EXPLANATION OF THE MAPS. 
sheltered from the prevailing winds, presents a most irregular 
outline, forming deep in the land many indented harbours, 
navigable by the largest ships — for example, the Bay of 
Islands and the Waitemata or Auckland harbour — with 
numerous islands and capes; the West Coast, which 
is exposed to the westerly wind, is, on the other hand, 
from Cape Maria Van Diemen to Cape Egmont, an almost 
regular outline, slightly curved towards the east, and is formed 
by a nearly uninterrupted chain of sandbanks. These sand, 
banks in many places, and particularly where there is no steep 
or higher rocky coast in the background, reach a height of 500 
to 000 feet, and when seen from the sea, appear like a chain of 
mountains. The bays and creeks of the West Coast are, in 
consequence of these sandbanks, locked up from the sea, and 
are merely estuaries, navigable only through narrow entrances, 
in which the sea ebbs and flows. At high water these 
estuaries appear like large lakes, but at low water immense 
mud flats, intersected by narrow channels, are laid bare. 
On the West Coast are six of these estuaries, three north of 
the Waikato—-the Manukau, Kaipara, and Hokianga harbours ; 
and three south—the Whaingaroa, Aotea, and Kawhia har¬ 
bours. All these estuaries have this in common—that the 
sandbanks which are situated before their entrances, are 
continually shifting their situation and form. This is most 
prejudicial to navigation, and in consequence all these har¬ 
bours, with the exception of the Manukau, which alone is 
navigable by larger vessels, are only available for small 
coasters. 
The most southern of these harbours—Aotea and Kawhia— 
are represented on this map. 
The Whaingaroa harbour is a small sea inlet, six to seven 
miles long, branching off in many directions, and divided into 
two parts by a long peninsula. Into the northern bay flows 
the Whaingaroa river, and into the southern the Waitetuna. 
The harbour is only navigable for vessels of from 60 to 80 tons, 
which generally anchor near the outlet ; but by boats it is 
possible to keep up a communication with the most remote 
branches. At low water the harbour is almost empty; large 
mud flats are exposed, the narrow channels only retaining 
water, The Maori population of the neighbourhood amounts 
