ME. 11, H. TEAYERS ON THE CKATHAM ISLANDS. 135 



W 



Mr 



ads (lat. 44^30' S., long, 175° W.). 

 TeayIes, Esq. In a letter to his 

 s, Esq., F.L.S. Communicated by 



[E^ad 



Christchiirch, May 18, 1864. 



Mr DEAR Father, — In accordance with your instructions, I 



proceeded to the Chatham Islands group by a schooner (the 

 ' Cecilia/ of 40 tons) which sailed from Lyttelton on the 12th of 

 October last. Our voyage was slow and somewhat uninteresting, 

 and it was not until the 19th that we sighted the Horns, two 

 conical-shaped hills, on the south-western extremity of Chatham 

 Island. On the way down we met large numbers of Eight Whales, 



Hump-backs, and Porpoises, and were, as usual, accompanied by 

 Albatroses and Cape Pigeons. After sighting the main i.sland, 



we proceeded directly to Pitt's Island, and came to anchor oft' a 

 rocky point, forming the western extremity of a small bay, at the 

 north end of the island, and at the head of which is the residence 

 of Mr. Frederick Hunt, an Englishman who had been settled 

 there for nearly twenty years. Opposite Mr. Hunt's house is a 

 rock called the *' Flower-pot," which forms a shelter for boats en- 

 gaged in landing or shipping goods. The house is close to the 

 beach, and is surrounded by about 250 acres of cleared land, 

 mostly laid down to English grasses, and divided into paddocks, 

 forming a very compact and well- cultivated farm. With the ex- 

 ception of these clearings, and of insignificant patches of open land 



m various parts of the island, the whole of Pitt's Island is covered 

 ^th bush. 



I was received with great civility by Mr. Hunt and his family, 

 who invited me to stay with them during the time I should be 

 engaged in collecting plants, &c. On this occasion, however, I 

 remained on Pitt's Island for a week only, having been detained 

 by a tremendous gale from the north-west. We left on the 24th, 

 and reached Waitangi, a lilaori settlement on Chatham laland, on 

 the following day. Here I presented my letters to Captain 

 Thomas, the Collector of Customs, by whom I was treated most 

 courteously, and who promised to give me every assistance in his 

 power, in carrying out the objects of my journey. 



Waitangi is the chief Maori settlement on Chatham Island, and 

 IS situated at the south-eastern extremity of Petre Bay, which 

 forms an indentation, some 17 or 18 miles deep, on the south- 



