212 RANGAUNU HARBOUR. [PART II. 



in number : they belong to the Haupouri, and are 

 not therefore an independent tribe. They are now 

 all Christians, and some of their number had gone 

 as catechists to Parenga-renga. 



They told me that they had once a very large 

 vessel in their harbour ; and although the surround- 

 ing country is not a favourable district for the 

 colonists, this harbour may afford shelter to vessels 

 which draw too much water to lie with safety in 

 the Bay of Rangaunu. 



Some miles to the southward of Houhoura the 

 land at once assumes a very different aspect. The 

 raupo-swamps, and the low barren elevations'- of 

 the soil between them, give way to an extensive 

 alluvial district, which stretches from the eastern to 

 the western coast, and follows the serpentine course 

 of the Awaroa, a river which empties itself into the 

 estuary of Rangaunu, a shallow and extensive arm 

 of the sea, with an open though an intricate 

 channel for moderate-sized vessels. I entered the 

 harbour at low-water, in the schooner, which drew 

 eight feet, and, not knowing the channel, we 

 grounded several times, although there is but little 

 danger in fine weather, as the bottom is soft and 

 muddy. We anchored about three miles from the 

 north head, sheltered by a spit of sand, and then 

 went twenty miles farther up the river in a boat, 

 to a farming establishment of a Mr. Southee. On 

 a second visit we took the schooner up to the same 

 place, and anchored close to the house of Mr. 



