FURTHER NEWS FROM THE WEST CO.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 44, 10 April 1863, Page 2

FURTHER NEWS FROM THE WEST CO.

lied Discovery of a Favorable Pallid Sea above Lake WanahtM arU BY DR. JUL US HaaJ " GOVERNMENT GEOLOGIST TO THE -jd^; 1 OP CANTERBURY. TBl* 1 " |ow (From the Lyltelton Times, l °.® The folio-wins vreliminiry rep< ,j-q( the pen of Dr. [Taist lias been fo t i,j lo Hl9 Honor the Superintendent % terbury : — *° Makarora Bn March 3rd, B^h StR, — I have the honor jo onmn of to you that I returned safely n {\\V whole party from my expedition *£c West Coast to this our starting -(. g having reached the sea on tbe2otli i: ruary. As without. douht if will • you to become aqnuinte I as soon : 44* hie with thenafural feature ofthe * l traversed hv me, till at present y Ol unknown, I beg t:j offer you the fi tro preliminary rep n befor> contini pal researches in another direction. From Messrs "VVilkin and Thi an station, on the Molynenv. I t *•, aJon? the shore of Lake Wanaka the station of Messrs Smart, Kirn * C Co. Here Mr. W Young. B R«i<| fo veyor, join«d me as topographic; be ant, who at my request had ! een SU to me for this expedition by t.| g( Surveyor. Having ascertained 8 t would he Impossible to co^'intien j s ney overland U# the head of the In i mv horses I availed myself of 'h 7* ness Mr. H. S Thompson, partneij Di said firm, who placed a boat at myj v during my stay in this part of the! p Tn order better to un<W.«fand whni n to say in the sequel, it will he nee] t! give a general outline of the fesA v Lake Wanaka. and of the .m-er"'! * ti is formed. ThU l» P autif'>l la S twenty seven (27) miles long. nnY V average i wo and a -half (•?$) rni'L- * • >uch indented, and of whicn tin c portion, for a distance of two an< T (2U miles lies in our province, i ] by a fine liv r. to which the. Mao } of Malta rora his been preserved, lake, quitfl different by its low pnsi other features, from our otlvr alpi has also the pecnliarity th it theriv entrance, has not formed any c swrt'Tips ; 1 ? exists re-t^hing very margin of the water, which, no other proof, would he alone < of great depth. Ther* Uno doiibi ! iies equally in the remarkable rent sure in which, in the province of 'he Vfolyneux flows, being in facti tinuatioii to the nonh. The Makarora, which during jt oours" runs S S W,* is j ined thl ' ahove its entrarico. into the lake hyJf main branch, which I caMed the containing about an equal amount as the former river, above its j The valley of the Wilkin. coming | central chain, far several miles run in a W. find-R. direction; it then i'Ho several valleys, of which I \ soinh o rly seems to come from the i \ '■ontinua'ion of Mount Aspirins neighborhood and the most nortli keen a S E hv S direction. Hnvinj ascertained in former ye j the West Ooa*t Mnories, that a pi! / at the heal of Like Wanaka. by former generations had 'ravelled ai island, but not being nbie to gath tiling positive about this rond fvot I went on my journey up <o the nvife bush, to consult an old VTaur su'ject, with which T wa< informpi well aouainted. From him I lip; the. track Inv by this Inter branc Wilkin, and that it would bring irn days to the mo-ith nf the Awaru ri the West Coa t; but when on tl and examining tl>e physi% al featuri country, I was led to the conc.lusi there was some error in his desi Oliservin-r a f the same time ihat t chain at the head of the Makan singularly broken, I thought that markahle vent, in which also the M was flowinjr, ruijrht possibly f through the central ehflin ; I ?'et therefore to cross » lie Alps at the 1 the Aka^ora. and the reenli has s- in mv anticipations have been v .rifle' tracked our boat to the Makarora distance of seven m:!es from the la started from there carrying with weeks provisions on our b;icks. Tli of the M : ik-irora. for about twelve n one and a -half miles broad on thea to the foot ofthe mountains, the ye: consists of grass and pcrub, whilst! fjed mountains on both sides are with forest from their lmse tn an of 4 500 feet, ;ibove which Ihe roi acles rise abrupt h. On nscrndi river further, the deltas of two i f ributarys meet, covered with forp through which the river pursues i! ins: course. For two miles this vp? prevails, af which distance another am stream jo'ns the main river fr cist ; the valley opens again, and a about four miles long occurs, covet grass, which