450 



AUSTRALASIA. 



to navigation. Thanks to these maritime advantages, to the density of the popula- 

 tion in the surrounding district, and the fertility of the land, Auckland exceeds all 

 other New Zealand seaports in commercial activity; it enjoys a monopoly of the export 

 trade in kauri wood and the valuable gum of that tree. Being encircled by several 

 small extinct volcanoes, Auckland is the centre of one of the most interesting regions 



Fig. 194. — Kaipaea. 

 Scale 1 : 580,000 



on the globe for the study of plutonic phenomena. In the neighbourhood are no 

 less than sixty perfectly regular cones, each in former times the scene of igneous 

 eruptions. 



North of Auckland the only trading places are the small stations on the Bay of 

 Islands, and the villages dotted round Kaipara Harbour, whose numerous branches 



