342 Transactions. — Botany. 



ubiquitous blackbird, now common all through the north. 

 Twenty-five years ago the melodious chimes of the bell-bird 

 would have performed that office for us ; but those days have 

 gone, no more to return. Striking camp, we travelled for 

 several hours over clay hills of very similar character to those 

 passed over on the previous afternoon. The only plant of in- 

 terest gathered was a species of Utricularia, which was 

 plentiful in a little Sphagnum swamp at the top of one of the 

 hills. It is probably referable to Hooker's Utricularia colensoi, 

 although the flowers hardly match his description. At the 

 crossing of the Mangatete Eiver, a stream flowing into the 

 head of Eangaunu Harbour, another patch of forest was 

 passed through. It contained some magnificent puriris and 

 karakas, and the largest specimens of Dodoncea viscosa that I 

 have seen. Lower clown the valley was the remnant of a 

 small kahikatea forest — probably the most northerly one, for 

 only single trees are found in the North Cape district. Climb- 

 ing the steep clay hill to the westward of the Mangatete, we 

 reached an extensive table-land, elevated about 300ft. above 

 the sea. For some years it had been a productive gum-field, 

 and the huts of the gum-diggers were scattered plentifully 

 over it. What with their abandoned workings and the 

 blackened results of their attempts to burn off the vegetation 

 there was little for a botanist to investigate, and we pressed 

 rapidly on. Eeaching the western edge of the plateau, we 

 descended very abruptly to the Maori settlement of Karepouia. 

 This brought us to the commencement of the Awanui flats, 

 and passing through an almost continuous raupo swamp, with 

 the ditches by the roadside filled with Epilobium yallidiflorum 

 and SparganiiLm, we at length arrived at Awanui Township 

 itself. 



We had now entered the alluvial plain which stretches 

 from Eangaunu Harbour to Kaitaia, and which is only sepa- 

 rated from the western coast by a narrow strip of sandhills. 

 The Awanui Eiver, which enters the plain at Kaitaia, follows 

 a serpentine course through it, finally discharging into Eanga- 

 unu Harbour about three miles below the township — that 

 is, in a straight line, for the distance would be trebled if the 

 •windings of the river were reckoned. The whole country has 

 a very slight elevation above the sea, and there is a large area 

 of permanent swamp. On the western side, almost at the 

 foot of the sandhills, is a chain of fresh-v^ater lakes of vary- 

 ing size, most of which are little above the level of high-water 

 mark. Apparently the soil is fertile, and probably well suited 

 for cropping. Unfortunately, however, the Awanui is subject 

 to floods, which may take place at any time of the year, and 

 which frequently cover many square miles of the adjacent 

 country, especially if the flood should coincide with the time 



