Smith. — Captain Bumont D'UrvilW s Visit in 1827. 417 



On our way thither we met the three canoes of Bangui, which were 

 coming oft'.* The largest was ornamented both fore and aft with plumes 

 and tufts of hair, and the whole length of its top-sides sculptured in bas- 

 relief, painted in red, often enriched with shell, the whole executed in the 

 best New Zealand taste. Rangui addressed some words to his warriors, 

 and then insisted on accompanying me in my excursion, though I offered 

 to leave him in his canoe. A considerable bank of sand which extends 

 nearly a mile out from the coast reduces the entry to Wangari so mucli 

 as not to leave more than half a mile of clear space. The interior offers an 

 excellent anchorage, where one would be sheltered in all parts ; and the 

 south wind, which alone could enter, would not cause much sea, on account 

 of the configuration of the adjacent lands. Along the high land towards 

 the north 10 and 12 fathoms are found close to the shore. 



The entrance of the river itself has half a mile of width, and expands 

 into a vast basin of from two to three miles in width, where ships like ours 

 could doubtless enter. We debarked near the north point, and M. Lottin 

 and I climbed up to the summit of a ridge which dominated both the 

 exterior and interior basins. From that point the eye wandered at will 

 over the sombre summits of Tewara, surmounted by sharp peaks often 

 disposed like the fingers of the hand, and over the low and sandy flats which 

 bordered the opposite side of the channel at my feet [Township of Marsden ; 

 landing-place for Waipu], and, above all, over the vast and peaceful basin 

 of the waters of Wangari, surrounded on all sides by shores covered with a 

 robust vegetation. Pleasant isles elevated themselves on its surface, whilst 

 the course of the river disappeared in the mountains situated towards the 

 sunset. 



Probably, like all those which have been found up to date in these 

 islands, this river, in spite of its imposing aspect at its mouth, is but a large 

 creek of salt water, ending soon in a torrent more or less voluminous, which 

 in summer and at low water often offers but a small stream of water. That 

 disposition of the New Zealand rivers, so much in conformity in appearance 

 with those of New Holland, arises, I think, from a different cause. In 

 New Zealand I attribute it naturally to the extreme irregularity of the soil, 

 to the height of the mountains, and, above all, to the little width of the 

 islands of which that land is composed, which does not permit the water- 

 courses to attain any considerable volume before pouring out into the sea. 

 It is needless to prove that the same reason is not admissible for the Aus- 

 tralian Continent. 



Whilst admiring the beauty of the scene spread out before us, and the 

 \agour of the vegetation, I was astonished at the silence which reigned on 

 all sides, and the absence of all human creatures on a soil so fertile. But 

 I recalled to mind the warlike habits of the New-Zealanders, and, above 

 all, the wars of extermination which the people of the north declared each 

 year against the unhappy tribes of Shouraki Bay. In fact, in rambling 

 in the neighbourhood, I soon discovered in the scrub which covered the 

 soil the scattered remains of numerous houses. A village had formerly 

 occupied that eminence, and its inhabitants had been destroyed, or had 

 fled to the interior to escape the fury of the Bay of Islands tribes, guided 

 successively by Korokoro, Pomare, Shongui [Hongi], &c. 



[The Whangarei Natives — Parawhau and other tribes — were generally 

 allies of Nga-Puhi of the bay, but not always, and frequent wars between 



* PI. xl. 

 14— Trans. 



