240 MANGUMUKA RIVER. [PART II. 



Passing from Kaitaia to Hokianga, the bridle- 

 road ascends nearly to the summit of Maunga Ta- 

 niwa, and then proceeds in a different direction. 

 We leave it here by turning to the westward, and, 

 descending rapidly, soon arrive in a valley, through 

 which a mountain-stream flows, which in its upper 

 part has formed alluvial land about five or six miles 

 broad and eight miles long. This river is the Man- 

 gumuka; its length, from Maunga Taniwa to the 

 point where it joins the estuary called the Hokianga, 

 is about twenty miles. At the upper part of the 

 valley there is flat and fertile alluvial land, bounded 

 on all sides by wooded hills ; the river, running in a 

 bed of whinstone pebbles, at some places deepens, at 

 others shoals, and its banks bear signs of frequent 

 floods. Lower down its depth becomes more equal, 

 and for about ten miles from its embouchure into 

 the Hokianga harbour it admits vessels of moderate 

 burden. This lower part is bounded on both sides 

 by steep hills covered with kauri-trees, but the 

 best of them have been cut down near the water's 

 edge. So much has been said about Hokianga, 

 that in speaking of it I may confine myself to a few 

 words. The estuary is almost wholly bounded by 

 steep hills, which, after the kauri has been cut 

 down, will not repay the trouble of cultivation. 

 But the largest timber-trees, those fit for the Royal 

 Navy, are nearly all gone : those that remain are 

 good for logs, but not for spars ; and therefore the 

 timber-trade alone is not sufficient to repay the set- 



