, for there was no track, or we could not find it, having lost it early in the morning, so we travelled in a great measure by compass. I was not a little surprised today, in walking through open fern-land, to find the fern covering the ground to be a species of Dicksonia, which there grew much like the common N.Z. fern, or

^* A large number of them will be found in the "Hand Book Flora N.Z."

^† Vide "Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science", vol. II., p. 234; "London Journal Botany", vol. III., p. 19, 20; also, Hooker's Icones Plantarum, tab. 630, 631.

page 36 Bracken (Pteris esculenta). It extended for some distance, and presented a novel appearance. From its habit and manner of growth, &c., I named it D. unistipa,—but I find Sir J. Hooker has considered it to be the same as D. lanata, (to this fusion, however, I cannot agree,) very likely owing to his receiving parts only of fronds from me, the similarity in several species of the Dick-sonia, and also of the allied genus Cyathea, being very great; so that it is almost impossible to distinguish their true characteristics from dried specimens of portions of large fronds. We called at Moturoa, a small village on the Taupo plains, hoping to get a little food, but there was none to be had at this season,—the potatoes not being yet ripe in these high localities. Proceeding on, very wearily, (my native companions sadly needing food, and I still in pain from my ancle,) we met a woman with a large basket on her back, who had just come from a clearing in a thicket hard by, in which there was an old forsaken potatoe plantation. Poor soul! she had travelled a few miles thither in hopes of gleaning some food for herself and children, and now was returning to her home;—with that genuine hospitality so common to the New-Zealander, she soon dropped her load and gladly gave us (strangers) a few handfuls of the smallest potatoes I ever saw! they were all throughout just the size of marbles (not large ones), or of the potatoe berry, yet pretty nearly ripe!—forcibly reminding me of what the potatoe was originally in its native woods. We continued our course towards Taupo Lake; passing a waterfall, which came out under a natural bridge; and a little further on the head of the Rangataiki river, which here takes its rise from a small lake; and crossing the great plain brought up at 7 p.m. at a common place of bivouac of the Maoris named Ohineriu; all hands completely tired! Here, unfortunately, was neither wood nor water; we tried, however, to get a poor fire by pulling up the withered tufts of long wiry grass, which, according to the mode practised here by the natives of these parts, we twisted together before burning, through which device they did last a little longer, and so we managed to scorch our scanty supper of small potatoes, and soon lay down as we were for the night,—with the stars shining down upon us.

16th. Rose, stiff, and very unwillingly, at 5, and soon started. An hour brought us to a beautiful clear stream of water, which we were told was the head of the Mohaka river, that here takes its rise from a small lake to the S. and E. of the large lake of Taupo,—its water was very cold, and appeared delicious. There being no wood here by this stream we were unwillingly obliged to continue our journey, and that without much stopping, to reach a breakfast place. I obtained, however, an elegant fern, a Gleichenia, which grew thickly together and of uniform appearance and height in beds or patches on the low wet banks of the stream; this novelty pleased me much and I named it G.Hookeriana; but I find Sir J. Hooker has placed it as a var. (alpina) of G. dicarpa; from that old and well-known Australian species I still think it will yet be found to be specifically page 37 distinct. A species of Cyathodes,—apparently differing widely from the N. form, in size, leaf, flower, and fruit,—grew here on the hills, which plant, however, Sir J. Hooker has placed as a var. of C. acerosa; to me it seemed very distinct. Travelling on, in an hour more, we reached a wood called Te Kotipu; here, at last! we breakfasted on boiled rice. Looking about in this wood, while breakfast was getting ready, I detected a new species of Pittosporum, a handsome leafy small upright shrub, with dark-green leaves, which I named P. viridis,—now, probably, the P. fasciculatum of Sir J. Hooker. From this wood we proceeded on towards Taupo Lake, passing Te Waiharuru, where a stream rushes leaping and bounding underground through an awful chasm, shaking the earth for some distance around,—whence its fit name = the Rumbling Water. From this place we travelled to Hinemaia, another river of bounding water: thence to Apungao-tekura,—the course being mostly up hill. At 6 p.m. we gained Orona, a small village on the Taupo Lake, very hungry and very tired.—For the last 3 miles, however, the travelling was comparatively easy, over open ground and downhill.

17th. The next morning we did not leave very early, being wholly dependent on these villagers for our breakfast; while it was cooking I strolled on the sandy shores of the lake, and there detected a new species of Chenopodium (G. pusillum,) growing plentifully. In conversing with an aged native, I found, that he was one of that very marauding party who had attempted the descent on southern Hawke's Bay natives in years gone by, and who, owing to the sudden loss of a number of their party on the tops of the Ruahine range, through their being carried down by the snow, had returned without effecting their design (as related by me in my first Paper, page 17). He narrated the whole affair, giving the names also of those who had so miserably perished there; and gravely adding, that it was all brought on through one of them having wantonly desecrated that sacred spot—the heights above (mingit). Which superstitious belief had, I suspect, a great deal to do with their not seeking to afford their unfortunate comrades any relief. It having also been construed by their priests as ominous of future defeat at Hawke's Bay, if they persisted in going thither, caused them to return. When this man heard from Paora, that I had been on that very spot, he got angry, and would not for some time believe him,—making also a great fuss about our now going thither or returning to Hawke's Bay by that way—on account of its sanctity—being a tapu spot! Forcibly reminding me of what the old Maori priests at the N. had formerly said, when they found that I had really been to the Reinga (beyond Cape M. V.Diemen), and had drunk of the sacred "spirits well" there.^*

Leaving Orona we travelled S. by the shore of the lake to Motutere, a much larger village than the former, reaching it at 1.30; here were several natives. We staid here a while to dine, being hospitably pressed by the natives. Just outside the village a single large sized Karaka tree (Corynocarpus lœvigata) was growing; a rare sight so far from the sea-coast. At 3 p.m. we left, and travelling steadily on halted late on the banks of the river Waikato, near its head, where we found a small party of natives employed in dubbing timber. We had heard of them, and were in hopes of getting something from them to eat, but, unfortunately, we were again obliged to go supperless to bed.—

18th. Rising this morning we were constrained to await the arrival of a native who had gone to fetch some potatoes. We left, however, at 8, being ferried across the river by the natives in their canoes,^* and arrived at Rotoaira village, at the base of the Tongariro mountain, in the afternoon, and were well received by the natives,—so here we stopped the night. As this was the last S. village of the Taupo country I endeavoured to get a guide hence to the Patea district, and only after great difficulty succeeded; as the country over which our course lay was rugged and difficult, and there was no regular track hence to the Patea villages; only once a year,—or in 2, or even 3 years,—did a small party of Maoris visit Taupo from Patea; rarely if ever did any go from Taupo to Patea. Nothing is more surprising to me among the many and great changes which have been effected in this country during the last 40—45 years, than this,—of common fearless communication between the Maori pahs (villages) and tribes, which intercourse formerly did not exist,—not even between what are now considered (even by the natives themselves) as neighbouring villages. I could not, however, help fearing, that, just as on a former occasion so now, our "guide" would prove to be of little real service.^†

14th. As we had no time to lose if we were ever to gain our goal!—the villages of Patea,—we rose early and crossed the head of the Waikato river (which is the outlet of Rotoaira Lake) at 5.30. Winding round the base of Tongariro, over undulating ground, we halted at 7.30 to breakfast by the side of a mountain stream of very cold and pure water, which ran bounding and sparkling in the sun among the rocks. At 9 o'clock we recommenced our journey, and travelled steadily on. During the former part of this day, I met with several Botanical novelties:—e.g.—a very handsome full-flowered Cyathodes (C. Colensoi), a low bushy shrub of depressed growth, some plants bearing white and some red berries in profusion; this will become a garden flower:—the abnormal prostrate species of "Pines" Dacrydium laxifolium and Podocaipus nivalis, were also here, in many places completely matting the surface:—also, two or three species (or varieties) of Gaultheria,—one, in particular, having plenty of good edible fruit; another was very curious and interested me much,—it was plentiful and grew prostrate, having a racemose inflorescence, and baccate calyx which gave it a singular appearance as if double-fruited,—this is, I think, var. e. of Sir J. Hooker's G. rupestris:—a distinct species of Epacris (E. alpina), was also here, but, unfortunately, it was not fully in flower:—in damp spots (but only in two places) two curious species of Drosera were found,—D. binata remarkably fine, and the much rarer one D. Arcturi, a plant of the Australian and Tasmanian mountains,—the only time I ever met with this latter species; together with a rather scarce Orchideous plant, Prasophyllum nudum;—and, in the thickets adjoining, by the sides of the mountain streams, Phyllocladus alpinus, and several species^* of Aristotelia with small leaves were noticed. A peculiar small Restiaceous plant, a species of Calorophus, was also obtained here in a

