And as the mountains decline into hills, and the hills into downs and flats, the covering of herbage becomes less and less scanty.

When the colonists came to the east coast, they found plains and dales which were open, grassy, almost treeless.

Easy of access, and for the most part fertile, they were an ideal country for that unaesthetic person, the practical settler.

Flocks and herds might roam amongst the pale tussock grass of the slopes and bottoms without fear either of man, beast, climate, or poisonous plant.[1] A few wooden buildings and a certain extent of wire fencing represented most of the initial expenses of the pioneer.

Pastoral settlement speedily overran such a land, followed more slowly and partially by agriculture.