WOOD AND WASTE 3 



almost wortliless. Even here, however, the 

 destruction has not been complete; still on 

 the cliffs and alongside the "under-runners" 

 grow many berry-bearing trees, and the flats 

 along the lake edge, too, are distinctly 

 useful. 



They may in these days indeed be ac- 

 counted assets of no inconsiderable value, 

 inasmuch as they are too nearly at lake 

 level to admit of proper drainage and 

 ploughing, and their growth of carex, 

 "cutty grass," and raupo provide excellent 

 harbourage for the smaller rails and other 

 interesting species. 



The great pumaceous region extending 

 over the centre or trough of the run has 

 not yet — though scrub-cutting and ploughing 

 are in progress — been seriously affected. 



Everywhere over these lower lands, the 

 subsoil is a soft clay rock, and throughout 

 this portion of the run ramify a network 

 of creeks. These begin as mere narrow 

 bottomless bogs; as, however, they increase 

 in water volume and establish a scour, the 

 sharp pumice grit quickly wears through 

 the soft rock beneath, and the quagmire 



