AN AMERICAN TOURIST IN NEW ZEALAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1661, 13 September 1887, Page 2

AN AMERICAN TOURIST IN NEW ZEALAND.

' The "San Francisco Ohroniole" is ' publish ingg a series of letters entitled i "In Wonderland," descriptive of a trip to > the Wew Zealand Hot Lakes. Speaking 1 of Taoranga tbo writer lays : The quality of the land m the d Ist riot 1 is excellent. For wheat, corn, or root orops it cannot be surpassed, yet you will 1 be surprised to learn that farmers cannot make a competence. There is either something the matter with them or the principles on which their farming opera* tions are carried on. I was informed by an old resident that several years ago wheat' was grown which was of so fine a quality that it ras bought up greedily by the Auckland and Southern merchants, and even used by other districts as sted wheat ; but m the last agricultural returns for the whole county scarcely an acre of wheat Is set down by the Registrar* General, and year after year thli district goes on importing from the Sooth, as if it were impossible for the settlers to groT it for themselves. The fault Is m the settlers, not m the land, the quality of which is beyond dispute. The settlers seem to have lost energy, and cooperation is a word almost unknown In the distriot Tauranga badly wants an importation of Calif omiana. The land li sellable for eveiy kind of orops, inoludlng fruit, for which it is specially suited- . . . Jaat as I had finished my break* fast the last morning of my stay, Crosby's mail ooaach drew op at the door. I climbed to my place on the box seat, and we were soon rattling merrily o»ei the smoothed sbeJled Cameron Road. The distance from Tauranga to the Hot Lakes 1b forty-two miles. The first objeot of interest on the road is the celebrated Gate Pa, where the English forces ware so disastrously beaten by the Maoris ; where the officers, deserted by their men, stood to the last, and were shot down one after the other. Fourteen mile* (torn. Tauranga we enter the Oropl Forest, where there m really some beautiful scenery. A sawmill has been erected a ehort distance from the entrance to the bush. This mill is especially worthy of notice. The timber mainly out is mangiao, a belt of which seems to run through the island from Oropi to Raglan on the West Ooaat. Mangiao is a strong, tough timber, capablo of taking a high polish, and has been already proved to be the wood of New Zealand for carriage build* ing, the wood work of machines, eto. For toughness, it m far ahead of the American ash, which, J believe, you io largely use m this plans of work. Oouslna and Atkin, the eoaoh. builders of Auokland, were the first firm to use this wood, and ao well pleased were they with it that they havo used it extensively ever since, Several other large firms In New Zealand use a great deal of this timber m their trade. The Government work* shop 3 have also been using It In the manufacture of railway carriages. Rewarewa, or honeysuckle, and rlna (dacaydium cupressina), are also found m this bush, aud cut at the mill. A more handsome timber for furniture purposes than honeysuckle U hardly found. Rimu la also a uaefal timber for furniture purposes. This latter tree is distinguished by Its fine pendant branches aud drooping leaves of a light gum. Then there is the beautiful m&tai. The traveller, as he passes along, can easily distinguish the rata by its twisted trunk and enormotu stem glowing up m a cluster, not unlike the oak m general appearance, bat m'aoh larger, Its branches bearing very small beans covered all over at the time of fl >werfng with bright myrtle blossoms. lam told that the peoaliar oharaot eristic of 'this tree Is that It commences its growth as a ollmbing plant, embraoin^ pome mill tr#f, bat

growing at length to a mnj stic denizen of the forest, and standing alone m perfect vigour long after the one which gave it shelter and support has gone to decay. Besides these are the hinau, from whioh a blaok dye is obtainable,, and many others whioh I have not space to describe. Nestling among lovely bowers of smaller plants can be seen tbe beautiful tree fern (oyathla dealbata), which grows to a height of from twelve to fifteen feet, and 1b remarkable for tha whiteness of tbe under part of its beautiful fronds. On the banks of tbe runn'ng streams whioh now and then cross our path m*y be seen the luxuriantly growing tall flu (phormium tenax), with drooping, fhgMke, sword-shaped leaves These bear pink-blossomed flower stalks. Many of the trees are not only clothed with their own natural evergreen foliage, but with Innumerable parasitical plants, ferns, mosses, tto., whioh climb even to their rery tops, presenting scenes of luxuriant vegetation not to be lurpaned m the