THE WARMER TEMPERATE ZONE. 139 



speculation upon it, as to the probability of a much larger 

 and more continuous tract of land having once existed in 

 that hemisphere, large portions of which may at some time 

 have become submerged, but by which the different floras 

 were originally connected. 



Of the general aspect of the country near the north-west- 

 ern extremity, not far from Waimate, as seen from the sea, 

 we are told that nothing could be more uninviting; the 

 gently undulating surface, covered almost entirely with Pern, 

 gives it a uniformity of aspect, which the few clumps of 

 trees with which it is varied, serve only to render the more 

 remarkable ; whilst in those parts where high Pern-groves 

 prevail, travelling is rendered extremely tedious and labo- 

 rious by the thickly interwoven underwood. There is a 

 total absence of roads through the country, and the native 

 paths through the woods are very impracticable; but we 

 may divest ourselves of all fear of wild beasts as we wander 

 through these woods, as it is a remarkable fact in the na- 

 tural history of New Zealand that rats are the largest animals 

 found there ; and it is doubtful whether even these were 

 not introduced in ships from other countries. 



