THE KING COUNTRY. Hawhia-Its People, Position, and Prospects.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 187, 15 January 1887, Page 8

THE KING COUNTRY. Hawhia-Its People, Position, and Prospects.

(KUOM "AUIMUA» STAR.)" Therk is no lack of adventurous spirits in Auckland; the raco of heioic explorers'inot yet extinct; and when, therefore, a !New Year's trip to Kawhia was announcer], there wera dozens of eager %-oyagcrs ready at once to start on a journey to that terra incojnila and emulate the brave deeds of the author of" "Explorations in the King Country." If in the narrative which we joow purpose giving of the adventurea and observations 01 this band of explorer?, there should appear to bo some things hard to believe and other thing." somewhat prosaic and uninteresting, the reader will kindly remember that everyone cannot ba a Kerry Nicholla, which is to say, that it is not given to the averago newspapor sciibe to be a model of modesty and veracity, and at the same time wield the facile pen of the poetical delineator of unsurpassable scenery intermingled with the vigorous style of the writor of contemporary history. The last day of ISSIi, and the closing hours of that day, found the good steamship Gairloch preparing to cast off frcm Onehunga Wharf vith her ardent company of pioneers—some of whom were naturalists, bent on conquering fresh botanical realms ; others photographers desirous of transfixing the pcenery on their prepared plates j a lew traders on business intent ; possibly some incipient land shaiks wishful of spying out the land ; but the great majority, 1 daresay, were votaries of Pleasure, seeking for a new excitement, or mayhap, tired city men anxious to get away "far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife "_ to a study of nature, animate and inanimate, free from all shams and artificialities, and far from the unhealthy adjuncts of New Year festivities in the great city of Auckland. Merrily sped the Gairloch out of the noble Manukau Harbour, beneath the light of the placid moon ; out past the Heads, whera the two rows of lighted beacons are observed with interest; over tho slightly swelling bar, near which the Orpheus was wrecked many years a£o ; and away to the southward over the bo-om of the blue Pacific. All go to sleep undisturbed by any fears of sea sicknese, for there is not a ripple on the waters ; and soon everything seems quiet on boaid save the monotonous beat ot the engines. But a frightful roar arouses all from sleep ' It is midnight by the cabin clock, and it dawns upon the sleepers awakened that the brass cannon on deck has been fired in honour of the birth of lbS7. Then there are confused sounds of corks popping and liquid gurgling, while bread aud hearty Scotch tongues wish "a quid New Year." This is the appropriate way in which the Caledonian officers andcrav of the Gairloch usher in the New Year, appropriate,! mean, for enthusiastic Scots, but rather the other way for quiet psople who like their natural rest. The next *' racket " was about 4.30 a.m., when a lot of passengers were aroused by tha sharp aud longcontinued tinkling of an aLum clock ; this was succeeded by a troubled nap, and asrain came a rude awakening—the shock this time being caused by tbe sudden cessation of noiee and motion. Jucijingup and peepthrough a porthole, ye nnd we are

