The Zealandia entered Hauraki Gulf, passing between the Great Barrier and Little Barrier islands, and holding her course almost due south; then, through the Rangitoto Channel, she turned, and the harbor of Auckland was before her.
"Shall we have to wait for the tide?" Frank asked, as they passed Great Barrier Island. "It often happens that we have to wait several hours for a tide when we're all impatience to get on shore."
"We don't have to wait for tides at Auckland," replied an officer of the Zealandia, to whom the query was addressed. "We can come in at dead low-water and steam to an anchorage, or to the dock if we're ready to go there. The least depth is thirty-six feet at dead low-water of the spring-tide, and at the highest tides we have fifty feet.
"There is hardly a finer seaport anywhere," he added, "than Waitamata, as the harbor of Auckland is frequently called by the New Zealanders. It has, as I've told you, plenty of water at all times, and its entrances are superb. Rangitoto Channel is the one generally used; the other is Hieh Channel, and would be considered first-rate in many a place I know of. Rangitoto is about two miles wide; the section of the harbor between North Head and Kauri Point is about a mile across, and therefore is easily fortified in case we have to defend it against a hostile fleet."
ISLANDS ON THE COAST.
"I see," said Fred, who had been studying the map, "that the island is very narrow here."
"Yes," was the reply; "it is only six miles across; and if you examine carefully you'll see a good harbor on the other side. That is the harbor of Manakau, and there's a railway connecting it with Waitamata."
"It reminds me of Corinth, in Greece," said Fred, as he continued the contemplation of the map.