304 WAINGAROA HARBOUR. [PART II. 



the coast shelter these places ; the soil is a light 

 fertile mould. The appearance of the land con- 

 tinued unchanged until we reached the harbour of 

 Waingaroa. Before we came there we met several 

 families of natives, who seem to be under the au- 

 thority of a very intelligent and civil old patriarch. 

 All the members of his family were remarkably 

 well-looking. They carried on a lively and joyful 

 conversation with us till late in the night, and I 

 felt truly sorry in the morning when we parted 

 from them. 



On starting on the 10th we had only a few miles 

 to proceed before reaching Waingaroa. Our road 

 was covered with the Veronica speciosa, which is a 

 true child of autumn, and grows to the size of a 

 moderate shrub. On the beach the sandstone form- 

 ation was again interrupted by irregular dykes of 

 whins tone. We pitched our tent on the northern 

 shore of Waingaroa Harbour. This consists of very 

 picturesque limestone cliffs, corroded by the action 

 of the water, and half concealed by the over-hang- 

 ing verdure. The cliffs are from sixty to seventy 

 feet high. The limestone is more or less crystalline, 

 and coarse grained; and contains fossils, belonging 

 to the genera Terebratula, V'enus, Ostrea, Pec ten, 

 Echinus, and Asterias. At the head of the har- 

 bour there is a large district consisting of a bluish 

 clay, without, however, any organic remains. The 

 southern shore is formed mostly of a soft ferruginous 

 sandstone. At an arm of the harbour, which here 