ing Otf Gannet Island, with the mainland visible -ome miles away the rugged peaks of Karioi looming up indistinctly through the morning haze. Gannet Island is little more than a bare rock, apparently some three hundred feet in circumference, with high cliffs on two aides, sic ping down to the aca ou the others The surface of the island is white with guano, and alive -with crowds of seafowl, ■while the heavy Pacific swell, even though the eea i« unruflled, causes the surf te break with great force on .this lonely rock in the ocean. While aorae of our " commercials" are speculating as to the probability of doing a lucrative guano trade, nthera of the party have got out fishing lines, and soon a lot cf big-headed, coppery-acaled schnapper are flopping about the deck. One gentleman in particular proved a regular nautical Nimrod, a« about a dozen schnapper, a kawhai, and a dolphin were hocked by him. Ho cams \ary near liooking a shark as well, for as he wa? hauling in a splendid schnapper agood-si?ed shark was observed to be following up the captured fish and trying to got a bito at it: but the fisherman, fearing that be would lose both line and fish, snapped the schnap- I per away from under his sharkship'* nose and landed it on deck. It was hoped that the gigantic hapuka might be lured from his ocean Lome, but he declined all overtures, and the fishing ground wa? shifted to a point near Kawhia Heads, where the slaughter of the finny tribe recommenced and wa? kept up till the decks were slippery and gory aa the result of tha cold-blooded slaughter (that is the proper tern:, for are notches cold-blooded?) U*> anchor once more, over the bar, and into the glaa?y waters cf Kawhia Harbour, which extend over a wide extent of sand-fiat I', with several deep channel*, up on 3 of which a large staatner couldeail at iov: water to \\ ithin a few ieel of the Go\eminent township. There i? £-"nple depth of water on the bar, which i? of rock, and therefore not subject to shifter ; the entrance is easily taken by day or rii£;ht; and the channel horn the Heads to the landing place U comparatively atraight, find oilms no dLncuities to the navigator. The Maoris on the Jbettlemenr on shore hail us with fhout? and waving of hands ; their following of rseleas cur? yelp out their " Haere-mai' in a discordant chorus: ye return the greeting from the deck of the steamer ap,rapidly sailing up to the anclif'ruge, we swin^; to cur mooiings, arid, realise that we r.-e in the King Country, and in fact hold the key to the

position. The Town of KawMa consist 0 cf three stores, a hall, a billiard room, about a dozen dwelling-hou=es, a redoubt with wooden armoury, a raupo post and telegraph office, a reading and recreation room, and a court-room in course of erection. The only building that approaches in appearance the average Auckland dwel-ling-house is the residence cf Major Tuke (the officer in charge of the district), which is pleasantly situated on a little eminence behind the business premises—the latter being ranged along the foreshore. There are three separate Maori settlements in the immediate neighbourhood, but these are of Tatb.er squalid appearance. The redoubt is on a bold eminence commanding tbe harbour and town, and though only garrisoned byfivenoen, could offer a stubbornreaistance to a native attack, if such an improbable thing should ever happen. The vegetation in the immediate vicinity is not very striking, but along the beach there are some splendid specimens of pohutakawa trees, which in full blosaorn present a beautiful appearance. Much of the land we are surprised to find in European grasa, and there are actually grovea of Scotch thistles, patches of healthy docks, and a flourishing lot of furze. These evidences of European occupation almost prepared ub for the eight of a grog-Bhanty; bat in that culminating refinement of adv*need civilisation Kawhia still lags behind. in tho centre of tho town are some poplar, jpillow, and tyftiwthorn trees of respectable b jzq-~A remnant of tha beautiful plantation

made here by the pioneer European settler, Mr Charlton, who met with his death by drowning at the Heads. This gentleman was a great favourite with the Maoris, and he is in fact the only person who has ever acquired any land in Kawhia proper from tbe native owners. i .

A Curious History attaches to his land, which consists of forty acres in the best site for a township—being <vt the loi minus of tho >oad which connects Raglan and Alexandra, and other settlements, vith this, the best harbour on the west coast of the North Island. This land he held for many years, and having registered his acquisition of it, his title was recognised by the Government. A well-known and popular servant of the Now Zealand Government inherited the land through marrying Mr Charlton'a daughter, and this geutletnan patriotically recognising the advisability of the colony instead of a private individual holding "the key to the King Country," cold tho forty acres to the Government, who lost little time in asserting their ownership. One or two boacons were erected to mark the entrance to the Heads, and the uatives resenting this as implying sovereign rights, tore them down. Thi3 had the effect of making K-rwhia famous, and the district thus obtained ft splendid start ahead. Some 200 Armed Constabulary were f-cnt down, tha beacons were re-erected, the natives overawed into submission, and tho Government proceeded to sell the township allotments by public auction. The lots wore sold during the "booming" timos in Auckland about two years ago, and in anticipation of the placo advancing by leaps and boundsand becoming a city of great magnitude in a biief period, many aanguine people who had never eoen Kawhia paid fabulous prices— £100 per acre or so—for corner and other lots which would not now fetch a fourth part of the money. Several oE these purchasers were of our party, and though they had somo diiliculty in finding Fairchild street and tho other noble avenues in this city of tho future, they seemed satisfied that they would ye come out of tho transaction all right. Those forty acres acquired so long ago by Mr Charlton, and which constitute the " Government township,"form tho only land which the Kawhia natives have piirtod with, but thoy are now clamouring lor a Land Court, and in the courso of six months it is eafo to predict that tho titles to all the lands will bo individualised, and the process of exchanging it for tho pakehas' accursed gold and inoro accursed fire-wator will*bo in full operation. The land is of fair quality, and many years ago the Maoiis used to raise splendid ctops of wheat, which they exported to Sydney and Auckland : but most of it has been allowed to lapee into a state of nature, the ind'^lent natives only cultivating little potato patches here and th^ro. When tho Land Court has done its perfect work, ovon these little cultivations will bo neglected, and the Maoris (already showing signs of rapid degeneracy) will follow the potato patchos into the realm of nothingness

