that several parties of prospectors went to and from Kaimanawa by the known native routes, but that a party, under Messrs. James Hogg and G. F. Swainson, after going to Taupo via Rangitikei, succeeded in returning to the coast by way of the Turakina Valley, while Captain Pilmer and myself succeeded in reaching the portion of the plains lying to the south of Ruapehu, by following the valleys of the Mangawhero and Upper Wangaehu. Since then the survey of a large block of land, inland of the Turakina and Rangitikei districts, for the Native Lands Court, has added greatly to our knowledge of that locality, while the explorations of Mr. Booth and myself, in course of cutting the lines for pack-roads directly from the town of Wanganui, and from Ranana, on the Wanganui River, have given us a knowledge of the western portion of the region in question, sufficient to enable it now to be mapped and described with approximate accuracy. As I have spent the greatest amount of time in exploring the locality, and have been frequently in communication with the other explorers, and thus had an opportunity of learning what they had ascertained, either personally or from natives, and of comparing it with my own observations, or with the information I could get from Maoris, I am perhaps the best able to give a general description of the region, and therefore venture on the task.

The volcanic country, of which Ruapehu, Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Hauhangatahi, are the main summits, appears to form a sort of culminating point in the centre of the island, from which the drainage flows in all directions. The Wanganui, Mangawhero, Wangaehu, Turakina, Rangitikei, and Waikato, all have their sources here, as have also numerous streams which flow into them. Of the Waikato it is needless to say more than that it rises on the north-eastern slope of Ruapehu, and soon passes out of this province on its way northward to Taupo Lake. The Wanganui rises on the western side of Tongariro, and after flowing for more than thirty miles in a north-westerly direction (in which it passes to the north-east of Hauhangatahi), it bends and flows southwards to the sea. The country through which it passes to the bend seems to be excessively broken, but there appears to be strong reason to believe it auriferous. All who have visited the country lying south-east of Taupo Lake describe it as containing immense quantities of quartz; and as Mr. Crawford found slate cropping out in the bed of one of the upper tributaries of the Wanganui, it is probable that the gold which is found on the bars of this river, in increasing quantities as it is ascended, comes from somewhere in this locality. Just to the south of Hauhangatahi, the Manganui-a-te-ao rises, and flows thence south-westerly into the Wanganui River, after a course of about thirty miles. Around its source, and for some distance towards the Wanganui, there are open plains of pumice land covered with grass and flax, but lower down it passes through what the Rev. R. Taylor describes as a

limestone formation, containing large caves. A person who resided near the mouth of this stream for several years, and who has since been for many years engaged on the goldfields in Victoria and in the Middle Island, expresses a very strong conviction that gold will be found in its neighbourhood, but hitherto there has been no means of testing the accuracy of his opinion, a party, who went up for the purpose, having been turned back by the natives.

South of the Manganui-a-te-ao, an extremely rich level bush country extends along the western skirts of Tongariro and Ruapehu, for a distance of about twenty-five miles in a southerly direction, and about ten or twelve miles from east to west. The timber is very fine, and the streams which run through the bush flow in channels only a few feet deep. These streams are mostly tributaries of the Manga-ai-turoa and Mangawhero, the former of which rises in or near the pumice plains I have mentioned, and flows southwards parallel to, and about seven or eight miles to the eastward of the Wanganui River, Its valley, which is of great depth, is, so far as I have seen, cut into the marine tertiary formations. It contains apparently no gravel, but for some distance, near where the new Ranana road crosses it, the stream, which is here more than a chain wide and about ankle deep, flows over a bed of what seems to be soft stratified limestone, over the ledges of which it forms falls varying from a few inches to more than twenty feet in height. There is some swampy level bush land in the valley, but behind this the hills rise abruptly to a height of nearly or quite 1,000 feet. The Mangawhero rises on the western slope of Ruapehu, and after passing in a south-west direction across the level bush country it turns southward along its western edge, and continues in this direction till it is joined by the Manga-ai-turoa, about thirty miles from its source. A little above the junction, at the Ranana road ford, it is about 100 feet wide, and rather more than knee deep; and here, and indeed throughout nearly its whole course, it flows over a bottom of coarse shingle intermixed with huge boulders. Its valley, which is as deep as that of the Manga-ai-turoa, is cut out of a similar formation, but I have seen no trace of anything resembling limestone. From the junction of the streams, however, the Mangawhero flows south-easterly for ten or twelve miles to Te Anu, and at about two miles below the junction it descends in two falls a height, according to the natives, of fully 150 feet. Such falls must be over some hard rock; and as the natives describe it as white stone it may be the same material as that over which the Manga-ai-turoa falls. I have not been able to visit these falls, and think it likely the Maoris have exaggerated their height, but from the fact that at a distance of five miles, through level heavy bush, the roar is as loud as that of the sea at the same distance on a rough day, they must be worth seeing. At Te Anu the Mangawhero again turns southwards, and continues generally in that direction to its junction with the