offered us s^od tn ground. Above the termination oiien spot, the bases of the. mount hoth sides approach neirer andnea at a distance of one and a-ha'f mile firm a gorge, the river rushing I immense blocks of rocks, which 1 tered in its channel, and on the m sides. Twenty miles above the m the Maka'ora it enters the fissure from the east, in a deep channel of cliffs from the central chain, sho« its semi -opaque hlueish color its origin; but the rent still continue 1 sami' direc'i'm, a tributary which . called the ' Fish Stream' flowing f it. joining theMakatora. at theentr the latter. Afier travelling half an found it impossible to proceed 1 np t ofthe stream, vertical cliffs rising fl from ihe edge of the waier,. whi down over immense rocks. -; \V( therefore, ohliged to ascend 7o a c able altitude on its eastern hank, * All the courses of rivers, &c, aree ; from tb« trn« aortb, if aot.nfrttd otbarwiK

continue our journey through dense bush, -along the steep sides of the moun'.ains. After travelling for three miles, partly over tctv rueeed prounrt. we again met the •Fish Stream' coming from v the wes% and Mill flowing in a deep flhd rocky channel; T>nt observing still the opening hefore us, 'wea-^m weniforward in the same direction and arrived in another mile on the bank* of a very small watercourse, which vfi followed for about a mile. Observing tTintits lianTcs consisted of debris about fifteen feefhieh. sloping as it seemed to me to tTie north, T ascended and found to my •.RTPfti satisfaction that the level of .he Iwampy loresihad rally a slight fall in Ithalnieonon?, soon the small waterhole s rbetween the sphagnum (swamp moss) in. Creased.; a small watercourse was formed which ran in a northerly direction, and thus a most remarkable pass was found, which in*a chain of such magnitude a« the Southern Alps of New Zealrnd and where no hrea*k or even available saddle occurs north of this P»i" 1 »« Olir Province, is proably without paralell in the known world 4fter three observations on this pass, calculating tbe average stand of the barometer at the sea level, and the altitude of Lake Wannka (974 feet), as given by M'Kerrow, of Otago, with which my own observations closely correspond, live aHtirude of the pass is I. 612 feet above the level of the sen. or 638 feet above Lake Wannka. As before stated the c is properly speaking no saddle over which v traveller has to «o, being only obliged to cross from one watercourse to another, ascending a bank nf about 15 feet of loose shiimle thrown across the rent, and arriving on a flat of very small slope, covered with open f.trest. which in half a mile brings him to another small watercourse flowing north. I may here add that at this point the mountains on both sides reach their highest elevation. bpin<r covertd with perpetual snow, and glaciers of larae extent. This singular break in thecentral chain accounts, in a gre t measure, for the low position of Lake Wannka, and its fine and pecular climate : notwiths anding ihe-e is evidence that in the glacial period glaciers extended also to this lake. .nsi-hown by the high s'oping terraces in the Makarora, cut in the mountain sides to an altitude of at leas* five thousand [5,000' feet, besides many other indications. On the evening of January 24th we reached a lamer stream, which I n-tmed the " Leading Stream." cominc from the west, being soon joined hv several tributaries from 'he east. For three miles we followed this stream, flowing in n N N E direction through a comparatively open va'ley, wi h occasional small pntclu-s of grass on its side*, and arrived at its junction "Mi a larger stream of Glacial origin of the size of the Msikarora, which came from the eastern central chain, and to which, after your direction, 1 gave my name. Next day. accompanied by Mr Young. I ascended the mountain, which I named Mount Brewster, as a topngraphieal station, and for g«ologic»l examination, the ulnniers of which gave rise to the Haast, Vla":arora. and Hunter, the latter forming the head waters of Lake Hawea I may here sUite that all glaciers, so t'.ir n< ) have fjbx-rved them, on the we torn side ot the Alps, belong to the second order, the mountain sidi-s being very nbrupf, and the valleys .-dmrt and .