The Sandhills at the North Head form a peculiar feature in the landscape. Over thousands of aor<sa of country the sand from tho ocean has in arch ad along blown by tho prevailing winds, and its progress is liko that of a Turkish Sultan's hoi so—whe^e ho treads no gieen thing grows. But for tho dark hue of the sand, tho effect is like that produced by drifted snow. Tho insidious onomy has climbed to the top of the highest hill near the Heads, and is pouring down tho precipices on the opposito side, threatening in a few years to bury tho chief Maori settlement which lies beneath. This is iron sand, and somo of it very rich, and the thought struck some of the explorers of the region that thero was perhaps a beneficent purposo in it 3 destroying march, a= it might bo advancing on Auckland to levive tho drooping iron ?and manufacture. Near these sandhills aio situated

The Hot Springs. which popso 1^ certain features which make them unique of (heir kind. The spring 51 are only acccasible at low water, being'in point of fact covered by the sea at high water. The hot water bubbles up on the sandy beach and (low:? into tho soa, and in order to bathe in tho hot eprings it is necessary to excavate a bath iv the sand. You may dig at one epot and find the water at boiling heat; but noar by, if you dig onoe more, you will bo at>lo to get the water of a proper temperature for enjoying a luxurious bath. The properties of the waters have not been a=certained, and they may of courso prove to bo highly valuable for tho treatment of various diseape.% when means woul<J probably bo found to make them available for invalids. In the meantime the springs arc objocts of curiosity which no visitor to the district should inns seeing,

The Tainui Canoe.-A Very Likely Story. In a clumo of manuka near the principal native settlement already referred to, stand two curious object^, regarding which tho i Maoris tell a very romantic yarn. They •?ay that tho Tainui cinoo, which brought their ancestors ftom Hawaiiki to New Zealand, was brought to Kawhia, Harbour, dragged high and dry, and preserved aa an object of veneration and a historical monumont of tho greatest value. In course of time, they tho canoe got embedded in tho sandy siil, until all that lemained visible were the two elevated ends An inspection patirfiod «' that the two objects sticking up out of the ground, and which had a plight resemblance to the ends ot an ancient war canoe, were two blocks of rock. Measurement showed them to be about 75 feet apart—'juito a rospectablo length for a canoe—ami one of them was higher than the other, corresponding to the carved figure-head. A pcoptical explorer wished to dig with a view to testing whether the canoe was really buried there ; but tho natives vohemently forbade such eacrilogo, declaring the placo to be strictly lapu, and we had only been allowed to sco it a= a special favour. On the fringe of the manuka scrub we came upon a lonely raupo wharo, from which we were startled at seeing a form crawl on all fours like an animal. The man—for such it proved to be—threw himself on tho ground and replied pleasantly to our salutation. He said in response to our inquiries that he was very sick—"nui mate "—and in accordance with native custom had been secluded to die in peace—hia hut being visited by some one daily, whose duty it was to fetch him food and attend to his wants. Poor fellow ! I have compared him to an animal, and hia Bad situation was fitted to show how little removed the Maoris are from the brute creation ! Does not the sick or wounded bird or beast crawl away to die in solitude, uncheered by the kindly presence and sympathy of its fellows ? Thus was he also thrust forth, as more civilised people thrust forth the leprous and the mentally diseased, and left to die of his painful yet probably protracted malady ! To this poor wreck—albeit in the prirhe of manncod—we propounded some queries on the subject of the Tainui canoe, to test whether the Maoris really believed their own "yarn." He firmly asserted that it was the veritable Tainui that was embedded in tbe earth. " But the ends sticking out are stone. Waa the Tainui a stone canoe ?" " No, it was of wood j but it turned into stone through lying there."

