OF NEW ZEALAND. 
35 
objection to the place : no large vessel can enter 
with safety: or if, through her lightness, she 
should enter, she would not be able to get out 
again when loaded, on account of the bar which 
runs right across this and every other harbour, 
except one, on the western coast, I am not suffi- 
ciently acquainted with the local facilities for ob- 
taining timber in the frith of the Thames, to 
hazard an opinion, whether it is more desirable 
than Wangaroa for an establishment of the kind. 
All my information of that place has been ob- 
tained from others ; for, on my visit to that part 
of the island, I did not go into the woods where 
the large and valuable timber flourishes. But, 
from all I could collect, it is not so desirable 
a place as Wangaroa; and, but for the draw- 
back of the bar at the mouth of the river, cer- 
tainly not equal to the Hokianga. Small vessels, 
of any tonnage less than three hundred tons, may 
go in and out with safety; but these are not long 
enough to take in the spars that are most valu- 
able, and, indeed, the only ones that are required 
for the purposes of the navy. I shall not pre- 
tend to give any account of the anchorage in the 
Thames : I believe, however, it is good ; but there 
can be no doubt of Wangaroa Harbour, nor of 
that at Hokianga. They are both of them com- 
pletely land-locked, and are also very extensive : 
the land on either side is bold, and the water 
deep. 
The first tree which I shail notice, is the 