Wangaehu, about sixteen or eighteen miles farther south. Of course the directions above given are the general ones merely, the actual channel of this river, as well as those of the Wangaehu and Turakina, being wonderfully tortuous. For about a dozen miles above its junction with the Wangaehu, the Mangawhero flows through a beautiful valley, consisting of flats covered with fern, flax, and koromiko scrub. The next three or four miles, as you ascend, are more gorgy, and heavily wooded, though there are some fine bush flats covered with splendid timber. Above this the valley opens again, and for some miles consists of splendid flats of manuka and koromiko scrub. At the falls, and for several miles above and below them, it is all flats of heavy bush in the actual valley, but open fern and scrub towards the lower slopes of the hills. The lateral valleys, up to the Manga-ai-turoa junction, contain also fine open flats and terraces of rich fern and scrub land, and though behind and between these there are steep wooded ridges, rising in some places to a height of from 1,500 to 1,800 feet above the sea, even these contain a considerable quantity of available land, disposed in the form of tables and level basins about the heads of gullies. The lower spurs and bases of the hills all along the Mangawhero, Wangaehu, and Turakina valleys, consist of coarse gravel, but all the country above this level is of blue or yellowish white sandy clay, full of sea shells, and with scarcely a trace of a pebble about it. There seems to be an exception to this rule somewhere a little to the eastward of the Wanganui River, near to Karatia. Some years ago some beautiful specimens of copper ore were brought to town by a person, who asserted he had obtained them while out pig-hunting with some Maoris in that locality; and some natives have assured me that there is a quantity of it in a gully opposite Karatia. This would indicate the cropping out of primary rocks, underlying the high hill, Tauakira (commonly, but wrongly, shown as Taupiri on the maps) or its northern slopes. The Wangaehu River rises close to the Waikato on the north-east slope of Ruapehu, and at its source is so strongly impregnated with sulphur, and apparently alum, as to be quite nauseous. The colour of the water is a dirty bluish white. The river winds round the stony desert, and thence south-westerly along a tolerably level plain, mostly open, till it reaches a point about S.S.W. of the mountain, and about sixteen or seventeen miles distant from its summit. At this point it is joined by the Tokiahuru, a large stream which rises on the eastern slope of Ruapehu, and winds in a S.W. direction round its base. The Tokiahuru is joined by another large stream, the Mangahuihui, which comes down from the south-west slope of the mountain, and shortly afterwards by another, the Mangawarawara, which rises in the level bush country westward of the mountain, and flows through a lake in an extensive opening or plain in the bush, called the Rangataua, before it reaches the Wangaehu. Below the junction the united streams

(still called Wangaehu) flow S.S.E. for about ten miles, skirting a succession of grassy plains, called respectively Rangiwhaea, Waitohi, Otumauma, Parakakariki, Papatatangi, and Matahitira. As the river flows on its channel gets deeper and deeper, till at Matahitira it actually runs in a chasm from 300 to 400 feet deep, with precipitous sides, the plains forming, as it were, terraces on the one or other bank. This chasm is generally ten chains or more in width, and the actual river bed, which is but a few feet deep, zigzags across it from side to side, between beds of shingle and volcanic sand overgrown with bush. The streams which flow into the river descend very rapidly as they approach the chasm, and in some cases have sheer falls of from 100 feet to 150 feet in height, or a succession of cascades. On the western side of the river the level bush country extends southwards to opposite Otumauma, and below this Parakakariki and Matahitira are also on this side. A very easy line of communication with the Mangawhero Valley crosses from Parakakariki. On the eastern side the whole country down to a point several miles south of Matahitira is broken into innumerable hummocks, the summits of which, however, rise to a tolerably uniform level, and which are covered with black birch bush. This description of country extends eastwards to the Turakina Valley, or nearly so. Southward of Matahitira the river enters a wooded gorge between high hills, and though the chasm soon afterwards disappears, and the banks of the river become less precipitous, the valley is of an extremely broken character, and for many miles is densely wooded. About five miles below Matahitira the valley curves to the south-west round the spurs of a high mass of hills called Puke Whakapu, opposite to which, on the eastern side of the river, is another high mass called Maunga-karetu. From this bend to the junction with the Mangawhero, fifteen miles distant, and just above the inland boundary of the Wanganui block, the river runs in a south-westerly direction, the valley gradually widening, and for the last three or four miles becoming open. Just where the bush terminates, a large stream, called the Mangamahu, flows into the Wangaehu from the eastward. This stream rises somewhere just to the eastward, or north-eastward of Maungakaretu, and from twenty-five to thirty miles due south of the summit of Ruapehu. The valley of this stream is broad and well defined, and there is some fine country, partly wooded and partly open, along it, which the natives are proposing to pass through the Native Lands Court. Between the Wangaehu and Mangamahu is a gradually ascending table ridge covered with manuka scrub, along which an old war track to Taupo is said to have run. Mr. Booth is at present endeavouring to reach the plains by this route, in company with some natives; but besides its being many miles to the eastward of a direct line from Wanganui to Taupo, it appears to pass too high above