At the settlement we found that several of the nativea "smole a emile" when we mentioned that we had been to see the Tainui, which led us to infer that the soul of a doubting Thomas may not infrequently dwell peneath a dusky akin. The story, albeit rather queer, has ac much vrtiisemblance about it as some of the fairy tales of science, and "thelong i results ot time " in the direction of petri- I fying certain objects are so well-known ' that wo should pause before rejecting the story of the buried canoe ; —but I would still like to get at the spot with a pick and shovel.

The Products and Manufactures of. Kavvhia are easily enumerated. Th chief articles of native produce are potatoes, pumpkin?, pigs and cherries—these four in abundance satisfying the simple wants of the people. An old native called us into his whare and showed us with evident pride an enormous roll of tobacco which he had grown, cured and made into twiat. A few strawberries and gooseberries ore abo grown, and at one settlement on the opposite side of the harbour we saw a solitary pear tree about two years old; but otherwise no signs of I orchard planting. The manufactures ap- ! peared to be still more limited, consisting of canoes and Maori kits. Even the canoes are going out of fashion, and the ambition j of every Maori ia t<» have a little boat for i eailing or rowing "all the same pakeha." ] Cherries were on sale in abundance—as many for a shilling as would keep half-a-dozen people munching all day.

Native Life and Customs can here b8 observed with every freedom, the Maoiis inviting visitors to move about to see the settlements, etc The great majority of the natives aro stalwart and healthy, and all are happy and well-dis-posed. Whatever may bethe case elsewhere, I theie seems little danger of the race dying out at Kawhia, as the infant population is very numerous in proportion to adults—the ' only sign of degeneracy being the falling off j in etature and muscularity which was apparent in the young men as contrasted with their elders. Two men were obsewed who were deformed in their lower limbs, and in addition to the caee of sickness already referred to we found a " tangi" proceeding ! over the body of an infant. Drunkenness is unknown among the natives | here, although they manifest great love for the " waipiro" when _ they have an opportunity of buying it on board a steamer lying in the .harbour Morally considered, the Kawhia natives are j indeed a great deal better than many other tribes ; but in religious matters they appear to be sadly neglected. Sunday is not held in any higher esteem than other days of the week; there is neither church nor parson, for either pakeha or Maori; but the coloured brethren have a sort of service twice every day, which does duty tor religious teaching. So far as work is concerned the Maoris do not break the Sabbath to any appreciable extent; in fact, every day of tho seven may be considered as a day of rest for them. If they require any training in tho fourth commandment, it is assuredly in the first clause of it—" Six days j»halt thou labour!" Socially considered, their condition is on the whole very deplorable. They live in wretched wharea, which must be very uncomfortable in cold and wet weather, thoir food is of the coarsest description, and their clothing, though ample, is marked by an utter absence of taste. While some of them are well-to-do, the majority are miseiably poor, and the latterfactexplains theiranxiety to have their land put through the Court. Soap is evidently not much in request either for the cleansing of persons or clothing, and the stalwart Maori performing his [ablutions, but it was in a spring of pure water, from which I had taken a drink a short time before, and from which a few houra later I saw a woman draw a supply of water apparently for culinary purposes !

