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best way to get timber out would be as marked by map —(a) possible tram to Whangape Harbour; (b) driving down Waihou River over falls to Hokianga Harbour. However, I hope the timber ma) , never be cut, and I am only supposing such a thing to happen. The forest is a wet forest —tall kauri above, just below the ordinary northern mixed bush, and close to the ground grasses and ferns ; in fact, what is known as the " kauri-grass " is thicker in this forest than in any forest 1 have seen, and it makes travelling exceedingly difficult off the ridges. The main spurs come right down to the coast-line, ending in sandhills and low cliffs. On the seaward spurs fine flax grows, especially on the Native-land portion ; higher up the spurs white tea-tree (manuka), combed flat by wind ; and it is not until you get over the first ridge that the real forest begins. There is little or no danger from fire, because it is a wet bush where off and on rain is falling. We have also a caretaker living in a hut in a lonely spot in the forest, but his duty is principally to prevent trespass from gum-diggers. Of animals there are practically none, as wild cattle do not roam the forest, and wild pigs there are none. The caretaker's cat caught a small weasel at the time of my visit. It is a pity that stoats and weasels are in the forest, as it means extinction of the kiwi, of which there are still many. Birds : Very few tuis, a few green parakeets, a kaka or two, numerous fantails, and that is all the bird-life I saw in the forest. The seashore made up for it, as I saw great quantities of the following, absolutely tame : Curlew, torea (a black-and-white wader with young birds), doterell, plover, sandpipers, blackback gull, kettiwake gull, skua gull, black-cap terns, also small grey black-headed seaswallow, shags, and blue cranes. The toreas and gulls simply walked out of my way as I walked along the long stretch of beach from Hokianga Heads. I did not see any out-of-the-way plants, except Rubits or " lawyer," which had only a midrib and no leaves. Southern forest plants grow better, on account of the moist climate. Flax grows well. The Natives grow taro in rows in their gardens alongside kumeras. In places the foothills were purple with pennyroyal or peppermint. I also saw a pink ipomea in flower at edge of bush. The sand along the coast is fast encroaching. Marram-grass has been planted by the Natives, who have been most industrious over the matter. It has been planted in rows, and in places is in seed. It appears to have taken good hold. There is a new plant called melilotus, which, I believe, is a clover. It comes from King Island, in Tasmania, and has been sown on barren sandy hills ; and from newspaper reports this fodder-plant has converted King Island from an unproductive desert into highly prosperous farms, the sandhills bearing a close resemblance to prolific lucerne-fields. The experiment is going to be tried on the sandhills on the coast at Warawara, by burning off tufts of marram-grass, and scattering this clover-seed on the ashes, as seed will not grow unless there is some semblance of soil to start it, but once started the plants spread rapidly.