afraid of attempting the entrance, which proved their
good sense, for their great draught of water would have rendered the
undertaking more hazardous than the risk was worth. Yet during my
residence in this country two large vessels crossed the bar, and
recrossed it heavily laden, without the slightest accident--one the
Harmony, of London, 400 tons burden; the other the Elizabeth, of Sydney,
of nearly equal tonnage--but in proof that it is not always safe, a few
months after this, two schooners of extremely light draught were lost,
though they were both commanded by men who perfectly well knew the
channels through the bar. It was a singular circumstance that both
vessels had been built in New Zealand; one, the Herald, a small and
beautiful craft, built by and belonging to the Church missionaries, the
crew of which escaped, but the disastrous circumstances attending the
wreck of the other, called the Enterprise, I shall relate in their proper
place.

The morning of the 30th was foggy and unfavourable, but it suddenly
cleared up, and exhibited the entrance of Hokianga right before us, and a
light breeze came to our aid to carry us in. The entrance to this river
is very remarkable, and can never be mistaken by mariners. On the north
side, for many miles, are hills of sand, white, bleak, and barren, ending
abruptly at the entrance of the river, which is about a quarter of a mile
across. Where the south head rises abrupt, craggy, and black, the land
all round is covered with verdure; thus, at the first glimpse of these
heads from the sea, one is white, the other black.

The only difficulty attending the entrance (and, indeed, the only thing
which prevents Hokianga from being one of the finest harbours in the
world) is the bar. This lies two miles from the mouth of the river, its
head enveloped in breakers and foam, bidding defiance and threatening
destruction to all large ships which may attempt the passage. However,
we fortunately slipped over its sandy sides, undamaged, in three-fathom
water.

After crossing the bar, no other obstacle lay in our way, and, floating
gradually into a beautiful river, we soon lost sight of the sea, and were
sailing up a spacious sheet of water, which became considerably wider
after entering it; while majestic hills rose on each side, covered with
verdure to their very summits. Looking up the river, we beheld various
headlands stretching into the water, and gradually contracting in width,
ti