the gravel level to be likely to be a desirable line of communication.^* The Turakina River rises close to a hill called Tuhirangi, about fifteen miles south-east of Ruapehu, and flows a little to the eastward of south for about twenty miles, and then towards the south-west for about twenty miles farther till it reaches the boundary of the settlement. For the greater part of this distance it runs in a chasm similar to that of the Wangaehu, but of less depth; and, like the latter river, has a very rapid course, much encumbered with boulders. There is, however, this distinction between the two, viz., that while the boulders of the Wangaehu consist largely, or chiefly, of volcanic rocks, those of the Turakina are of primary rock and sandstone. There are two falls on the Turakina, each about six or eight feet in height. The first of these is about ten miles inland of the Turakina upper boundary, and the other considerably higher up. There are, so far I can learn, no actual falls on the Wangaehu; but in one of the rapids near Matahitira there is a large rock, with a hollow in its upper side, and the recoil of the water within this hollow produces a humming sound which can be heard for several miles. In the Turakina Valley there is a large extent of rich level scrub and bush land, as well as a great deal disposed in terraces on the hill sides. On the eastern side there is also an immense extent of level table land, extending nearly to the Rangitikei River. This is covered with scrubby bush, interspersed with large grassy openings, and the whole is so intersected and opened up by the tracks of the wild cattle, (which exist here in thousands), that the natives ride all over it in hunting them. A belt of broken ground separates this level district from the Rangitikei and Turakina settlements; but as these wild cattle are strays from the settlements, or their progeny, there seems good reason to believe that practicable road lines exist through the hills, though as yet their whereabouts are not ascertained. I believe the natives who own the recently surveyed block would be willing to sell it for about 7s. or 8s. per acre, and that it would be well worth the while of a capitalist or company to buy it, and cut it up into moderate sized farms for sale to settlers. The block consists of nearly 50,000 acres, and there is a large extent of similar country inland of it. Half, or nearly so, of the water in the Turakina River comes out of a large stream called the Mangapapa, which rises somewhere a little south of the Turangarere Falls, and, after passing for some fifteen miles through

this level country in a south-westerly direction, empties itself into the Turakina over a fall, which the natives describe as being from 100 to 150 feet high. Above the fall the current of the stream is said to be sluggish, and navigable for canoes for many miles. The Moawhango, a main, if not the main source of the Rangitikei River, rises among the spurs of the Kaimanawa, about ten or twelve miles east of Ruapehu, and winds along in an easterly direction under the southern spurs of the range. It is navigable for canoes, but flows for a considerable distance through a chasm of great depth, and so narrow that the shrubs growing out of its sides often meet overhead. Another important feeder of the Rangitikei, the Hautapu, rises a little to the eastward of Tuhirangi, and also flows generally towards the east and south-east. The Turangarere Falls are situated on this stream, which, like the Moawhango, flows mostly through an open grassy country. The ground between the two streams and the lower spurs of the Kaimanawa are also open and grassy, but so fearfully broken, and so intersected by boggy bottoms, as to make it difficult to find one's way across them. A party from Wanganui and Rangitikei tried in vain to cross the former this summer, but had to give up the attempt and return, after penetrating about sixteen miles beyond Captain Birch's station. This is the locality known to the natives as the Patea country, and seems only to be available as cattle or sheep runs, though there are level flats in the valleys of the streams, which may make small farms. The level bush and grass country between the Turakina and Rangitikei is the source of the Pourewa stream, which flows southwards along a wooded valley of mixed gravel beds and swamps, till it enters the Rangitikei settlement. The land between it and the Rangitikei is mostly wooded, and extremely high and broken. A sort of main ridge, called, at different parts, Rangatira, Otairi, and Te Wahakauwae, extends along it from north to south, and it is on this that the native track from Rangitikei to Taupo runs. It rises to a great elevation; in fact, though Dr. Hochstetter speaks of Tauakira (he calls it Taupiri) as the highest point between Ruapehu and Cook Straits, it is very doubtful if the top of Te Wahakauwae is not actually higher. At all events it rises to between 1,800 and 1,900 feet above the sea.

I think the above description will show that this hitherto unknown region is likely to prove one of the most valuable portions of the province; that, in fact, it only needs to be opened up to add enormously to our resources. Even the opening by the Colonial Government of a pack-horse track into the Mangawhero Valley to a distance of about thirty miles from Wanganui, has caused the whole of the land along it, which there was time to get surveyed before the last session of the Native Lands Court, to be sold to settlers, and all the remainder, or nearly so, will be adjudicated at the next sitting of the Court, preparatory to its sale to persons who are even now in treaty for it.