A Discrowned Queen, Conspicuous among the Maoris who assembled on the beach for the annual sports and regatta on Monday, 3rd of January, was a stout, good sized, and not ill-featured lady, dressed in superior style to the othor native women, who was pointed out as "tho ex Queen of New Zealand." She appeared to be a porson of some character and determination, and she had the air of one born to command, being altogether a more regal-looking perponnge than her erstwhile spouse, King Tawhiao. It may bo remembered that when Tawhiao was absent in London one of the ladies of his harem ran off with a handsomer man, and was cast out by the much-wronged monarch when he returned. She appeared to be quite bappy in her new pphore at Kawhia, and doubtless enjoyed her former lord's discomfiture whac he was so properly snubbtd by the local chief, Hone te One, for presuming to dictate to tho Kawhia natives on the land question. The lady'a high temper wasdisplayedduring the course of a little " scene," in which she soundly rated some offenders on the beach, and a further inflight into her character wa» afforded by the gu3to with which she acted a principal part in the " haka" per formance, and also by tho high glee with which eho directed the paddlei-3 in a big canoo race—standing in the midst of the nearly nude men, gesticulating, ejaculating, and otherwiso encouraging them, so that the boat in which she stood proved an easy winner.

The Scenery of Kawhia and its immediate vicinity is beautiful without being particularly striking —pleasing without being so grand as tooverawe and depress by the continual contemplation of it. Entering the harbour, there is on tho left tho sandhills already referred to, with tho bold mountain of Karioi looming up in the distance; to the right ia a succession of well-wooded ranges, stretching away towards Mokau ; and in front is tho township with the bold headlands surrounding it, while around the broad circular expanse of the harbour there aro numerous inlets,, marking the mouths of largo tidal rivers which are concoaled in masses of vegetation ; and in the background looms up the Pirongia range of mountains, cutting off this section of tho King Country from that portion which lies beyond. It ia when the rivers referred to are explored, and the near mountain ranges penetrated, that picturesque scenery is tound rivalling that of any portion of New Zealand, and justifying the praises pronouncod by Dr. Hochstetter upon a region which he called the "Switzerland of Mew Zealand." In the immediate landscape, however, one ia most struck by tUa absence of forests, giving a barren appearance to the country. The lack of trees is, on the contrary, a proof of the productiveness of the soil, for the foreßt lands were all cleared many years ago in order that the soil might be tilled to produce those phenomenal wheat crops which the Maoris, with the simplest of appliances and the poorest of skill, formerly raised from this fertile spot of earth. As for the township site, it is in its general features nos unlike the site of Auckland city. The landingplace is at the foot of a gully answering to the Queen-street of the future, which forms the only approaoh to the water. To the right of this gully risea the steep acclivity on the summit of which the redoubt and the post and telegraph office stand. To tt».

left the ground rises less abruptly, and a few dwelling-houses are dotted about, the ' business premises occupying the level ground on the foreshore. ■

The Future of Kawhia it is imnossible to foretell, but as the place in its general aspect suggests the appearance of Auckland 50 years since, several people have ventured the prediction that 50 years hence it will be like the Auckland of to-day. There is nothing at all improbable about this, for the situation has everything to fit it for being the site of a great maritime city. The harbour ia the boat on the West Coast of the North Island, and Kawhia will therefore become the chief emporium of trade for the interior now unopened, and might even, when roads and railways are formed, compete'with Auckland as an outlet for the produce of the Waikato country. The only thing that is wanted is European settlement, and this will quickly follow the individualising of the native titles. Good agricultural land will be found for thousands of happy settlers; but the great bulk of the country being broken, will adapt it specially for pastoral purposes. Within a few years the country lying between Kawhia, Raglan and Alexandra will I all be in process of settlement, and if this does not prove contemporaneous with the growth of Kawhia into an important city, all former experience will ba reversed. The resources of the country will doubtless ' prove to be far more valuable than appears on the surface, for with iron sand and limestone in exhaustless quantities, with probably good coal for the finding, the district will support a large industrial population at; Bocae future date. In the meantime, there ia timber to be got up the tidal rivers of the harbour, and boat and shipbuilding should very soon be established in the vicinity. To get some faint idea of the picturesque scenery a party was formed to sail

