elegant water-plants, while at a short distance away we could descry magnificent trees springing from the high-lying but fertile soil. It was a most delightful day. Throughout our entire excursion the thermometer ranged from 71° 6 Fahr. to 77° Fahr., so that, our strength not exhausted by oppressive heat, and our attention not distracted by the hum or the sting of insects, we were free to indulge those mingled feelings of which the variety and magnificence of the landscape were so well calculated to elicit the manifestation. Presently the river became once more very narrow, the hills again closed in, covered with a thick belt of forest, which extended down to the water's edge, occasionally forming a canopy of indescribable grace above our boat, as she glided noiselessly below. At last the Mangatawhiri, which hitherto had pursued a westerly direction, made a bend to the southward, and debouched into the Waikato. The impression made upon each of our party by the scenery at this point was so overpowering, that all, as though smitten by one common impulse, broke into expressions of delight. Its course lying between mountains of magnificent outline and thickly wooded, the majestic stream presented many points of resemblance to the Rhine and Danube, to which it was little if at all inferior in point of width. A holy calm brooded over its clear brown ripples, only broken by the flight of birds from time to time, which in those undisturbed solitudes, far from the murderous weapons of man, passed their existence in happy security. That we might enjoy in all their plenitude the exquisite charm of the
forest and its luxuriant vegetation, we coasted along now on this side, now on that, as though we could never weary of the mingled grandeur and beauty of this magic scene. Still further to enhance the magnificence of nature in her present mood, a tremendous thunder-storm broke over us in the course of the afternoon, when the forked lightning played like arrows of fire above our heads, and the thunder rolled in deafening peals, which were taken up again and again by hundreds of mountain echoes.
"In the evening the sky cleared, and we reached the Maori village of Tuakan, where we were made welcome, and the best hut in the place assigned us. The evening was one of peculiar interest, it being that of Sylvester's day, or the eve of the New Year of 1859, which will scarcely soon again be spent by Austrians at the antipodes. Our entire party camped upon the floor of the hut, two torches, stuck into the mouth of a couple of empty bottles, shed an uncertain light, while an iron kettle served as punch-bowl, in which a "brew," something resembling "Punch," was, by dint of the joint experience of the English and German members of the excursion, compounded out of the spirits we had brought with us. Ere long the chorus went round, and we had German songs, alternating with English, Irish, and Scotch melodies, and even melancholy New Zealand love-songs, sung by some of the Maories present.
"As the evening, and with it the dying year, wore on, some little difficulty, natural enough under the circumstances, arose,
how to ascertain the precise moment of its departure, as most of those present had left their watches behind, as a something more than superfluous article in the course of a forest excursion, and the few which had been brought differed so much, that it was impossible to depend upon them for the correct moment at which the old year sank to his rest, and the new began his course of alternate hopes and alarms, joys and griefs.
"Suddenly Captain Drummond Hay rose, and opening the door, which, as in most Maori huts, faced the south, exclaimed: 'Well, we have neither church clock nor night watch to tell us the exact moment when the year changes, but a bountiful Providence has suspended for us in yonder firmament another and an unerring sentinel of night and time:—the constellation of the Southern Cross! During how many sleepless nights, among the forest or fern-covered plains of New Zealand, have I lain gazing at that never-failing time-piece of the Almighty's own handiwork! See, the Cross begins to bend to the west! It must now be midnight. A happy new year to one and all!' Once more the glasses clinked against each other, and hand locked in hand, after which the shades of night were left to gather round our wearied party, who sunk into sound repose, relieved probably by many a cheering vision of distant friends.
"The following morning, 1st January, 1859, we all rose early, refreshed for the day's work, and found the entire population of the village collected around us. There were also a
couple of English carpenters who joined the crowd, and welcomed us to the interior. They were employed in constructing for the natives, at an expense of £400, a wooden chapel, as the Maories attach great importance to having a place of worship, where those resident on the spot, or any occasional European stranger, may unite with them in spending the sabbath in a becoming manner. The majority of the New Zealanders are Christians, and belong almost exclusively to the High Church of England. Service is performed partly by missionaries, who traverse the country up and down, partly by itinerant spiritual teachers, regularly engaged for the purpose, the latter of whom have occasionally to struggle against severe privations and obstacles of various kinds. Many natives educated by the missionaries travel through the country preaching and praying, and by their exemplary conduct must greatly influence their fellow-countrymen. In almost every hut in the village we found a Bible, or a hymn-book and prayer-book, in the Maori tongue.
"Notwithstanding their undoubted capacity, the natives will not apply themselves to any handicraft pursuits, which indeed they attach so little value to that they regard the shoemaker and the tailor, for example, as inferior to them. On the other hand, the merchant or the seaman stands in high esteem; and the warrior holds the chief place in their estimation, while they themselves consider them not inferior to the Europeans, with respect to courage, firmness, and love of war.
"About noon we set out on our return. The route chalked