300 WAIKATO RIVER. [PART II. 



meeting at the heads of the Waikato. The whole 

 district between the sea-coast and the Awaroa (great 

 river), which branches off from the Waikato eight 

 miles from its mouth, is called Tauroa. The soil is 

 very light, and in some places sandy, but the kumera, 

 of which there are many plantations, thrives very 

 well in it. About ten miles from the north head 

 of the river Waikato sand has been carried by the 

 winds a long distance inland, and is mixed with a 

 great quantity of pumicestone, which is often so 

 firmly imbedded in it as to form a pavement. This 

 pumicestone, and occasionally pieces of black ob- 

 sidian, are brought down the Waikato river from 

 the volcanic group of the Tongarido, which is situ- 

 ated in the centre of the island, and from which 

 the Waikato takes its rise. 



I have been told that between the Waikato and 

 Manukao there lived formerly a numerous tribe 

 the Nga-te-iwi ; but in the wars with the Waikato 

 tribes they have disappeared entirely, their name 

 being only remembered in disputes about boundaries 

 amongst their successors. 



The left shore of the Waikato consists, for about 

 eight miles from the sea, of shifting sand ; the right 

 shore is hilly, and at the foot of the hills, near the 

 embouchure of the river, is the station of the Church 

 Missionary Society, Maraenui, established two years 

 ago. 



The outlet of the Waikato does not form a bay, 

 but is a narrow channel, where, at low water, only 