^ppp. On t lie slopes of Mount Krewster, from an altitude of about six thousand (0,000) feet we hal a inO't magnificent and expensive virw over the Alps, from L>ke Wanaka ; n the south, to ;he Moorehouse Range in ihe north-east, as fsir fis the coast rnngps, and i- was with no linle pleasure tint I recognised many peaks in the central chains, which I have observed near the sources of -the rivers forming Lakes Ohou and l'uknki. /being thus enabled to connect last, year's [survey with the present. It became evident to mp, looking over the large extent of c«untrv drained, that the river hefore it reaches the weft coast ninst be very consL der^ble, and another peculiar feature ron. cprning the Alps w«s revealed, to which I sha'l devote a few «voids. Fr m the sourc-s of 'he Rahaia to the southern termination of the Wiorhoiise range, the Alp* consist bf one miin chain, sendinjr off divergent chains, which become gradually lower, but heie a change ocrur.s : at the southern (em! of the Moorhouso range the Alp" civile into nvo almost equal chains, of kvhich the eastern one ex'end.-s a!on<r the ivf-stern hank of the Hopkins to Mount W.ird, from whence it turns in a soufhvpst by west direction towards Mount irewster. On the western side of the i- sure, the rnntinuation of Mount Brew ter is to he found in Mount Stewart on lie western f-i h? of the Makarora. The iTsrern chain of the Alps commences also t the end ot the Mooihome ran«r<\ which itter, ne^r the sources of the Hopkins. ishs consideiably in altitude, hut after•,irds rises again to a great height, beins trmed by a magnificent range, whinh I ill the " Gray" nnge It runs in a S.W. irention till it i" broken through by the lain river after the junction of the Clarke, le broad valley of the hitter occupyig the space or basin between these ro Alpine chains. After this second reak, on the 1- ft side of the river, the Alps rain rise to a considerable altitude. tvered with perpetunl snow, and which, ; it sermed, united again at Mount tewart, running down in one longitudinal iiin towards Mount. Aspiring, thesouthn noinf of our boundary, hut it is noti^hstandino• true lhat the Al)>p, south of o Moo»h"ii-« range, beam to lose their ntinuUy bein? htolcen in sharp pyramiral peaks, seldom attaining an altitude 10,000 feet, with deep, but generally arr-essil le saddles be'ween them. When returning, on the evening of the h .January, from our mountain ascent, ivy rain set in, which continued almost thout in'ern ision till February 13th. and iring wri-h time, under many difficulties. ■ were able to advance only eleven miles \wn the livpr. watching a favorable oppor(nitv when the river fell to cross from one fle to the orl ci, when necessary. This pnrt lour j urney occurred unfortunately at the me time when we crossed the most macces}le part of our route, beinff, in fact, the Ist nigged piece of New Zealand gr ound ■r which, during my long wanderings, I x passed before. ?rom tl c junction of the leading stream :h the Haast, the valley of the latter is !1 «o broad, and the fall of the water comatively slight, that rapids are formed, iwiiig us to follow the river bed. crossing 1 re-crossing from side to side, but then it ms as if the river had cut across the ipe, both mountain sides presenting exdingly stpep slopes, whilst the river at the le time continues to flow in a succession falls and cataracts wh : ch continue for ut six miles. On boh sides of the ir the rocks rise perpendicularly, and the I ill channel through which the water finds way is still encumbered by enormous b, often several hunlred tons in weight, must and over which .the river falls Toar- , and foaming. At the fame time the mf^in sides, which we were continually igca to ascend and descend, for many ired feet, were partly covered with :ks of recks of equal .magnitude. The j c fissures between them are often over»n with mow and roots, the latter aowe- '

times rdtten, so that a hasty step thr o ws the heedless between the fissures, giving him great trouble to extricate himself. No level place of sufficient size to pitch our tent was here to be found, either on the hill side or in the river bed, except in places liable to be flooded, as to our discomfiture we found out, on tyro occasions during the night. Amongst other curious places, we were camped for eight days under an enormous overhanging reck, with a vertical precipice of one hundred and fifty feet near us. and the thundering and deafening roar of the swollen main river, forming here a large fall, as its companion. (To be continued) .