MILFORD SOUND AND THEREA BOUTS.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 3, 16 November 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

MILFORD SOUND AND THEREA BOUTS.

(From Dr Hector's Report.) The geological structure of the mouni tains around Milford Sound is more complicated than in any other part of the "West Coast that I have examined, The prevailing rock is syeuitie gneiss, associated with mica schist greenstone porphry,and felspathic schist, succeeded towards the lower part of the Sound by fine grained gneiss of newer age, felstones, quartzites, and clay slates. No metallic ores were observed, but several might he expected to occur among the last-mentioned group of strata, a locality were found to have been traversed by fissures in which vein-stone could form. When sailing about the Sound, we frequently saw large shoals of the cow fish, which is an immense ; porpoise ten to twelve feet in length, i They swim with great speed, raising ! their large black fin out of the water every few minutes, and sometimes leaping several feet clear of the surface. I shot one,Hbut having no harpoon could not secure him before fee sunk. Several seals were also Sien about the Sound, and ■ the mouth of the Sound, but, though easily shot, it was impossible to secure them, the water being so deep close to the shore, as they also sink when dead. Eish are not so abundant in Milford Sound as they are to the south, but we got a few trumpeter and sea perch of excellent quality, an,d. also several small species of fish whidpj^l have- not seen elsewhere on the coast. On the 17th August, there having been several days" of fine weather "with south-east wind,l made, another attempt to examine the Cleddau River, taking with me three men, a tent, and provisions for some days. The wood 5 were very dry and pleasant, and the stream so much lower than during the previous week, that we were able to ski t it in many places where I had previously to wade across it. Following up the middle of the three branches which join to form this river, by evening we had made about 8 miles — the latter part of the journey being very rough work, oa account of the great size of the boulders which block the channel, aad over which we had to scramble at the risk of slipping into the torrent; this did happen fo two cf the party, hut fortunately with no worse result than a thorough drenching in the icy water. ' The fall of the river is very great.; and the bed of the stream is everywhere composed of glacier detritus, sometimes rudely stratified., and filling the valley. to the height of 1500 feet above the; sea level, the immediate river valley r being excavated between 5 this accumulation and the steep smooth wall of .rock' against which it rests. ) Next day we followed up one of the % branches to its source. The upper part' of its valley is cut to the- depth of 540, feet, through a true moraine, consisting 1 of earthy clay, containing regular i blocks of rock of all sizes up to 30 and ', even 40 feet in diameter. The stream ends quite abruptlyagainst a glacialised surface of rock, which sit p 'S to a height of 3000 feet at an angle of from 30° to 40°. The' snow, which falls from the mountains, i 3 unable to lie on this polished surface, and sliding down, wedges in at the back, of the morain, forming a miniature glacier, though without the true ice. structure, at an elevation of only 1000 feet above the sea level. The depth of ; the grove, which has been cut by this snow bank between the rock and the morian, is not less than 400 feet. ; By a slightly dangerous climb, We got up the glacialiired surface of the rock, and on to the top of the great moriane, : which is heaped up against it;. The frequent landslips which take place from the face of the moraine clrff does great havoc among the trees that grow on top, leaving the roots bare, so that they die, and are easily thrown over. The forest is vefjjjjfeen, and some of the trees are of gobioize. The principal trees which I observed at an altitude of 1800 feet,were the "black birch, the iron wood,- or batta, the remu., totara, cedar (a second species of Potocarpus), broad leaf, New Zealand holly {Euryhria dentata), moko, and several others. .. At this altitude, on westerly exposures, there are few lichens, or mosses, as the woods are well aired and the soLL dry. We were now in the third great longitudinal vally, which runs north and south, crossing "the main Valley, which is continuous with that of the Sound. As these valleys conform to the trend of the strata, they probably indicate lines of softer tock, along which the erosion was more easily effected by the descending glaciers. In these valleys, the moraine matter is heaped principally on . th#eastern side, being opposite to that ; upon which the greatest accumulation, of ice must always have taken place. ; The study of the deposits which fill these valleys possesses -;reat practical > interest from their intimate relation to the gold drifts on the eastern side of the mountains. Although the mountains rise so pre_ . eipitously from the valleys, 'they are no so steep towards their summits, where there is genarally a large area, present- ; ing slopes on which snow could rest under circumstances favorable for its accumulation, and form the source of glaciers which would descend into the lower valleys. Pembroke Peak {6,623 feet), is covered with perpetual snow, which. on its south-east face extends as low as 4000 feet, with a slope of 20 ° to 30 ° , and there terminate in a cliff of glacial ice, judging by its intense blue tint compared with that of the surrounding snow ; and did it not overhang a precipice, this ice would doubtless descend as a glacier to a very low altitude. Now the average height of the mountain ridges is nearly 6000 feet and with the present conditions of climate, an elevation* of the land equal to 2000 feet would according to the best csti-

