A WILD AND ALMOST UNKNOWN COUNTRY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2315, 18 August 1880, Page 3

A WILD AND ALMOST UNKNOWN COUNTRY.

We (Nelson “Mail”) have had an opportunity of conversing with two men named Sutherland and McKay, who for the last three years have been residents in the wild and little known country lying between Jackson’s Bay and Milford Sound, where they have spent their time in prospecting and cutting tracks. They claim to have made "an important discovery, namely a practicable route between Milford Sound and Lake Wakatipu,*of which they furnished the following description to the Lake County Council— “ The

altitude of the , rupo-ed track is no more firm 100 feet ab.ivo (he sea level, passable all the year round, and presents no ohslnclcs to communication by railroad. The country through which it passes is mostly timbered, is of fair quality, and about 10,000 acres arc snilablo for agricultural purposes. The timber consists principally of ml and black birch, pine and cedar. We also bog to state that, in our opinion, the country possesses rich mineral resources.” In f lic course of their wanderings they discovered another pass which in the not very distant future will probably form the route‘of either a railway or a road, as there is every likelihood of large mineral deposits being brought to light in the district. This is from Milford Sound, through,the Greenstone and Holeyford Valleys to Lake Alabaster, along the Cascade River, and down Jackson’s River to the Arawata, a distance of GO miles, the highest elevation on the route being 200 feet. From thence to Hokitika, 125 miles, the route is well known and not a difficult one, but the country from Jackson’s Ba} r to Milford Sound has generally been believed to be almost impracticable for a road. The whole of the country is stated to have the appearance of being rich in minerals, and these two men have certainly done good service to the colony, for which they arc well deserving of reward, in discovering these two passes, which if they are anything like as accessible as they arc reported to be, .will tend largely to the development of a valuable extent of country. Not-only have they given their time,but they have actually spout £3OO in hard cash in the purchase of provisions and tools, and the up-keep of a whaleboat which they found necessary in their explorations. Their case is certainly one which is deserving of some substantial recognition at the hands of the Government. Another discovery is reported by them, which, if not of so much importance to the colony, is of interest to naturalists. It is that of an amphibious animal hitherto umnontioned in the history of New Zealand. It is described as of a brownish color, 20 feet in length, and between four and live feet high, the legs, of which there are four, being not more than lifteon inches in length. The body is round, and in shape something like the cow Jish. Not one, but five or or six at a time of these animals, our informants state, they have scon, and not once hut frequently, generally in the water when they have been within twenty yards of them. They do not, however, coniine themselves to the neighborhood of the sea, for their tracks, which are described as perfectly round, some nine inches in diameter, and very like those of an elephant, have been seen thirty miles inland. Smaller footprints of a similar description were seen last summer, from which our informants conclude that the animals breed there, and tiiat tiic tracks were those of their young. That the animal, whatever it is, must weigh pretty heavy is shown from the fact that the footprints are sunk into the hard beaches for the depth of a couple of inches.