DR. HECTOR'S EXPEDITION TO THE WEST COAST.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 39, 24 March 1863, Page 2

DR. HECTOR'S EXPEDITION TO THE WEST COAST.

At a late hour last night we received copies of the Otayo Daily Times of the 19th and 20th inst., containing a full report of Dr. Hecto.'s expedition to the West Coast. We regret trnt the lateness of the hour prevents our giving the report in full, but the following article on the subject from the Daily Times of the 20th inst., will be read with interest, and we shall publish the repot on Friday : — • The report of tho expedition to the West Coast — of which we publish t'je concluding portion in to-day's i;-sue. — will bo regarded, we are sure, with much infer, -.fc by our readers. Apart from the attention which for some time past has been cc ltredof every tiling connected with the West To: 1 . -;t of 'his island, the narrative is itself thrilling.v exciting. Our reporter — Mr Sullivan (it is risjht we should mention his name, seeing that besides the good srrvice he has rendered in his journalistic capacity, he virtually bucame, by accom\v nying the expedition, one of the explorers) tells vis tile modestly and unostentatiously; and. perhaps, for that very reason the dangers and difficulties of the expedition strike one the clearer. The crossing r.ijiid streams of freezing water — the climbing precipitous, rugged ranges — the toilcome travelling over erumjoiia glaciers, with their yawning crevasses, threateninginstant destruction !•" the penalty of a single false step — require no coloring to magnify their danger. The picture is sullii-ient.ly vivid, although painted with a PreK 3'aelite avoidance of exaggeration. The simple n .rrative speaks trumpet-tongucd to the mind of the reader. He sees before him the three brave men, exhausted hv f:\sting and exposure, and by contact with freezing watc, marching in Indian file over p v^ses so dangerous that between them- ; v ai:d clc.ilh but one false step intervened. It'iwniLT in thesamo boat, determined to share the same fate, they link I heiru elves together by a strong curd. .Either the three are saved, or together they encounter de-truetion. The reader still pursue.3 their course; — he hovers with them on the brink of a yawning crevat-se. He fears to look over the side, to think of the depth of the aby s that, far, far below him, continues to separate the great masses of ice. The gulf must be crossed — a single leap cannot do it. Then the I der of the Expedition, foremost in its dangers n w 11 ns its guidance, steps to the front. Balancing himself on the edge, ho cu(s with an axe stf-p by stey dowu the f-i leof the fissure, untd he re '/lies a point where it is safe to leap to the other s o. In the presence of dangers oi this kind, the re - der has c eai'ccly time to think of the minor incidents. Yet exposure to three days' tropical rams, sleeping in wet clothes in crevices of rock, fasting for days, are not end. i run 'es which the hardiest can aff 'i\l to disregard. Then we have the travellers offering tiiemseke- up for one night as a sacrifice to myriads of mosquitoes. Happy little . e.ilures ; wh t a red letter day in their eziitt j .:>, the first on which they made acquaintance wi.h humankind. Fancy the one luxury of a lifetime, how tame thei>- ordinary diet musthave seemed to them afterwards. Then let us share with the explorers their delight, as from the summit of the rantje they beheld shining below them the ocean, that to! i them they had attained the object of their expedition. Nor must we forget the well worn track, which at first was attributed to Maories, but which further examination showed to be the work of huge birds. Here probably in the good old times, the wingless Moas I made foi^thomselves a hunting ground. Although naturally thejrave lers must have felt disappointed at not reaching the sea coast, yet, practically, there was no object in doing so. Tnev had surmounted all obstacles between themselves and the shore, excepting the crossing of rivers, swollen by the heavy rain. They were on a level with the sea. and only eight miles distant from it. The results "f their journey are by no m^ans barren. They discovered country which at no distant day will resound to t he axe of tho settler. The valleys of the Jackson, and Haast Eivers, both named and difcorered by them, evidently possess most promising capabilities. In the brief examination they made, they did not detect gold j but the presence of tue magnetic oxide of iron in large q (amities, argues strongly in favor of deposits ot the precious metal being near at band. We | underseand they also found specimens of flowers and plants of the most interesting description, including several new species, and old species under new aspects. The bird-track affords the subject for reflection of an infinitely interesting though speculative nature. It seems that the time is come when, step by step, we are to arrive at a clear i isight into the nature and habits of the huge birds that formerly raade New Zealand their resting place. Hoiv vast must have been tbeirnurnbar at one time, the immense deposits of their bones found from time to time on and under the surface attests. Enough is known of them to ajsure the savant that they have lived in a geological era coeval with our own. The mystery is, if they are extinct, how and by what means they have become so. But are they altogether extinct? Have all those birds whose bones cover hundreds of miles of the country, left not one descendant to give to civilized man some clearer idea of their nature and habits than savans can conjecture from their bleached bones ? Is the>r no unexplored nook of the Island where some few if the vast number that once flourished may still carry on a lingering war with utter extinction. The track which Dr Hector discovered, our reporter tells us has long been disused. But leiijtb. of time, when applied to a circumstance connected with a living race, is as n 'thing, when the reflection applies to one supposed to be extinct. Comparatively, how few are tho years that the impressionable earth will retain traces of a disused track. And when that hunting ground was deserted there is no evidence that it was their last; on the contrary, the travellers did not notice the presence of anj quantity of the remains of tho bird. We are thus brought face to face with the existing birds at a late period of time, and taken in conjunction with the story recently told of tho bird seen near the Wakatip, we think it far from improbable that living specimens of the once numerous race may yet be found. There are some who would be apt to cvi bono the inquiry, and .-sk what mattered it whether the former denizen ot the New Zenland woods had quite died out, or if Si>mo of the race still lingered in their pr.osa;e to extinction. But to the lover of science, to all, indeed, to whom the history of creation poFsesjes any attraction, the subject will not be regarded from so utilitarian a point of view And we think we are justified in attributing the utmost importance to the well worn, but disused Moa track, which Dr Hector and hi 3 party have probably been the first of human kind to discover. Tho now country, the new rivers, the new specimens of the vegetable kingdom which the explorers have brought to light also possess a value scarcely to be overrated. Every circumstance connected with their gallant trip increases the interest th^t for years baa centred round the explorntioitpf tfyp West Coast. ■ •