18 ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND. Chap. I. 
through a broad valley, which, with its tributaries, 
seems dug out of the surrounding table-land. The 
ascent to the high ground is in most places steep, and 
groves of timber of various extent diversify the surface 
of the valleys. In these, for the most part, is a rich 
swampy soil, prevented from thorough drainage by a 
belt of pumice-stone and sand, varying in breadth, 
which forms the cliflfy banks of the river, and bears a 
growth of high fern. The table-land is for the most 
part open ; in some places teeming with rich pasture, 
and covered with soil fitted for agriculture ; in others 
light and sandy, but clothed with high fern. The 
tops of the forest in the hollows, and the summits of 
the wooded mountains higher than the table-land, 
bound the view towards the towering peaks of Tonga 
Riro. When once on the top of the table-land, you 
might imagine yourself to be on a low and exten- 
sive flat, the eye being carried over the top of the nu- 
merous hollows, formed by streams, to the next table. 
These hollows are in some places broken into the most 
romantic shapes. About five miles up the right bank, 
especially, is a circular indentation in the table-land, 
with a deep narrow valley leading to it from the flat 
near the river. Quaint hillocks and ridges, heaped 
against each other in the most fantastic forms, and 
feathering groves of timber, are scattered about the 
bottom and sides of this natural amphitheatre, of about 
two miles in diameter, which we christened "The 
" Devil's Punch-bowl." The surface of the table-land 
is generally so flat, that swamps are formed on its very 
highest terraces, and large natural ponds are found in 
many elevated spots. 
The climate, although in the middle of winter, was 
delightful. Dr. Peter Wilson, one of the settlers, who 
had long resided at Xerez and Seville, did not hesitate 
