5 
towering aloft in silent grandeur, can never fail to strike the beholder 
with astonishment and awe: a feeling sense of his own littleness and 
span-like existence—of admiration at “the (living) high embowered 
roof, with antique pillars massy proof,—casting a dim religious light,”— 
(ending perchance in lofty thoughts tending towards immortality,) is 
sure in such umbrageous retreats to steal over him. 
6. Of our shrubs and smaller timber trees, several are of strikingly 
beautiful growth, or blossom, or foliage ; and are often seen to advantage 
when standing in some clear glade, or on the outskirts of a forest :— 
(e. g.) the Houhere, Hoheria populnea (a) and its varieties ; the Horopito, 
Drimys axillaris; the Manuka-rau-riki, Leptospermum ericoides; the 
Kohuhu, Pittosporum tenuifolium; the Kowhai, especially the smalil- 
Jeaved mountain variety, Sophora tetraptera var.: grandiflora; the 
Koromiko-taranga, Veronica, several species; the Mairehau, Pheba- 
lium nudum; the Toro, Persoonia Toro; the Pukapuka, Brachy- 
glottis repanda; the Northern Maire, Santalum Ounninghamit; the 
Tawari, Jxerba brexioides; the Tipau, Miyrsine Urvillei and MM. 
salicina; the Tangeao, Tetranthera calicaris; the Ramarama, 
Myrtus bullata; the Ti, Cordyline australis; the Kahikomako, 
Pennantia corymbosa; the Pate, Schefflera digitata; the Horoeka, 
Panax crassifolia: and, on the sea-coast, the Karaka, Corynocarpus 
levigata ; the Karo, Pittosporwm crassifolium; and the truly ever- 
green Ngaio, Dyoporum letum, (fit symbol of vigorous health on 
its barren and desolate beaches !)—while the tree ferns are universally 
praised for elegance of form, and, wherever seen, add an indescribable 
charm to the landscape, and draw willing homage from the delighted 
admirer, 
7. The large virgin forests are generally composed of trees different 
in genera and sizes. The Kauri pine is always associated with other trees ; 
yet, its loftiness, its colossal bulk, and peculiar growth, (including a 
huge mound of 8—12 feet alt. around its base, composed of its own fallen 
deciduous scales of outer bark,) ever gives the forest in which it grows 
a highly characteristic appearance, so that such is truly a Kauri forest. 
A few only of our timber trees can be said to form large forests of a 
single species ; such as, (on the low grounds,) Kahikatea, or White Pine, 
(Podocarpus dacrydioides); this alone of all the timber trees is chiefly 
found growing thickly together. The Totara, (P. totara) may also 
sometimes be found forming clumps or groves. The Tawhai, or Black 
Birch, ( Kagus Solandri, ) is frequently, in the south parts of the Island, 
