256 REPORT— 1891. 



by Lieutenant McDonnell, of Hokianga, and published by Mr. 

 James Wyld, the eminent cartographer of Charing Cross, did 

 not differ very greatly from that drawn by Cook sixty-six years 

 before. It was brought up to date, and comprised all those 

 additions made within our first period. It also comprised 

 several bays and rivers which never existed ; soundings also 

 not only incorrect, but which proved disastrous to the first 

 vessel which accepted them. From 1839 onwards the spirit of 

 exploration became necessarily a special feature in the develop- 

 ment of the young colony, and marks the second period. The 

 promoters and leaders of the nev/ venture carried with them 

 men of skill, courage, and activity, whose duty it was to search 

 for in all directions, and then to select and survey, lands suit- 

 able for the occupancy of those about to follow. The history 

 of these explorations is interesting in the extreme, but so 

 numerous are they that it is impossible within the limits of this 

 paper to give more than a catalogue in the baldest outline of 

 labours worthy of being recounted at full length. We who sit 

 at home at ease enjoying the fruits of such labours fail to asso- 

 ciate with them the names of Dieffenbach, Brunner, Heaphy, 

 Tuckett, Stokes, Park, Kettle, Thomas, Fox, and a host of 

 others who passed through all the dangers of mountain, flood, 

 and fell. In the person of Sir James Hector, the distinguished 

 President of this Association, who penetrated the region of the 

 wild "West Coast in 1863, we may consider this period fitly 

 to close, and to be followed by the third and last, which extends 

 to the present time. During this the toil of active and exten- 

 sive exploration has gradually ceased, or at least has altered in 

 character, and has been replaced by the steady continuous 

 work of our admirable Survey Department. 



In 1788 was founded the convict settlement of New South 

 Wales, and it was not long before some of the vessels which 

 conveyed the first population to the infant colony spread their 

 sails towards that adjacent country which Captain Cook had 

 invested with so much interest and romance. In its western 

 waters, and ever travelling a little further south, the whaler 

 and the sealer began to develope their industry. Others visited 

 the Thames district, there to procure the magnificent kauri 

 masts and spars so suitable for the King's or the East India 

 Company's navy. At the Bay of Islands, and in various other 

 spots, barter sprang up with the Natives for pigs, potatoes, and 

 flax. 



In 1791 Captain Vancouver, then on a voyage round the 

 world, was storm-stayed in Dusky Bay. The further portion of 

 this capacious sound, which had been but partially explored 

 for want of time by Captain Cook, he carefully examined and 

 charted. As an instance of the odd nomenclature of those 

 early-day sailors, it may be mentioned that Vancouver sup- 



