[In margin – Trip to Mongonui]

from the interior and opposite shores of a broad and frequently stormy bay. The butter which is consumed is carried from Auckland, and a bottle of milk is said to be of impossible purchase upon Kororacka beach. This last is, no doubt, a sneer, but, looking at the utter apathy of this “Sleepy Hollow”, it is a sneer which should point a moral. From this prevailing inertness let me make honourable exception of the Collector of Customs, who, with commendable industry, pastures a noble flock of sheep on the Kororacka hills. Here is an example worthy of imitation. Were Kororacka proclaimed an “ Hundred”, its inhabitants might be enabled to organise a system by which dairy cattle might be depastured and they become purveyors of their own dairy produce. This would afford them some employment and spare them some cash. The village, however, is badly situated. With a morass in the rear; with no room for expansion; and cut off from the opposite and productive shore, and with which there such uncertain means of communication that even Mr. Kemp, the Crown Land Commissioner, was detained the whole day for want of a boat. Victoria has been named as a suitable spot. It is beautifully situated at the embouchere of the Wanganyi river, the Runnymede of New Zealand; but the water is shoal and anchorage exposed. The entrance of the Kiri Kiri river has also been spoken of as an excellent spot for the foundation of a settlement. Its recommendations are deep water, secure anchorage, sufficient level land for building purposes, and ready access to the interior. It is much to be regretted that the Bay of Islands, the first and most remarkable of all the New Zealand districts should have fallen so far in the rear of its juniors. Many of the residents attribute this to the (alleged) hostility of Sir