William McLeod Bannatyne,
Francis Dillon Bell,
William Hickson,
George Hunter,
Alfred Ludlam,
George Moore,
David Monro, Doctor of Medicine,
John Damoth Greenwood, and
Henry Seymour, Esquires,

to be Members of the Legislative Council of the Province of New Munster.

And We hereby, you, Our Lieutenant Governor of Our Province of New Munster did appoint provisionally, and until Our pleasure should be known, William Oldfield Cantley, Esquire, to be a Member of the Legislative Council of the said Province of New Munster.

Now, therefore, in pursuance of the said recited Ordinance, and in exercise of the powers thereby vested in Us, We do, by these Our additional Instructions under Our Sign Manual and Signet, ratify and confirm the said appointments, and do declare Our Pleasure to be that the said

William McLeod Bannatyne,
Francis Dillon Bell,
William Hickson,
George Hunter,
Alfred Ludlam,
George Moore,
David Monro,
John Danforth Greenwood,
Henry Seymour, and
William Oldfield Cantley,

shall be Members of said Legislative Council of the Province of New Munster.

V.R.

Colonial Secretary’s Office,
Wellington, 25th July, 1850.

His EXCELLENCY the Lieutenant Governor directs the publication of the following Memorandum addressed to his Honor the Superintendent of Nelson, of an expedition into the interior of the Southern Island of New Zealand.

By His Excellency’s Command,
Alfred Domett,
Colonial Secretary.

(Copy.)

MEMORANDUM of an Expedition into the Interior of the Southern Island of New Zealand, undertaken by Mr. Dashwood, and Capt. Mitchell, for the purpose of finding an inland route from the Wairau to the Port Cooper Plains.
April 22, 1850.

Wellington, June 11, 1860.

Sir,

Aware of the very great interest felt by the Government, and the public in general, on the subject of an inland route from the Nelson district to the Port Cooper Plains, I have the honor to lay before you, with as little delay as possible the result of an expedition into the interior of the South Island, undertaken by Mr. Dashwood and myself.

A few hurried notes I despatch may inform you that Mr. Dashwood had already made a short excursion beyond the sources on which occasion from the top of a hill whence the Waiopi derives its principal source we discovered a valley running in a S.S.W. direction. This valley was now our object to explore.

Before proceeding I had perhaps better recapitulate the chief observations I made on that occasion, and give the bearings of the principal landmarks taken from a mountain to which I have given a very sanguinarily derived name, Mount Shepherd, from the top of which range of hills on Mr. Cantley’s back run.

From Mount Shepherd the Kaikouras bore North East extreme, E.N.E.; S.W. extreme W.S.W.—They appeared about twenty miles distant. I could distinctly trace an extensive valley running along their base; concerning which I could not then gain any information. I have since made every inquiry from those well acquainted with the coast but without success. Its existence appears unknown—there did not seem to be any opening through the Kaikouras.

On the 11th April we ascended the Cantley range. The morning was densely foggy, but about 11 o’clock it partially cleared. A gorge running S.E. (it formed one of the boundaries of Mr. Cantley’s run) had a promising appearance of leading to an open country. We set out, however, intercepted with much bush. Ben Ohau bore N. 4 tide E., Mount Shepherd E.N.E., his brother S.E. by S. The range of hills forming the East boundary of the Wairau, and West of the Waiopi, ran to a half circle from North by the West to South. The mouth of Wairau N.N.W. I could only see the S.W. extreme of the Kaikouras—it bore W.S.W.

I now commenced our second expedition, premising that we took with us a mare and a mule carrying about 2 cwt. each, and were accompanied by Harris, an old whaler.

After easy travelling along the banks of the Wairau for thirty miles in a general S.S.W. direction, (the first fifteen of which appeared a good sheep country) we reached Starvation Hill from which we had previously seen the valley on the 27th April. On the 29th we ascended it. A good hill horse is required to carry a load up this hill. It was as much as our animals could do. On reaching the top we unloaded, and proceeding along the range to the West to a higher peak we found the three highest summits of the Kaikouras bore N. to the West, the tops of a dense mass of hills were also visible. From Starvation Hill due South, stands a peculiar pyramidal hill, we named it Mount Fyffe. It is a capital landmark. On my former visit it was remarkable for having snow upon it some distance from the top, while the top itself was quite bare, from which it would appear to be volcanic, and at times in an active state. But now it was covered entirely with snow. Descending into the valley, the travelling became rough; rocks, spear grass, and the plant called Wild Irishman everywhere abounding. The valley appears never to have been fired, there is no fern or bush in it, but the Wild Irishman supplied us with good firewood. Here we experienced a most extraordinary severe frost, never in England have I felt it so intensely cold. The banks and the Reokai of the river were masses of immense icicles; and our clothes were frozen hard and stiff we minutes after we had taken them off.

We now kept the river which is joined by a large stream from the east. The valley had as yet been very narrow but for two miles it now became broader. Its course is by a complete bend—