162 WAITAKA RIVER. [PART I. 



which there is only five feet of water at low tide, 

 but inside the bar it deepens considerably, and two 

 miles from its mouth I found the depth to be two 

 fathoms and a half. The Waitara does not take its 

 rise in Mount Egmont, but comes from a hilly range 

 which runs from Tongariro in a south-westerly di- 

 rection, and is called Rangitoto. It flows through 

 a fertile and open country. About twelve miles 

 from its mouth, and situated on the left bank, was 

 formerly a large and prosperous village, called Puke- 

 rangi-ora, peopled with 1500 of the Nga-te-awa 

 tribes. About ten years ago it was taken, after a 

 long siege, by the Waikato, and nearly 500 of the 

 inhabitants were slaughtered, fifty of them by the 

 hand of Te-wero-wero, who is at present a great 

 " Mihanere " (as the natives call those who have 

 adopted Christianity, from the word missionary), and 

 lives at Waitemata or Manukao; the rest of the 

 population was carried away into slavery. There 

 are no natives here at present, nor is there any trace 

 of the path which formerly led from Puke-rangi-ora 

 round the base of Mount Egmont to the districts 

 in Cook's Straits. 



I returned in the evening delighted with the ge- 

 neral aspect of the country. 



We were now in the middle of summer ; the wea- 

 ther was very agreeable; the thermometer in the 

 afternoon stood in the shade at 86, rising to 100 in 

 the sun, and generally falling in the evening to 62. 

 But I must observe that we were living amidst the 



