312 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
northwesterlies. The shore cliff continues northward, shutting off 
the towns of Patea, Hawera, and others from easy access to the 
sea. 
MOUNT EGMONT 
Rising sheer out of the Taranaki Plain and dominating the re- 
gion is Mt. Egmont, an extinct voleanic cone 8,260 feet high. Its 
symmetry rivals the famous Fujiyama of Japan and like it is 
beautifully simple in form and all the more striking to behold be- 
cause of its isolation. In winter Mt. Egmont is coated with snow 
and makes a most beautiful sight visible from long distances and 
from far out at sea. The foot of the mountain is heavily forested 
with ratas and pines while the undergrowth of ferns and other 
eryptogams is extremely dense, and the branches and trunks are 
loaded with numerous epiphytes and delicate filmy ferns. Foot 
paths and drives in the lower forest from which an occasional 
glimpse may be had of the snow-clad mountain are very charm- 
ing. Above the forest is a belt of serub, then one of tussock and 
finally moss. Above the 5000-foot line reddish scoria and black 
lavas continue to the summit, but they were quite covered with 
snow at the time of our visit. 
We reached Dawson Falls House, an accommodation hotel main- 
tained by the government at the foot of the mountain, by motor 
from Stratford, eighteen or twenty miles away. It was July 21 
and 22, the weather was decidedly cold, and there was a chill 
damp wind blowing in from the sea. On our first day the moun- 
tain was swathed in clouds, and dense mist forbade our going be- 
vond the established track through the wet brush. However, we 
reached the black seoria of Manganui Gully and made a side trip 
onto a sharp ridge designated ‘‘Magnificent View’’ hoping the 
mist might lift, but except for the feeling of being in a dense 
drifting cloud through which we could seldom see fifty feet, the 
climb was fruitless. An excellent hot supper and an evening by 
a roaring fire revived our spirits. 
The next morning broke bright and clear. The air was crisp 
and frosty, and there was no wind. The east was crimson, wine, 
and gold, and the view of the dazzling white mountain reflecting 
the rays of the rising sun was unutterably glorious. It reminded 
me of a similar sight over the Pitons of St. Lucia in the West 
Indies four years before. The white-robed Egmont, however, was 
