ry. Cook Strait, which separates the two islands, is about sixteen
miles wide at its narrowest crossing.

North Island has several active volcanoes, and likewise one of the three
famous geyser regions in the world. There used to be the Pink-and-White
Terraces also--terraces of brilliant coloring, like those of Yellowstone
Park. But a few years ago Volcano Tarawera had a bad fit of eruption,
and when the eruption was over, Pink-and-White Terraces were covered
many feet deep with lava and ash.

Many of the higher ranges are snow-clad the year round. The New
Zealanders do not need to go half-way round the world to spend the
summer in Switzerland; they have a fine Switzerland at home. Indeed, the
Alps of Europe are not surpassed by those of New Zealand; and as for
glaciers, the great Tasman Glacier cannot be surpassed--twenty miles
long, a mile wide, and no one knows how deep. In South Island some of
the glaciers reach almost to the sea.

[Illustration: The Petrifying Geyser, New Zealand]

There is some wonderful vegetation in New Zealand and nowhere else will
one find a greater variety of ferns. Some of them grow in the form of
trees; some are huge vines; and still others are as fine and delicate as
the maidenhair fern. Some kinds have fine wiry tendrils that are much
used for mattresses and cushions. Another plant looks so much like a
palm that no one ignorant of plants would suspect that it was not a
palm-tree; but as a matter of fact it is a lily.

So many of the forest trees are evergreens, and so abundant is the grass
that at all times of the year the islands are green from the mountain
summits to the sea. Of all the forest trees the kauri pine has been one
of the most valuable--has been, because not many trees are left. The
wood itself is about as easily worked as white pine or California
redwood. What is still better, it is very tough and durable.

But the wood itself is only a part of the wealth of the kauri forests.
The bark is full of gum which, when hard, is much like amber. It makes a
very hard and glossy varnish that commands a high price because of its
good qualities. In places where old kauri forests have existed, digging
kauri gum is a profitable employment. Kauri-gum mining does not require
much capital. A sharp iron rod and a pick are about the only tools
required.

The gatherer goes about thrusting his rod into the earth at intervals of
a few inches. When he "feels" a piece of gum with his rod he