NEW ZEALAND. 393 



From the splendid panorama of Mr. Burford, I had pictured the 

 Bay of Islands to myself as a place of surpassing beauty, and I could 

 not but feel gratified at the idea of paying it a visit. It did not, 

 however, realize my expectations. It might, with more propriety, be 

 called the Bay of Inlets. The best idea that can be given of its 

 geographical features is, to liken it to an open hand with the fingers 

 spread apart. The land is much indented with bays, or arms of the 

 sea, running up among hills, which are nearly insulated. The 

 distance between the two capes (Brett and Point Pocock) is ten 

 miles, and there are several secondary bays facing this opening. 

 Four rivers flow into them, the Kawa-Kawa, Kiri-Kiri, Loytangi, and 

 Wycaddie, into which the tide flows a few miles, after which they 

 become small streamlets, varied by some waterfalls. There are many 

 minor indentations, which render it impossible to move any distance 

 without a boat ; and it is often necessary to make a turn of five or six 

 miles around an inlet or marsh in going to a place, which might be 

 reached in one-tenth of the distance by water. 



The land has the appearance of barren hills without accompanying 

 valleys, and there is so little level ground that terraces are cut in the 

 hills to build the cottages on. The whole view is any thing but 

 picturesque, and there is little to meet the eye except bare hills and 

 extensive sheets of water. Some fine views are, however, to be met 

 with from the elevated ridges, which afford occasional glimpses of the 

 bay, with its islets. 



Many of our gentlemen were struck with the resemblance of this 

 land to that of Terra del Fuego. Black islets and rocks, worn into 

 various shapes, are found, as in that country, at all the points in the 

 bay through which a boat can pass. These rocks are of a basaltic 

 character. About the Bay of Islands the rock is compact and 

 argillaceous, showing little or no stratification, and is for the most 

 part covered with a layer of stiff clay, two or three feet thick, the 

 result of its decomposition. The hills about the Bay of Islands are 

 generally from three to five hundred feet high, but some of those at 

 the head of the bay reach one thousand feet. The district about the 

 Bay of Islands, and the northern portion of the island, may be styled 

 volcanic ; for, in addition to rocks of undoubted volcanic origin, all 

 the others had in a greater or less degree undergone the action of fire. 

 Our naturalists were informed that the valley of the Thames was of 

 a different character, although many persons represented the whole 

 island as volcanic. The ridges in the northern part of the island 



vol. it. 09 



