THE FOX GLACIER

Hokitika Guardian, 16 December 1929, Page 3

THE FOX GLACIER

EXTRACTS FROM LANDS AND , SURVEY REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1895-9 G. (Reports by W. Wilson, surveyor and C. E. Douglas, explorer). (Continued.) THE FOX RIVER AND GLACIER This branch joins the main stream of Cooks River in the middle of the open flats, nearly opposite where the track from Gillespie’s Reach joins the main south road. To gain the glacier there is no occasion to follow up the open river-bed, as this south road runs parallel with it nearly to the foot of the hills, when it can be left, and open reaches of the river-bed and grass flats will take the traveller to within a few chains of the ice, there horses have to be left, and the remainder of the journey done on foot. Before long, this, no doubt, will be remedied, and a track cut up to the terminal-face, if not up to Point K, via Mills Creek. As a mere mass of ice in a valley the Fox Glacier cannot compare for a mement with the Fran« Josef, its ice-fall is inferior, and the surface of the glacier is not sobroken up,into'pidturesquepinnacles and castellated towers of ice as is the latter. But inferior in some respects the Fox Glacier is decidelv superior in others; few of the glaciers on the West Coast can show peaks like Tasman and Haidinger, and the almost precipitous north side towering up from the ice for nearly 2,000 feet give it a finish of its own. This glacier is easy of access from civilisation, and neither skill nor knowledge of ice-tra-velling is required to enable any one 10 go up the great ice-field and then on to th Chancellor Ridge, where the who.e of the glacier, its views and surrounding peaks can he seen as if laid down on a map. As a glacier of the first class, the Fox will always take a high position, not only for its scenery which will attract the non-climbing tourist, but for the scientific lessons to be learned by those who take an interest in such matters; but, before writing on this latter subject, I will first describe the place from a tourist point of view. The Fox is practically a combination of two first-class glaciers, each of them being fed by three or four smaller ones

The Victoria does not actually join f ne Fox, but terminates in an almost perpendicular cliff overhanging the main glacier; it terminates in (fact on a

ledge 1,000 feet up, and about 30 chain back from the other. The climb up it is not very steep, and slightly dangerous, especially with a large party, as the rock is very rotten, and the slips are all on the move; as nothing much is to be gained in reaching the Victoria that way, most people will prefer proceeding by the Chancellor Ridge, and seeing both at once. In one respect the Victoria is singular in having two outlets, which leave niio ice some 10 chains or 12 chains apart and join their waters 100 ft. below. The division between them is in reality an almost perpendicular narrow ridge, flic height at the snout being about 5 feet above the ice.

This glacier is also singular in that it appears to be dying out In Mie middle, not retreating from its terminus, as it is generally supposed glaciers do. From the terminus, for anout 50 chains up the valley, the ice is almost completely covered with morainic cV’ift. The ice slopes away down towards 1 lie ice-fall, fed by the neves of the liin.n range. I am positive that the ice at the Mot of the fall is nearly on a level with the terminus a mile or so more down the valley. If it is really retreating this way, the result will finally he a mass of morainic drift stranded m the valley, and with a stream com'rg out of the ice not powerful enough to denude it away, but sufficient to form a terrace face along one side of it. This, perhaps, may account for the many mysterious masses of moronic drift wholly unconnected with the ordinary terminal moraines which are found in so many of the smaller Westland valleys. Visitors to the Fox Glacier can approach the ice in two ways; either by going up the creek under Point FI. for about 20 chains, and then taking the ice, as shown by the red lines on the map, or better still go up Mill Greek to Point K., then take the ice at J on to the first ice-fall at point P. At fins place is the only difficulty, that the traveller has to get off the ice, win :h becomes rugged and erevaShod, and requires a little step cutting, but not much. From thence for about 40 chains the track is along a rather loose boulder sidling, then on to the ice again, and either across direct to the chancellor Ridge, taking it a little below ’he waterfall, or by keeping up either side

or the middle, to the great ice-fall. But no one can get any further that way, as the serac ice comes close again.'-1 the cliffs on both sides, and to take the fall itself is out of the question. .

To get to the Chancellor Ridge, the first few hundred feet is rather stiff climbing for ordinary pepple but it has to be done to get to the T bench. 'I lie rest of the journey is easy, and mice clear of the ice fall, any one can roam about on the neves to the foot of the real peaks of Tasman and Haidingsr, or on to the wide neves of the Waikun, and even on to Roon, if the tourist is venturesome. He can make from there over the neves of the Wailio, via U Viper’s Track to the great Tasman, and thence down to the Hermitage, on Hit east side of the Alps; but it must be remembered that the latter journey can only he performer by alpine • limbers, with proper appliances, and eveil hey would run risks in these mountains, through the changeable nature <T the climate.

