418 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



The island contains 3,154 acres, its greatest width being three miles and 

 its least two miles, with a coast-line of eleven miles, whilst the highest 

 point on it, Opuahau, is 1,274 feet above sea-level. 



The formation is volcanic, and it has been well named by the natives 

 Tuhua, that being the Maori for obsidian or volcanic glass, of which, with 

 basalt, the island principally consists ; cliffs, reefs, boulders, etc., being 

 composed of this mineral, or a conglomerate of it mixed with other volcanic 

 matter. 



The island is very picturesque with its grand coast scenery, consisting 

 of majestic arches and deep rugged caves and caverns in the basaltic rock. 

 It has also its hot springs and large crater, which latter is five miles in cir- 

 cumference, with well-defined walls, the sides of which are composed of 

 various kinds of volcanic debris, affording a grand field for geological study. 

 The island is, however, of no use for settlement, the whole surface being very 

 broken, and with the exception of two small lakes, situated in the crater, 

 which are difficult of access, badly watered. A few very small springs are 

 to be found, but they would not supply sufficient water for an European 

 population . or for stock. There are no running streams of any descrip- 

 tion. 



The climate is very mild and pleasant. During the time I was there, 

 viz., from the 23rd January to the 16th February, 1884, the mean shade 

 temperature taken each day at noon was 79°, the maximum being 90°, the 

 minimum being 72°, with a pleasant breeze blowing off the sea. I was in- 

 formed by the natives that no frost is ever experienced — the place is therefore 

 well suited for the growth of some kinds of fruits. Bananas, apples, 

 peaches, grapes, figs, raspberries, strawberries, and Cape gooseberries, were 

 seen in a flourishing condition on various parts of the island. Tobacco 

 grows very well, the natives having some very fine specimeDS of it in their 

 cultivations, in addition to potatoes, kumaras, and maize. 



At one period the Maori population must have been very large, pas, now 

 in ruins, are found scattered over the island on every commanding hill or 

 point of vantage. At present the inhabitants number only nine, viz., three 

 men, four women, and two little girls, who all belong to the Urungawera 

 hapu of the great Ngaiterangi tribe, and these lay claim to the ownership 

 of the island.* Of the former inhabitants many have left for the main land, 

 where they now reside on a reserve at Katikati ; others have been cut off by 

 sickness, more particularly about the year 1862, when sixty of them died 

 within a few days of some epidemic. The greater number of the old in- 

 habitants were, however, killed in the numerous battles which took place in 



* Mr. J. A, Wilson in Ins " Story of Te Wakaroa," says that in 1835 they numbered 

 70 people, 



