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gations to the gallant captain for his valuable company and for the 
hospitable reception at his house. 
The point we had now reached, offered very little, for attrac- 
tion. The steep declivity of the shore, about 100 feet high, as 
far as I had followed it up, presented, in unchanging monotony, 
clayey or sandy banks, alternating with strata of bituminous shales 
and lignite. The only remarkable feature of this spot is the pre- 
sence of a thick bank of reddish-brown sandstone containing mag- 
netic iron , the same as on the peninsula of Puponga. This bank 
can be traced along the whole Boutli-side of the Manukau Basin. 
As to the rest, the region, almost treeless and little fertile as it 
is, presents a desolate and cheerless aspect, and 1 could well ap- 
preciate the complaints of good Mrs. G. , who — after many sad 
blows of adversity, and after having finally, in Bass Strait between 
Australia and Van Diemensland, by a shipwreck lost all she had, 
saving nothing but the bare life — when cast upon tins shore, 
was longing to exchange this dreary solitude for more genial 
regions. She exerted herself to the utmost of her efforts, to render 
the evening as pleasant as possible to her guests, and after we had 
retired , she even made her music-box play soft melodies to lull us 
into gentle repose. 
January 22. The question, how from Kauri Point we were 
to reach Waiuku, a distance of about IS miles by water, was most 
satisfactorily solved by a lucky accident. A small schooner of 20 tons, 
the “Sea Belle,” which was plying between Onchunga and Waiuku, 
for the purpose of bringing from the latter place the produce of 
the natives, flour and flax, to the market of Oneliunga, ran on 
her trip to Waiuku in the morning close to Kauri Point and took 
us on board. True; we had to confide ourselves to a vessel that 
was in a most miserable plight , and the master of which calculated 
besides upon the passengers performing sailor duties; for while 
the so-called captain sat continually at the pump , engaged in pump- 
ing out the water as it came streaming into the leaky boat, and while 
his only helpmate managed the helm , the weighing of the anchors 
and the setting of sails was left to the passengers. Meanwhile the 
