"Dieffenbach had already visited every point of importance
in the north, which he had very fully described in all other essentials, if not geologically. The renowned American geologist, Dana, when attached to the great expedition despatched by the United States to the Southern Ocean,[56] landed at the Bay of Islands, the most important harbour in the north, and had given full geological details of that neighbourhood. Moreover, my friends, the Rev. A. G. Purchas and C. Heaphy, Esq., during my stay in the country, visited several districts in the north, whence they brought me collections and specimens of every kind, so that I was by no means unacquainted with the north. On the other hand, the broad interior of the southern part of the province seemed to me to be almost entirely unexplored. Since Dieffenbach's remarkable voyage in 1840, no naturalist had visited the remarkable volcanic peaks of the interior, the beautiful inland lakes, the boiling springs, the Solfataras and Fumaroles. The geological information respecting these conveyed by Dieffenbach's narrative of travel, seemed to me very meagre, while topographically the interior was a blank. Accordingly, a visit to it seemed to promise the most important results.
"Towards the end of February all necessary preparations had been made; Capt. Drummond Hay, well known as one of the best Maori scholars, was commissioned by Government to lay out my route and act as interpreter. The Government,
however, forestalled my utmost wish by furnishing me with a photographist, as well as an assistant to aid me in meteorological observations, and generally to make himself useful in collecting and sketching. The latter was a young German, M. Koch, who proved himself a most invaluable ally, while M. Hamel took charge of the photography. There were also an attendant, a cook, and fifteen natives, to transport baggage.
"I was likewise accompanied by my friend Mr. Haast, who had but recently come to New Zealand, sent out by some mercantile firm in London to explore the country for colonizing purposes. On the 6th March I set out with my numerous company, intending to proceed first from Auckland to Mangatawhiri on the Waikato, the chief river of New Zealand that flows from the interior. Crossing the Waikato in a native canoe, and afterwards its tributary the Waipa, I directed my steps westward from the Mission Station on the last-named river in the direction of Whaingarva, Aotea, and Kawhia, on the west coast. From Kawhia I struck landwards towards the upper course of the Waipa, as far as the Mokan district. Thence, after crossing frequent mountain-chains thickly wooded, I reached the source of the Wanganui in the Tuhua district, and on 14th April arrived at the majestic Lake Taupo, surrounded on every side by the most magnificent volcanic caves. Here I was at the very heart of the country, at the foot of the still smoking volcano of Tongariro, and its extinct neighbour Ruapahu, 9200 feet high, and covered with perpetual snow. At the
southern extremity of the lake is a mission-house, where I received a most hospitable welcome, while my Maories received at the hands of Te Heukeu, the great Maori chief, a most cordial reception, in conformity with the excellent customs of the country. After I had laid out the chart of the lake, and examined the springs along its banks, I followed up the Waikato by its outlet from the lake, till I reached the very singular chain of boiling springs, Solfatare, salt-springs and Fumaroles, which extend in a N.E. direction between the active crater of Tongariro and the still active volcano of Whakari or White Island on the east coast. On a longer stay, the country adjoining the sea along the prolongation of this line furnishes the site at Lakes Rotorua, Rotoiti, and Rotomahana (or Hot lake), for the Ngawhas and Puias, i. e. boiling springs and geysers with siliceous sintu-deposits, as in Iceland, which there display their greatest activity. I look upon this locality as presenting the most remarkable and extensive chain of hot-springs in the world, Iceland itself not excepted.
"By the first week in May we gained the east coast at Maketu, whence we kept along the coast as far as Tauranga harbour, and thence once more turned our faces towards the interior at the Wai Ho valley, or valley of the New Zealand Thames, and thus once more reached the Waikato at Maungatautari. I now wandered through the fertile plains of the central Waikato basin, to Rangiawhia, the central point of the Maori settlements, paid a visit to the Maori
king, Potatáu te Wherowhero, at his residence, Ngaruawahia, at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipah, and so by the end of May reached Auckland from the Waikato, by way of Mangatawhiri.
"The results of this expedition, of almost three months' duration, were most satisfactory to myself. The weather had been singularly favourable, so that I found no insurmountable obstacles, although our route led through districts difficult of approach, owing to the frequent recurrence of flood, swamp, and almost impervious primeval forest. As my travels were undertaken about the period of the New Zealand harvest-time, both of the potato and corn crops, there was no lack of provisions. At the various missionary stations scattered throughout this region we received the most heartfelt hospitality, and even the native chiefs did not fail to receive into their tents, and welcome in right hearty fashion, the Te Ratu Hokiteta, as I was named in the Maori tongue, with all his numerous train. My Maories had proved themselves so willing and obliging, as well as cheerful, over the work, and my friends Haast, Hay, Hamel, and Koch, had so zealously co-operated with me, that the results achieved were quite beyond my most sanguine expectations. I now had complete geographical, geological, botanical, and zoological materials in my hands, nor was there any lack even of ethnographical specimens.
"My chief object had been to obtain a correct notion of the geography and geology of the country. In order to be