XXV1 HISTORY OF 
From thence he followed the west coast to the Kaipara Harbour, then 
again made for the east coast at Mangawai, finally reaching the Bay 
of Islands by way of Whangarei and Whangaruru. In 1843 he jour- 
neyed from Hicks Bay to Poverty Bay, and thence by sea to Castle 
Point. From that locality he proceeded to Ahuriri (Hawke's Bay) and 
the Wairoa River, which he ascended to Waikaremoana, returning by way 
of Rotorua and Tauranga. In 1844 he transferred his residence from 
the Bay of Islands to Hawke’s Bay, and in the following year made his 
first expedition to the summit of the Ruahine Range, finding there a 
harvest of previously unknown alpine and subalpine plants. In 1847 he 
travelled by way of Titiokura and the Mohaka River to Taupo and 
inland Patea, passing along the flanks of Tongariro and Ruapehu, and 
returning to Hawke's Bay over the Ruahine Range, which he was the 
first European to cross. These journeys and many others, all made on 
foot, with a few Native companions only, and often under circumstances 
of great privation and no little danger, are evidence of the ardour and 
enthusiasm with which Mr. Colenso carried on his botanical explorations 
in the early days of the colony. Nor did his zeal diminish with age, for the 
“Transactions of the New Zealand Institute’? contain papers written by 
him describing plants collected during a journey made to the flanks of the 
Ruahine Range in his eighty-fifth year. In addition to numerous writings 
on the Maori race, on which he was for many years the chief authority, 
Mr. Colenso contributed no less than fifty-nine papers on botanical subjects 
to the ‘‘ Transactions of the New Zealand Institute.” Very few volumes, 
from the foundation of the Institute to the time of his death, are without 
a communication from his pen. It is true that in his later descriptive 
writings he adopted views as to the circumscription of species which are 
in conflict with those held by all other New Zealand botanists, and thus 
introduced a vast number of synonyms into the flora; but that is a cireum- 
stance which must not detract from the recognition of his undoubted 
services to the botany of New Zealand. 
Dr. Andrew Sinclair was originally a surgeon in the Royal Navy, and 
first became known as a botanist from the collections he made while 
attached tc the surveying expedition of H.M.S. “Sulphur” to the Pacific 
coasts of North and South America. He first visited New Zealand in 
1841, during the stay of the Antarctic Expedition at the Bay of Islands, 
and accompanied Sir J. D. Hooker and Mr. Colenso in numerous botanical 
expeditions. Returning to Australia, he met with Captain Fitzroy, who 
was then on his way to New Zealand as Governor, and who engaged him 
as private secretary. Not long after his arrival in the colony he was 
appointed to the post of Colonial Secretary, which he retained for several 
years. His leisure time was almost entirely devoted to botanical pursuits, 
and he collected largely in most parts of the North Island, transmitting 
copious suites of specimens to Kew, where they constituted a large part 
of the material used by Hooker in the elaboration of the “ Flora Novae- 
Zealandiae.”’ After the establishment of parliamentary government in 
New Zealand Dr. Sinclair vacated his position, and after a brief sojourn 
in England returned to New Zealand, with the intention of devoting himself 
to botanical work. After a short stay in Auckland he proceeded to Nelson, 
where he made important collections, adding many species to the alpine 
flora. He then repaired to Canterbury, and joined the late Sir Julius Haast 
in the geological and botanical survey then being made of the Southern 
Alps. There, in the year 1861, he was unfortunately drowned in an 