°^^^^^B^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B!B ' and^^^^^R^H^m^^^^^^^^^^^H side,^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H| °PP os^^^^^B^hH^^^^^H^^^H have un^^^^^^^H^^fl^^^^^Hß osci!latioV^^^^^H^H^^^^^B|n 1000 fee^^^B^^^Hß nominal po^^H^^^^^^^^^B^^fl district heing^^^^HH^^^^^^^^H period of greate^^^^^^^f^^^^^^^^f elevation of the treme would be extend the glaciers^^^^^^HH^^^H limits, for the residual^j^^Hß^^^B effect this could easily be a^^B^RHHj by the necessary alterationl^HjßHß physical geogiaphy of the cotintr^^H^B would accompany such re-elevatioi^(^H The immense lapse of time afflß number of secular returns of these conditions is well shown by the remains of > the high level valleys, which Were the ■ wide channels for glaciers of earlier date, ; but are now represented as fringing shelves along the sides of znore profound ' valleys, just like the terraces skirting the valley of a river, which is changing its course from side to side, of a gradually deepening channel. From the altitude we had attained, 1 «ould see, that there -was no hope of finding a saddle at the head of this valley, which appears to be surrounded by precipitous ; mountains 5000 feet in height, with ' detached snowy peaks several thousand feet higher. ; As the weather was very threatening, we made our way back to the camp of the previous night, and regained the schooner next day during a violent storm, with rain from the south-west. On the 24th August, giving up all hopes of the arrival of the Maories — of whom we heard nothing since we were ia Chalky Inlet — I left the head of Milford Sound and dropped down to Anita Bay, where we anchored at dark ; and next morning, at 4 a.m., taking advantage of the land breeze, sailed to, the northward, to the Awarua River, which is laid down on the chart 18 miles further up the coast. After making 6 miles, the wind died away, when we were off Yates' Point, which is the first promontory to the north of Miiford ; Sound. i As the yacht jay becalmed, with too heavy a swell running to allow of our towing, and, as it was necessary, that ! the Awaru?. should be carefully examined before we attempted to enter, it with the craft, I went on in advance with three hands in the whaleboat. Keeping close in shore, I had a goo) . view of the coast, and satisfied myself that it would be quite possible to get along it from Milford Sound northwards. The appearance of the country is considerably altered from that to the ■ south of Miiford Sound, as the high snowy mountains trend to the E.N.E. from Pembroke iVik, and retire behind lower wooded hills, which, however, are j too steep to be of any value, unless the ! bush conld be replaced by pasturage. The coast line forms a succession of hold headlands, which generally haye r a group of sharp rocks or a long reef extending from them to the seaward. Between these headlands are shallow bays, with deep sandy or shingle beaches, on which the surf breaks wkh tremendous violence. Three ' of these bays are of larjre size — each , having a large valley extending from it into the interior in a southerly direction; '■■ and it is as flowing into the mort north- : erly of these that the Awarau of the Admiralty Surveyor is laid down on. the chart. The proper Awarau of the, Maoris, according to all the information: that I am able to collect, is, however, ' -a large river that falls into Jackson's Jjay to the north of that river, which I • | named the Jac-kson last summer, but I which I Lave since, learnt is known to the Maoris as the Terrewhatta.