Up Tho Ralcaunui River. It was a beautiful Sunday morning when three sailing boats, each carrying its complement of tourists, struck acrosß the harbour to visit the above river, the scenery of which is of the most romantic description. A sail of about an hour brought us to the mouth of the river,and as we drew nearer fresh beauties were continually unfolding themselves. The characteristics of the landscape here consist of rocky piles of fantastic shape, which, surrounded as they are by pretty native bush, present the appearance of buildings erected by human hands. Up the river, impelled by a fair wind, the tiny craft urge their way, and every turning discloses a scene of enchanting beauty lovelier than the last. Our course is between high rocky banks, with occasional flats and vordant slopes on which cattle are contentedly browsing; anon it winds around a rocky islet placed in midstream, and again it skirts an overhanging cliff, upon rounding which a secluded bay with gently sloping banks is disclosedHere, on our right hand, is a towering mass of Nature's masonry, which looks like the solid architecture of an ancient Egyptian temple ; on our left, perched on a giddy eminence, are more of these peculiar rocks piled together with the most cunning art so as to resemble a baronial castl6; and further up we catch glimpses of what appear to be ruins of Gothic palaces ; with wild frowning cliffs crowned with evergreen verdure — large trees growing on inaccessible ledges — Maoii whares nestling cosily in the little coves at the foot of the rocks —fields of potatoes and other vegetables dotted about, and winding through all the light green and alway beautiful waters of the river. The resemblance to the Rhine struck more than one of our party. The illusion would have been complete had there been the vineyards and the villages and town <?; but is not that picturesque rock the "Lurleyburg," the Biren of which was wont to lure the fisherman to destruction by her " wunderaame, gewalfcige Melodic?" Is not this bold table-rock the broad atone that gave its name to Ehrenbreitstein ? And is not yonder precipitous cliff, crowned by rude rockp, fantastically piled, the very image of "the Castled Crag of Drachenfels that frownB o'er the fair and winding Rhine ?" And see ! At the foot of the craggy steep, is not that the veritable " Saurian monster " come from the Waikato to play tho role of tho dragon in the legend ? It might hare been, or it might have been fancy; but truth compels the admission that it was only a blackened tree stump sticking diagonally out of the water ! We sailed up this beautiful river for several miles, admiring fche prodigality of natural attractiveness bestowed upon it. Up we wont, through a deep and narrow passage between precipitous rocks rising on either side sheer from the water to a height of over 100 feet. This, which has been called the French Pass, because of the rapid current which sets through it, is a highly picturesque part of the river, the cliffs beinor rj eh with verdure, with occasional baie rocks peeping: through. A little way below this, as wo tako our backward course, we note a high ovorhanging rock, which resembles in shape the desk of a pulpit, and it is then and thore christened Pulpit Rock. Near thie ppot we land, and find on the bank a cave which ha* been used as a Maori dwelling, and the air is redolent with the odour of dried shark and other Maori delicacies which ate hung up on rude frames under the cliff. Here we find several Maoris, who agree to show us the to

way The Limestone Caves, and off we go, in straggling Indian file, , over a narrow track that leads across the undulating country. The elderly wahine who takes the load proceeds at a brisk trot, ; until after about amilehasbeen traversed, we reach the homestead, where her lord and master aits nursing the baby. Haifa-mile further brings us to the entrance to the principal cave, which ia at the foot of a great mound like hill, with a queerlyshaped sugar-loaf stuck on top of it. A field of potatoes and pumpkins has to be crossed, and then we are right under the shade of the hill, where we recline to cool down a little before adventuring into the bowels of the earth. Our Maori friends, who, we loam, have been wont to look upon this cave as tapu, show themselves willing to negotiate for our admittance in return for a pecuniary consideration, but they warn us that we may poseibly encounter some wandering " wairua," or haply the old "taipo" himself! Preliminaries being settled, candles and lanterns are lit, and we enter the mysterious recesses. A short acrambta over some blocks of stone brings us into a long, straight, narrow passage, with high sloping roof and smooth sandy floor. The walls of the passage are of brownish limestone ; the stalactite ornaments are but few, and I fear they were fewer still after our party left. After marching for some distance we reach a point where the cave branches into two passages, and turning to the right, come to a low part, through which we have to crawl, serpent-wise ; but on the other side we emerge into another passage loftier and roomier than that we left behind. A few hundred yards further, and we reach the end of the passage, which terminates in a shelving rock, sloping up till iti meets the roof. From the rock a small stream of water Blowly oozes at this , point, and from a pool it trickles down over the shelving rock, and here may be noted

