216 
Memoranda of an Excursion 
after, we sighted Wangaparaua, or Cape Runaway, and to¬ 
wards evening I landed on the little sandy beach in Wareka- 
hika (Hicks’ Bay); a small bay between Cape Runaway and 
the East Cape. At this place 1 had landed, about five years 
before, on a visit to the natives of these parts. Several natives 
ran down to see the foreigner, who had so unceremoniously 
landed on their shores, by whom I was conducted to their 
village of miserable hovels among the sand hills. Here I 
detected, growing in the sand, a pretty little procumbent 
compositaceous plant, which w r as new to me; and a small 
shrubby succulent-stemmed plant, with fleshy leaves, which, 
from its two-celled capsule, &c., I supposed to be a species 
of Euphrasia, probably E . cuneata , Forst.; that species 
having: been found in similar situations a little further south, 
by Sir Joseph Banks, in 1769. At this village I passed the 
night, and in the morning commenced my inarch onwards by 
the coast. The rocks in this locality, w'ere chiefly composed 
of sand- and pudding-stone; the latter containing immensely 
large oyster shells, some of which w'ere petrified, and con¬ 
tained in their cavities very fine chrystals of lime. A walk 
of a few miles brought me to Te Kawakawa, a village situate 
on the immediate shore, under a high cliff of white clay. 
The cliffs here, are composed of a bluish indurated clay, and 
conglomerate, and abound with marine fossils. One of the 
chiefs of this village presented me with two fine fresh Wa- 
puku (a species of Gadus, having close affinity with G . 
morrliua, Lin.), each weighing more than 20lbs. This fine 
fish is common on the New Zealand coasts; the natives 
having their marked spots for fishing, near rocks and shoals 
lying oft' the land in deep w ater, where they fish for the Wa- 
puku with hook and line. These preserves are all “ raliui,” 
i. e. private; and scrupulously descend from the chief to his 
nearest relatives. Any infringement on such a fishing pre¬ 
serve was invariably resented, and often ended in bloodshed. 
Before the introduction of iron among the New Zealanders, 
