16 
New Zealand Ferns 
As a boy I collected ferns in England; when, there- 
fore, I landed in Auckland, after a long voyage in a sail- 
ing ship, I knew something about them. So eager was I 
to explore the New Zealand bush that I walked out to 
Waitakere — there was no railway in 1875 — a few days 
after coming ashore. Scrambling over some fern hills, 
I entered a belt of tall manuka and emerged suddenly 
into a bush gully. Never shall I forget that first half 
hour; the sensation of beholding entirely new ferns in 
whichever direction I turned my eyes. As I had seen no 
work on the New Zealand ferns — not even a collection 
— they were just as great a find to me as to the first dis- 
coverer. 
After a bewildered look all round, my attention was 
arrested by a handsome Lomaria (discolor ) , a spread- 
ing crown of broad leaves surrounding the central group 
of upright fronds; then, luxuriant plants of Asplenium 
( lucidum and bulbiferum ) which I could measure by 
feet, not inches as in Cumberland; feathery fronds of 
a buckler fern ( Ncphrodium hispidum) carpeting the 
sward. Not until several minutes had elapsed did I raise 
my eyes to the trees — I had been trained to cast them 
down when looking for the lowly plants in England — 
there were as many there as on the ground; drooping 
Aspleniums, climbing Lomarias and Polypodiums. But 
the filmy ferns ! I had not the remotest conception that 
such plants existed ; they fairly took away my breath ; 
I seemed to be in fairyland. 
There were six times as many species as I had ever 
seen growing in one locality in the Old Country. And 
the profusion! No painful search for perfect specimens, 
they were at my hand literally in hundreds. So vivid 
was the impression on my mind that I can recall the 
sensation as if it were yesterday instead of 43 years ago. 
In these days of material striving, when a man’s worth 
is measured by his credit balance at the bank, it is not 
out of place to make an attempt to inspire the rising 
generation with a love of the beautiful, the simple, the 
