α-a

6

Finally, the track from the Ruapehu Mountain House to Waimarino should be clearly define*!. At present it exists only on the map for the most part, and the traveller may easily get into trouble amongst the mazes of the numerous dry creeks and washouts. Rough bridges over the Waihohonu, the Ohinepango, and Mangatoetoenui could easily be made from saplings, &c, placed over the narrow part of the streams, and such would be a great boon to the pedestrian who was going to the Wangaehu Gorge or the beautiful wooded canon of the Oturere. Speaking of this latter, a track should be made down its deepest part. The Foothills. It will be seen that if effect be given to our proposal in its entirety for the extension of the park the foothills of Ruapehu will be protected from denudation by their garment of forest. This is not merely a matter of scenery. The land along the Main Trunk line is destined to play a great part in the farming industry of the future, and the matter of saving the farms of this future from floods and of conserving their water-supply is one of supreme importance, and one which must be considerefl without delay. In the past irremediable damage has arisen from the destruction of mountain forests, but here on the lower slopes of Ruapehu all is virgin, and there are the experiences of the past to justify immediate present action. For the same reason the whole of Hauhungatahi might very well be added to the park, a proceeding already suggested by the Board of Scenery-preservation, although we have hardly cared to assume the responsibility of placing the additional land within our suggested boundaries. Mount Hauhungatahi comes close to the railway-line between Makatote and Waimarino. Its elopes are very steep, and therefore the more in need of protection. The forest is extremely beautiful, and when eventually most of the bush in the neighbourhood of the line shall have been cleared away, this of Hauhungatahi, if preserved, would still form, as it does now, one of the most attractive pieces of scenery along the line. Also, its timber is of little value for milling purposes, since beyond a narrow belt of rimu (Dacrydium Cupressinum), the trees of which are much scattered, it contains no timber available for the sawmiller, while its grassy high portion is of no great extent, and contains few grasses of moment. Leonard Cockaynh, Ph.D., &c. E. Phillips Turner, M.N.Z.1.5., Inspector of Scenic Reserves. The Chairman, Tongariro National Park Board, Wellington. dpprrmimaU Cntt of paper.— Preparation, not Riven: printing (1,700 copies). £3 17e. 6d.

Authority : John Mackay, Government Printer, Wellington. 1908.

Price lid.\