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Rh nor is the timber of such a valuable description. Black birch is the principal tree.

On the Hanmer plains of North Canterbury are to be found the hot springs, greatly resorted to by invalids, as they are more accessible than those of the North Island. Here a great earthquake took place in 1888, the most severe that has ever been felt in the South Island. Scientists could not account for this unusual phenomenon.

The principal lakes are to be found in Otago, where there is some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.