14 
DANGERS FROM SWAMPS. 
flying in and out of the holes of the rocks in 
which they have secured their young. The other 
falls, of which there are several within a very 
short distance, partake much of the same cha- 
racter as those already noticed. A greater cur- 
rent of water rushes down the Haruru, at the 
mouth of the Waitangi, than either of the others 
with wdiicli I am acquainted ; but it has not the 
height to fall, nor the romantic scenery to recom- 
mend it to the particular notice of strangers, 
which so forcibly call forth the attention to the 
Waianiwaniwa and Papakauri. On the banks of 
the Hokianga, near Pakanai, is a cataract of great 
beauty : it does not fail at once over a perpendi- 
cular height ; but dashes from rock to rock, in one 
continued foam ; and from the bed of the river, the 
nearest point from which I observed it, and into 
which it empties itself, it appeared in white sheets, 
throuofh the trees with which the hill is covered, 
and sounding like the rumbling of distant thunder. 
The interior of the country abounds with 
swamps ; which render travelling particularly 
unpleasant, and sometimes even dangerous; as 
many of the swamps are of an unknown depth of 
mud and water ; and a false step from the beaten 
track, which has often been spread with fern to 
render it more secure, would prove fatal. Great 
care is always requisite in passing over these 
places on horseback ; as, when the horse feels the 
ground giving way beneath his feet, he some- 
times plunges, throws himself off the path, and 
