64 
DESCRIPTIVE NARRATIVE OE JOURNEY. 
take hold of, I thought we should never get him down. W e had, 
in fact, to hold him fast on both sides, and place each of Ins feet 
as we proceeded. With much trouble we passed him down this 
dreadful spot, and felt relieved when we got him safely to the 
Our route now continued over granite cliffs, with almost 
vertical sides, the ledges of which were hardly wide enough tor 
our footing:. Over these we advanced slowly, and m some places 
we were compelled, by the steepness of the cliffs, to pass round 
them upon rocks lying in the surf, placed at unequal distances 
and of unequal heights, to get over which we had to wait or a 
receding wave, and then jump as fast as possible. During 1 us 
process we were occasionally caught and wetted through, only 
saving ourselves by holding fast to the rocks whilst the water 
rushed to and fro, the effort requiring our entire strength. All 
my party, excepting myself, wore pereiras, or Maori sandals. I 
was unable to do so, as my foot was still painful, and my boots 
being less fitted for such work, I had to be doubly careful. This 
part of the road, from Taura-te- Weka to Kaurangi point, is called 
by the Maories Taupiri-kaka, and is much dreaded by them. 
During the whole night we had heavy rain, so that being com¬ 
pelled to dry our clothes and tents, we could not start until ten 
o’clock the next morning. The day’s work before us was a very 
hard one, as we had to cross several rocky headlands from 100 to 
150 feet high, with nearly perpendicular sides, in comparison with 
which Taura-te-Weka was of easy access. Here again our giddy 
companion gave us much trouble, as we were obliged to accom¬ 
pany and assist him both up and down, which cost us consider¬ 
able time. At one projecting cliff round which we had to pass 
by jumping over rocks, the native who knew the road went first, 
as the waves receded; Mr. Burnett followed, and I was the third. 
Whether our guide had not watched carefully enough, or that 
the sea had not retired as far as usual, he crossed over with great 
difficulty. Mr. Burnett, when in the centre, being unable to see 
the next rock, which was covered by the water, jumped back to 
the rock upon which I stood. I, of course, also endeavoured to 
get back, but the rock behind me had already disappeared, so 
that we had barely time to sit down and cling to the fissures of 
the rock, when the wave struck it with stupendous force, whirling 
and foaming around us. Before we could extricate ourselves the 
wave returned, and again enveloped us in foam. But, although 
the force of the coming wave was amazing, it appeared to be 
much less than that of the retiring water. We certainly more 
than once thought that we should not be able to stick to our 
slippery seat. It was a moment of great anxiety for our com¬ 
panions on shore, who thought that we should be unable to resist 
the violence of the waves, and that we should be dashed to death 
on the rocks around us. At length, however, the water receded 
