216 AWAROA VALLEY. [PART II. 



western coast, on a hilly eminence, an offset of the 

 chain of hills which run from near this point 

 through the interior. Between this chain and the 

 range of western coast hills which I have above 

 mentioned, flows the Awaroa, having its source 

 near that of the Mango-muka a branch of the 

 Hokianga river, from which it is separated by the 

 Maunga Taniwa, a remarkable pyramidical peak 

 which towers above the chain of hills, being nearly 

 1500 feet high. 



Throughout its course the valley of the Awaroa 

 is capable of being made very productive, as the 

 soil is extremely fertile : from Kaitaia it narrows 

 to the breadth of one mile. Several miles below 

 Kaitaia the river is joined by another, coming from 

 the eastern hills in the neighbourhood of Mango- 

 nui in Lauriston Bay, and at the point of junction 

 scarcely inferior in size to the Awaroa. Above 

 Kaitaia the Awaroa is only passable by canoes, in 

 which the natives carry down food from their 

 plantations to their principal settlement at Kaitaia. 

 They prefer the upper part of the valley for culti- 

 vation, as indeed they usually do ; and their fields 

 are very extensive, and kept in good order. From 

 Kaitaia to the western coast the land is equally 

 good. In some places there is excellent grass, 

 rather an unusual thing in New Zealand. A 

 wooden bridge over the river has been built by the 

 natives, under the guidance of the missionaries ; 

 and if we cross it, and pass to Waro on the 



