DUSKY SOUND.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 September 1931, Page 8

DUSKY SOUND .

PRAISE FROM PROFESSOR SPEIGHT. PLEA FOR. BETTER ACCESS FUR TOURISTS. (Christchurch Press). 'Though Milford Sound is the bestknown and most readily accessible of the West Coast fiords, its grandeur is surpassed by the beauty of Dusky Sound, according to Professor R. Speight, of the Canterbury Museum, who has just returned from a visit to the district. Professor Speight was enabled to make the trip as a special privilege when the Government steamer was visiting the lighthouses, in view of a report on the New Zealand Sounds which he is presenting to the Geological Section of the Pan-Pacific Conference of next year. “It seems a great pity that no attempt is made to open up Dusky Sound for tourist traffic,” life said. “It is far and away the most beautiful of the sounds, and affords a very great length of sheltered water, with many islands, and coves providing ideal shelter for boats and launches while Wet-Jacket Arm and Breakwater Sound make connexion with the Acheron Passage, giving a continuous stretch of fifty miles of water. Milford .Sound is austere and grand, but forbidding, while Dusky is beautiful.

“The Government seems to be devoting all its energies to Milford, and has built there an elaborate hostel, capable of accommodating 70 people. An access road, which they hope will eventually provide for motor traffic, is being pushed on. But though Milford is the more interesting geologically and scenicallv, it does not compare with Dusky Sound, for which more should be done. I believe that there was a track to it from Mann pour i thirty years ago but I do not know what it is like now.

GREAT DEPTH OF WATER. “A further difficulty at Milford is the extreme depth of the water, so that there art really only two anchorages, and these are not of the best. It is not sheltered, and is liable to serious winds. An example of the variation in depth is that at Harrison Cove, where we lay for two days, there was four fathoms of water at the stern and 200 at the bow. “There is also the serious difficulty of getting about which does not apply to Dusky .Sound, while a further advantage is that there are historical associations with Captain Cook’s vpit, and the remains,of .the ship Endeavour (not Cook’s Endeavour) in Facile Harbour.” The Sounds were not n I picnic paradise, he added. Tlie insisj tent sandfly to a. large extent spoiled 1 many people’s enjoyment. I “My reason for making the visit ! was that for the Geological Section of the Pan-Pacific Conference, which [ meets jn Vancouver in May next, I 1 have been asked to. dp a report on the New Zealand sounds,” said Professor Speight.’ “At the conference a special study is being made of the fiords of the world, while the. Canadian delegates will report on those of their Pacific, coast. The plan involves a comparative investigation of the geology, the nature of the waters, and the marine life of the fiords. THEORIES OF FORMATION. “On the special point of their geological formation and origin there is considerable difference of opinion, not only concerning thle New Zealand sounds, but also for those in other parts of the world. The problem is to decide whether they have been scoured out by the ice of glaciers, or produced in, some way by earth movements. It is peculiar that the sounds should not exist north of Lake MeKerrow. I omc

had a theory, based on their parallelism and the links at right angles, tha v t earth fractures were responsible, but I am not so satisfied now.

“It seems that glaciers are very largely responsible for the peculiar form characteristic of the sounds, of which Milford is perhaps the most striking in the world, from sheer walls that: drop down to it, as from the 3000 ft. of Mitre Peak, and continuing a further 1000 ft. in the water. Another feature is that these- walls are formed of resistant rooks able to retain their form against the onslaughts of tile severe weather conditions.”

3 MARINE LIFE, AND MINERALS. . The Canadians were particularly im--1 • terested in water samples, went on the 3 : Professor, and he had been able to ta Ice i in all 14 samples from the different i | sounds. These are to be analysed by ! | the Dominion Laboratory, not fully, ! , but in' relation to certain features. As ■ far as marine life was concerned, very ■ | little had been done for that area. ’ ) An investigation involved special work, 1 I and the taking of samples from the I sea bottom. .Something was known of . the off-shore deposits, but it was very little. There were a number of specimens in the Museum—taken within the 100 fathom line—which had been worked over, with the result that new ’ [ species had been classified. J “At one time copper deposits were '■ worked at, Breaksea Sound where gold . has also been found. I believe tlmt there were some prospectors at Vantage Inlet but the country changes considerably as you go further north. Mica was mined at Geroge Sound in the past, but the scheme did not prove payable. The country is difficult geologically, but there is also the handicap . of the nature of tide country, which makes it hard to get about.” 1