• To those who simply wish to see the Fox Glacier without much trouole a journey to point K is all that is required. By crossing at that place vo anywhere near point M the whole of the two ice-falls and Mount Haidinger can be seen comfortably. By far t 1 >■: best view of the country, the glac'ers. Tasman and the Cone Ridge, is lo be seen away down near the hot springs, and a far better idea of the past and present appearance of the glacier can be seen from there and anywhere vise. After clearing out the hot spring one can lie in the tepid water and watch the blocks of ice rolling down the Fox River within a few feet of him. There is no doubt that before long that i-hi's spring will lie as great an attraction as the glaciers. It is situated oil the south bank of the river, and about 10 chains below the terminal face. At present it is covered with a layer of river shingle, but its position can be found at once by. the peculiar sulphurous smell coming through the shiiig.o. The spring can be cleaned out at any time without much trouble. OLD ICE LINES. The Fox Valley shows perhaps better than any other in Westland, the old action of the ice and weather denudation on the slopes of the hills. The lines are mostly well defined, both by the nature of the vegetation and the remains of. the rock-ledges, showing the ice levels at different periods. The regularity of their distances from each other, and their uniformity of grade, as shown not only in this valley but

in almost every other in Westland, shows that the same causes were at work on them all; and no doubt those lines of lateral moraines and rock terrancos are of nearly the same date all over the country. They are totally unlike the raised sea-beaches of the south ern bluffs, which are sea formations entirely. The ice ledges in the mountains slope for miles parallel to the flow of present or ancient glaciers; the sea ledges as I have seen them, are independent of each other, no two being of the same height above or lowei than sea level, and their dip is always in line with present contour of the coast. This shows that their present position is caused by the undulating rise and fall of the land; while the ice lines all bear some affinity to each other, in distance apart, and uniformity of slope. Take for example, lines 1,2 and 3on the map of the Fox Glacier; they are at a certain distance from each other, their slopes also have certain uniformity, and the opposite lateral moraines are on the same level slope with reference to the flow of the ice. Examine any other river where such featuies show, and it will be found that one rule bolds good with respect to them all. In many cases they have been so destroyed by denudation as only to 'show faint traces are unmistakeable, showing that certain fixed causes were at work from the commencement of the so called glacier period, down, no doubt, to the present time. When a glacier has travelled for many miles through mountains before it breaks through on to the flats, those lines come through the hills and approach the sea, the slope is more rapid, as in the Franz Josep and the Fox. The time which it takes for the snow high uj) on a neve to reach the terminus of a glacer is not vet known, so we cannot tell as yet whether a heavy snowfall, such as took place last year, and also some seventeen years ago, may not for years afterwards cause a decided advance at the terminus, several years of a light snowfall may have a contrary effect, of either advance or retreat, has yet to be determined, and that can only be done after observations have been taken extending over a series of years.

In tlie map, the curved lines show tlie trend of the glacier, first on one side and then on the other. Standing at point K and looking across the ice it has the appearance of having been ploughed by a very bad team, the furrows varing from six inches to a couple of feet. This effect is caused by the different layers of ice lying almost perpendicularly. At that place these lines, or stratifications as they may be called are not the result or different eras of snowlfall, summer and winter markings, like the rings on a tree, as some people imagine, but are simply caused by the pressure. Almost every substance in nature will show the same if the required pressure and direction of given. On the glacier there are round, well-shaped holes some of small circumference, other larger and they often go down unknown depths. In some Cases they are perpendicular for a short distance only, then they run level for several chains, at times coming out on the surface lower down the glacier, or taking a turn away down into darkness, or gradually tapering away to nothing. One we visited was well worth seeing.

Going down about 20ft. by cutting a few steps, we found it then ran on a leyel in a splendid arch 20ft. high and about Oft. broad with a flat floor of clear ice. Its walls were garnished with glittering pinnacles, ledges and niches of clear white ice, showing now and again a beautiful blue tint. TK

was plenty of light inside, but of rather a weird nature, giving the whole a pantomimic effect suggestive of fairies and demons. Those holes and tunnels are caused by water melting on the glacier in the summer, which works its way down into the cracks on the ice, and the peculiar “horse-collar looking a'Hies, so often seen on serac ice, are the remains of those tunnels.

