CHAP. X.] 185 



CHAPTER X. 



General Considerations on Cook's Straits. 



THE existence of a strait, which separates two long 

 and narrow islands, extending for 800 miles, from 

 the thirty-fourth to the forty-eighth degree of south 

 latitude, is a geographical feature which early at- 

 tracted the attention of those who wished to colonize 

 New Zealand. Queen Charlotte's Sound was the 

 favourite resort of the justly-celebrated Captain Cook, 

 and, many as were the countries which he visited, he 

 certainly could not have selected in any of them a more 

 sheltered or convenient harbour. Here he procured 

 in abundance what he most needed water, wood, 

 and fish ; he also availed himself of some of the indige- 

 nous vegetables for the purpose of refreshing his crew 

 and improving their health. His name is gratefully 

 remembered by the natives, to whom he left those 

 things which now form the principal articles of their 

 trading intercourse with the Europeans, namely, pigs 

 and potatoes; the cabbage, which he sowed, has 

 spread over all the open places in Cook's Straits, 

 and early in spring the sides of the hills are covered 

 with its yellow flowers. 



These straits oifer more secure, convenient, and 



