80 ERITONGA VALLEY. [PART I. 



the natives for constructing their canoes. The wood 

 is very heavy and tough, and its durability is not 

 impaired, but rather increased, by its lying in the 

 water. Trees which had been buried in the beds of 

 rivers, apparently for ages, looked as fresh and un- 

 injured as if they had been recently felled. Of the 

 different kinds of timber found in New Zealand 

 totara seems most to resemble our oak in appearance 

 and quality, and the forest in the valley of the Hutt 

 will be of great value to the settlement at Port 

 Nicholson, especially as the trees can easily be 

 floated down the river during freshes. There are 

 harder woods in New Zealand than the totara, such 

 as those of the rata and pohutukana (gen. Metro- 

 sideros), and of the kahikatoa (Leptospermum), a 

 moderate-sized tree, covering the lowest banks on 

 the river Hutt ; but these woods are too hard, and 

 can only be worked with great labour and expense. 



On the fourth day I joined the party of Mr. Deans, 

 which was employed cutting a line through the 

 forest that runs on the slope of the western hills. 

 Heavy showers of rain and freshes in the river 

 detained us in Mr. Dean's tent for two days : these 

 we passed as well as we could in shooting pigeons, 

 which at this season were feeding in great numbers 

 upon the aromatic berry of the mai pine or the 

 seeds and leaves of the kahikatoa. 



About thirty miles up the river, on a plateau on the 

 western hills, I saw for the first time traces of the 

 natives having visited this district before us. At 



