51 
the harbour waters. prevented any explora- 
tion of the various settlements around Par- 
enga. An hour was spent inspecting the 
accumulation of kauri gum at the store of 
My Keene, jun., and then, in view of the 
increasing severity of the ‘wind, it was 
deemed wise to make for home. A heavier 
launch towed the smaller boat to the point 
where the Waitiki debouches in to the har- 
bour, and here the party embarked once 
more on the small launch. Darkness was 
now gathering, heavy rain had begun to 
fall, and to add to the general discomfort, 
engine trouble delayed the return by hours. 
Eventually a hail from the darkness in- 
formed us that we were opposite the land- 
ing; Mr Hill, uneasy over the prolonged 
absence of the party had dispatched a cadet 
to meet and guide them. 
Our Objectives, Te Reinga and Cape 
Maria van Diemen. 
Capes Reinga and Maria van Diemen 
were visited on the following day. An early 
start was made and after a prolonged ride 
of 10 or 15 miles, much of it over high 
bluffs and deep ravines, the party rode 
down a grassy vale along the banks of a 
crystal stream, to a beach—Taputaputa— 
that astonished us by its beaufy in a 
province renowned for its beautiful beaches. 
Fifty years ago an adventurous pioneer set- 
tler built his home here, and the old, 
deserted house still stands, and near by 
pleasant grassy slopes planted with exotic 
shrubs and some ancient pear trees, which 
had been recently visited by some Maoris, 
who had gathered most of the pears. No 
halt was made, but the horses’ heads were 
turned to the steep bluffs to the westward, 
and after an hour’s struggling climb the 
harses stood on the extreme point of Cape 
Reinga, and the travellers enjoyed from 
their altitude a panorama of rare beauty. 
We had reached one of the great object- 
ives of our tour—the extreme north-western 
noint of New Zealand—that historical 
promontory from which, according’ to 
Maori tradition, the spirits of their departed 
ancestors left the body and entered on the 
mysterious life of another world. We felt 