^* All now included under one species—A. fruticosa, by Sir Jos. Hooker, in the "Hand Book".

page 40 boggy spot;—I had found a similar plant several years before in bogs at Whangarei, and near Cape Maria van Diemen,—but in each locality only a little of it: of the Cyperaceous Order, I collected two new species of Schœnus (S. concinnus, and S. parviflorus), Carpha alpina, Isolepis Aucklandica, and also several species of Carex, among them being a British species C. stellulata. In dry gravelly spots I also detected Asperula perpusilla, (which I had last year dis-covered in similar situations at the base of the Tararua range in Palliser Bay,) and the moss-like tufted Raoulia australis was not unfrequent. Many beautiful plants of the Lichen Order I also met with; prominent among them were several species of Cladonia, particularly C. C. capitellata, aggregata, retipora, and cornucopioides,—this last strongly reminding me of the pretty (never-to-be-forgotten) British species C. bellidioides, which, at first, I supposed it to be, from its bright vermillion-red globular tubercles springing from the edges of its tiny cups; C. retipora, often found in large tufts in undisturbed spots, is one of the most elegant of Lichens; its regular reticulated open structure is wonderful! A few curious Fungi, new to me, I also obtained; and in a still-water reach in a streamlet I came upon a large mass of that peculiar fresh-water Alga, Butrachospermum moniliforme,—the only place I ever found it in N.Z.

At 3 p.m. we crossed the sandy desert called Te Onetapu,—a most desolate weird-looking spot, about 2 miles wide where we crossed it,—a fit place for Macbeth's witches! or Faustus' Brocken scene! about it, too, the old Maoris have many peculiar stories and superstitious fears; some of which, I have no doubt, are agglutinated around a nucleus of reality. Here and there burnt logs lay, scattered and imbedded in the volcanic sand, as if where a fiery eruption from the neighbouring volcano had issued forth in times long past upon the then living forest; I noticed, also, that much of these anciently charred logs and pieces wore a highly polished and semi-glazed appearance, as if from the ever drifting sand. I was so struck with the appearance of some of the half-burnt timber, apparently so aged—or of old time, yet retaining all its vessels and ducts, that I collected a few specimens, and subsequently sent them to England for high microscopical investigation. On the edges of this lonely desert, a lovely Gentiana flourished in all its beauty, probably G. pleùrogynoides, (another fine garden flower,) also Celmisia spectabilis, most luxuriant in gloriously fine tufts or tussocks, and with it grew a much smaller and different looking species of Celmisia [C, glandulosa), for the first time here found, and both species tolerably plentiful. Very curiously also was the formation, or more correctly speaking,—the state in which the old land was left in many spots on the W. edges of this desert. Table-topped mounds, from 6 to 10 feet high, having perpendicular cliffy sides, each containing only a few perches of land, and rising like little islets separated from each other by the barren white sandy arms of the desert, were page 41 common; their mounds, or islets, abounded in a peculiar vegetation, which I greatly wished to know more of,—but alas! I was sadly pressed for time; and I was already more than prudently overloaded for the unknown mountain journey before me. It was difficult, too, to climb up on them, although I did manage to get on two. Here I obtained an elegant dwarf Dacrydium, (a "Pine" tree, allied to the large Rimu, Dacrydium cupressinum,) rooting up a few old trees for specimens of a foot or 18 inches high, in full fruit! reminding me of the quaint yet symmetrical little trees so greatly prized by the Chinese for their gardens. This plant is allied to the large species (D. Colensoi) of the Northern^* forests, but, as I take it, is specifically distinct. Rain overtook us shortly after our crossing the desert, which we were sorry for, but there was no help for it, there being no kind of shelter nor water at hand, so we travelled on, in the pelting rain which was from the S. and in our faces, getting wet weary and dispirited, eagerly looking out for a fit halting place but finding none; to make matters worse, our guide more than once told us, he was "all at sea!" as to the proper course, because the rain hid the hills on all sides (and everything else) from his view, so that he could not see the land marks! We kept on—on—on, however, until 7 p.m. (dark), when finding water we were obliged to halt in a deep gulley by the side of a Fagus wood, where everything around for miles of fern or scrub had been very lately burnt off! We had been travelling through this black country for more than an hour, in hopes of seeing its end, but in vain! Here, where we were, we could not find a level spot on which to put up our tent, so, in the darkness and the rain, were obliged to dig away with our axes on the steep side of the hill before we could set it up! That night was a terrible one of wind and rain; insomuch that we expected every moment to be smothered in our half-pitched tent: few of us slept that night.

20th. Our most wretched night was followed by a dirty lowering morning, with furious wind and heavy rain, it was also bitterly cold. We were here caught in a southerly gale, in one of the worst spots possible in the whole N. Island of N.Z., and we could not help ourselves. To retrace our steps and go back to Taupo (over Te Onetapu desert) our guide flatly refused, and my natives joined him;—he saying, that high desert sand was now covered with snow, and that from the falling snow and sleet he could not tell the course,—which, perhaps, was really the case. From him we had the story of 70 men having been once lost at one time in attempting to cross that place in snowy weather. Murmurs, throughout this wretched long and dreary day, reached my ears,—of my having been the means of bringing on this weather! through my uprooting some small trees (Dacrydiums), and my crossing the desert without observing certain superstitious ceremonies, and my sacrilegiously eating some Gaultheria berries while crossing,

^* See Note D., Appendix.

page 42 which the guide had detected!! &c., &c. The worst to me, was,—(1) that I could not get anything whatever to lay on the wet mud floor of my tent! nor fern, nor grass, nor leafy shrubs, were there to be found,—all had been destroyed by fire; the very lower branches of the Fagus trees in the wood before us having been scorched: (2) that we had scarcely anything to eat: (3) that my specimens were being spoiled, which caused me to fret pretty considerably: and (4) that, at the rate it was then raining, when the gale should abate, the rivers we should have to cross would be unfordable for some days! As the day began so it closed,—no change whatever in the weather, save that, even about us at our considerably lower altitude, the rain was changed to sleet and snow! I shudder now, while writing, in thinking of that wretched time, though more than 30 years have since passed. Often enough did those higly suitable words of my favourite old poet Ossian, cross my memory:—"It is night, I am alone, forlorn on the hill of storms. The wind is heard on the mountain. The torrent pours down the rock. No hut receives me from the rain; forlorn on the hill of winds!" (Songs of Selma.) Their suitability being so much the more increased through the superstitious talk and fears of some of my natives, who insisted on it, that the sounds they heard among the fitful ravings of the blast among the trees, were not merely those of the trees creaking and of the denizens of that forests—parrots, owls, and wood-hens (Ocydromus australis), but of the justly irate Patupaiarehe (wood Nymphs or Fairies), or of the ghosts of the dead! just indeed as Ossian has it.—

Alas! the old fable-existences are no more,
The fascinating race has emigrated.^*

21st. Sunday. Another wet and uncomfortable day. The wind, however, had lessened a little, and we could now manage to make up a fire,—which we could not do yesterday. Not really knowing how far we were from help, I could only allow two tea-cups of rice for all my natives (6 in number) for breakfast, and two for their dinner,—and for supper one cup of rice was all that could be spared, which, with a few scraps of bacon fat and a little salt, made a mess of pottage! At consultation this evening we agreed to start early in the morning; I privately requested Paora, and two other of my natives from Hawke's Bay whom I could trust, to keep a good watch over our Taupo guide, lest he should give us the slip; a trick I had been served more than once in former travelling. Indeed, to prevent this, on this occasion, I had determined, if needs be, to bind him till morning.

