340 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
creeping plants, overgrown with moss, and inter¬ 
woven so as to form a kind of uneven matting 
which rendered travelling exceedingly difficult' 
The underwood was in many parts thick, and the 
trunks of the lofty trees rose like clusters of pillars 
supporting the canopy of interwoven boughs and 
verdant foliage, through which the sun’s rays sel¬ 
dom penetrated. There were no trodden paths, 
and the wild and dreary solitude of the place was 
only broken by the voice of some lonely bird, 
which chirped among the branches of the bushes, 
or, startled by our intrusion on its retirement, 
darted across our way. A sensation of solemnity 
and awe involuntarily arose in the mind, while 
contemplating a scene of such peculiar character, 
so unlike the ordinary haunts of man, and so 
adapted, from the silent grandeur of His works, to 
elevate the soul with the sublimest conceptions of 
the Almighty. I was remarkably struck with the 
gigantic size of many of the trees, some of which 
appeared to rise nearly one hundred feet without 
a branch, while two men with extended arms could 
not clasp their trunks. 
Another valuable article of spontaneous growth 
in New Zealand, is the native flax, phormium 
tenax. I saw considerable quantities of the 
plant growing in the low lands, and apparently 
moist parts of the soil. It is not like the flax or 
hemp plants of England, but resembles, in its 
appearance and manner of growth, the flag or iris : 
the long broad sword-shaped leaves furnish the 
fibre so useful in making dresses for the natives, 
fishing-lines, twine, and strong cordage employ¬ 
ed as running rigging in most of the vessels 
that trade with the islanders. It is a serviceable 
plant, and will probably furnish an important 
