GENERAL INTRODUCTION 5 



it. They have seen it m eaiiy uiorniiig, wlien every 

 tawny thread had its strin^^- of clammy mist drops. Tliey 

 have seen it again at midda\-, a parclied and thn-sty land, 

 that seemed to be covered with broken yellow wavelets, 

 tlymg before the tierce squalls of the nor'-wester. They 

 liave stumbled tln-ougli the entangled tufts at night, too tn-ed 

 to lift their feet. They have slept amongst tliem, t>-mg 

 together a.djacent bunclres to form a tunnel in which they 

 might be sheltered from the cutting night winds of the plain. 



In many places, particularly near water courses or shingly 

 river beds, the toi-toi (Aniiido cuiiHpicua) largely replaces the 

 tussock. It is the tallest and most conspicuous grass in the 

 New Zealand Flora. It bears a considerable resemblance to 



Fi!4. -l — NiM^Jer-heads. 



the magnificent Pampas Grass of the Argentine, now cultivated 

 all over the world. It is not, however, so large or so beautiful 

 as the American grass ; it flowers at a different season, and may 

 readily be distinguished by the more graceful droop of the 

 flowerstalk. The plumes of the pampas grass are taller, 

 straighter, and stiffer than those of the toi-toi. The edges of 

 streams on the tussock-clad plains are often fringed with flax 

 and bulrush, whilst, in the water itself, stand numbers of 

 blackened stumps about two feet high, bearing on their summits 

 drooping brushes of long, coarse, green, or tawny threads. 

 These are termed by the colonists, nigger-heads. 



This plant, (CJarex secta] carries out literally the advice of 

 St. Augustine, and makes of its dead-self a stepping stone to 



