CHAP. XXII.] WAINGAROA HARBOUR. 305 



extends for some distance inland, basaltic rock is 

 seen, containing small grains of olivin. Woody 

 Head, or Karaoe, which, forms the southern head- 

 land of Waingaroa Harbour, appears to consist en- 

 tirely of this formation. I tried to ascend the 

 craggy and rocky summit of this group of hills, the 

 base of which is thickly covered with wood or high 

 fern, and which rises about 900 feet above the level 

 of the sea ; but after a fatiguing march I abandoned 

 the attempt, as I found it impossible to penetrate 

 through the brushwood without a much greater 

 expenditure of time than I had anticipated. 



In Waingaroa there are about 1200 natives, be- 

 longing to the Waikato tribe. They are mostly 

 Christians, and on the southern shore is a mission- 

 ary establishment belong to the Wesleyan Society. 

 The natives assembled in the morning of the llth, 

 and Captain Symonds expounded to them the new 

 system of government. They were highly pleased 

 to be in future subject to the English law, the lead- 

 ing principles of which, as affecting their own posi- 

 tion, they appeared perfectly to understand. 



The harbour of Waingaroa is a long inlet, with 

 a bar at the entrance ; it has, however, a channel of 

 twelve feet at low water, and admits smaller craft, 

 which find shelter in several bays on the northern 

 shore. Off the southern and northern head of the 

 harbour are spits of sand, and the navigable channel 

 is equidistant from both heads. The tide rises ten 

 ieet, and at full and change it is high water at ten 



VOL. i. x 



