Wkktmak. — Notes on the Great Barrier Island. 83 



From tlip broken nature of the island agriculture on a large 

 scale is out of the question ; but cattle- and sheep-farming and 

 fruit-growing sliould flourish. Oranges, and perhaps bananas, 

 might be grown in large quantities, while the climate is all 

 that can be desired — extremely healthy, and milder than that 

 of the mainland. 



Unfortunately, there are not any harbours on the eastern 

 side ; but those on the western— Katherine Bay, Ports Aber- 

 crombie and Fitzroy, Whangaparapara, Blind Bay, and 

 Tryphena — all afford excellent anchorage and shelter for 

 shipping. 



There are evidences in several places that the island must 

 have at one time been inhabited by large numbers of the 

 Maori race, for, apart from tlie remains of several pas — some 

 of which in the rockiest j)laces are built up of loose rocks, 

 instead of being entrenched by digging as usual — there are 

 places in the forest, notably at Korotiti, on the east coast, 

 which mark the site of their old habitations and cultivations, 

 the slopes of the hills being terraced, and the ground supported 

 by stone facing ; while in other places enclosures are fenced in 

 by stone walls, which are as straight and well built as those 

 constructed by Europeans. Out of these enclosures large 

 trees are growing, more than a foot in diameter. In and 

 about these enclosures I looked in vain several times for some 

 relic of Maori workmanship. This is tbe first instance, as far 

 as I am aware, of the Maori race — if they were Maoris — 

 having terraced the hillsides and built stone walls. There 

 are also, in places now likewise covered by forest, large heaps 

 of stones, which had evidently been collected from the surface 

 prior to cultivating the land. 



Almost in a direct line between Mount Hobson and the 

 principal hot springs there are several very remarkable-looking 

 peaks, known as the Pinnacles, which tow^er up above the 

 kauri forest, and form a bit of scenery which in its way is 

 quite unique. The lowest of these Pinnacles I christened 

 General Gordon, because looked at from some positions it 

 resembles the figure of a colossal man, standing with his 

 arms behind him, looking out over the sea, and, as my visit 

 took place shortly after the fall of Khartoum, this rock sug- 

 gested to my mind the lonely figure of Gordon, as one might 

 imagine him looking out from the palace-roof for the relief- 

 expedition which never came. There is another peculiar 

 dome-shaped rock named Maungapiko, close to the track 

 leading from Whangaparapara to the Waiarihi Creek, which 

 I take to be an outcrop of serpentine, although Professor 

 Plutton does not, I think, mention it in his report. 



I had heard before going to the island that the late Mr. 

 Theophilus Heale, who at different times had lived there, and 



