North Auckland has its forests, but they are different from those of the south, for here and here alone grows the Kauri pine. Here 52 is pictured the life of the tree. First we see it growing proudly 53 in the forest; next the lumbermen are at work on the huge trunk; 54 finally the logs are hauled away, and at any of the little ports of the peninsula we may see the timber ships loading; here, for instance, is a Norwegian sailing ship taking in a cargo for 55 Liverpool. The Kauri pine is responsible too for a curious local industry. The forests of the past have left masses of gum buried in the swamps, and many labourers are employed in spearing or digging for it. They become very expert in finding likely spots in which to probe. Here we have a group of Croatian diggers ready 56 to set out for the day’s work; notice the long slender spears which they carry and the great swamp saw for digging out the gum. We may see them scraping the gum and then follow them home in the evening over the desolate plain to their primitive camp. 57 It is a strange industry carried on by these foreigners, and the life seems hard, but the resin is one of the most useful for making our varnishes. We have already noticed the great number of bays and inlets along the long northern neck of the island. In the far north is the Bay of Islands, the site of the earliest settlement, represented 58 now only by the small town of Russell. Fifty miles further south we have the deep inlet of Whangarei Harbour, where a port and a short railway line mark the presence of coal in the country behind. Finally, on Waitemata Harbour, a western arm of the wide Hauraki Gulf, stands Auckland, the former capital and still the 59 largest town in New Zealand. The population of the city with its suburbs is now over a hundred thousand. Only eight miles away by rail is Onehunga, on Manukau Harbour, a gulf almost landlocked 60 but opening into the waters of the Tasman Sea.