thousand persons. The spacious
Botanical Garden occupies one hundred acres of ground, just about double
the size of that at Sydney, and contains besides the usual collection of
exotics the most comprehensive assortment of native trees that we
chanced to see anywhere.

The city is surrounded by hills, except on the seaward side. By
ascending the hill back of the town, upon which is the Roman Catholic
Cemetery, one obtains an excellent view of Wellington as a whole, the
harbor especially forming a charming portion of the picture. Soame's
Island, which is the quarantine station, lies in the front, four miles
from the city; to the left lie Petone and the Hutt; at the right is
Mount Victoria dominating the bay, while many pretty villas cluster
about its foot. Distant ranges descend toward the harbor, shutting it in
by an amphitheatre of hills. There is no lack of shipping about the
wharves, and there were plenty of row-boats and small sailing cutters;
and as we viewed the scene, an ocean steamship was steering across the
bay seaward, leaving a long line of black curling smoke behind her,
which was in strong contrast with her snow-white foaming wake.

We found it somewhat cold and rather blustering on Cemetery Hill, though
it was July. But this is New Zealand winter; and yet flowers were
blooming luxuriantly in the open air in unexposed places. These islands
are in one sense as tropical as Africa or Southern India; but it must be
remembered that they are the most southerly of the South Pacific groups,
and that there is a Southern or Antarctic Pole as there is a Northern or
Arctic one. The farther we proceed either north or south from the
Equatorial line, or centre of the globe, the cooler we shall find the
climate. Thus Southern New Zealand being nearer the Antarctic Circle is
less tropical than the northern portion, which is twelve hundred miles
nearer the Equator.

A considerable number of natives, mostly in European costume, were met
in the streets of Wellington, loitering aimlessly about the corners and
gazing curiously into shop windows. The girls and women had heavy shocks
of unkempt hair shading their great black eyes, high cheek-bones, and
disfigured mouths and chins, which last were tattooed in blue dye of
some sort. The males tattoo the whole face elaborately, but the women
only thus disfigure themselves about the mouth and chin. It was most
amusing to see them meet one another and rub noses, which is the Maori