CHAPTER XIII, 
Round the Manukau Harbour and to the Mouth of Waikato River. 
Oneliunga. — Rev. Mr. Purchas. — The Manukau Basin. — Whau-Bay. — Volcanic 
rocks. — Magnetic iron-sand. — Taranaki-steel. — Huia Bay. — Saw-mills. — Maori path 
through the bush. — The pilot-station. — Character of the West coast. — The weather. — 
South head of the Harbour. — Kauri Point. — Schooner „Sea Belle“. — Waiuku. — Lignite. 
— Caravan of Maori traders. — Te Rata Hokitata. — Collections. — Formation of sand- 
stone banks from quicksand. — Mouth of the Waikato. — North and South head. Dis- 
covery of Belemnites. — Queen’s road. — First view of Mount Egmont. — Maori mail. — 
Fossil ferns on the West coast. — Awaroa Creek. — From Waiuku to Mauku. — Farm- 
houses blessed with daughters. — Return to Auckland. 
Captain Wing, the obliging pilot of Manukau Harbour, had 
offered me his excellent whale boat, for a cruise upon the waters of 
the Manukau, and promised to accompany me with my friends, 
the Rev. Mr. Purchas and Captain Ninnis of Oneliunga. Our place 
of rendez-vous was Oneliunga. I had made my appearance there 
two days previous, for the purpose of roaming, in company of 
Mr. Purchas, over the environs of the town. Before I begin to 
the describe the country, I may lie allowed to dedicate a few lines to 
the cherished memory of that noble-hearted man. Endowed with an 
extraordinary talent of observation, and exerting himself with an 
untiring zeal and energy in the most different directions, Mr. Purchas 
has rendered great services to the colony by the share, justly due to 
him , in the discovery and management of the coalfields in the vi- 
cinity of Auckland, as well as by the invention of a new method 
