DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH OF NEW ZEALAND. 



1093 



without fatigue by steamer in two hours, or by coach by way of the Bohemian settle- 

 ment of Puhoi and the lovely Orewa beach to Devonport. 



The Northern Line of Railway from Auckland strikes across the Waitakerei Ranges, 

 past disused gum-fields and through forests scarred with fire, to the town of Helensville, 

 thirty-eight miles from Auckland. It is the diipdt for the Kaipara and Northern Wairoa 

 trade, and will increase in importance as the line is extended northward. The town of 

 Dargaville on the North 

 Wairoa is one of the 

 seats of the timber trade. 



THE REGION OF GOLD. 



A four hours' trip 

 southwards by steamer 

 down the island-studded 

 Hauraki Gulf brings one 

 to Grahamstown, the 

 mining centre of the 

 Thames gold-fields. It 

 is built of wood on a 

 narrow expanse of allu- 

 vial flat at the base of 

 the ranges, on whose 

 sides and within whose 

 defiles the operations of 

 quartz-reefing have been 

 continuously carried on 

 since the first "rush" in 

 August, 1867. Like all 

 mining townships, it is 

 grimy with smoke. The 

 distant roar of machin- 

 ery is the predominant 

 sound, and the appear- 

 ance of drives, shafts, 

 flumes, tram-ways and 

 mining apparatus on 

 every hand proclaims 

 the calling of the 

 bulk of the people, 

 mines, which brought 



THE WAIORONGOMAI TRAM-WAY, TE AR'HIA. 



It 



IS 



in 



only a few minutes' walk to the sites of the celebrated 

 handsome dividends to the fortunate owners, and spread 

 far and wide over the other colonies the fame of the Thames El Dorado. Within 

 the compass of a limited extent of ground lie the "Shotover;" the "Caledonian," which, 

 in its first year yielded the astounding product of ten tons of ore, valued at five 

 hundred and seventy-two thousand pounds ; the " Golden Crown," which paid its lucky 



