INTRODUCTION. 



HIS book was written almost entirely at sea. I 

 should have been glad if I could have availed 

 myself of more help from reliable and experienced 

 authors. 



I have given the names of those whose writings 

 have been of service to me, and whose valuable works 

 I fortunately had with me. 



Much that I have written of the natives, animals, 

 birds, and of the country, is the result of personal 

 observation. The reader, I think, will see that I must 

 have taken a deep interest in everything pertaining to 

 the home of our antipodean friends, who are not only 

 like ourselves, a Christian people, but descendants from 

 the same stock, and fellow-subjects of the same great 

 Empire, and, equally with us, admirers of, and loyal to, 

 Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria. 



Perhaps in no other part of Her Majesty's wide 

 domain has there been such rapid progress in agricul- 

 ture, arts, education, and all other things embraced by 

 the term " national prosperity." 



