Plate 184.— AGATHIS AUSTRALIS. 



(THE KAURI.) 

 Family CONIFER/E.] [Genus AGATHIS, Salisb. 



Agathis australis, Steud. Nom. ed. ii, i, 34 ; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 645. 

 Dammara australis, Lamb. Pin. ed. i, ii, 14. 



Although Cunningham and others have stated that the kauri was discovered 

 during Cook's first voyage, it is quite certain that it is not mentioned in Solander's 

 manuscript flora, and that no specimens are contained in the Banksian collections. 

 It is somewhat remarkable that such should be the case, for from Cook's anchorage 

 in Mercury Bay (Opuragi, as he called it) forests of kauri could easily be discerned ; 

 and when, a little later in the voyage, his ship anchored off Tararu Point, at the 

 entrance to the Thames River, and Cook, accompanied by Banks and Solander, 

 made a boat voyage up the river to examine the immense forests of kahikatea that 

 then clothed its banks, they must have passed within full view of the many groves 

 of kauri which until 1868 occupied the spurs and ridges between the Kuranui and 

 Karaka Creeks, immediately behind the present site of the Town of Thames. In 

 both these localities they must have seer the tree in the not very remote distance. 

 But probably Cook did not feel sufficiently sure of the behaviour of the Maoris to 

 allow his people to wander far from the shore. In his second and third voyages 

 he did not visit any locality within the geographical range of the kauri. 



The actual discovery of the kauri was due to the French expedition of Marion 

 du Fresne, and indirectly led to the death of Marion himself. His two ships, the 

 " Marquis de Castries " and the " Mascarin," entered the Bay of Islands in May, 

 1772, or not much more than two years after Cook, and anchored near Motuarohia 

 Island, directly in front of Manawara Bay. Marion's chief reason for visiting the 

 Bay of Islands was to obtain some spars for the " Castries," which had lost her mizzen- 

 mast and bowsprit in a collision with the other vessel. While exploring for suit- 

 able timber Marion discovered a kind of "cedar" with the leaves of an olive {un 

 cedre a feuilles (Volivier). Quoting from Lirg Roth's translation of the Abbe Rochon's 

 account of the voyage (p. 73). " I had cedars of this variety cut down whose trunks 

 were more than 100 ft. long from the ground to the lowest branches, and 52 in. 

 in diameter. The trees are very resinous ; the resin is white and transparent and 

 gives out an agreeable smell like incense when burnt. It appeared to me that this 

 cedar is the commonest and highest tree of the country ; its wood is elastic, and 

 I judged it very suitable for making ships' masts." It cannot be doubted that this 

 " cedar " is identical with the kauri. Marion established a shipyard on shore for 

 the preparation of his spars, and, having the utmost confidence in the friendliness 

 of the Maoris, did not hesitate to allow his men to land unarmed. The ending which 

 might have been anticipated came at last. One evening Marion and fifteen officers 

 and men were attacked and massacred, and on the following morning another boat's 

 crew of eleven men was also surprised, only one escaping to warn the others. Marion's 

 successor in command. Lieutenant Crozet, avenged this treacherous massacre by 

 destroying the villages of the Maoris and by shooting many people ; but with his 

 reduced numbers he was unable to remove the partly completed masts, some remains 

 of which were seen by Dr. Thomson in 1859, eighty-seven years after the event. 



Very early in the nineteenth century a trading intercourse sprang up between 

 the North Island and Sydney, and a small European settlement began to form at 

 the Bay of Islands. This led to a fuUer acquaintance with the kauri, at that time 



