T'he History of the Flora. 329 
land, as already described, began. Once more the descendants of the an- 
cient species, some perhaps themselves of high antiquity, commenced to make 
new forms, acted on by the novel and diverse environments and probably by 
secular changes of climate first wet, then drier. Then would Celmisia, Vero- 
nica, Epilobium and many other genera, no longer held in check by uniform 
conditions, burst forth into that multiplicity of forms, some reversions, but 
others Shermonie changes in accordance with their diverse stations. ven yet 
the species-making is in progress. 
The land having receded beyond its present limits, elevation once more 
took place, and the New Zealand of to-day came into being, peopled by its 
heterogeneous gathering of plants, children of north and south and east and 
of the New Zealand soil itself, moulded by great earth-movements and climates 
of extreme variety.‘) In one thing they differed from the plants of other 
regions; no grazing mammals had ever been present to molest them, they 
possessed no structures that could claim to be defensive. 
Finally came man; first the Maori, or it may be his predecessor, but their 
influence on the vegetation was but slight. Then arrived the European. It is 
rather more than 100 years since he began to occupy the land, but how great the 
change his operations have wrought, has been already told. We, who now live in 
this wonderful country, and love its marvellous vegetation, have set aside sanc- 
after sanctuary where the palaeotropic, subantarctic, Australian and palaeo- 
zelandic plants, the survivors of that bitter strife with Nature, that commenced 
millions of years ago, can still pursue their destinies unmolested by their hu- 
man enemies and the horde of foreign plants and animals he has let loose. 
Will our descendants prize this unique ra from the dim - and : .. 5 
preserve these sanctuaries intact? 
2) Nothing shows more clearly how greatig « elimate must hans er 
one’s ind 1 an mi Score 
ie eentre of evolution ER ‚and p 
