the parrots.

Among the great forest trees were several belonging to the families of
the myrtles and laurels, especially the rata, whose trunk often measured
forty feet in circumference, and on whose crown were branches of scarlet
blossoms. But it was to the ferns, the orchids, and the innumerable
creepers, which covered the ground with a natural netting, coiled round
every stem, and entwined themselves among the topmost branches, that the
forest owed its peculiar features. Outside the narrow cleared track
along which they were riding it would have been impossible for a man to
make his way unless with the assistance of knife and hatchet, especially
as some of the climbers were completely covered with thorns.

And yet, although so very beautiful, the appearance of the forest was
sombre and melancholy. A great proportion of the plants of New Zealand
bear no flowers, and except high up among some of the tree-tops no gay
blossoms or colour of any kind meet the eye to relieve the monotony of
the verdure. A deep silence reigned. Wilfrid did not see a butterfly
during his ride, or hear the song or even the chirp of a single bird. It
was a wilderness of tangled green, unrelieved by life or colour. Mr.
Mitford could give him the names of only a few of the principal trees;
and seeing the infinite variety of the foliage around him, Wilfrid no
longer wondered Mr. Atherton should have made so long a journey in order
to study the botany of the island, which is unique, for although many of
the trees and shrubs can be found elsewhere, great numbers are entirely
peculiar to the island.

"Are there any snakes?" Wilfrid asked.

"No; you can wander about without fear. There is only one poisonous
creature in New Zealand, and that is found north of the port of
Tauranga, forty or fifty miles from here. They say it exists only there
and round Potaki, near Cook's Strait. It is a small black spider, with a
red stripe on its back. The natives all say that its bite is poisonous.
It will not, they say, cause death to a healthy person, though it will
make him very ill; but there are instances of sickly persons being
killed by it. Anyhow, the natives dread it very much. However, as the
beast is confined to two small localities, you need not trouble about
it. The thorns are the only enemies you have to dread as you make your
way through the forest."

"That is a comfort, anyhow," Wilfrid said; "it would be a great nuisance
to have to be always on