FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION 317 
waves, and at the bases of the cliffs are ancient sea caves and 
arches. The narrow isthmus separating Evans and Lyall Bays 
is a low strip of sand tying Miramar peninsula (that was ‘‘Mira- 
mar Island’’ previous to 1855) to the mainland. Raised beaches 
well out of reach of storm waves are common, and the streams 
flowing down the steep fault scarp were quickened, and some of 
them now empty out of small hanging valleys. 
The country northeast of Wellington is reached by a railroad 
which passes up the Hutt valley through the thriving town of 
Petone, where we had an opportunity of visiting the large woolen 
mills. Over four hundred persons are employed, and the chief 
products are blankets, tweed cloth, and rugs. The Hutt delta 
plain, on which Petone is located, is the largest area of flat land 
bordering on Port Nicholson. In early days the pioneers contem- 
plated establishing the harbor town on this level area. But the 
strong northwest winds swept the upper end of the bay and the 
sailing vessels were forced to seek shelter in the coves which are 
now Lambton Harbor, thus determining the site of the future 
capital. The railroad continues up the Hutt valley and across the 
Rimutaka range over which the winds sweep so fiercely that 
shelter sheds have been erected over the road for protection. 
Trains are drawn over this part of the line by two powerful 
engines using a third rail where the incline for three miles is one 
in fifteen. Here we entered the rich Wairarapa district, one of 
the wealthiest sections tributary to Wellington, and beyond it is 
the famous ‘‘Forty Mile Bush’’, a prosperous dairying and graz- 
ing area with tremendous future possibilities, for when placed 
under intensive cultivation it will support a dense population. 
COOK STRAIT AND NELSON 
A night’s voyage in a crowded two-hundred-ton boat, the 
Nikau, brought us from Wellington to Nelson at the head of 
Tasman Bay in South Island. The trip was decidedly rough, 
and there was little sleep. It is scarcely twenty miles from 
land to land in direct line but to reach Nelson it is necessary to 
20 into the open sea and to enter French Pass between D’Urville 
Island and the mainland. Cook strait is proverbially windy for 
it lies in the path of the westerlies, or the ‘‘roaring forties’’ of 
the seaman, and the neck of the strait is at the apex of a great 
funnel whose mouth is between Cape Farewell and Cape Egmont. 
