TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 263 



and iu 1838 H.M.S. " Pelorus " entered the sound to which 

 she gave her name ; and with her ends the first period. 



It Vv'ill be apparent that ahnost all the topographical 

 additions within this period relate to coast-line. Within these 

 limits it would not be possible to specify the small additions 

 made by the missionaries and a few others to a knowledge of 

 the interior. In 1838 there were but thirteen mission- 

 stations, and these were confined to the northernmost part of the 

 North Island, the most southern being situated at Tauranga 

 and at Eotorua. Between them there w'as an occasional inter- 

 change of visits, with the result of some information gained. 

 There were whispers of mountains called Tonga and Euapaka, 

 but where they were no one quite knew ; and of interior lakes, 

 of which still less was known. That lake, however, which 

 was supposed to give the South Island its name of Tavai Poe- 

 nammoo ever retained a place on the map, its locality being 

 shifted a little as circumstances demanded. But a new con- 

 dition of things was at hand, and fair New Zealand was now 

 to unveil the beauties of her mountains and valleys, her lakes 

 and forests. 



With Captain Cook's chart in his hand. Colonel Wakefield 

 sailed into Queen Charlotte Sound on the 17th August, 1839, 

 and dropped anchor in Ship Cove, where seventy years before 

 Cook himself had anchored. Colonel Wakefield w'as leader of 

 the preliminary or pioneer expedition sent out under the New 

 Zealand Company to make plain the way for their colonising 

 operations. His vessel, the " Tory," was commanded by Mr. 

 Chaffers, of the Eoyal Navy, an accomplished nautical sur- 

 veyor, and formerly master of the surveying vessel " Beagle," 

 under Captain Fitzroy. His companions, besides Mr. Chaffers, 

 were all men who have left their mark in New Zealand his- 

 tory, and who contributed largely to the early exploration of 

 the country — Drs. Dieffenbach and Dorset, Messrs. Heaphy 

 and Edward Jerningham Wakefield. 



Finding that the lands within the sound were quite in- 

 sufficient for extensive settlement, the pioneers, at the sugges- 

 tion of Dicky Barrett, the old whaler, proceeded to Port 

 Nicholson, passing through that channel to which the " Tory " 

 gave her name, and which was surveyed by Captain Chaffers. 



Port Nicholson, so called after Mr. John Nicholson, Har- 

 bourmaster at Sydney, had been but little visited, the line of 

 reef at its enti'ance warning off vessels from the magnificent 

 haven inside. Captain Chaffers soon showed how groundless 

 were such fears, and very shortly completed an admirable 

 survey of the whole harbour, naming its headlands and other 

 features after persons distinguished by their favour to the 

 Company's scheme. 



But interest in this scheme was by no means confined to 