22nd. Up early this morning and left our wretched encampment at 6 o'clock. The frost was heavy and it was bitterly cold, insomuch that we could scarcely

^* "Die alten Eabelwesen sind micht mehr Das reizende Geschlecht ist ausgewandert." (Wallenttein.)

page 43 fold up the tent. Unfortunately, however, the ice on the many pools and streamlets we had to cross, after gaining the brow of our hill, was not thick enough to bear one's weight, and so we were obliged to go through it! crash! souse! into the cold water, of which my poor companions with their naked feet loudly com-plained. Here, in one of those watery hollows and partly submerged, (owing, no doubt, to the late rains,) grew a little shrubby plant, which I had not before seen, and never again found; I knew it to be allied to our Geniostoma, and it has proved to be a species of Logania (L. depressa). It cost me a good wetting and cold shivering to get specimens. It was nearly 9.30 before we halted to breakfast, which we did on the banks of the river Moawhango, where we roasted our roast!—a few potatoes which we had carefully reserved from Saturday, my natives having then said, "they could travel better on roasted potatoes than on rice.^* In this locality I was fortunate enough to find a few new plants, which pleased me much; among which were, a fine Ranunculus (R. geraniifolius), a single plant only, but a large tufted one affording several specimens; curiously enough, I never again met with this species. Here, in higher open grounds, grew that peculiar dwarf species of Carmichaelia (C. nana), just rising an inch or two above the soil! well do I remember breaking my tough old Manuka maori spear (used by me for many a year as a travelling staff) in attempting to lift a bit of it! A plant of Liliaceæ, also, grew here plentifully in one large spot, but unfortunately it had lately been burnt off, so that there were no perfect specimens to be had; however, I got a few good seeds, and a small root or two, as well as some poor specimens; and from those roots I subsequently obtained good flowering plants at the Station,—when I was delighted to find it to be a species of Chrysobactron—that glorious plant of Lord Auckland's group and Campbell's Island!—of which I had seen specimens with Sir Jos. Hooker, and also heard so much of from him and the other officers of the Antarctic Expedition in 1841. Gladly did I name it, (in sending specimens and seeds to England, to Sir W. Hooker,) C. Hookeri,—to keep company with the other species of that new genus which Sir Jos. Hooker had named after the Commander of that Expedition, C. Rossii:—in the "Hand Book", however, both have been referred to the older genus, Anthericum, from which they were scarcely generically distinct. The seeds of this plant sent to Kew grew and flowered

^* I have several times mentioned "rice": I was early led—taught by experience—to see the necessity of always carrying a few pounds with me on my long journeys. We had found the great benefit of it on our landing at "Deliverance Cove", (p. 2,) as from it we (all hands) had made our first hearty meal on our finding of water. The natives, however, always preferred potatoes to rice; their remarks thereon forcibly reminding me of what I had heard at Home in my boyhood from our Cornish Miners and Farm labourers, that they preferred the dark-brown and hard barley to the soft white wheaton bread; saying they could not work on this latter. I wonder how it is now with them, in these days of high civilization!

page 44 there. This plant with many others from the interior—among which were, Ranunculus insignis, Stackhousia minima, Epilobium Billardierianum, Aciphylla Colensoi, Forstera Bidwillii, Wahlenbergia saxicola, Gentiana montana, Calceolaria repens, Veronica sp., Libertia micrantha, Callixene parviflora, Cordyline Banksii and C. indivisa, and Gymnostichum gracile,—did exceedingly well in my garden at the Mission Station, nearly all of them flowering every year,—at the shaded S.E. end of my large house; but when that was burnt down in 1853, all, of course, went with it!

We travelled on pretty steadily all this long day until 8 p.m. without halting, when we threw ourselves down among the fern quite exhausted and spiritless;—not knowing how much further we had to go before we should reach this long-looked for Patea. Our guide, who had been lagging behind, although he had no load to carry, had sunk down some time before, declaring he could go no further, being faint through hunger! so, taking from him the course we were to steer (as far as he knew), we left him, believing that a good nap would refresh him. After a while, we arose from our fern couch, hunger-impelled, and having broken off the tops of the branches of the large and many-headed cabbage trees (Cordyline australis), which grew close by, and which the light of the moon revealed, we made a fire and roasted the stalks of the young leaves, which, though both tough and bitter, served to allay our pangs. The Cordyline trees of these parts are the largest I have ever seen, they are not only high and many-branched, but bulky also in the trunk. I remember one, in which a native of Patea had made a house, or room, and fitted it with a door to keep his tools, baskets, &c., in; I went into it, and stood upright within it, the tree was living and healthy; I took down its exact girth, 20ft. 2in. The whole route this day was very hilly and broken, with occasional heavy entangled forests, without the least vestige of any track; we having been obliged to keep much on the higher grounds so as to avoid the streams in the valleys, which were overflowing rapid and dangerous; fortunately for us the open country was much more grassy than we had hitherto found it. During the day I subsisted on a raw potatoe (which I kept nibbling) and a few Gaultheria berries;—in addition thereto following out the Maori plan of "hauling in the slack" (in nautical language), or, in other words, of tightening up my travelling belt; which I have always found in times of severe hunger to be of great service,—although it makes it dangerous for stooping low. That night we all slept just as we were in the fern around the fire.

23rd. Very early this morning our "guide", following our track, came up to us before we were well awake, and finding from him that we were, at last! really near the Patea villages, I, after he had rested awhile and eaten some roasted cabbage-tree leaf-stalks, sent him on to the nearest village, to inform the natives of our arrival and hungry state. A long night's sound sleep had done him page 45 a deal of good; he appearing a different man altogether, although he had had nothing to eat, and had passed the night without fire. At 6 a.m. we, also, managed to hobble after him, stiff enough! following his track; and by 7.30 we were loudly welcomed into a little outlying plantation village of only 2 huts, but where we found a feast awaiting us, in baskets of hot and smoking cooked potatoes! to which we all did justice. Breakfast and prayers over, we had to resume our journey, to reach Matuku, the principal village of these parts, where the chief, Te Kaipou, and most of his tribe resided; a messenger having early been sent thither from this village to apprise him of our approach. Travelling along over a beaten track for 3 or 4 miles we reached Matuku, but found the Chief and most of his people absent,—some at their distant and scattered cultivations here and there in the forests, and some a pig-hunting. In our way to Matuku we crossed the river Moawhango without seeing it! for it ran at a great depth below us in the earth; the width of the rift or cleft in the stony soil was only at top about 10—12 feet, and across this were laid the trunks of two small trees, over which the natives of the place ran with naked feet like birds! I did not like it, but there was no help for it; I almost thought I could have jumped over it; but there was no room to take a run for the spring. The natives told me that the fissure continued for a long way, and that it was pretty uniform in width (though very likely this was its narrowest), and that a small canoe could pass through on the river. The sides seemed, as far as I could see down them pretty steep; I could not, however, see the water below; and I had no time to spare in closely examining it.^* I noticed Stellaria parviflora here growing in large quantities in dry spots. The village of Matuku is picturesquely situated on the ridge and summit of a very high hill, rising abruptly in the midst of these immense primaeval forests which surround it for miles on every side. One great disadvantage was its want of good water, there being none within a mile, at least, and that at the foot of a long hill in the forest. True, they had little pits dug near at the base of a spur, but the water was little in quantity, and not drinkable, from having some salt in it, that deposited its efflorescence on the clay around. The view from this place was very extensive solemn and grand, overlooking miles of forests, with the eternal mountains uprearing their heads and peaks around. On the E. and S. was the great Ruahine range with the many isolated spurs and ridges of its Wⁿ. flank, here rising abruptly, and looking like a formidable barrier to our progress that way! On the W. was Taranaki (Mount Egmont), and on the N.W. Paratetaitonga, Ruapehu, and Tongariro,—and still further N. was the Kaimanawa range; of all these, Paratetaitonga and Ruapehu were now well-

^* Some years after in travelling this way, I found the natives had made a tolerable rustic bridge across, some 6 feet wide, and having a shaky parapet fence, the floor being strewed with manuka faggote; this was done for their one horse

page 46 covered with snow. The natives of the place pointed out to me the W. peaks on the Ruahine, to which we had advanced 2 years before.—

———" Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion."

I should not, however, have recognised them; indeed the whole appearance of that range was strangely different from what it is on the E. side; one huge table-topped spur, projecting towards the N., and uprearing its dark and sharp outline against the sky, interested me greatly; it seemed so much like a built-up rampart; the natives call it Te Papaki-a-kuutaa; of this very peculiar place more anon.

Paora, my companion also on that occasion, was now "in clover" here among his mother's relatives; they had found the scrap he had written on bark, and left at a village some 3—4 miles nearer than this to the Ruahine range, but it was long (more than a year) before they had got it decyphered and read to them! Still it was (as we now found) of service. It was evening before the Chief and the main body of his people arrived; and we spent a large portion of the night in deep conversation. Found them very ignorant of everything foreign (as was to be expected), but most pleasingly simple and willing to be taught. They were all dressed in true Maori costume, in mats of various kinds of their own manufacture, some of which were made from the Toii (Cordyline indivisa); without a single article of European clothing among them.

