47 
tion, Dr Fitchett, C.M.G. These gentle- 
yen were paying their first visit to the Far 
North, and were the guests of the towns- 
people at a banquet, to which Dr Fenwick 
and I were invited. It was a highly suc- 
cessful affair, presided over by Colonel Allan 
Bell, and Mr M‘Donald and Dr Fitchett 
availed themselves in the course of interest- 
ing speeches of the opportunity afforded 
them of indicating the advantages of the 
ereat institution of which Mr M‘Donald is 
the executive head. Many other speeches 
were delivered, and the chairman took full 
advantage of the opportunity afforded him 
to eulogise in glowing and felicitous terms 
the splendid district of which Kaitaia is 
the centre, and especially dilated on the 
potentialities of the 30,000-acre swamp area 
that lies close to the town and is being 
scientifically drained by the Government. 
Next morning we were up at six o'clock, 
breakfasted at 6.30, and started on this 
interesting section of our tour at seven. 
Following the instructions given to us on 
the preceding evening, we turned sharply 
from the main street to the road leading 
to Ahipara, where the land was left and 
entrance made to the Ninety-mile Beach— 
wrongly so named for its stretch is 60 miles. 
At Abiara we were promptly met by Mr 
Wilson, who, in addition to being the school 
teacher of the district, also holds the posi- 
tion of post and telegraph officer. We 
found him a courteous and obliging gentle- 
man, who greatly facilitated our progress by 
piloting us through a Government reserve, 
heavily overgrown with gorse, to the mouth 
of a stream on its northern side, thus saving 
us the necessity of having to cross the sandy 
mouth, for it debouched on the _ beach. 
Having said good-bye to our courteous 
guide, the car was shaped for the edge of 
the breakers and turned to the northward 
for a non-stop run of 60 miles. We had 
been carefully warned that on no account 
must we come to a stop, or we would 
almost certainly be involved in trouble by 
the tyres sinking, for solid as the surface 
apparently is on this magnificent beach it 
is not sufficiently so to nrevent » stationary 
ear from breaking through and becoming 
immoveable. 
