Page:Municipal Handbook of Auckland 1922.djvu/31

 scheme of Port development and of concrete wharves was adopted in 1904. The scheme is being steadily developed, and will cost over £2,000,000 sterling.

As an indication of the shipping of the Port, the figures for the year 1921 are given. In that year the total number of vessels (overseas and coastal) which entered the Port was 5,367, totalling 1,800,193 tons. The outward shipping numbered 5,301 vessels, aggregating 1,750,544 tons.

The principal overseas shipping companies trading regularly to the Port are the Union S.S. Company of N.Z., the New Zealand Shipping Co., the Commonwealth and Dominion Line, the Shaw, Savill and Albion Co., the Federal and Shire Line, and the Canadian Government Line.

The coastal trade is maintained by the Northern Steamship Co., whose vessels conduct an extensive trade on both the east and west coasts of the North Island.

The City is also the natural centre for the increasing number of world tourists who are attracted to New Zealand by its climate and scenery, which range from the sub-tropical to the sub-antarctic. North of Auckland some of the few remaining kauri forests are to be found, and to the south are the weird and wonderful Thermal District, with Rotorua as its centre, the