CLIMATE. 
665 
thousand, beyond that all numbers were memo tini tint, many 
thousands. 
The shakes of the hands were expressed by tatau, to count. 
Unless they added taki tahi , once told to these shakes, they 
meant double, thus ko tahi ran would signify two hundred, 
unless they said ko tahi ran taki tahi 3 a hundred once told. 
Pu also signifies counting by pairs, unless qualified by the 
word topu, thus ko tahi pu topic is simply two, but e rua pu 
is two pairs, or four, nga huru ten, is thus twenty. The word 
hoko signifies the doubling of twenty, as nga hoko rua , forty ; 
nga hoko torn , sixty, nga hoko tekau , two hundred. 
To count a war party of three hundred and forty men, a 
native would not say, e torn rau e wa te kau, three hundred and 
forty, but ko tahi rau hoko witu , one hundred doubled, and 
seven twenties ; topu also signifies a pair doubled, or four. 
Climate. 
The Climate of New Zealand is, perhaps, one of the mildest 
in the world, certainly the most so of all the colonies belong- 
ing to Great Britain ; extending for more than a thousand 
miles, from latitude 34° to 47°, in the form of a long curve, its 
northern termination being in the parallel of Sydney, and 
its southern one beyond that of Van Diemen's Land, it has 
throughout an equableness of climate which is remarkable; the 
general width of the isles not being commensurate with their 
length, causes the sea to have great power in reducing the 
heat of summer and the cold of winter : the warmest part 
has not the heat of Sydney, nor yet the cold winds there 
felt ; the most southerly part has still the fern-tree flourish- 
ing in all its luxuriance, and its forests retain their summer 
foliage ; whilst the continent of Australia is remarkably 
deficient in springs and streams, and liable to frequent 
droughts, New Zealand, intercepting the clouds from the 
oast, has a never-failing supply of moisture, which insures its 
fertility and certainty of crops. This may account in some 
measure for the extreme aridity of Australia and the humidity 
of New Zealand : it is indeed a land of rivers and springs ; 
the climate is moist, but this is chiefly the case where the 
