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DESCRIPTIVE NARRATIVE OF JOURNEY. 47 
water Oozing in a succession of streamlets from under the high 
hanks. 
The surprising abundance of running water which 1 observed 
during our inland journey continued undiminished round the 
coast, and it sometimes puzzled me how so much water could flow 
from so comparatively small a mountain range. 
In the evening we arrived at the end of the sandy beach, and 
here again I observed cretaceous rocks, forming a most picturesque 
headland, partly undermined by the action of the waves. As it 
was impossible to get round these rocks (called by the natives 
Punakai-ki), we had to ascend them, which we did on the follow¬ 
ing morning. This point has been described by former explorers 
as presenting a frightful appearance ; but although on the one 
side there is a deep chasm in the rock, whilst on the other the hill 
slopes down at an angle of sixty to seventy degrees, and the ridge 
is so narrow as to leave barely space for a footing, the whole is 
covered with flax bushes, which enable you to pass over without 
serious difficulty. Here one of my party felt so giddy that he 
could not proceed without assistance, and I had to go back and 
help him over. On arriving at the northern end of these cliffs 
we were again compelled to wait for the reflux of the tide, as we 
had to cross the Porarari. In the limestone rocks around us 
were several very nice caves, which we explored. Their sum¬ 
mits, too, were covered with superb vegetation, amongst which 
the nikau palm stretched its graceful crown, and the sea dashing 
against the foot of the cliffs gave to the whole landscape a most 
romantic aspect. 
It was two o’clock when we passed the Porarari, a stream of 
considerable size, and only fordable at the bar at low water, across 
which it is necessary to run as quickly as possible, in order to 
avoid being caught by the returning wave. The road from thence 
continues over steep cliffs, through an interwoven tissue of kie-kie 
and supplejacks, and although each of us cut as much as possible 
in the way, we found it very difficult to get through. After 
travelling about a mile through this tangled bush, we descended 
to the beach by a steep path, which presented distinct marks of 
the former action of the waves. Huge blocks of limestone and 
greensand lie one above the other, and apparently so loose as 
to lead to the impression that they would fall upon the least 
touch. 
The next morning, passing over similar rocky ground, we 
reached and crossed the Punangahaire, a stream of considerable 
size, and arrived at the foot of some cliffs, which we ascended, 
travelling through three miles of bush, in which numberless fallen 
trees and a very dense vegetation gave us much trouble, and 
arrived at the famous cliff of the Miko. As this cliff is not merely 
perpendicular, but in some places overhangs, the Maories have 
constructed two ladders, one fifteen feet, and the other thirty- 
