From Tokanu we followed up the delta of the Waikato River, and passed through a swamp nearly three miles across, and where many of the muddy creeks and crossing-places were up to our horses' girths in thick black mud. The swamp, composed of a black alluvial soil of the richest kind, covered a large area to the south of the lake, and stretched far inland to the base of the low hills beyond. It was mostly covered with a dense growth of flax and _raupo_, the less swampy parts giving life to a luxuriant growth of _toetoe_ grass, which waved its feathery tufts far above our heads. Further along our track the country rose rapidly to a height of 200 feet above the delta in the form of a long ridge of barren hills. From the summit of these elevations the land fell rapidly along our course 100 feet into a hollow depression. This large area, which had the appearance of having formed at some time a portion of the lake basin, was covered with fluvial drift and enormous trachytic boulders, but wherever vegetation could spring up the tussock grass grew luxuriantly. Through the centre of this broad expanse the Waikato rolled onward with many twists and turns over its boulder-strewn bed, its winding course being marked by a luxuriant growth of tall trees and other vegetation. We passed close to the base of Mount Pihanga, which rose majestically on our right to an altitude of nearly 4000 feet, and formed a conspicuous landmark for many miles around. This splendid mountain, springing from an almost level base, is the largest volcanic cone of the Kakaramea ranges, and while its form is wonderfully symmetrical in its proportions, it is clothed from base to summit with a dense forest growth, save here and there where its clear-cut sides roll down into the plains beneath in the form of fern-clad slopes. Immediately at the summit of Pihanga is an extensive crater, the northern lip of which comes considerably down the slope of the mountain, appearing like an extensive land-slip. This mountain is personified by the Maoris as the wife of Tongariro. We had to cross the Waikato twice on its winding course, and next we forded the Poutu River, a rapid stream with deep broken banks flowing out of Lake Rotoaira, which lay a considerable distance further to our right at the southern base of Pihanga, and between that mountain and Tongariro. We had now entered upon the Rangipo table-land, and were gradually ascending that portion of it known to the natives as the Te Henga, a large tract of country covered with good soil and a luxuriant growth of low fern and native grasses. As the Rangipo table-land and the plains in its vicinity will enter largely into my description of this portion of the country, I will point out its boundaries, with a few of the grand natural features which render it one of the most remarkable regions in the world.