NEW ZEALAND SCENERY.

Evening Star, Issue 3771, 25 March 1875, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND SCENERY.

Mr Alfred H. Burton, to whose artistic efforts in photographing New Zealand’s romantic scenery the Colony owes much, has just com* plated a series of the most picturesque landscapes in the Southern Alps. With the aid of one person who accompanied him, in December last Mr Burton traversed the M'Eenzie country, as it is termed, in which it is needless to inform our readers Mount Cook and its less imposing, but noteless interesting neighbor, Mount befton, are situated. Many paintings have been made of Mount Cook from various points of view : some of them giving an idea of its towering height, others of the gorgeous effects of light upon .its snowy peak; but we are not aware of any series of views giving details of its glaciers, or of its dells and gullies abounding in rugged steeps, some bare and jagged, others supportingluxuriantand even semi-tropical vegetation, varied by mountain streams, and beautiful waterfalls. Nature, in this region of beauty, seems to have toiled in a fantastic mood, and to have indulged in freaks of fancy, that appearing to set order at defiance, work out b neficial results of watering fine

pastoral and agricultural anas, for in this wfld region the Waitaki has its rise, being fed by the melting glaciers, which pour their ever-flow-ing waters into the series of lakes that supply that river and its tributaries as well as many others. It would be difficult to give an adequate description of the watershed. Mr Burton s photos tell more at a glance than columns of letterpress, although it would be interesting if a brief journal of his route and proceedings were annexed to the full series of plates, for Mr Burton’s tour was not without inorosß ra Pid rivers, climb dlffl ? ult h«Khts, descend into deep and rugged passes, and pass C ”S T “’ ® n i?T in ß the pleaY, M ®adunng the inconveniences of A T d ® Bc . ri Ption of the pictures ® nou ßh to say of them that the positions seem well chosen, the lines are clear and distinct, and the photographs are excellently printed. There are several views of Mount Cook, each rich with its own beauties. There are views of the glaciers and from the glaciers, forming a panorama of the mountain; there are views from mountain and from plain: views from any spot whence the picture could be varied and its peculiarities and beauties exhibited! Going into detail there are photos of the crevasse on the Barker glacier, taken from a short distance, and consequently showing it somewhat minutely; there are waterfalls of varied height, and one in the Mueller Valley which assumes the form of a lady dressed according to the present fashion: then there are pictures of ice caves, river scenery, lake scenery, Birch Hill Station, woody glens, and mountain passes. Wo need not enumerate them, for mere names tell nothing of their merits. Mr Burton showed us, in all, between fifty and sixty different views, each of them a striking picture of New Zealand’s Alpine regions. We regard this series of views as an important addition to the topography of the district. It is not given to .every one to have time and opportunity to visit those scenes. > Mr Burton nas, however, done the next best thing, as he has brought them within the range of our own fireside, where, with the help of a magnifying glass, one may become acquainted with every line as drawn by that most accurate of all artists—light.