th of the east coast of the two
islands till they reach Auckland, they steam straight across to
Sydney. The same journey is made back again from Sydney to
Melbourne. The route is sometimes varied, but this is the usual
course. The names of their steamers are from lakes in New Zealand,
Tarawera, Wairarapa, Te Anau, &c., while the steamers of the New
Zealand Shipping Co. are named from mountains, as Tongariro,
Aorangi, Rimutaka, &c. On the day that I had arranged to leave
Hobart by the Union line for New Zealand, it happened that one of
the New Zealand Co.'s steamers called in for coal, and as this
steamer--a fine vessel of 4,000 tons--was going direct to Auckland
it suited me much better. She had come round the Cape, thus avoiding
the heat of the Suez Canal. This is a monthly service direct to New
Zealand. The Shaw Savill and Albion Line also has a monthly service,
so that every fortnight there is a steamer direct from England
arriving in New Zealand. The sea was smooth, and consequently the
passage was quick. On the morning of the third day we passed the
Snares Rocks, to the south of Stewart's Island. On the fifth, the
snowy sides of the Kaikoura mountains were glittering in the morning
sun as we passed a few miles from shore, and about 4 o'clock on the
morning of the eighth day, we were alongside the wharf in the
spacious harbour of Auckland. Close by, my eye was caught by the
"Ohau," a small steamer, which, as it happened, I had seen launched
about nine months previously at Dumbarton--little expecting to see
it again.

It is doubtful whether New Zealand belongs geographically to
Australia or to the Pacific Islands. It is said that some shocks of
earthquake in New Zealand have been felt in Tasmania. On the other
hand there is above a thousand miles of rough sea between Australia
and New Zealand, with no connecting islands between, and nature
presents quite a different aspect in the two countries. The gum tree
is the principal tree on the Australian continent, the Kauri pine in
New Zealand. In the latter country there are no kangaroos, no emus,
no snakes, in fact very few indigenous animals. The bones of a
gigantic bird, the moa, are to be found, but the bird itself has
long been extinct. Every variety of climate and scenery may be found
in New Zealand. The winter of the South Island is as rigorous as
that of England, while the North Island nearly reaches the tropics.
In the North Island are the famous hot lakes; in t