140 SUGARLOAF ISLANDS. [PART I. 



dales, however, are groves of trees, or swamps covered 

 with bulrushes and reeds. 



A countless number of small streams here dis- 

 charge themselves into the sea : scarcely a mile 

 was passed without our crossing a streamlet, which 

 was sometimes knee-deep. They came from Mount 

 Egmont, or from several small lagoons situated be- 

 tween it and the coast. 



The Sugarloaf Islands are five in number: the 

 three nearest the shore are Pararaki, Paparoa, and 

 Mikotai ; then Moturoa ; and afterwards Motuma- 

 hanga, which is the outermost. Besides, there are 

 some rocks and reefs. The native name for them, 

 as well as for the whole district near Sugarloaf 

 Point, and for the tribe formerly living near them, 

 is Nga Motu the Islands. 



To the northward of Sugarloaf Point are three 

 small creeks the Huatoki, the Enui, and the Wai- 

 wakaio. Everywhere on their banks are traces of 

 former cultivation and of native villages, but now no 

 one lives here : thus the finest district in New Zea- 

 land is almost uninhabited a sad instance of the 

 mutual hatred existing among savage clans. 



The natives could not understand what induced 

 me to ascend Mount Egmont ; they tried much to 

 dissuade me from the attempt, by saying that the 

 mountain was " tapu," that there were ngarara 

 (crocodiles) on it, which would undoubtedly eat 

 me ; the mysterious bird " moa," of which I shall 

 say more hereafter, was also said to exist there. 



