Chap. IX. THE OROUA, OE STYX. 235 
with branches of the tutu, a shrub which grows in 
great abundance on all the open lands, and covered 
them with flax-leaves, reeds, and fern. The remain- 
ing stock of potatoes was then roasted and eaten ; and 
we slept very comfortably till daylight, notwithstand- 
ing the mist which rose from the wide expanse of 
swamp and shrouded us in cold damp. 
At break of day, we followed the track across the 
swamp, about a mile, to the edge of the wood. The 
water was only a little above our knees after all, but 
painfully cold. E Kuru shouted out a challenge for 
who should reach the other side first ; and merry yells 
of excitement, and laughter at the misfortunes of those 
who now and then tripped up against a tuft of flax 
and fell at full length into the muddy water, kept our 
spirits up. At the edge of the wood we found a 
family which was catching eels in a creek close by. 
They were of one of the aboriginal tribes, a remnant 
of the few natives left in tributary freedom after BaU' 
peraha^, invasion. They cooked us some potatoes and eels, 
and my boys shot several pigeons while we were drying 
our wet things. About two miles through the forest, 
which almost entirely consisted of magnificent totara 
trees, brought us to the banks of the Oroua, a tributary 
of the Manawatu, which has been christened the 
" Styx " by the Company's Surveyors. After some 
trouble in procuring a canoe, we descended this river 
about 10 miles to its confluence with the main river, 
where a large pa, called Puke Totara, is situated. 
This is about 42 miles from the sea by the windings 
of the Manawatu. We were here shown into houses 
assigned for our reception. 
The district through which the Oroua runs is of the 
richest alluvial character, being subject to very high 
floods. When we descended it, the water was in most 