BIRD LIFE

There is very little to be said on the subject of native birds, at least in this report, cats, weasels, and such like have done their work; scarcely a small native bird of any kind is to be seen, though wekns and keas are still to the fore, the latter being as tame as ever. Hut the introduced birds, such as blackbirds, thrushes, starling and a. number of other varieties are spreading all over the country. Hereditary instinct appears to enable them to escape the dangers that are exterminating the native birds. There is no danger, that Westland will ever want bird-life; .still very many people would prefer to see the native birds predominant, they somehow or other, are more in. keeping with their surroundings. FOREST TREES, SHRUBS ETC. The vegetation on both sides of the glacier is of the usual character in such places; there are rates, kamahi, akeake, neinei, and a few totara and other pines If this place possesses any new botanical species, I did not see them On the climb up to the Victoria Glacier, that dull coloured, sage-brush-looking shrub, the incense plant was plentiful, but edelweiss was absent. Mountain lilies and other flowers were very scarce. This last season has been a very bad one for alpine flowers. The unusually heavy snowfall has given the grass on the hills a withered appearance at a distance, causing it to look ns if fire had gone over it. On the lower moraines, near the ice, there were only a few patches of broom, mountainflax, and a few flowers fo be seen. The next higher moraine is clothed with a dense growth 'of akeake, holly, ribbonwood. etc. There are very .'few totaras: generally an undergrcTwth of ferns but with very little variety. Higher up where the drift abuts against the hills the vegetation becomes larger and more nearly approaching that which

grows on spurs and gullies all over the country at the corresponding height, but still, the hear vicinity of the ice is apparent in the trees which, although large, are twisted and stunted. in their barrels, like those to he seen on a sea-bluff. If it were not for the ferns, which .keep their general ap- . pearanoe wherever they grow, any one. travelling through the bush in the j vicinity of a low-level glacier would imagine that he was either close to the grass line, or had suddenly got into the vegetation of a- dying planet, the peculiar looking neinei heightening the delusion. _ There is one plant that is very plenti- . fuf oil the moraine near the point K, that is the aniseed,"”* hot that hard-leaf-ed; mountain variety, but the soft sweet-smelling species, which once was so plentiful on the Westland river-flats. I do not know whehter the plant is of any culinary, or medicinal valueft is : good in soup to those who like aromat- -« ic seasoning, and the seeds may be sub- ' stituted for caraways. Perhaps some genius, with an eye to money-making may concoct a patent medicine out of it. However that mav he, it is delightful lying on a summer day on tho moraine among such sweet smelling herbs as the aniseed, incense-plant and musk plant, though the two latter require'to be burnt to bring out their virtues. | This Aniseed Flat will before long have a shelter hut; then, perhaps an hotel on it, as it is by far the best part of the district- to camp in. Sonic one more enerprising may yet.build a samb; ntorium at the hot spring, with/la sum-;; mer house on the top of the coiW: - ' GEOLOGICAL. ’ There is little to be said in this report concerning the rocks, reefs, and !r minerals on the Fox, as they are" eOnr-;] spicious by their absence. Ok gold!, there is no trace. Quarts reefs are" noh-existant; and the only thing seen to retrieve the Fox from utter -barren- j ess was the trace of an iron lode on the climb up to the Victoria. Glacier; this is no doubt . the same lode which T | found in 1888 on Craig’s Range, but I could see no trace of the quarts reef which are known to exist on the Balfour side of the range. The two cross-sections on either side of the glacier—A -B from Gillespie’s Bluff to Mount Cook and D-E from Cair T to Mount Haidinger will explain better than pages of writing the geological features of the country, the nature of the rocks, and their approximate dip and strike. The cone shows hard granite gniess for its whole length and tho same rock shows on the north side of the glacier, up as far as poipt ,ej N; the strike is North-north-east, with a very slight dip east. Above this therock alters to soft schists, with the same strike, but with a more decided ■: dip east. Above them the Torlesso £ slate comes in, but their exact line of. junction is known, so that part of cross-section D-E may he considered as doubtful. 1 The .most interesting discovery made in .this district was a large block of i . pure rock: crystal;'' iwhicli .came off ''' Craig’sposition .is. shown,.oh the cross-section A-B ; it was about 2ft. long and 6in. in Mameter.. I suffered considerable abuse for smashing it up,instead of bring- ’ ing it down entire; I could not see wliat value it would be unless as a curiosity. ) Those crystals, hut of smaller size, are very common on Cook’s River and other parts of Westland, hut they are 1 all white. Certainly many of the bould- < : ers on the Balfour are powered with minute green and yellow crystals, but they are so small as to be valueless. 1 < C. DOUGLAS. ! 1