1 82 Voijage of the Novara. 



however, forestalled my utmost wish by furnishing me with 

 a photographist, as well as an assistant to aid me in meteoro- 

 logical observations, and generally to make himself useful in 

 collecting and sketching. The latter was a young German, 

 M. Koch, who proved himself a most invaluable ally, while M. 

 Hamel took charge of the photography. There were also an 

 attendant, a cook, and fifteen natives, to transport baggage. 



'' I was likewise accompanied by my friend Mr Haast, 

 who had but recently come to New Zealand, sent out by 

 some mercantile firm in London to explore the country for 

 colonizing purposes. On the 6th March I set out with my 

 numerous company, intending to proceed first from Auck- 

 land to Mangatawhiri on the Waikato, the chief river of 

 New Zealand that flows from the interior. Crossing the 

 Waikato in a native canoe, and afterwards its tributary the 

 Waipa, I directed my steps westward from the ^ Mission 

 Station on the last-named river in the direction of Whain- 

 garva, Aotea, and Kawliia, on the west coast. From Kawhia 

 I struck landwards towards the upper course of the Waipa, as 

 far as the Mokan district. Thence, after crossing frequent 

 mountain-chains thickly wooded, I reached the source of 

 the Wanganui in the Tuhua district, and on 14th April 

 arrived at the majestic Lake Taupo, surrounded on every 

 side by the most magnificent volcanic caves. Here I was at 

 the very heart of the country, at the foot of the still smoking 

 volcano of Tongariro, and its extinct neighbour Ruapahu, 

 9200 feet high, and covered with perpetual snow. At the 