stalactites in proceea of formation by the precipitation of the limestone and other mineral substances in the water. Some o the party strike off at the " fork " into the other passage in the hope of finding an outlet at the other side of the hill; but after doing a lot of crawling, bumping of heads and soiling of clothes, they failed to discover another exit, and made their way back to the entrance. All around here are limestone cliffs, on the sides of little hille, showing caves in considerable number, but time forbade us exploring any more. Home conversation aroße as to how these extensive subterranean passages came to be excavated, and various theories were advanced on the subject. On our way back to the river, we had ocular demonstration which settled the question and convinced the most sceptical of

How the Caves are Formed. Our track led us over the ridge of a hill having the Rakaunui River on the one hand, and a low, marshy hollow on the other. In the hollow we had previously noted evidences of a water-courße, though there waB n6 trace of any outlet. We were now surprised to find a quantity of water in this place, which formerly had been quite dry, and then it dawned upon us that as the tide was flowing, this influx of water must be due to some subterranean connection with the river. A closer inspection confirmed us in this conjecture, for we found the tide flowing through a scarcely perceptible passage at the base of the hill. The length of this tunnel was probably a quarter of a mile, and the height of the superincumbent mound of earth at least 200 feet, yet by some mysterious meanp the insidious waves had found their way through, and were, at the very time we looked, busily at work digging out a passage through the solid strata similar to that which we had so recently traversed. How many centuries it may take to complete the work it would be hard to say ; but it is highly interesting to observe this mighty but silent process of nature at work, fashioning something which may be a thing of wonder and of beauty for some future generation to gaze upon. It being established that the cave which we had viaited was formed by tidal action, it follows that the sea level was formerly a good deal higher than it ia at present—a fact which geologists hold is true with regard to. the whole of New Zealand. Happy in fullest measure was that glorious day, spent amid such scenes of enchantment and novelty, and the feeling of every one was regret that longer time was not available in which to enjoy the picturesque feast spread out for our delectation. Very few indeed of that company may ever have the pleasure of revisiting the delightful spot j but the scenery will long dwell in a cherished corner of the memory. It may oven be recalled to us by the aid of art, for there were three photographers in our company, and each of them had thoughtfully come provided with apparatus suited to men of their " taking" ways. As one of them is an elder or deacon, or something elae, in a Presbyterian Church, I will not exactly go the length of aaying that they "broke the Sawbath" by pursuing a secular avocation on that day, but this I will say—that if there be any truth in the saying, " The better the day the better the deed," there should very soon be some excellent landscape portraits exposed for sale in Auckland —views which, wiil convey to prospective touriets or conteuted " slay at homes " some idea of the picturesque charms of the Rakaunui River. On some of the other rivers that pour their waters into Kawhia Harbour, such as the Awaroa for instance, there is also some interesting tcenery, which, combined with the attractions which I have so imperfectly tried to delineate, ought to make Kawhia a favourite resort of tourists from all parts of Australasia, Sportarcen will there als® find abundant employment for their gun or fishing line B, for the woods and the waters are well stocked. And when, in the course of " three days in the King Country," so much can be seen to excite interest and admiration, there can be no doubt that when next the Northern Steamship Company oiganise an excursion to Kawhia there will be a much larger crowd of visitors than took part in the pioneer excursion of New Y ear, ISS7.