282 
Memoranda of an Excursion 
Passing through a deep and muddy watercourse, I 
obtained specimens of a large-leaved Myriophyllum. 
Half-an-hour’s march brought us to a village on the 
immediate banks of the Waipa river. Here, we ob¬ 
tained a canoe, and got some food, which, having 
despatched, we proceeded down the river in our little 
bark. This river has a very tortuous course, winding 
continually to all points of the compass.* Its width is 
pretty uniform, being generally from 70 to 100 feet, 
with a slow current. It is navigable hence to the sea 
for large boats, and its sides are, in many places, 
densely clothed with trees to the water’s edge, among 
which Dacrydium excelsum shows itself conspicuous. 
In its banks, which are mostly composed of alluvial 
earth, and which in some places are from 14 to 20 feet 
in height, pipe-clay and volcanic sand often present 
themselves to the view. At 4 p.m., we reached Nga- 
ruawahie, the spot where the junction of this river with 
the Waikato is effected. As before, the Waikato came 
rolling impetuously on, carrying its waters quite across 
the quiet Waiapa to the opposite bank. From this 
place the two rivers bear the name of Waikato to the 
sea, and justly so, as the waters of the Waipa are com¬ 
pletely lost in those of the deep and rapid Waikato. 
A little below Ngaruawahie, we met a native in a 
canoe, with a live and elegant specimen of the genus 
Fulica. I hailed the man and purchased the bird, 
* I will just mention the direction of the river, for the first ten miles 
below the village, as I took it down from observation with my compass : 
N.E., N., N.W. I mile, S.S.E., S., S.S.W., S. £ mile, S.S.W., W., 
W.N.W. i mile, W.S.W., W. 1£ miles, W.N.W., N.W., N., N.N.E. 
J mile, N.N.W. Those bearings without distances, I supposed to be 
under a half-a-mile. 
