PREFACE
In the counties to the North of Auckland proper, lies New Zealand’s greatest undeveloped asset. In addition to obvious industry on the part of the increasing settlers, there is an undercurrent of financial interest in the North, and the sources of this interest are as far-distant as the great European markets, where beats the pulse of the world’s commerce. Many statistical and official publications have appeared for the information of those interested in the great development, but few writers have set forth with no greater ambition than to see the beautiful, and to enjoy the less practical aspect of life in the North. In this book, I have endeavoured to set down those things which have crept into my mind during a lazy tour of the northern counties, and I presume to hope that my readers will gain something of the pleasure with which I passed through this pretty and prosperous country.
H.H.B.
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