CHAP. XXI.] NEAR MANUKAO. 291 



this regular appearance by levelling the steps, they 

 are evidently in their origin the work of Nature, 

 indicating the flowing of the ejected masses in one 

 direction, that of the longest axis, and towards that 

 side where the margin of the craters is least dis- 

 tinct. A great quantity of shells and quadrangular 

 excavations, where their houses stood, bear witness 

 of the former native inhabitants : the time is still 

 remembered by old men of the Nga-te-whatua 

 tribe when all these hills were covered with for- 

 tified villages and numerous inhabitants. But this 

 unfortunate tribe, pressed by the Nga-pui from the 

 northward, the Nga-te-paoa from the Hauraki, and 

 the Waikato from the southward, have dwindled 

 down almost to nothing, and their whole number 

 in the neighbourhood does not amount at present to 

 more than 200. 



As the soil between the boulders is very fertile, 

 it may be expected that, at no far distant time, 

 the flanks of these cones will again form sheltered 

 and productive gardens, as a large quantity of 

 scorise will be consumed in the construction of 

 roads, for which purpose they are particularly 

 adapted. f* 



At a distance of two miles from Maunga-wao 

 is Maunga-keke. This extinct crater differs little 

 from the former, except that there are scarcely any 

 scoriae on its base, and its summit is less regular. 

 It is overgrown inside with brushwood and trees, 

 and on the top stands an old pohutukaua-tree, 



u 2 



