304 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE 



tlie westward and disappeared. I took a range on the higher 

 points connected with the Head, which from the beach has a 

 pleasant verdant aspect. I had however to regret, at the close 

 of a fatiguing journey, to return to our tent with only a 

 solitary plant worthy of consideration: it was Cassinia lepto- 

 phylla, which forms a shrub of compact growth on the lower 

 sand ridges. Fuchsia excorticata, with its pendant diversi- 

 coloured flowers, ornamented the brushes in those spots nearer 

 the beach, which were composed of Coriaria sarmeniosa, Cle- 

 matis indivisa, and some other shrubs frequent on the 

 shores of the Bay of Islands." 



They continued at the mouth of the river until the 2d of 

 October, when, hearing no intelligence of their schooner, 

 which they now considered had returned to the Bay of Islands, 

 they struck their tents, and turning their faces to the east- 

 ward, commenced ascending the river on their route home- 

 ward, and reached Paihai at sunset of the 4th, much fatigued 

 with their journey, from the almost continuous rains of this 

 ever-weeping climate, and the execrable route they passed 

 over, of which Mr Cunningham observes, — " With consid- 

 erable labour, and much inconvenience to ourselves and the 

 natives who carried our baggage, we traversed the irregular 

 surface of these forests,* netted with the naked roots of the 

 trees for five hours, when we all rejoiced to reach the open 

 country, around which we could extend our view for several 

 miles. No person, who has not had experience, can form an 

 adequate idea of the painful sensation excited in the soles of 

 the feet, by a continued treading upon exposed bare roots, on 

 a journey of several miles through these woods. The pain I 

 endured, at the close of the day, was similar to what would be 

 experienced by boiling water removing the cuticle of the 

 soles of the feet; great as were these distressing sensations to 

 me, notwithstanding my feet were protected by strong shoes, 



* It was on the margins of these forests Mr Cunningham discovered that 

 interesting genus Aheuosmia, whose elegant flowers adorned the woods, 

 and its delicious odours filled the surrounding atmosphere with fragrance. 



