LOSS OF THE LARGE BOAT 249 



that everything of vahie had been placed for greater 

 safety. The collection of birds made on the journey up 

 and at Ameha, the first ever taken from that interesting 

 mountain ; my plants on v^^hich I relied to pay me for the 

 expenses of the trip ; the seeds, insects, herbarium speci- 

 mens, samples of rock, and, most valuable of all, the 

 writing-case with my journal containing extensive notes, 

 the work of months, had all been in the wrecked boat. 

 Jacobson's series of views of Ameha, Arichi, and Arawa, 

 with numerous plates of scenes in the rapids and in camp, 

 were gone for ever. The work of destruction had been 

 thorough. The men were doing all they could to recover 

 such articles as floated within their reach. Among other 

 things they managed to get the large camera, a fine 

 instrument, but when we examined it I found that it 

 would be useless. The plate-holders, of course, had been 

 ruined. Not a single piece of clothing did I save, not 

 one of my blankets, nor my hammock. ' The Pirate,' 

 whose things had been in the small boat, lent me an old 

 jersey and a pair of drawers. We then turned our atten- 

 tion to the wrecked boat. Was it possible to save her "? 

 Through a long rent in her side a perfect cascade of 

 water was pouring, showing how thoroughly she had 

 been cleaned out. By using the long ropes we had, some 

 of the men managed to reach the rocks against which the 

 boat was jammed. All attempts to get off what was left 

 of her proved fruitless. To crown our troubles it rained 

 in torrents all the time. I did my best to reassure the 

 men, who were thoroughly scared, although they probably 

 did not realise the gravity of our position. We had but 

 the small boat to depend upon. The few provisions we 

 had saved could not possibly last for more than eight 

 or ten days, and we were 200 miles at least from the 



