A  little  further,  and  the  scent  of  clover  grows
stronger,  the  capeweed  scatters  the  abundant  grass
with  its  multitude  of  golden  suns,  and  tall  stems  of
cocksfoot  fringe  the  track,  as  we  come  out  upon  the
rim  of  a  beautiful  rounded  valley-cup,  filled  to  the
brim  with  real  green  standing  Bush — Kennedy's  Bush,
so-called  after  a  wood-cutter  who  lived  here  with  his
family  in  the  sixties.  At  the  further  end  of  this  valley-
head,  an  out-crop  of  bright  rose-red  volcanic  clay
makes  a  charming  contrast  with  the  vivid  green  of
some  little  ribbonwoods  and  the  vivid  blue  of  the  har-
bour, seen  suddenly  from  here  in  one  of  those  little
revelations  mentioned  before ;  while,  above  this  bit  of
sweet  colour,  there  springs  abruptly  up  and  towers
high  into  the  air,  the  great  grey  pinnacle  known  as
Cass's  Peak.  Cass's  Peak  is  one  of  the  "Seven
Sleepers,"  as  the  main  rock-crests  at  this  end
of  the  harbour-crater  are  called.  The  volcanic
parentage  of  the  place  is  unforgettable  during  this
part  of  the  walk,  as  we  come  continually  into  view  of
one  or  more  of  these  great  upreared  iron-grey  masses,
right  overhead  or  silhouetted  out  upon  the  sky  at  a
little  distance.  Quiet,  massive  as  they  are,  there  is
still  a  sense  of  cataclysm  and  shock  about  them,  so
abruptly  do  they  top  the  long  smooth  spurs  that  come
upward  from  the  plain,  so  short  do  they  seem  to  stop


204


STUDIES    IN    NEW    ZEALAND    SCENERY


...hold  back,   even... then   so   down   and   down   and
down  their  precipices  fall  towards  the  Harbour.
As  we  go  on,  the  view  of  the  Plains  below  seems  to


In  Kennedy's  Bush,  Port  Hills.
