i8o AUCKLAND chap. 
At twelve we came to Mangonui, our journey's end. 
Our return journey was almost more enjoyable. We 
left as usual at five in the morning. As the sun rose 
and lifted the veil of mist off each mountain and head- 
land the scenery was unsurpassed by anj^hing we had 
yet seen, and as the day wore on under the semi-tropical 
sun, the rich colouring of the tinted rocks, the vivid 
greens of the mountain-sides, and the sapphire blue of 
the sea were beyond description. We took in cargo at 
several small towns, and at Russell, which we reached 
again at twelve, we lunched on shore with the bank 
manager and his wife, and afterwards went sailing and 
rowing by turns with Miss W. and Gertrude round several 
of the small bays ; then, anchoring the boat, we climbed 
to the top of Mount " Tikitikiora," where we had a 
bird's-eye view of all the surrounding country, the 
broken outline of the coast, and the whole bay of 
islands below us in the valley. We looked down from 
the heights above upon a sea of fern trees, and the cattle 
seemed as tiny specks. The tide had risen so much 
higher while we were away that the boat which we had 
left high and dry moored to an old stump was now in 
water which would have been above our heads ; but, 
nothing daunted. Miss W. climbed out along the 
rickety fence and brought her ashore. After our 
kettle had been boiled we had our tea under the 
shadow of the cliffs, and then Miss W. and Gertrude 
rowed us back, unmindful of the sun beating down 
on their bare heads and hands. One was irresistibly 
reminded of scenes in William Black's novels : for al- 
though in the Antipodes, and far from bonnie Scotland, 
the spirit of wildness and water was the same. Another 
bright moonlight night, and we sat on the captain's 
bridge while he told us more long-ago stories, heroic 
deeds of the missionaries, thrilling incidents of the early 
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