water on the right side; but even here, close to the glacier, the fall of the river is inconsiderable, so that it could easily be crossed on foot. The vegetation continued also to have the same lowland character.

The

Turning a rocky point, we had at once the white unsullied face of the ice full before us, broken up into a thousand turrets, needles, and other fantastic forms; the terminal face of the glacier being still hidden by a grove of pines, ratas, beeches, and arborescent ferns in the foreground, which gave to the whole picture a still stranger appearance. About three-quarters of a mile from the glacier we camped, and, after a hasty meal, started for its examination. same vegetation still continued; and it was in vain that I looked for any alpine, or even sub-alpine plants. From both sides numerous water-courses came down, mostly forming nice falls over large blocks of rock. Between us and the glacier the valley expanded again, the left side having hitherto been formed of an ancient moraine, more than a hundred feet high. The river flowed in two channels, with a wooded island between, from which huge blocks arose; but owing to the very low state of the water, the southern channel was nearly dry, and only received on that side the contents of numerous small waterfalls from the outrunning spurs of the main chain. Before we reached the glacier itself, we had to cross a moraine, consisting mostly of small detritus, which, from its mineralogical character, must have come from the very summit of the snowy giants before us.

None of my party had ever seen a glacier, and some of the Maories had never seen ice; hence, the nearer we came, the greater was their curiosity; and whilst I stopped a few hundred yards from the terminal face to take some bearings, the whole range, owing to the clear sky, being

well visible, they all ran on, and I saw them soon ascend the ice, which, with the exception of a few small pieces of débris in the centre, was perfectly spotless, and presented a most magnificent sight. Having finished my work, I followed them, and soon stood under the glacial cone at the southern extremity, which formed an azure roof of indescribable beauty. On both sides of that glacier, for a good distance, the mountains are covered with a luxuriant vegetation, amongst which fern-trees, rimu, totara, rata, and fuchsia are most conspicuous.

THE KAURI PINE OF NEW ZEALAND.

THE Kauri pine is justly styled the queen of the New Zealand forest. What the silver-fir is to the mountainous regions of Middle Germany; what the famous cedar of Lebanon used to be in those majestic forests of Asia Minor which in ancient times furnished the material for the Phoenician ships, and the timber for Solomon's temple; or what at the present day the mammoth-tree is among the gigantic trees of California, such is the celebrated and beautiful Kauri in the forests of the warmer regions of New Zealand.

This tree is the only cone-bearing pine of New Zealand, and New Zealand is its only and exclusive home; and even there its dominion is a very limited one, for Kauri forests are only found upon the long and slender north-western peninsula of the North Island. At the latitude of about 36°, those forests seem to attain their most luxuriant development, the richest, and those in which the trees attain the greatest size and height, being found on the shores of

the variously-branching Kaipara harbour on the west coast, and along the Wairoa river which flows into it.

On looking over the whole mass of woods from a hill or mountain, the groups of Kauri pines are easily distinguished at a great distance by their dark green foliage. The crowns of these pines rise far above the rest of the forest trees, and produce dark shades upon the slopes of the mountains and in the valleys, here and there intersected by the light green stripes of the fern-trees, as they shoot up luxuriantly wherever a small stream of water may be flowing through the wood. These Kauri groups vary greatly in extent. Sometimes they occupy several square miles; sometimes there are only thirty or forty trees clustered together, which, thus mutually protecting each other, thrive splendidly. Upon cutting down the woods, however, and allowing but a few single trees to remain, the latter wither away. In vain have the colonists tried to keep and preserve, upon the extensive tracts which they wrest from the wild woods for agricultural purposes, some few of these beautiful trees, as ornaments of the landscape, or to grace their own farms. The offspring of the shady and humid wild woods will always pine away as soon as it is exposed to wind and sun; and for this reason every trial hitherto made to plant and cultivate that son of the wilderness, has completely failed.

Closely connected with this peculiarity, that the tree thrives and grows only in groups, is another, that the trees of one and the same group or grove are usually of nearly the same age. Hence there are clumps with trees of 100, 200, 400, and 500 years' growth; and in these clumps the Kauri pine suffers no large forest-tree by its side; only smaller trees and shrubs form the undergrowth.

The oldest and largest trunks attain a diameter of 15

feet, or a circumference of from 40 to 50 feet, and a height of 100 feet to the lowest branches, and from 150 to 180 feet to the top of the crown. Such trees are probably from 700 to 800 years old.

The timber of the Kauri pine resembles that of the silver-fir. It supplies splendid ship spars, and first-rate wood for inside and outside house-work, painted furniture, ship-planking, decks, and fittings. The deals and boards are said to possess the peculiar quality of shrinking more in length than in breadth.

But this pine yields also, as already mentioned, a second very valuable product, the Kauri gum, or kapia of the natives. This resinous gum, as it oozes from the tree, is soft, and of a milky turbidness not unlike opal. In course of time, however, it hardens, becomes more or less transparent, and assumes at the same time a bright yellow colour, so that it quite resembles amber. The twigs and branches are often bristling with white drops of gum; but it chiefly collects in larger lumps, on the lower part of the trunk. Hence it is always found in great quantities in the soil of those places where Kauri forests stood of old. Pieces of twenty or thirty pounds weight, and even more-sometimes of a hundred pounds-are of no rare occurrence. It is an article of commerce which is in great demand; it is used in the preparation of lac and varnishes, and is applicable to various other branches of industry.

THE NEW ZEALAND FLAX-PLANT. THE New Zealand flax-plant, Phormium tenax, is quite peculiar to New Zealand and the neighbouring islands ; it is found nowhere else. The flax-like fibre prepared by

the natives from its leaves, and the value of which was at an early date observed by Europeans, constituted the chief article of barter in the first trading negotiations with the native Maories. What the bamboo is to the inhabitants of eastern and southern Asia, this plant is to the natives of New Zealand. The various uses it is put to are innumerable. It is found growing, wild or cultivated, near every hut, by every hamlet, and on every wayside.

The Phormium tenax is a flag-like plant, with swordshaped, drooping leaves, which the natives call "harakeke," the flower-stalk bearing pink blossoms resembling agavas, called "korari," and every part of it, root, stalk, leaves, &c., capable of being turned to some practical account. The blossoms contain a sweet honey-juice much relished by the children, and which the natives are wont to collect in their calabashes, one plant producing nearly half a pint. At the bottom of the leaves is found a semi-liquid gumlike substance, which serves the Maories as a substitute for sealing-wax and glue, and which is also eaten. The dried flower-stalks, the pith of which, when ignited, keeps smouldering like tinder, are to the travelling Maori excellent slow-matches, by means of which he is enabled continually to carry fire about with him. The most different uses are made of the leaf; green and growing on the bush, or cut, it supplies the modern Maori who can both read and write, with a species of writing-paper, upon which, with a sharp-edged shell, he engraves his thoughts. Split, and cut into broader or narrower strips, it can, by virtue of the extraordinary tenacity of its fibre, be made into cords, ropes, straps, and all sorts of strings and lines. The green strips of the leaves are plaited by the women into very neat baskets, which serve also at table for plates and dishes; while the men manufacture with them fishing-lines, nets, and sails.