A CRUISE IN A CATAMARAN

E [Br "Thb .Warrm-ax.."] 1 Those who know the- Manukau harbour * or those who will take the trouble to look " at it even on a map will see what a range l it offers for such a craft as tbe Laone. Being almost landlocked it never knows. an ocean swell, and though its waters are i dangerous In stormy weather, it possesses innumerable snug bays •where a boat can lie safe from every wind. Several great. arms of ths harbour penetrate the land far miles, and offer sailing waters aa smeotk as lakes. Twenty miles long, aud about twenty miles wide ia its widest part it offers the enormous proportion of four hundred miles of coast line, as varied in its geological interest as it is in its picturesque beauty. From the creek in which the Laone was anchored, (in fact all along tbe western shores of the harbour from Waiuku to the heads) there is wild un dulating country stretching back to the Pacific, supporting at present only a few gum-diggers, a scattered tribe of Maoris, and one or two settlers. The soil along the shores of the harbour is a hard whiteclay; but in the innumerable small valleys, ravines, and swamps, there is soL fertile enough for anything. Even the clay land is capable of making fair pastures, as I have seen, and of growing fine fruit-trees. Nearly any soil is prolific in latitude 37degs South, in a land made fresh' by soft westerly rains; and that length of shore line on the Manukau harbour, which at present is almost barren of life, might become a populous district, and relieve Auckland of her unemployed. Every ba T and every inlet in each bay migbt hold a cottage or two—the houses of men who were fruit-growers, gumdiggers, fishermen or. all three; but such men would have to work. I can't tell anyone whether this land is to be bought. I visited the Land office three times, and spent money in fees and had trying interviews with the officials, before I discovered that no one in the office knew anything about the land. 