Page:Some Account of New Zealand.pdf/24

Rh prove an irresistable temptation: I allude to iron, a metal of which they are so well acquainted with the value, that they will barter almost any thing they possess to obtain it. However, as I propose to speak of the character of these people hereafter, I shall, in this chapter, confine myself to giving some account of the shores immediately surrounding, and in the vicinity of this bay.

The country in the immediate vicinity of the bay is almost destitute of wood, though there are immense forests at fifteen or twenty miles distance. The soil is a light vegetable mould, but rich, as it would appear by the vegetation it produces.

There are several villages in the neighbourhood, and a great number of straggling huts: At the head of almost every smallinlet, where canoes can be conveniently drawn on shore, a family, or sometimes two, are settled.

The circumjacent parts would undoubtedly afford great opportunities for botani- Rh