pe. It has the
soft, genial atmosphere of the south of France and Italy (which is best
enjoyed at Nice and Mentone), but none of the chill caused by the
piercing mistral of the mountains, nor the scorching blasts of the
African and Egyptian siroccos. In seeking to recall a climate which most
nearly approaches it, Madeira alone suggests itself. Its range of
temperature is more limited than any other place we have visited north
or south of the Equator, or in either hemisphere. Summer and winter are
here only the dry and the rainy seasons; flowers, vegetables, grapes, in
short all plants grow bright and thrifty the whole year round in the
open air. Tropical and hardy plants are here equally at home; Scottish
firs and Indian palms, oranges, lemons, india-rubber trees, and limes
thrive side by side. As we were told in Japan one could do there, so
here one can gather a pretty bouquet in the open air any day in the
year.

We must not forget to speak of the mineral resources of this Province of
Auckland, which were in the early days of its settlement quite
unsuspected, but which have turned out to be both extensive and
profitable. A gold-bearing range of lofty hills runs northward along the
banks of the Thames River, ending on the Coromandel Peninsula. Here
several quartz mines are being successfully worked for gold, though the
process of disintegration does not seem to be satisfactorily understood.
It is well known that not more than half the precious metal which the
rock contains is realized by the means now employed for its extraction.
In order to obtain the best and latest improvements in machinery
designed for this purpose, a representative agent and proprietor of
these Thames River mines came to the United States in the same ship with
the author, to visit our principal mining centres in the States of
Idaho, Colorado, California, and so forth. Coal of excellent quality
crops out in various parts of the Province, particularly at the Bay of
Islands, and several coal mines are regularly worked. Copper is found
here also, and a valuable article of manganese, besides iron, nickel,
bismuth, asphaltum, and other minerals. In Poverty Bay petroleum has
been discovered in great abundance, and though it is made no special use
of at present, it is sure in the near future to be profitably utilized.

The district to which we have just referred as being rich in
gold-bearing quartz and other minerals, and which is situated along the
ban