From this place and its neighbourhood I obtained many interesting plants^* on several subsequent visits, but on this occasion none, for we had still that altogether new and unknown journey before us—to climb and cross the Ruahine range, and I had already concluded to leave here on our return to-morrow, having (unfortunately) arranged, before I left the Station, to be at Waipukurau on the 1st of March, to marry 9 young Christian couples, who would assemble there with their relatives and friends from several places round about for that purpose; their neat new chapel which had been some time in hand, was also to be finished for that occasion^†; and we had already spent more than a fortnight in reaching this place by the "round-about-way" of Taupo. I knew, too, that my natives would be sure to leave this place heavily loaded with potatoes and pork as food for our homeward journey. To their great credit be it told, that though they had recently endured so much and needed rest, they all agreed to recommence

^* of which may be here mentioned, Brachycome odorata; Olea lanceolata, and another undescribed species of Olea having hairy petioles; Calceolaria repent; Carex dissita; Agrostis parviflora and A. pilosa; Marchantia nitida, &c.

^† See Note E., Appendix.

page 47 our toil to-morrow, rather than disappoint the folks at Waipukurau; Paora arranging to re-visit his relatives here on his own account before long.—

24th. Very busy all this morning with the natives of this place, who were much troubled at our leaving them so soon, and did all they could to keep us, in which the appearance of the weather helped them not a little, for the Ruahine range was completely enveloped in fogs and clouds, which the natives asserted was a sure sign of heavy rain or snow being about to fall. I too, I confess, was very unwilling to leave—but go we must, duty called. We promised to visit them again next summer (which we did). Our Taupo guide, who was quite at home—through some distant relationship—would probably remain a month or two, or until spring.

Some years after, while staying at this village, I noticed a curious feature in Natural History, which I may mention here. On that occasion I had gone thither by another route,—(Ngaruroro river and Kuripapango ford,)—it was early summer (October), and snow had fallen pretty heavily, yet quietly, during the night, and in the morning the whole village was a few inches deep in snow, while the great mountain range rising close before me was looking sublime. (I copy from my Journal.) "Close to the village, and even within its fence, were several very large Kowhai trees (Edwardsia grandiflora^*), these were covered with their golden flowers, and mostly without leaves. The sun was shining brightly, and the parrots flocked screaming from the forests around to the Edwardsia blossoms; it was a strange sight to see them, how deftly they managed to go out to the end of a long lithe branch, (preferring to walk parrot-fashion!) and there swinging, back downwards, lick out the honey with their big tongues, without injuring the young fruit! . . . For seeing but very few petals falling (and those only vexillœ), I sent some of the boys to climb the trees and bring me several marked flowering branches, which had been visited by the parrots. I found, that all of the fully expanded flowers had had the upper part of their calyces torn open, and the uppermost petal (vexillum) torn out; this the parrots had done to get at the honey. As the flowers are produced in large thick bunches, some are necessarily twisted or turned upside down; still it was always that peculiar petal and that part of the calyx (though often in such cases undermost) which had been torn away. Through this no injury was done to the young enclosed fruit, which would in all probability have been the case if any of the other petals had been bitten off. It cannot be said, that it is owing to the vexillum being the largest petal (as it is in many papilionaceous flowers) that it is thus laid hold of and torn away by the parrot, such not being the case in this genus; for the long fruit runs down through the two carinated lowermost petals, that are often quite 2in. long, and is further protected by the two side ones

^* Sophora tetraptera, of "Hand Book".

page 48 (alæ), which four, from their being closely imbricated together, form a much larger and firmer hold for the bird's beak. Further, as the N.Z. Parrot (Nestor meridionalis) is a large bird with a huge bill, and as the flowers are always produced on the tips of the small branches, which bend and play about under the weight of its body,—not to mention the high winds which generally prevail in those elevated and open regions,—one cannot but suppose it to be no easy matter for the bird to get a bite at them at all, so as to make a proper opening whereby to insert its thick tongue, and lick out the sweet contents without injuring the young immature fruit; especially when we further consider, that the common practice of the parrot is to take up in its claws whatever it wishes to discuss. of all the flowers I examined, (and I scrutinized a great many during the 2—3 days of snow,) only the upper part of the calyx and corolla had been torn, and in none was the young fruit wanting; nor did I notice any bunches which had had their flowers wholly torn off. What with the glistening snow, the sun shining, and the golden blossoms of those trees,—the numerous parrots diligently and fear-lessly at work so close to the village yet often screaming,—the other birds, Tuiis (Prosthemadera Novæ Zealandiæ), and Korimakos (Anthornis melanura), singing melodiously snugly ensconced in their leafy bowers, having earlier had their morning meal,—with now and then the large flakes of feathery snow falling thickly and silently around,—it was altogether a peculiar and interesting sight; and natural though it was it seemed un-natural, and by no means pleasing."

Another peculiarity, which I noticed here on this occasion, and which struck me forcibly, was, the apparent insensibility of these mountaineer natives to cold. (I again quote from my journal:)—"Past another wretchedly cold day, in which I have scarcely known warmth—even in a small degree. The natives, however, of the place, appear to be almost insensible to cold, the majority of them being but poorly clad, each in a single loose shoulder mat,—and yet they go sauntering about the village in the snow, barefooted and barelegged and barebreeched! of course; or sit down talking together in an open shed, with scarcely any fire, having half of their bodies uncovered. In this respect they differ greatly from the New Zealanders in general (the Lowlanders), who are mostly very impatient of cold.—I, also, noticed some little children, who, leaving their garments (each having only a loose harsh mat), in their huts, came out and frolicked naked about the village! regardless of the snow and sleet; nor did they return to their houses and garments, until I had, a second time, ordered them to do so." Another remark I copy from my Journal of that date:—"Poor creatures! at this season they were all living on fern root, which the children were incessantly roasting and hammering; yet they were all very healthy. Indeed, the great difference in this respect between the low-lying and sea-coast villages (which I had lately visited) and those of this mountainous district, was really surprising; there, in every place, some one had died since my last visit (some 6 months page 49 before), while here, during two years no one had paid the debt of nature. No doubt this is partly to be attributed to the purity of the mountain air, but not wholly so."——Cook's early statement, of their being a remarkably healthy race, I have often proved to be true; would that the introduction of European habits, and of "civilization", had not deprived them of that inestimable blessing!

We left Matuku at noon, several of the natives with their chief Te Kaipou, going with us to Te Awarua,—the furthest outlying E. village of Patea, to which place Paora and his companion Mawhatu had formerly come. Our journey to Te Awarua was nearly a continual descent of a few miles, over a good beaten Maori track. On arriving at the immediate bank of the Rangitikei river, which lay between us and the mountain range, and which we had to cross, I found I had to descend the perpendicular cliff of nearly 300 feet, the worst feature being that one could not see one's way! for at the edge of the precipice one had to turn round, and holding on to the grass and fern drop over somewhere, and so descend sailor-fashion! For some time I did not at all relish it, but finding there was no help for it,—and the natives of the place, men women and children, all did so, and then got across the river in safety, (as I could see from the heights,) I consented to follow,—disliking it the more as I went on; for the sheer height not only made me giddy, but here and there in the descent friendly plants to lay hold on failed, or had been half-pulled up in long use, and in their stead old flax leaves and strips of bark had been tied to shaky shrubs, and other rough make-shift devices of pegs and sticks had been also resorted to, and these, as I proved, were in many places old and rotten, and not to be trusted to:^* however, by degrees, the natives very kindly helping me, I got safely to the bottom in the bed of the river.

