Page:Notes on New Zealand (1892).pdf/52

42 the Islands of New Zealand owe to their situation and natural formation; they have not to fear the terrible devastating effects of the prolonged droughts so common on the neighbouring continent of Australia.

The largest lake in New Zealand is Lake Taupo, in the centre of the North Island.

Turning to the South Island we find that some of the principal points in which it differs from the North Island are that it is more mountainous, though not given to earthquakes; minerals, as far as is known at present, are more abundant; the mountains are not generally covered with bush,