26 HARBOURS OF NEW ZEALAND. 
protected from all winds and from the sea ; and 
affords a secure anchorage, and is easy of access. 
The depth of water is sufficient, to the distance of 
three miles, for any description of ships : the only 
caution necessary is, to keep all the projecting 
points at a distance of about a hundred yards, and 
to avoid the reefs which extend from them, parti- 
cularly the rock at its entrance. The southern or 
largest passage, formed by an island and the main, 
is the safest and best, having in it ten fathoms’* 
water : the northern, or smallest, passage is full of 
rocks, the channel narrow, and has only two and 
a lialf fathoms depth of water. Fresh water for 
shipping is not easily to be obtained; as it can 
only be procured from the river, several miles 
from the anchorage. The latitude of the anchor- 
age is 36 ° 28 ' 56 " south; longitude, 174 ° 46 ' 38 " 
east of Greenwich. The tide flows ten feet at 
springs ; and the time of high-water is ten o‘’clock, 
full and change. The several rivers emptying 
themselves into the Bay of Mahurangi are navi- 
gable only for canoes and boats. A small harbour, 
fit for cutters and small craft, is situated on the 
northern side of the island forming the bay.*” 
With the exception of the Bay of Islands, none 
of these ports are generally known, as no charts 
or descriptions of them have hitherto been pub- 
lished. A few Europeans, expressly trading to 
some of them, are the only civilized people per- 
fectly acquainted with them. All the ports abound 
in fish and oysters. 