The Rangitikei river here was tolerably wide, and not very deep; I managed to cross it by help of the natives without great difficulty. In this place, as in many others in its course further down (as I have proved for many a weary mile!) it runs between high cliffs; the village of Te Awarua being on its E. side, on the lowermost slope of the Ruahine range; this is one of the principal potatoe

^* I managed here better afterwards, by having new flax leaves and new strips of bark fastened to go up and down by. On one visit after heavy rain, when it was very slippery, and some portion of the earth from the cliff had fallen, I was carried down like a baby, on a native's back; as I dared not trust to my own legs! This however was by no means the first time of my being so borne by them over dangerous and slippery places; not a few deep dark rivers having high banks, densely bushy, and the vegetation hanging down into the river, with a tree felled or placed to cross over on,—old, denuded of its bark, and slippery with vegetable fungoid slime,—have I had to cross, there being no other known way; when, after trying it without boots,—and also by sitting on it saddle fashion,—I have been obliged to give in, and to have recourse to a native bearer; slso on the slimy edges of some cataracts;—and he never missed his footing. On such occasions I invariably used to shut my eyes during the whole time of transit, to keep myself and him the more steady.

page 50 cultivations of this tribe, the soil being rich and well-sheltered by the forest around.^* This place, however, was of far more importance in the olden time, as the decaying remains of its old fortifications still shewed;—when it was in its glory as a pa (fortified village), it was taken by the enemy, who carried it by storm. And here, on a rock in the river, which was shown me, a near relation of our well-known present Hawke's Bay Chief Renata te Kawepo, (whom I had left behind at the Mission Station as a Teacher,) was killed on that occasion, in endeavouring to escape from the foe: Renata, himself being also closely related to this tribe.^† Having partaken of another excellent meal, (which some of the hospitable people who had purposely preceded us early from Matuku, had kindly and promptly prepared for us,) and my natives loading themselves with a good supply of the choicest potatoes, we left this place and kind people, and set our faces in earnest towards scaling the Ruahine! The principal chief of Patea, Te Kaipou, and the resident old man of this outlying village whose name was Pirere, also going with us, to put us the better into the way, or course, to Hawke's Bay; although with them it was mere guess,—only they, with some of their people, had been pig-hunting on many occasions for a few miles in that direction. We travelled on till sunset constantly ascending, when we halted by the side of a small wood; our course, at first, lay through fern and brushwood without the faintest track. One abrupt and isolated stony hill, or young mountain, which we had to cross, called Mokai-patea, was completely covered with the species of Coriaria I saw near Titiokura, it always preserved its low spreading habit, by the natives it is called Tutupapa. For the last 3 hours of our journey we were occupied in scrambling and crawling on all-fours up a nasty narrow stony and steep mountain watercourse full of obstructions,—uprooted trees and shrubs lying across it brought down by the winter torrents, slippery stones, deep pools, &c., &c.,—indeed, in some spots it was impossible to pass, when we had to try the banks which were just as bad. The Chief however had assured us that it was the only practicable way! and he and his retainer were also with us as guides. When we had halted for the night and rested a while, my natives (who

^* In visiting these localities in after years I was surprised to find such an extensive and formidable growth of English Docks (Rumex obtusifolius) 4—5 feet high, and densely thick; so that in some places I could scarcely make my way through them. On enquiry I found, when some of these people had visited Whanganui, to sell their pigs, they had purchased from a white man there some seed, which they were told was tobacco seed! in their ignorance they took their treasure back with them, and carefully sowed it in some of their best soil, which they also had prepared by digging; and lo! the crop proved to be this horrid Dock,—which, seeding largely, was carried down by the rivers and filled the country. The same iniquitous trick had also been played with the natives of Poverty Bay, so early as 1837; when, at their pressing request, I visited some young plants they had raised from seed, fenced in and tabooed, believing them to be tobacco!!

^† See Note F., Appendix.

page 51 had suffered considerably in the watercourse owing to their heavy loads of potatoes in addition to other baggage,) looked seriously at each other and earnestly debated the possibility of our ever getting over the range before us. One thing we all agreed to, not to try that watercourse again. We spent the night together, the Chief and the old man being with us. I should not omit to mention that this old man was the father of 12 children by one wife, all living and remarkably healthy; I saw them all, and took down their names, they were a very fine family; I often saw them here afterwards. The old man himself being among the first company who were Baptized of this people, when he took the name of Moses, and having learned to read, &c., became the Teacher of his little village. I have not, however, yet done with our mountain watercourse; for in it, and only at one spot on its N. bank, I found a small patch of a second species of Calceolaria,^* which (judging from its smaller leaves and the withered remains of its flowering stems) was new to me. So, in after years, I again sought it here and found it in flower, and also took away roots of it for my garden at the Mission Station. This plant is the rare C. repens, and this, at present, is its only habitat,^†

————"O'er pathless rocks,
Through beds of matted fern and tangled thickets,
Forcing my way, I came to one dear nook,
Unvisited."———

25th. Rose very early and recommenced our journey; our two kind native friends returning to their homes. Our route at first, lay directly up a very steep hill,—a long outlying spur of the mountain,—we had much difficulty in sur-mounting it, but we succeeded, and then the fog came on so densely that we could hardly see a yard before us! so, after wandering about for some time, and fearing that some of our party might go astray (which one did!) we halted to breakfast, and to await the clearing up of the fog. On two or three rare occasions, while travelling among the mountains, I have met with this species of dense dry fog,—so widely different from the fogs of the low lands. Such is not merely (as the poet has it),—

"Wreath'd dun around, in deeper circles still
Successive closing, sits the general fog
Unbounded o'er the world; and mingling thick
A formless grey confusion covers all."—

But the dense and dark strangely-shaped solemn rolling and gliding clouds of fog, often in separate masses, come fast on towards you, as if they were really

^* The only other N.Z. species of Calceolaria (C. Sinclarii) was also originally dis-covered by me at the E. Cape, in 1841; and, subsequently by Dr. Sinclair at "Waihaki, in 1842". (Vide, Hooker's Icones Plantarum, tab. 561.)

^† It has since, however, been found in one spot on the same flank of the range, but lower down and much nearer to the W. Coast.

page 52 enveloping something more substantial,—impelled by some secret power (not by wind for all is still and calm), and a weird-like feeling or thrill comes over one, as if one must really get out of their way: I know I have so felt it, particularly when alone! Resuming our journey we travelled on all day, up and down very precipitous and broken hills and ridges, often stumbling over old fallen trees, and into holes of uprooted ones, hidden in the thick undergrowth,—and sometimes passing along on the very edges of extensive landslips, down which it was fearful to look. We did not stop to rest nor cease toiling until sometime after sunset,—when we gave it up, as it was getting dark! We had hoped to reach the more open land on, or near, the summit before sundown, which we had been strongly advised to do, but had failed. At this time we were very much entangled among the sides of the deep and thick scrub in the low Fagus forests, on the precipitous western mountain, sinking deep at almost every step among what seemed to be layers (stratum super stratum) of anciently fallen trees, which were all more or less rotten and lying across each other, and hidden under the long Astelia and "Cutting-Grass" foliage; so that, sometimes, my natives as well as myself should sink down so far—crashing through the fallen rotten timber, and yet without touching the earth!—that we could not extricate ourselves without assistance. Language fails me properly to depict the toilsomeness and entanglement of this day, especially that towards night, in that never-to-be-forgotten Fagus forest! A very long and narrow leaved Astelia was the common plant here, together with several species of the Coprosma genus,—slender slim shrubs growing under the Fagus among those fallen trees. When we finally halted, we all just remained as we were until daylight! no one thought of a tent (which could not be set up), or of cooking, of supper, or of fire; and there was no water there! Neither was there a spot at hand where one could lay himself down at full length! We mostly sat drawn up throughout that night; no one spoke to another, and tobacco was not then in vogue among us; one native did not even undo his backload from his shoulders! owing to his being so greatly exhausted, where he first sat, or fell, there he went to sleep, and so remained till morning with his load on his back! Fortunately for us the night was a mild one and without wind; so, being greatly fatigued, we all slept pretty well in our sub-alpine bivouac till morning. Keats' opening stanzas in his Hyperion, were more than once thought of by me:—

"Deep in the shade—— —— ——
Sat greyhair'd Saturn, quiet as a stone,
Still as the silence round about his lair;
Forest on forest hung about his head
Like cloud on cloud. No stir of air was there.
Not so much life as on a summer's day
Robs not one light seed from the feather'd grass,
But whore the dead leaf fell, there did it rest."

