Kihikihi, Hamilton, and Cambridge, and numerous other settlements, served to mark the spots where future cities may ere long grow into existence, and add wealth and prosperity to this fertile land. It was, however, when gazing in the direction of the south, where the King Country lay stretched for miles before us in all the wide, rich beauty of a virgin country, that the grandest natural scenery burst upon the view, and charmed the imagination with the thought of a bright future. The _aukati_ or boundary-line could be distinctly traced, on the one side by farms and homesteads, and on the other by the huts of the natives; but beyond these features there was nothing to denote that the territory to the north was the abode of enlightenment, and that the land to the south was a primeval wilderness still wrapped in the darkness of primitive barbarism. [Illustration: TE RAIA NGAKUTU TE TUMUHUIA. (_Head Chief of the Ngatitematera tribe. Last of the New Zealand Cannibals._)] THE LAKE COUNTRY. CHAPTER IV. AUCKLAND TO OHINEMUTU. The flank movement--Auckland Harbour--Tauranga--Whakari--The _tuatara_--_En route_--The Gate Pa--All that remains--Oropi--A grand forest--Mangorewa Gorge--Mangorewa River--A region of eternal fire. A little short of five months after the events which I have recorded in the previous chapters took place, I embarked on board the S.S. _Glenelg_, for Tauranga. I had selected to travel by this way as I had determined to reach the Lake Country by the East Coast, pass through the centre of the island, enter the King Country at its southern extremity, and, if possible, carry on my explorations northward to Alexandra. Owing to the unsatisfactory condition of the Native Question at that time, the undertaking appeared to be a hopeless one, but I resolved to give it a fair trial, and as the _Glenelg_ glided over the calm waters of Auckland Harbour, half the difficulties which had previously presented themselves to my mind seemed to disappear with the fading rays of the sun as they played over the water, cast fitful shadows athwart the romantic islands of the bay, and lit up the tall spires of the receding city.