332 LAKE TAUPO. [PART II. 



land which I have endeavoured to describe, since 

 the mass of water which thus escaped must have 

 been very considerable. 



On the margin of the lake was a small beach, the 

 sands of which were grains of leucit. It was 

 bounded on both sides by prosilient promontories 

 clothed with shrubs. The Edwardsia and the ka- 

 raka-tree were again prevailing, and a very beautiful 

 shrub, a Dracophyllum with rose-coloured flowers, 

 was in full blossom. On the western promontory 

 were some houses ; but most of the inhabitants had 

 departed for a war excursion to Wanganui and Cook's 

 Straits, and the rest of the tribe lived at a different 

 part of the lake. Being, however, apprised of our 

 arrival, some men, with women and children, made 

 their appearance in the evening, bringing plenty 

 of provisions in their canoes, and the most friendly 

 understanding was soon established. With Eu- 

 ropean commodities they were as well provided as 

 the natives on the coast ; these they generally ob- 

 tain from Cook's Straits, since Wanganui, by the 

 establishment of a small colony of the New Zealand 

 Company, can now provide them abundantly. 



I will now cast a retrospective glance over the 

 country which I traversed, from the mouth of the 

 Waikato to the borders of the Taupo lake. Of this 

 the valley of the Waipa forms the most important 

 part. This valley is bounded to the westward by a 

 range of coast-hills, to the eastward by the range of 

 Maunga-Tautari. It has an average breadth of about 



