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Show 510 NEW ZEALAND. Dec. 1835. their potatoes, Indian corn, or pigs, to exchange . for blankets, tobacco, and sometimes, through the persuasions of the missionaries, for soap. Mr. Davies's eld~st so~, who manages a farm of his own, is the man of busmess m t?e market. The children of the missionaries, who came while young to the island, understand the language ~etter than their parents, and can get any thing more readily done by the natives. A little before noon, Messrs. Williams and Davies walked with me to part of a neighbouring forest, to show me the famous Kauri pines. I measured one of these noble trees, in a part which was not enlarged near the roots, and found it to be thirty-one feet in circumference. There was another close by, which I did not see, thirty-three; and I heard of one no less than forty feet. The trunks are also very rem'arkable from their smoothness, cylindrical figure, absence of branches and having very nearly the same girth through a length fr~m sixty to even ninety feet. The crown of this tree where it is irregularly branched, is small, and out of pro;ortion to the trunk; and the foliage is like:Vise ~iminutive as compared with the branches. The forest m th1s part was almost composed of the Kauri ; and the largest, from the parallelism of their sides, stood up like gigantic columns of wood. The timber of this tree is the most valuable product of the island: moreover, a quantity of resin oozes from the bark, which is collected and sold at a penny a pound to the Americans, but its use is kept secret. On the outskirts of the wood, I saw the New Zealand flax growing in the swamps : this is the second most valuable export. This plant somewhat resembles (but not botanically) the common iris ; the under surface of the leaf is lined by a layer of strong silky fibres; and the upper consists of green vegetable matter, which is scraped off with a broken shell, and the hemp remains in the hand of the workwoman. In the forest, besides the kauri, there are some other fine timber trees. I saw numbers of beautiful tree-ferns, and was told of palms. Some of the New Zealand forests must Dec. 1835. WAIMATE, 511 be impenetrable to an extraordinary degree. Mr. Matth~ ws gave ~e a? account of one, which, although only thuty-four miles Wide, and separating two inhabited districts like the central forest of Chiloe, had never been passed untii lately. He and another missionary, each with a party of about fifty men, undertook to open a road : but it cost them more ~han a f~rtnight's labour ! In the woods I saw very few birds. With regard to animals, it is a most remarkable fa~t, t~at so .large an island, extending over more than 700 mll~s m l~tltude, and in many parts ninety broad, with vaned statwns, a fine climate, and land of all heights, from 14,000 feet downwards, with the exception of a small rat should not possess one indigenous animal. It is moreove; said, th~t. the introduction of the common Norway kind, has anmhilated from the northern extremity of the island the New Zealand species, in the short space of two years: In many places I noticed several sorts of weeds, which, like the rats, I ~as forced to own as countrymen. A leek, however, whiCh has overrun whole districts, and will be very troublesome, was imported lately by the favour of a Frenc? vessel. The common dock is widely disseminated, and Will, I am afraid, for ever remain a proof of the rascality of an Englishman, who sold the seeds for those of the tobacco-plant. On returning from our pleasant walk to the houses I dined with Mr. Williams; and then, a horse being lent ~e, I returned to the Bay of Islands. I took leave of the missionaries, with thankfulness for their kind welcome and with feelings of high respect for their gentleman~like, :seful, and upright characters. I think it would be difficult to :find a body of men better adapted for the high office which they fulfil. CHRISTMAS-DAY.-In a few more days, the fourth year of our absence from England will be completed. Our :first Christmas-day was spent at Plymouth; the second at St. Martin's Cove, near Cape Horn; the third at Port Desire, in Patagonia ; the fourth at anchor in a harbour in the |