eight o’clock in the evening
The country looked like an immense prairie which faded into distance , and promised an easy walk . But the travelers were undeceived when they came to the edge of this verdant plain . The grass gave way to a low scrub of small bushes bearing little white flowers , mixed with those innumerable tall ferns with which the lands of New Zealand abound . They had to cut a path across the plain , through these woody stems , and this was a matter of some difficulty , but at eight o'clock in the evening the first slopes of the Hakarihoata Ranges were turned , and the party camped immediately . After a fourteen miles ' march , they might well think of resting . Neither wagon or tent being available , they sought repose beneath some magnificent Norfolk Island pines . They had plenty of rugs which make good beds .