botanist, who, if he be fortunate enough to ramble up here in the month of November, will carry off as much in a couple of hours as will keep him occupied with study—if he be of a philosophical turn of mind—for a couple of months.
A much longer ramble, and one better taken later in the year, say in the month of January, is over Flagstaff Hill, and on to the top of Swampy Hill, coming down again into the Leith Valley by Morrison's Creek. Perhaps the best way is to go up through Ross's clearing, above the waterworks; the track leads out on the shoulder of Flagstaff, the trees gradually giving way to flax-bushes, intermingled with spear-grass. Many young cedars (Libocedrus Bidwillii) grow at the edge of this bush, together with abundance of native holly (Olearia ilicifolia). Here is the ground for Alsophila colensoi, a small tree-fern, which is very abundant on this hill-face. If the pedestrian prefers to come up the hill by way of Nichol's Creek, he may chance to light on a patch of Gleichenia cunninghamii, an uncommon fern in this neighbourhood. The hill-side is rich with snow-berries of several varieties. Early in the season it blazes yellow with the so-called Maori onion—Anthericum hookeri—which recalls the pretty yellow asphodel of a home bog. At this time of year it is white with everlasting daisies and celmisias, and dotted here and there with small orchids, such as Caladenia lyallii, Chiloglottis traversii, and the curious green Pterostylis. Yellow Senecios are also just breaking from bud. A few white and blue-striped violets may be found, and numerous little white or blue bells. Crossing the low saddle between the two hill-tops, if the day be still and warm, we rouse an immense amount of insect life, chiefly small, quiet-coloured but prettily-marked moths. The ground is almost fragrant in parts with the finely-divided leaves of Ligusticum aromaticum. Rising a few hundred feet on to Swampy Hill, we meet with a phenomenon not uncommon in this country, a peat-moss on the very highest bit of ground in the neighbourhood. As we ascend, the soft spongy nature of the ground shows that the grass is being replaced by Sphagnum, and in this spongy bed are a number of alpine plants, such as Fostera sedifolia, Oreostylidium subulatum, and others. On the very summit is a small lagoon; an attempt—only partially successful—has been made to drain this. Coming down the hill
