334 Transactions. — Botany. 



folius and Lycopodlum drummondii, the last of ■which has not 

 been refouud. In 1840-41 Dr. Dieffenbach, the naturahst to 

 the New Zealand Company, made an exploration of the 

 country to the north of the Bay of Islands. He spent a con- 

 siderable time in the North Cape peninsula, judging from the 

 account given in his " Travels in New Zealand," where Chaj)- 

 ters XII. and XIII. are devoted to the physical features and 

 geology of the district. I cannot learn that he made any 

 botanical collections therein, but the chapters quoted contain 

 several interesting remarks upon the vegetation. In the 

 summer of 1865-66 the district was visited by Sir James 

 Hector, mainly for the purpose of examining its geological 

 structure. This he succeeded in elucidating and mapping,* 

 the results being incorporated in the general geological map 

 of New Zealand first issued in 1869. He was accompanied 

 by Mr. John Buchanan, who made a considerable collec- 

 tion of plants, which I believe was forwarded to Kew. He 

 was the first to detect Ilymcnanthcra latifolia, and observed 

 several other species not previously recorded from that part of 

 New Zealand. In April, 1867, Mr. Kirk and the late Mr. 

 Justice Gillies made a brief visit to the district between 

 Parengareuga Harbour and Spirits Bay. Notwithstanding 

 the lateness of the season, a few novelties were collected 

 and much additional information obtained. Some notes on 

 this journey will be found in the "Transactions of the New 

 Zealand Institute" (vol. i., p. 143). A list of the plants ob- 

 served by Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Kirk is given in vol. ii. of 

 the same publication (pp. 239-246), and a supplementary list 

 by Mr. Kirk appears in vol. iii. (pp. 166-177). So far as I am 

 aware, these three papers comprise all that has been published 

 on the botany of the North Cape peninsula. Its geology, 

 however, was in 1892 again investigated by Mr. A. McKay, 

 the results of his work appearing in the reports of the Geo- 

 logical Survey for 1892-93. I am glad to take this opportunity 

 of expressing my indebtedness to Mr. McKay's paper for much 

 valuable information on the geology and physical features of 

 the district. 



My first acquaintance with the northern peninsula was 

 naade as far back as 1874, when I visited the shores of Doubt- 

 less Bay, the Oruru Valley, Maungataniwha, and a portion of 

 the coast-line between Whangaroa and Mangonui. In 1889 I 

 again called at Mangonui, and also landed for a short time at 

 Cape Maria van Diemen, and in the vicinity of the North 

 Cape. My examination of the Three Kings Islands, made in 



* Geological Sketch-map of the Northern District of the Province of 

 Auckland, by James Hector; scale, 4 miles to the inch. Printed by 

 W. C. Wilson, lithographer, Auckland, 1866. 



