Cheeseman. — On the Flora of the North Cai^e District. 357 



hole beneath the mass of floating seaweed, the entrance to 

 the unseen world, finally receives them." 



"We had no difficulty in identifying the chief features of 

 the locality as described in the preceding narrative. De- 

 scending the hill, in all probability by the same track as that 

 followed by Mr. Matthews and Mr. Wade, at its very foot we 

 encountered a tiny rivulet of water — a mere trickle — evidently 

 the Waioterata of Maori story. It was fringed with Phor- 

 tnium and Cassinia, accompanied with Cyijerus ustulatus, 

 Scirjnis nodosiis, Pratia angulata, MentJia, and other common 

 plants. The stream evidently drains from a little hollow on 

 the face of the hill, in which was a group of small pohutu- 

 kawa-trees. Crossing the stream we stood at the foot of the 

 Keinga itself. It is simply a rocky headland about a quarter 

 of a mile long, of no great width, jutting out into the sea in an 

 almost due north direction. At the part next the mainland, 

 which may be called the "neck" of the point, it is quite 

 low, certainly not exceeding 50ft. in height, and is partly 

 swept over by drift-sand from the westward. It then rises 

 abruptly, forming a steep round-topped boss of rock perhaps 

 250ft. high. On the further side of this it sinks quite as 

 suddenly, passing into a narrow knife-edged ridge beset with 

 sharp points and pinnacles of rock, over which it seemed 

 impossible for either man or beast to pass. It then again 

 rises and drops, finally rising a third time to form a rocky 

 rugged mass about 150ft. in height, which sinks precipi- 

 tously into the rocky beach below. Seen from the west- 

 ward, the outline of the headland thus presents three pro- 

 minences of gradually-decreasing height, separated by much 

 lower portions. The Eeinga is surrounded by a broad shelving 

 beach of solid rock, and as it was low water at the time of 

 our visit we were able to walk round it. The western side 

 is almost entirely bare, except on the upper part of the first 

 prominence, which has a good deal of Phormium, Arunclo, 

 Cassinia, Lcptocarpus, Senecio lautus, Lobelia, Sonclius, and 

 other maritime plants. On the eastern side there is rather 

 more vegetation. The pohutukawa or " aka " of the Eeinga, 

 so famous in Maori story, still exists, although bearing the 

 marks of extreme age, and evidently only a fragment of what 

 it once was. The overhanging branch, from which the spirits 

 of the Maoris were said to drop on to the beach below, had 

 long ago been broken off — probably by some storm — and only 

 its whitened stump remains. The tree stands about 50ft. 

 above the level of the beach, and is placed rather more than 

 tvro-thirds of the length of the headland from the shore. A 

 second pohutukawa of smaller size grows a little distance 

 higher up than the first, and a few plants of Coprosma 

 haueriana and some patches of Mesevibryanthemum may be 



