cap for 1862-3; each shower after that brought the snow-line further down, till on the morning of 18th May, the snowfall, which was general throughout the Province, made valley and mountain alike white. The snow-line, in its successive steps down the mountain sides, preserves an outline as even and as well defined as the line of shadow.

In different seasons the snow-line will likely vary within the limits of a few hundred feet; for the latitude of 44½° S., it may be stated in round numbers at 8,000 feet.

The glaciers, in some instances, appear to be considerably lower than the snow-line: on the shaded side of Mount Alta, a little below the summit, there is one about five acres in extent, and three feet in thickness. On the east side of Glacier Dome, and to the north and south respectively of other two glacial domes, there is a sheet-like mass of glacier several square miles in extent, sloping down from these mountains, and stretching across and entirely filling up the ravine enclosed by them; on the east side, where no eminence opposes, it leaves the ravine and bends over the lodge of the ridge in an easy curve: here the smooth evenness which it had in its upper part, is supplaced by a sort of frizzled appearance, just as though a great waterfall had been suddenly frozen. The angle of depression from Mount Alta gives its centre elevation at 6,469 feet above sea level; it was viewed from a distance of 12 miles, a ridge transverse to the line of sight hid its terminal face, but its immaculate whiteness and great extent rendered it, even at that distance, a grand, decided, and imposing spectacle; it was the largest unbroken mass of ice that was seen during the Survey,—it is one of the fountains of the east branch of the Matukituki. The glaciers of Mount Aspiring lie in shelf-like masses on the south and east sides of the mountain; none of them appear to be individually of large extent, though in the aggregate they cover 25 square miles; they lie principally in the ravines formed by four very sharp conical ridges—one running south from the Peak for about eight miles, the other three parting off from it, at about equal distances to the east. Some of these glaciers appear to be as low as 4,000 feet, and as seen from the base of the precipices on which they lie, about 30 feet in thickness. Mount Aspiring is flanked round the east, south, and west sides with precipices, which, to a casual inspection, offer no chance of ascent.

The water of the lakes may all be said to be of glacial origin, for the rivers that flow into them drain a country from 6,000 to 10,000 feet high. These rivers are as follows:—

The Matukituki, which takes its rise in the Southern Alps, by means of two branches—one flows along the west and south sides of Mount Aspiring, and the other along the east side; they unite below the S.E. corner of that mountain, at an elevation of 1,290 feet above sea level. The river then flows in one main and many smaller channels for 12 miles in a S.E. direction; when it is joined by the Motatapu; after a further course of five miles, in the same general direction, it falls into the S.W. corner of the Wanaka Lake.

The Makarora enters at the head of the Wanaka; its course for about 16 miles above that, is in a straight line S.S.W. Three miles above its entrance to the Lake, it is joined by a river coming from the west. Both the Makarora and its tributary are in Canterbury.

The Hunter enters at the head of the Hawea; for 20 miles above the Lake, it has a straight course S.S.W., and is therefore parallel to the Makarora, and, like it, is entirely in Canterbury till the last three miles of its course, when it enters Otago.

The Motatapu has two branches—one takes its rise on the west side of Mount Motatapu, and the other on the S.W. side of Cardrona Mount; after each performs a very crooked course of 11 miles through the lanes of the mountains, they unite and form the river, which, after a northerly course of 12 miles, falls into the Matukituki, as already noticed. In size, the Motatapu may be compared to the Waikouaiti River.

The Dingle on the north side, and the Timaru on the south side of the mountain ridge terminating in Corner Peak, flow along deep gorges in a S.W. direction to Hawea Lake, into which they enter on its east side. In size, they are each about two-thirds of the Motatapu.

The Matukituki, Makarora, and Hunter may be classed together as being similar in size, origin, and the formation of their valleys. The latter are from one to one and a-half miles wide; the shingle bed of the river occupies in general one-half, the other half is covered with patches of grass, scrub, swamp, and lagoon. The mountains rise from these valleys either in the form of precipices or very steep slopes; in the case of the Matukituki and Makarora these slopes are mostly covered with bush.

All the rivers already mentioned show proof that they undergo great fluctuations in size; their supply depends, not on what falls, but on what melts; a favourable change of wind, or any other cause that raises the temperature a few degrees, raises their volume proportionably. In this, effect follows cause so closely and plainly, that the heat of the day might be gauged in the evening by the amount of rise in the river. Towards the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, while the cold is increasing, these rivers rise very