BOTANICAL DISCOVERY. XVll 
yielded a whitish Gum. There was another sort of a deep Yellow which 
we imagin’d might prove useful in dveing. We likewise found one Cabage 
Tree which we cut down for the sake of the cabage. The Country abounds 
with a great Number of Plants, and the woods with as great a variety of 
beautiful birds, many of them unknown to us.” Altogether, Tolaga Bay 
appears to have left a favourable impression on the “ Endeavour’s ” people. 
From the localities cited in Solander’s manuscripts, it appears that about 
160 species of plants were collected. 
Leaving Tolaga Bay on the 30th October Cook made sail to the north- 
wards. On the following day he rounded the East Cape, and passing 
Cape Runaway and White Island (which was evidently quiescent at that 
time) he coasted along the shores of the Bay of Plenty, having occasional 
intercourse with those Maoris who came off to him in their canoes, but 
making no attempt to land. On the 3rd November he was abreast of 
Tauranga, and on the 4th reached the entrance of Mercury Bay. Finding 
in this locality a secure harbour with plenty of wood and water, and 
being anxious to observe the transit of Mercury, which was to take place 
on the 9th, Cook brought his vessel to an anchor. During a stay of 
eleven days many plants were collected, figured, and described, the total 
number, reckoning from Solander’s manuscripts, being 215. Among those 
which had not been previously observed was the Mangrove (Avicennia 
officinalis), which occurred in such abundance along the sides of the 
Whitianga River that Cook gave it the name of the “* River of Mangroves,” 
Through a curious misapprehension he states that the mangroves “ produce 
a resinous substance very much like Rosin. . . . . We found it, at 
first, in small Lumps upon the Sea Beach, but afterwards found it sticking 
to the Mangrove Trees, and by that means found out from whence it 
came. ‘The resinous substance was no doubt the now well-known kauri- 
gum, pieces of which are often drifted along tidal streams, and are not 
infrequently detained among the roots or lower branches of the mangrove. 
The kauri-tree itself does not seem to have been observed, either by Cook 
or by Banks and Solander, although common enough on the hills over- 
looking Mercury Bay. Probably they did not venture far enough from the 
coast to reach it. 
After leaving Mercury Bay Cook continued to follow the coast-line, 
and, rounding Cape Colville, entered the Hauraki Gulf. Here he found 
himself surrounded by islands, and, not wishing to lose sight of the main- 
land, kept close under the western side of the Coromandel Peninsula. 
A short sail brought him to the entrance of the Thames River, where he 
anchored, almost directly abreast of the position where the Town of 
Thames now stands. On the following day, the 21st November, accom- 
panied by Banks and Solander, he made a boat voyage up the Thames 
River for a distance of twelve or fourteen miles. A landing was effected 
on the west side of the river for the purpose of examining the kahikatea 
forest which still clothes its banks, and which had attracted Cook’s 
attention at his anchorage. Describing ‘the trees, he says, ‘“ We had not 
gone a hundred yards into the woods before we found a Tree that girted 
19 feet 8 inches, 6 feet above the ground, and having a Quadrant with me, 
I found its length from the root to the first branch to be 89 feet; it was 
as streight as an Arrow, and Taper’d but very little in proportion to its 
length, so that I judged that there was 356 Solid feet of timber in this 
Tree, clear of the branches. We saw many others of the same sort, 
several of which were Taller than the one we measured, and all of them 
