214 Transactions.— Botany. 
December, 1881, Mr. W. S. Hamilton and Mr. Goyen made the ascent of 
Rakiaua, during which they collected an Aciphylla, the first observed on the 
island, Raoulia goyeni and Hymenophyllum rufescens, the last being extremely 
rare and local. 
I had the pleasure of examing the flora in January, 1882, when I 
landed on Herekopere Island ; and again in January, 1884. Although my 
stay on the last occasion was but short, I was able to make the ascent of 
the Ruggedy Range, on the west coast, and of Mount Anglem, the highest 
peak on the island, but was unable to visit the extreme north or the extreme 
south. During my excursions a few plants new to science were discovered, 
and much important information collected with regard to the vertical and 
horizontal distribution of many interesting species. 
Stewart Island is about 42 miles in length from north to south-west, 
and about 26 miles in its greatest breadth from east to west. Its area is 
estimated at 640 square miles. It is composed chiefly of slates and granitic 
rocks, the latter often in a highly decomposed condition, and in some 
localities intersected by dykes. In a few instances the slates are more or 
less metamorphosed by the overlying or interjected voleanie rocks occa- 
sionally passing into a kind of novaculite, which is utilised for whetstones 
by the settlers. 
On the eastern side the coast is deeply indented by Paterson’s Inlet, a 
fine arm of the sea, which extends half way across the island and includes 
several secure harbours—Glory harbour, Abraham’s Bosom, Glory Cove, 
ete. At the head of the inlet a swampy valley, but slightly elevated above 
high-water mark, runs across the island to a point between Ruggedy on the 
west coast, and the Mount Anglem range, where it is abruptly closed by 
low hills. About six miles from the head of the inlet a break in the 
hills on the southern side of the valley leads into Mason’s Bay, where a large 
extent of flat land of good quality is sheltered from the sea by hills of blown 
sand, now more or less covered with low forests, although in some places 
advancing inland. From Mason’s Bay a considerable extent of undulating 
table-land extends southward to Port Pegasus at an elevation of from 1,200 
to 1,700 feet. To the north the country is much broken and rugged, 
culminating in Mount Anglem at an elevation of 3,200 feet. 
Between seven and eight miles from the head of Paterson’s Inlet the 
main valley rises somewhat rapidly, and a grand system of river terraces 
comes almost suddenly into view; the terraces are two in number and are 
carried along each side of the valley; at a point where the valley is two 
miles wide the lower terrace is about 45 feet high and the upper about 40. 
Near the base of Ruggedy they form two branches, one running along the 
south-western flank, the other along the northern ; both branches appear to 
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