The next summer in revisiting Patea, I learned, that we had got into our sad trouble in this particular and superstitiously dreaded place, through Paora, who was leading, having taken the wrong turn,—leaving abruptly the high stony ridge we were on and turning to the left into that old half-rotten forest, instead of to the right! which spot bore a bad legendary name among the natives of Patea. And I had left it to him to take instructions from the Chief and the old mountaineer as to our course up the mountain. The natives of Matuku,—who had kept looking out with their keen eyes for our night fire on the open tops, and not seeing it,—knew we had gone astray, and guessed pretty well where we were. Our having spent a quiet night therein, unmolested by unnatural night visitants! proved however to be of no small service in our behalf with the Patea natives. Strange to say, that only a little way above to the right, from where we passed that doleful night, was one of the best halting-places in the whole forest on the West side, and where I afterwards (in following years) spent several single nights,—and indeed, on one occasion, a whole Sunday and two nights very agreeably. For, on my very next visit, finding that we could easily manage to make a kind of snow well there, from the form and nature of the ground and the stones that lay about, (exposed from under the surface through the up-rooting and toppling over of a large tree,) we did so, planting snow-hole moss (a species of sphagnum) also in it! and, on subsequent visits, I never failed to find a supply of good water,—and, also, close at hand, dry firewood—a thing not always to be obtained in those high Fagus forests,—where all dead wood, both large and small, becomes as it were waterlogged and sappy from the snow. Several parties of natives, including the Chief of Patea himself, also stopped a night at "my well," as they called it,—in going to and fro from Patea to the Mission Station, after I had cleared the track, &c.,—but, on their getting horses they all ceased to travel this way.^*

On one journey back from Patea to Hawke's Bay, I happened to see a Kiwi (Apteryx sp.) in an open place in these woods,—the only time I ever saw one wild and free. It did not see me, and so, I, being hidden from it, watched its movements for some time; it ran much faster than I had supposed it would do, and its striding gait strongly reminded me of a hen running after a moth, or winged insect.

Two or three remarkable incidents of this day's journey I must now briefly notice. During the afternoon we suddenly came upon the remains of a skeleton of a young man, partly suspended about 2 feet above the ground among some thick growing Coprosma bushes: this, we afterwards found to be that of a young man of Patea, who was one of a bird-catching party that had been overtaken by a snowstorm, when this man was lost in the snow! The sight of this skeleton, now

^* See Noto G., Appendix.

page 54 pretty well bleached, roused us not a little, and caused us to redouble our exer-tions to reach the summit. Near evening, in passing along the edge of a steep stony ridge in the wood, at a considerable altitude, I saw a small plant in flower springing sparsely from among the crevices of the rock beneath me,—on getting a specimen I found it to be a Forstera—if not F. sedifolia itself! the very plant of all others in N.Z. my heart had long been set on, through hearing my dear friend Allan Cunningham (who had longed to see it) talk so much about it,—and from its not having been detected since Forster's visit when here with Cook;—as well as from the fact, that it was a very curious plant in the disposition of its flowering organs, and one that had given some trouble to Botanists; the younger Linnæus had selected it to bear its discoverer's name, and Lindley, in his "Natural System of Botany", had to place the genus, containing only one species, with just two other genera in a separate Order—Stylideæ. I welcomed it in Cunningham's name, and secured half a dozen good specimens. Curiously enough I have never since met with this plant in any other locality; in subsequent years, however, I got several good specimens from this same place. Here, in the outskirts of the forest were small trees of that musky-smelling plant, I had originally discovered in the forests in the interior of the Bay of Plenty in 1843,—together with an allied species equally odoriferous,—Olearia dentata, and O. ilicifolia; and peering out, along the upper edges of the landslips, were Coriaria angustissima, Ligusticum aromaticum, and the pretty large Blue-bell Wahlenbergia saxicola. I also observed in several spots, mostly on rocks in the shady forests, delightful and fine specimens of Stereocaulon ramulosum,—some plants forming quite a little bush, and looking charming! A glaucous Veronica, a small shrub, I detected on a stony ridge in an open saddle between two hills, fortunately it was both in flower and in fruit; I never found but this one plant, and being the only glaucous species of the genus it looked very peculiar. I visited this one shrub subsequently on 2—3 occasions, and always brought away specimens: Sir J. Hooker has named it V. Colensoi Towards evening my dog caught a fine fat Weka, in its crop were the fruits of several species of Panax,—probably P. simplex, P. Colensoi, and P. Sinclairii, which grow in these forests. The Beech trees (Fagus Solandri) of the more exposed parts of those alpine woods were of very peculiar growth,—low, depressed, and gnarled, with spreading thick leafy branches, often interlacing and desperately tough, which greatly increased our difficulty in getting through them. Several species of the Coprosma genus here abounded,—particularly C.C. acutifolia, parvilora, cuneata, microcarpa, and linariifolia, and also fætidissima the species which Forster first found, and which from its very strong smell caused him to give the genus its appropriate name, this last species however was more abundant lower down in the more open forests of the large-leaved Fagus—F.? fusca. A new species of Myrsine (M. montana) page 55 I also found here, it is a small shrub closely resembling M. divaricata^* of A. Cunningham. Another species or variety of Dracophyllum (D. Urvilleanum, var. d), and a stout shrubby species of Senecio (S. eleagnifolius), and a much smaller species, S. Bidwillii, I also detected here. On an open exposed ridge I fell in with several plants of a species of Dacrydium, 12—14 feet high, growing together and almost in a row, these bore a very peculiar appearance from their whitish bark being densely covered with foliaceous Lichens (mostly Parmelia), and their bearing two kinds of leaves; the plant, moreover, was not common; I always visited these trees whenever I passed this way, but was never successful in getting good fruiting specimens. I also noticed several small trees of Liboce-drus Bidwillii, growing thickly together. One solitary tree, about 20 feet high, of this same species, I afterwards found much lower down in open ground, but was also with this disappointed, although I purposely visited it at different times of the year. There is scarcely any similarity in general appearance between this plant and the elegant plumose L. Doniana of the N. That beautiful species of Cordyline (C. Banhsii) with its long leaves (5—7 feet) and white berries grew here in the drier stony woods,—and with it, plentifully, its closely allied congener, a graceful red-flowered Astelia;^† while the still more imposing plant, Cordyline indivisa, flourished a little lower down and mostly on the edges of thickets.—

Another curious incident occurred, in my travelling through these forests some years after this: we had just emerged from a heavy belt of forest, and were sitting down in the open outside in the sun, resting awhile before we pro-ceeded; one of my baggage bearers, who had a short hard-wood spear, kept poking it into the earth, when suddenly he felt something under his spear dif-ferent from a root or wood, he proceeded to disinter it, and there, under at least a foot of soil, was a very handsome though small green-stone axe! its bevelled edge was very regular and quite perfect. I might have had it but I did not then care about it.—

A Fern, a species of Hymcnophyllum, which I found epiphytically on a tree at the entrance of a thicket, greatly pleased me, as I had not met with it before. It grew in great plenty on that one tree, and I brought away from it on several occasions many specimens. Sir J. Hooker lias, I find, placed it under the old

^* Sir J. Hooker, in the "Hand Book" speaks of this species as "a small very straggling twiggy branched bush"; but I have generally found it to be a tall shrub, or even small slender tree, 12—15 ft. high, with long drooping branches: it is a much larger species than M. montana.

^† I don't see where Sir J. Hooker has placed this species in his "Hand Book," unless H be under Astelia Cunninghamii; but I never saw it epiphytical, and I think it will prove to be distinct.

page 56 and well-known fern H. unilateral,^* but, to me, it appears wonderfully distinct. I have never met with this fern anywhere else.

The distant prospect being generally dull and obscured through misty exhalations arising from the low-lands and swamps and forests beneath; and yet the mountains, seen from below, and being projected in bold relief against the sky, appear commonly clear and well-defined,—"robed in their azure hue."

A curious little event happened this morning, when near the summit: I was ahead of my party with my dog, and we were crossing a narrow stony ridge, a kind of saddle between two peaks, when striking my foot against a thick withered tussock of grass, two rats started out! no doubt rudely awakened out

^* Mr. Baker, I see, in his last edition of "Synopsis Filicum," has united H. unilaterale (and several other species) with H. Tunbridgese; which species already had included within it not a few of our N. Z. Hymenophyllœ as varieties: to this, however, I cannot agree. No two species of ferns (in my opinion) are more truly distinct than the British species, H. Tunbridgense (including our N. Z. species, H. Tunbridgense, and its "varieties" —cupressiforme, Lab., and—revolution, Col.,) with its single axillary and serrated involucre sunk in its frond, and this fern from Ruahine (H. intermedium, mihi, M.S.,) with its many free and pedicelled entire involucres. But I hope for an entire and natural re-arrangement of our N. Z. Hymenophyllœ ore long.

