54 Historical Notes on the 



spots large Kahi-katea (Podocarpus dacrydioides) swamps occurred 

 with, the usual accompaniment of Kiekie {Freycinetia Banksii), high 

 fern, and a network of Supplejack. At other places the forest consisted 

 of fine trees of Eimu (Dacrydium laxifoliuni), but without losing its 

 character of "West Coast density, which defies description. It occupied 

 us nearly two days to toil and cut our way through this region, till we 

 arrived at a point where the river divided into two branches, of which 

 one running in the above named direction, after a course of one mile, 

 falls into the sea ; whilst the other, the northern one, the right bank, 

 which was still clothed with forest of the same description, found its 

 exit one and a half miles north of the former. Observing here a good 

 ford of about two hundred yards in width over the northern branch, 

 we crossed to the island, and soon stood in the surf, giving three 

 hearty cheers. This was on the evening of February 20th, and it thus 

 had taken us thirty days to reach the sea-shore at the West Coast 

 from Lake "Wanaka, a journey which, on a good road, could otherwise 

 be accomplished in four days. 



The river, the mouth of which we had at last reached, was the 

 Awarua, discharging itself into Wide Bay, about twenty miles north- 

 east of Jackson's Bay. Nowhere couid we observe any signs of 

 Native inhabitants, who, as I heard afterwards from the Maoris, 

 had not been living there for some time past. The view from this 

 spot is very extensive. For a considerable distance, both north and 

 south, a plain several miles broad stretches from the sea to the foot of 

 the Coast ranges —the whole, as far as I could judge, covered with 

 dense forest, in which the two fine species of pine, Bimu and Kahi-katea, 

 were the prevailing trees. As far as the eye could reach, all the 

 mountains to an altitude of more than 4000 feet were covered with 

 dense forest, and no peaks visible above six to seven thousand feet, 

 except one single conical mountain, partly covered with snow, which 

 in a south-west direction rose prominently above the Coast ranges. 

 A number of conical hills which, judging from an examination of two 

 of them, consisted partly of granite, stood on the alluvial plains, and 

 were conspicuous in the foreground, whilst a rocky islet, Taumaki, 

 broke the horizon line of the ocean before us. 



Being now very short of provisions, we had to start next day on our 

 return journey, and were fortunately still favoured with fine weather, 

 till we were a long day's journey from the Clarke, when the weather 

 became again unsettled ; so we travelled on with all speed, crossed the 

 ^Clarke just in time, found our small provision depot in good order, 



