IN publishing this record of travel, I have deemed it advisable to arrange my narrative under four principal divisions. In the introductory portion I refer to the leading physical features of that part of the North Island of New Zealand known as the King Country, relate the leading incidents connected with its history, describe the condition of the native race, and explain the object with which my journey was undertaken. The succeeding chapters deal with my visit to the Maori King when presenting my credentials from Sir George Grey at the tribal gathering held at Whatiwhatihoe in October, 1882. The description of the Lake Country includes my route from Tauranga, on the East Coast, to Wairakei, and which led me through the marvellously interesting region familiarly termed the Wonderland of New Zealand, while in the pages embracing my explorations in the King Country I record events as they occurred from day to day over a lengthy journey which was delightful on account of its novelty and variety, and exciting by reason of the difficulties, both as regards natural obstacles inseparable from the exploration of an unknown region under the unfavourable conditions by which I was constrained to carry it out, and the deep-rooted jealousy of the native race against the intrusion of Europeans into a portion of the island which is considered by them to be exclusively Maori territory. When it is considered that in company only with my interpreter, and with but three horses—ultimately reduced to two—and with what scant provisions we could carry, I accomplished considerably over 600 miles of travel, discovered many new rivers and streams, penetrated almost inaccessible regions of mountainous forest, found extensive areas of open plains suitable for European settlement, traced the sources of three of the principal rivers of the colony, examined the unknown shores of its largest lake, ascended one of the highest mountains of the southern hemisphere, experienced degrees of temperature varying from 80° in the shade to 12° below freezing-point, and successfully traversed from South to North, through its entire length, a territory with an area of 10,000 square miles, and which had been from the early history of the colony rigorously closed to Europeans by the hostility of the native tribes, it may be readily seen that the explorations, by their varied nature, disclose many important facts hitherto unknown concerning a vast and beautiful portion of New Zealand; and while they cannot fail to prove of practical utility to the colony, they will, I venture to think, be a welcome addition to geographical science. The map appended to this work may be said to form the most complete chart of the interior of the North Island as yet published. Up to the present time the extensive territory embraced by the King Country has, owing to the obstruction of the natives, never been surveyed, and consequently many of its remarkable physical features have remained unknown, the existing maps of this part of the colony being mere outlines. As, therefore, considerably more than half of the country traversed was through a region which was, to all intents and purposes, a terra incognita from the commencement of my journey, I adopted a system of barometrical measurements and topographical observations, and thus secured a supply of valuable material, which I mapped out from day to day, while the names of mountains, rivers, valleys, and lakes were obtained from the natives by the skilful assistance of my interpreter, who was at all times unceasing in his endeavours to carry out this part of the work with accuracy.

The following book is a travel guide to New Zealand, written by James Henry-Kerry Nicholls. He explored the terrains of the country quite extensively, from the southern portion, where the Whanganui River passes through it in a long winding course to the sea; the west, where the Mokau River and its tributaries flow from its central region to the coast; the north, where the Waipa Puniu and various other streams, having their sources in the Titiraupenga and Rangitoto Mountains, wind through it to the Waikato River; and the southeast, where the snow-clad heights of Tongariro and Ruapehu pour down their rapid waters in a perfect network of creeks and rivers.

Reproduction of the original: The King Country by J.H Kerry-Nicholls

Introduction : dispossession in focus : between ancestral ties and settler territoriality -- Six geobiographies : senses of site in the white settler world -- Space and the settler geographical imagination : the survey, the camera, and the problematic of waste -- A clock for seeing : revelation and rupture in settler colonial landscapes -- Tanga Whaka-ahua or, the man who makes the likenesses : managing indigenous presence in colonial landscapes -- Colonial encounter, epochal time, and settler romanticism in the nineteenth century -- Noble cities from primeval rorest : settler territoriality on the world stage -- Settler nativity : nations and natures into the twentieth century -- Conclusion : settler colonialism, reconciliation, and the problems of place.

This book offers a sweeping history of Pureora Forest Park, one of the most significant sites of natural and cultural history interest in New Zealand. The authors review the geological history of the volcanic zone, its flora and fauna, and the history of Maori and European utilization of forest resources. Chapter-length discussions cover management of the native forest by the New Zealand Forest Service; the forest village and its sawmills; the intensive timber harvesting, and the conflicts with conservationists and expensive compensation agreements that ensued. Separate chapters cover initiatives to protect the forest from introduced herbivores; to guard protected species, especially birds, from predators; the facilities for recreational hunting; the development of the Timber Trail, an 83 km cycleway through the forest and along old logging tramways, complete with detailed interpretation signs illustrating the history of logging; and the family recreation areas and tracks. The final chapter gathers conclusions and advances prospects for the future of Pureora Forest. In sum, the book demonstrates how ecological study, combined with a respect for people and for nature plus a flexible, interdisciplinary approach to both local history and current scientific priorities, can be welded into a consistently effective strategy for addressing the pressing forest-ecology questions of our time.

Disasters in Australia and New Zealand brings together a collection of essays on the history of disasters in both countries. Leading experts provide a timely interrogation of long-held assumptions about the impacts of bushfires, floods, cyclones and earthquakes, exploring the blurred line between nature and culture, asking what are the anthropogenic causes of ‘natural’ disasters? How have disasters been remembered or forgotten? And how have societies over generations responded to or understood disaster? As climate change escalates disaster risk in Australia, New Zealand and around the world, these questions have assumed greater urgency. This unique collection poses a challenge to learn from past experiences and to implement behavioural and policy change. Rich in oral history and archival research, Disasters in Australia and New Zealand offers practical and illuminating insights that will appeal to historians and disaster scholars across multiple disciplines.