speak; and
when found near to those of other species it groups itself in clumps
apart from them. One often sees, however, forests where the kauri reigns
supreme, quite unmixed with other trees.

The kauri-gum forms a large figure in the list of exports from Auckland,
and the digging and preparing of it for shipment gives employment to
many persons. The natives have a theory that the gum descends from the
trunks of the growing trees, and through the roots becomes deposited in
the ground. But this is unreasonable; the gum is a partially fossilized
production, showing that it has gone through a process which only a long
period of years could have effected. It is usually found at a depth of
five or six feet from the surface. It is undoubtedly a fact that this
northerly part of New Zealand was once covered by immense forests of
this gum-tree, which have matured and been destroyed by fire and by
decay, century after century, and the deposit, which is now so
marketable, is from the dead trees, not from the living. Experiments
have been tried which have proven that the gum exuded by the growing
tree has no commercial value. It is very similar to amber, for which
article it is often sold to unskilled purchasers; but its principal use
is in the manufacture of varnish.

The immediate neighborhood of Auckland is almost denuded of original
trees, but ornamental species are being planted, and flowers are
plentiful. The Maoris had distinctive and expressive names for every
bird, tree, and flower, before the white man came. There is a lovely
little native daisy called tupapa, and a blue lily known as rengarenga,
also a green and yellow passion-flower named by the aborigines kowhaia.
A glutinous, golden buttercup is known as anata, nearly as abundant as
its namesake in America. All these are wild-flowers, cultivated only by
Nature's hand. New Zealand seems to be adapted for receiving into its
bosom the vegetation of any land, and imparting to it renewed life and
added beauty. Its foster-mother capacity has been fully tested, and for
years no ship left England for this part of the world, without bringing
more or less of a contribution in plants and trees, to be propagated in
the new home of the colonists. The consequence is, we find pines and
cypresses, oaks and willows, elms and birches, besides fruit-trees of
all sorts, which are grown in Europe, thriving here in abundance, in the
grounds surrounding the settlers' houses. The range of