^† See Note B., Appendix.

page 57 of their slumbers. My dog caught one and killed it, the other got off; they were the common English rat—here at this altitude on those barren peaks!^* Another highly curious circumstance is worth mentioning. In ascending early this morning through an open part of the forest on the S. slope of a spur where the Beech trees (Fagus Solandri) were tall and young, growing up thickly and straight like saplings or poplars, we suddenly came on a lot which were abruptly bent down to the earth in a kind of a row from about 5—6 feet above the ground,—looking like a long green half-roof of a house, or the roof of a "lean-to"! they were all living, thickly branched and very leafy, and their tops were all again ascending from the earth like very young trees. Tired hungry and thirsty as we were, we all stood in amazement at this sight, and myself and natives with their backloads walked under this living sloping roof for several yards, only stooping our heads a little. We found, on examination, that all those trees had had their trunks half-broken—twisted splintered and bruised—at the angle of inclination, and the conclusion we came to was, that it was done through the heavy mass of snow which had been deposited on their thick tops and branches becoming frozen together, and so in a gale bringing them down into the position in which we found them. It was truly a curious living sight. I saw them again some two years after, and again walked under them, when they were much the same, but not so regular nor so clear underneath.—

To return:—Here on the open sunny summits, we were greatly in want of water, which we had not tasted since noon yesterday; we had diligently searched about for it in all the hollows and snow-runs on the table-tops as we came along, but in vain! a few drops from a bunch of wet moss in a hole was all I could obtain, but that was precious. After resting a while on the crest of the mountain, and offering up our usual thanksgiving,—for

———"On mountains and in vales he taught
To adore the Invisible, and Him alone:"—

we determined to push on to our old three-nights encampment at Te Wai-o-kongenge in the forest on the E. side, where we knew we should find water; so continuing our journey we reached that place by I p.m., all hands quite weary and faint for want of water. To add to our distress we could not find any at our old pool and spring! which were both dry, but by searching further down the mountain's side we luckily found some. The welcome shout of "Water!" by the lucky finder, after the first dispiriting announcement of none! went through us like an electric thrill, and having drank and drank again we proceeded to get our breakfast—which included, also, both supper and dinner of the preceding day. Feeling much too tired and listless to look about me while our meal was preparing, I sat and mused, with my back against a tree,—for once a kind of Lotos-eater I—enjoying

——"the wild odour of the forest flowers
The music of the living grass and air,
The emerald light of leaf-entangled beams—
Which drowns the sense."——

I should not omit to mention, that on my way down the mountain from the summit, I discovered a plant which I believed to be a new species of Podocarpus, and therefore named it P. Cunninghamii, (after my dear old friend and early Botanist in N.Z. Allan Cunningham, who first described P. Totara,)—its leaves and male amentæ with the squamulæ at their bases were very much larger than those of P. Totara, and the amentæ were also on long peduncles; its bark, too, was semi-papery, more like that of some large specimens of Fuchsia excorticata, and not at all resembling the bark of P. Totara. I subsequently found a small tree of it again in this same forest, but, as before, only having male flowers. I have little doubt of its being a distinct species. The natives call it Totara-kiri-kotukutuku.^* We resumed our journey at 2 p.m., not daring to tarry; gained the bed of the river by 5, and travelled sturdily on until 7 p.m., (for the last hour in comparative darkness,) when we halted in the shingly sides of the river's bed;—rejoicing that our difficulties were now over, and that we had really suc-ceeded at last in crossing the Ruahine!—

27th. Last night Ave all slept soundly, lulled by the murmuring stream: for

——"this ravine
Was now invested with fair flowers and herbs,
And haunted by sweet airs and sounds, which flow.
Among the woods and waters. Fare ye well!

Rose early this morning, breakfasted by daylight and started. All agreeing to travel steadily on all day without halting. We did so, rather moodily, and just managed to get quit of the river and the woods by daylight, still keeping on for an hour and half after sunset, when we halted on the N. edge of Te Ruataniwha plain, well tired and worn with our very long day's march, in which we had waded the main river more than a 100 times.

28th, Sunday. This we made a day of rest, as we greatly needed it. Every-thing very quiet around. Had two meals to-day of boiled rice. Natives slept the greater part of the day leaving me to my meditations. None of us knowing anything of the country between this place and Waipukurau, and there not being any track hence to that village, we determined to-morrow to keep in the stony bed of the river (Waipawa), until we should strike the maori track^† leading from Patangata to that place,—which we knew.

March 1st. Left at 6 a.m., all in good spirits; by 11 o'clock we had

^* I find this Maori name is given in the "Hand Book" Index to Libocedrus Doniana, but I scarcely think any old Native would call a Libocedrus a Totara, the foliage in the two genera being so very different. The maori name for it, (like many other of their proper names,) is fit and expressive; lit.—Fuchsia-barked Totara.

^† This was not far from whore Mr. Avison's house is now.

page 59 gained the said pathway, where we halted to cook the small remainder of our rice for breakfast. Our meal over we continued our journey to Waipukurau, reaching it by 2 p.m., all hands there being very glad to see us; some of them having given us up, not hearing anything of us.—

2nd. Morning prayers, schools, and breakfast over, I married the 9 young couples, who were here awaiting my arrival; at noon I left for Patangata.

3rd. Left Patangata for the Mission Station at Waitangi, reaching it in safety by sunset, and found all well. Laus Deo.

And now for a few further remarks on the peculiar Botany of the higher western sides, and of the summits of the range, not observed on the former occasion.—

In the open ground, on two or three mound-like hills of peaty-looking soil, and near each other, on the W. side, grew that remarkably fine Ranunculus—R. insignis. On my discovering it I was astonished at its size,—its largest golden flowers being nearly 2 inches in diameter, its flowering stems 3—4 feet high, and some of its round crenated leaves measuring 8—9 inches across! Both Sir Jos. Hooker, and his father were equally surprised and delighted, and as it was (then) by far the largest species known, Sir J. Hooker gave it that appropriate specific name—insignis. I only found it in that locality, but it was in great plenty; its principal neighbour was the notorious Taramea plant (Aciphylla Colensoi,) already fully noticed; and those splendid compositaceous plants Celmisia spectabilis and C. incana, which generally grew close together, forming large dark-green shining patches and bearing a profusion of fine white flowers—a striking contrast to their leaves. At first sight I saw that this new Ranunculus was closely allied to R. pinguis, of Lord Auckland's group and Campbell's Island,—then lately described in the Flora Antarctica, of which work I had received an early part just before I left the Station. Other plants of those far-off Antarctic Islets were also found here, on the summits; notably Oreobolus pumilio, growing in dense tufts in exposed places; while the peculiar straggling Cyathodes empetrifolia, and the pretty little flowering plants, Euphrasia antarctica and Myosotis antarctica, flourished in half-sheltered hollows, with Plantago Brownii and the Grass Catabrosa antarctica. With these last also grew, very closely intermixed (much as we have seen the Daisies and Buttercups among low turfy grasses in our English meadows,) the curious plant Drapetes Dieffenbachii; the little elegant Ourisia cœspitosa abounding in flowers; a very small and new species of Plantago (P. uniflora); and a similar-sized Botanical novelty Astelia linearis,—a tiny plant bearing a large orange-coloured fruit; a little Caltha (C. Novæ Zealandiæ,) having pale star-like flowers; two graceful Gentians (G. montana and G. pleurogynoides); and a very small shrubby prostrate Coprosma (C. pumila); together with several little elegant shrubby Veronica,—which I have formerly mentioned.—Two Orchideous plants, Pterostylis foliata, and Caladenia bifolia (of which I wished for better specimens,) I also detected page 60 growing sparingly; and with them a couple of Carices, C. acicularis, and C. inversa; and, also, two species of Uncinia,—U. divaricata, and U. filiformis;— and with them several interesting Hepaticæ and Mosses.—Only in one or two spots, in shady sheltered places near the top and just within the forest, did I meet with that pretty little plant Ourisia Colensoi,—but in those spots there were plenty of them, and always beautifully in flower; the plants of this species grew apart, as if they liked room; in this respect differing altogether from the other species of this genus I have seen. With them were always associated the mute little brown bird with a white head, as if they were the guardian wood-nymphs of those shady bowers!—this bird I have mentioned in Paper I., p. 27.

