CHAP. XXVIII.] THE PIAKO. 415 



the natives soon brought a canoe,^ and conveyed us 

 rapidly down the river, the banks of which were very 

 beautiful. The river, being much swollen, reached 

 at some points nearly to the foot of the banks, but 

 in most places they appeared to be above the highest 

 floods. They were slightly wooded, and patches of 

 forest alternated with open spaces covered with a soft 

 grass. Captain Symonds compared the scene to 

 some of the Indian landscapes. The chief of the 

 village received us with great civility, and soon pro- 

 vided us plenty of food, of which we stood much 

 in need. 



To the westward the Piako was here closely 

 bounded by the hills, which consist mostly of an 

 amygdaloidal basalt, having on their surface a white 

 exhausted clay. Wood is only found in some small 

 valleys and ravines. Amongst the trees are kauri- 

 trees, but these are rather scarce. From the top of 

 these hills an extensive view opens towards the 

 western coast, the lower part of the river Waikato, 

 and the Gulf of Hauraki, the different islands in 

 which are easily discerned. 



The Piako is a river of inconsiderable length, and 

 comes from a hill in the neighbourhood of Maunga- 

 Tautari, called Maunga-Kaua. 



During our day's journey I observed a large block 

 of a tufaceous rock about twenty feet in diameter, 

 which was lying in the middle of the table-land : 

 it afforded me another proof that the formation of 

 the plain was connected with the primitive forma- 



