celebrate their victory at the foot of Mount Eden,
whose giant proportions overlook the present city of Auckland.

CHAPTER XV.

Historical Glance at Auckland.--A Remarkable Volcanic
Region.--City Institutions.--Queen Street and Its
Belongings.--Mount Eden.--Comprehensive View.--Labor
Unions.--The Public Debt.--Kauri Forests.--Production of
Kauri Gum.--Environs of Auckland.--The Native Flora.--An
Admirable Climate.--A Rich Mineral District.--Agricultural
Development.

Auckland is the northern metropolis of New Zealand, and to us seemed to
be its most representative city. As we have before mentioned, it was
formerly the capital of the country until Wellington was selected for
the headquarters of the Government, as being the more central and
accessible from the various islands. So beautiful and picturesque are
the bay and harbor of Auckland that we were not at all surprised to hear
its citizens call it the Naples of New Zealand. Before the European
settlers came hither, this was the locality where the most savage wars
were carried on by the natives, and where the most warlike tribes lived
in fortified villages. Though the country has virtually no history that
is known to us, it has a recognized past extending back for some
centuries. When the missionaries first came here, about the year 1814,
the main subsistence of the natives who lived around what is now
Auckland harbor, was human flesh. The first white immigrants, as well
as the seamen of chance vessels driven upon the coast, were invariably
killed, cooked, and eaten by the Maoris, until the white men became more
wary, and by superior intelligence, backed by more effective weapons,
proved themselves to be the masters. Thus the time soon came when the
natives dared not attack the whites; but they still carried on their
cannibalistic wars against one another, apparently determined upon
mutual destruction. Not only did cannibalism prevail here at the time of
the early discoveries, but also in Brazil, in the West Indies, in the
Pacific Islands, along the coast of North America, and among the Indians
of Chili, who ate the early navigators that landed upon their shores.

This province bears the same name as the city, and is a region of grand
forests, fertile plains, and majestic rivers,--the very opposite of arid
inland Australia. The variety and value of its trees suitable for timber
are exceptionally noticeable; it was