"Oh! there are curious things of which man know
As yet but little! secrete lying hid
Within all natural objects. Be they shells,
Which ocean flingeth forth from off her billows
On the low sand; or flowers, or trees, or grasses,
Covering the earth; rich metals, or bright ores,
Beneath the surface. He who findeth out
Those secret things hath a fair right to gladness;
For he hath well-performed, and doth awake
Another note of praise on Nature's harp
To hymn her great Creator."———

I have yet to mention a few other Alpine plants peculiar to the table-land on the topmost summit,—the barest and bleakest spot! these I have reserved till last, as requiring extra notice, and though dissimilar, as to Order and Genera, I have here brought them together, because they are all found only on the most exposed peaks,—all of very low growth,—and all were only seen in curious isolated patches, tufts, or hemispherical shaped cushions closely compacted together;—each species of plant apart entirely to itself in its own tuft or patch, and never intermixed in growth with other plants,—like those others already mentioned were: by which natural means, I suppose, they manage to keep their hold in the ground. There they were on the hard dry summit clinging to the soil,—in summer exposed to the heat of the sun and to the fierce winds which must often sweep over those peaks,—and in the winter to be deeply buried for some months in the snow. (1) Raoulia grandiflora, a very small Compositaceous plant growing in dense tufts or patches, and bearing a pretty white flower. (2) Helophyllum Colensoi, a curious plant, closely allied to the unique genus Forstera,—and still more closely allied to a species of this new genus, discovered by Sir J. Hooker in Lord Auckland's group and Campbell's Island, this plant also takes the form of an elegant large cushion, being closely and evenly impacted together, bearing its white starry flowers upright against the sky peering forth from its tiny moss-like leaves at the tips of its little branches! a truly Alpine-looking plant.^* (3) A Juncaceous plant, scarcely an

^* I managed to bring living portions with me to the Station, and kept them alive for several months under glass, where they flowered abundantly and well.

page 61 inch high! Luzula Colensoi, also assumes dumpy hemispherical tufts or cushions. (4) A little gem of a Restiaceous plant, much like a pale-green moss in appearance, and less than an inch in height, Alepyrum pallidum, is another that forms large densely spreading patches; this, also, was discovered by Sir J. Hooker in the far-off Campbell's Island. (5) A Carex which, strangely enough, is said to be identical with a well-known species of Europe and N. America, (C. Pyrenaica,)—this plant is found growing together as a thick turf closely around snow-holes and snow-runs. (6) Pentachondra pumila (a plant originally discovered by Forster,) densely covers exposed lumps and knobs of earth with its peculiar living mat of handsome purple-green heath-like foliage and branches, that throng and grow over each other, its elegant carmine berries of a large size for the plant, which here and there peep from beneath, are of a peculiar oval form (not unlike the fruit of Rosa canina) and hollow like a bladder (resembling the bladders of some species of Sargassum = sea-weeds), with 5 little tiny seeds, or nuts (pyrenes), stuck round on the inside,—whence its generic name. These fruits are mostly hidden underneath its numerous small moss-like leaves; like the crimson fruits of the several other shrubby plants of similar low and prostrate growth, and only found at high altitudes, and there in the bleakest spots, viz. Podocarpus nivalis, Dacrydium laxifolum, Gaultheria antipoda (var.), Cyathodes empetrifolia, &c. I had long looked out for this plant, and was much gratified in finding it; but its flowers, being excessively small and insignificant and having a withered dingy appearance, much disappointed me.—

There is yet another curious plant that I should like to mention—to call attention to; not that it is confined to those high woods, for it (or a closely allied species) was formerly pretty common throughout N.Z. in the damp shady forests, but always scattered; and I have good reasons for believing that it is gradually becoming more scarce—like many other of our native plants. It page 62 is an Orchid, a species of Gastrodia, a small genus peculiar to N. Zealand, Australia, and Tasmania, and the E. Indian isles. It is leafless, and has a strange appearance, reminding one at first sight of the larger British species of Orobanche (Broom rape).

Leafless, however, and rapid, up darts the slenderer flower-stalk,
And a wonderful picture attracts the observer's eye.^*

Its root, a tolerably large cylindrical tuber, is perennial; its single scaly and spotted flower-stem is 2 feet and more high, stout, erect, and bears several pretty large and peculiar bizarre flowers. The root was eaten by the old Maoris, together with the tubers of other congenerous terrestrial Orchids,—Pterostylis, Thelymitra, Orthoceras, &c. (Much like those of several British Orchids,—as Orchis mascula, &c., from whose tubers the nutritous salep of commerce is obtained.) A chief reason with me for mentioning this Ruahine forest plant, is, that I have good reasons for believing it may prove to be a different species from the Northern one, Gastrodia Cunninghamii, Hook., fil.,—which A. Cunningham its discoverer supposed to be identical with the only Australian and Tasmanian species—G. sesamoides of Brown. This Ruahine plant being taller (2ft. 9in.), and much larger in all its parts than the Northern one, and bears many more flowers, 30—36, on its longer raceme of 15 inches. And though I have more than once met with it in the lower mountain woods, it had always past flowering with withered perianths.

I have already mentioned a peculiar looking peak, or spur, on the top of the Ruahine range, running in a Northerly direction (when viewed from Matuku), and called, Te Papakiakuutaa.^† On every journey of mine to and from Patea, I had always been desirous of visiting that strange-looking outlying spur; and one year (probably 1850) I managed to do so. On that occasion of returning from Patea, I had arranged that we should sleep at our "stone snow-well" in the alpine forest,—that being the nearest place to the said spur that we could "camp at" on our way back to Hawke's Bay without losing much time. We did so. Early the next morning we were on the move, and when we got to the W. summit, I, for the first time told my party what I was going to do,—to visit alone Te Papakiakuutaa. For a long time they strongly objected to my plan,—for them to proceed from where we then were some 2—3 miles on to the "camping-place" on the E. side of the peak, where I would rejoin them at evening,—they preferring to remain and wait for me where we then were, which I would not allow. At last I got them to leave me,—I privately telling my trusty native among them, that if I did not appear by sun-down, he was to come as far as the "two slips" to meet me. Taking my dog with me I went on: it

^* "Blattloss aber und schnell erhebt sich der z¨rtere Stengel, Und ein Wundergebild zeiht den Betrachtenden an."—Metamorphose der Pflanzen. Goethe.

^† Page 46. See Note B., Appendix.

page 63 was a gloriously fine day, the sun was melting; ere long the course without trees or high shrubs was more difficult than I had expected owing to the snow rifts in the earth and the boulders; and when, after several hours' toil, I got to the spur and mounted on it, to my great astonishment I found that all the upper part of that huge rampart was wholly composed of loose rocks and stones without any earth or clay between! It was a singular spot; no living thing was there, save a few common small lizards (Mocoa) basking on the black rocks in the sun, which (unlike Darwin's at the Galapagos,) scuttled off pretty fast on seeing me,—though they, in all probability, had never before seen a man. Not even a plant grew on it, and my dog finding he could not well get up on it, staid behind and howled! I walked some distance over the top, though every step required caution as the stones were loose; I never saw anything natural like it before; it seemed more like a place of Cyclopean art, and together with the extreme solitude caused many strange thoughts to arise,—to which the finding of that green-stone axe,^*—and also the peculiar, almost regular, formation of the earth I had noticed in one of the dry forests in the neighbourhood lower down, as if anciently cut into ramparts and fosses (though now overgrown with fine trees of the large-leaved Fagus,) contributed their share. The prospect inland was very extensive; no doubt with a glass the people of Matuku could have seen me standing there in bold relief against the sky. I staid there a while, musing:—

"How divine,
The liberty, for frail, for mortal man
To roam at large among unpeopled glens
And mountainous retirements;———
———regions consecrate
To oldest time! and, reckless of the storm,
Be as a presence or a motion there."

The day was now fast waning, and I left the dike to return; when suddenly I became faint, and I found my strength failing me fast. I sat down and deliberated; soon after my dog came up, wet, and covered with red vegetable mud; I tracked to where he had been bathing in a small snow-water pool, between two small hills, the water in which was quite warm, almost hot, and red, and thick with decaying vegetable matter, which had been just stirred up by the dog; I strained, or squeezed, some through my handkerchief and drank, and bathed my head and face. By-and-by I proceeded, but before I got on to the open and clear table-land of the top the sun went down, and it soon became nearly dark; still the travelling was pretty good there on those flat tops, only now and then stumbling, through haste and hunger, over low tussocks and mounds and boulder stones. It grew still darker, and the place was fast becoming enveloped in night clouds, when suddenly a dark form appeared just before me, and my dog barked and stood! it was my trusty native, who, having become alarmed at

^* Ante, page 55.

page 64 ym non-appearance and long absence, had left the encampment and the "two slips", in quest of me; in two hours more,—after crawling slowly along, literally feeling one's way, as we could not now walk fast owing to the darkness, and passing the two dreaded slips without difficulty, the ground there being dry,—we got to my party, who had long sat in great fear and superstitious dread, insomuch that they had had no supper! I gained very little indeed in Botany that day; nothing whatever of importance.—

"The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfils Himself in many ways."

Mort d'Arthur. Tennyson.

Tintent Abbey. Wordswoeth.