Chap. II. FOREST— SCENERY. 83^ 
agreement, and joined in all the work without any re- 
compense but his meals and a little tobacco. His ac- 
tivity and mirth, together with the rich humour which 
he displayed in executing some of the native dances, as 
well as in mimicking almost every one on board, earned 
for him the sobriquet of "Jim Crow," which he re- 
tained during the whole time that he stuck to the ship. 
He had acquired his nautical knowledge on board a 
whaling- ship in which he had served. I have often seen 
him, in the violent gales which we weathered on various 
parts of the coast, out on the end of the yard-arm 
doing the work of the best man in reefing, and cheer- 
ing the sailors to exertion by some broad joke or irre- 
sistible grimace. He was fully competent to do the 
work of an able seaman ; and his good humour under 
all circumstances was invincible. 
In gliding up the middle of the Sound, we disco- 
vered a succession of bays on either hand, each in 
itself a harbour. One or two are as large as Plymouth 
Sound, easy of access, and perfectly safe in all winds. 
With the exception of a few level spots, like that at 
the head of Ship Cove, the wooded mountains rise 
from the water's edge, many of them to a considerably 
greater height than even Mount Dieffsnbach, as we 
christened the hill which the naturalist ascended with- 
out falling a victim to the fabulous genii of the place. 
Nothing can be imagined more magnificent than the 
scenery, or, however, less suitable for cultivation. It 
forcibly reminded me of the wildest parts of the High- 
lands of the Hudson, with a greater expanse of water. 
At 3 P.M. we reached the entrance of the channel 
which joins the Sound with Cook's Strait to the east- 
ward. The entrance is about a mile wide ; and the 
channel, which was christened Tory Channel after 
Captain Chaffers had surveyed it, turns first to the 
VOL. I. D 
