CHAP. XXIII.] VARIETIES OF PINE. 323 



Zealand pines. The tree attains great thickness, 

 and is invaluable for ship-building. 



Of the different pines in New Zealand, the rimu, 

 the kahikatea, the totara, and two species of tane- 

 kaha, bear a double berry, that is to say, the seed 

 is separated from the pulpous and fleshy receptacle, 

 which in the two latter approaches to the shape of 

 a cup, and surrounds a part of the seed ; in the two 

 former, however, the pulpous part is divided from 

 the seed, which rests upon it. The miro and matai 

 bear a drupe, which is crimson-coloured in the 

 former, with a blue dust, and in the latter dark- 

 blue, or nearly black. I have not seen the fructi- 

 fication of the kawaka, or Dacrydium plumosum, 

 nor that of the new pine which I discovered on 

 Mount Egmont. The kauri is the only pine bear- 

 ing a cone. 



The forest was interwoven with creepers, and the 

 road very tedious. We encamped about a mile 

 from the left shore of the river Waikato. On as- 

 cending the hill which separated us from it, a novel 

 scene opened before me. Looking to the eastward 

 the land appeared as if the waves of the sea had 

 suddenly become petrified : on the declivities of the 

 low undulations the white and naked clay appeared ; 

 in other parts the hillocks were covered with a 

 stunted fern and a coarse discoloured grass ; and 

 the brown tint which these imparted to the whole 

 gave it a barren and desolate aspect. The river was 

 not visible from the hill ; and in order to see it I 



Y 2 



