44 JOURNAL OF A NATURALIST 
principally built ; so that it may truly be said, that this 
people dwell in houses erécted over subterranean fires. ‘The 
sulphureous stench which abounded here was almost insup- 
portable. The blade of a knife, immersed for a short period 
in some of these waters, soon becomes, as it were, superfi- 
cially bronzed. Accidents not unfrequently happen to 
children, and to dogs and pigs brought from a distance. The 
quadrupeds, however, of the place appear instinctively to be 
well aware of the heat of these streams, and shun them 
accordingly. The natives who live in this neighbourhood 
are, when travelling, easily recognized as belonging to this 
district, in consequence of their front teeth decaying at an 
early age, contrary to those of other New Zealanders: this 
is supposed to be caused by the sulphur with which these 
springs are impregnated, being deposited on the surface of 
their food in cooking, which consisting chiefly of roots, is 
mostly bitten into morsels with their front teeth. Here, on 
the very edge of the large boiling spring, several plants 
flourished exceedingly, particularly Péferis Brunoniana, 
Endl. 
I brought away specimens of two plants which grew on 
the brink of the boiling water, and which seemed new; 
one, a species of Carex (136), the other, a plant of the order 
Composite (137), probably a Myriogyne, differing however 
from M. minuta, Less., the leaves of which are much smaller 
and sessile. I regretted not having a thermometer by which 
I might ascertain the temperature of the water. Fine 
specimens of crystallized sulphur abound in this neighbour- 
hood; but from their delicate structure and extreme fragility, 
it is rather a difficult matter to convey them to any distance 
so as to preserve their beauty. The barren hills in the 
neighbourhood produced an elegant Lycopodium (215), which 
I suppose to be an entirely new species; and the same 
locality, afforded a new species of Gaultheria (216), 
a branching shrub, 4—7 feet in height. Near the station I 
observed a large Ranunculus (218) growing in low places in 
the vicinity of the lake; and in the thickets, close by, a 
