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their junction. So great a body of water as the Kawarau possesses would, in favourable circumstances, have been of service in the inland navigation of the country, but there are various obstacles in connection with this river which render that impracticable; these are—the rapid current, the narrow and tortuous channel, and there are several places where a reef of rocks crosses the channel, as at its exit from the lake.

The rivers that contribute principally to the Kawarau are the Dart, Rees, Greenstone, Von, Lochy, Shotover, and Arrow; of these the first five flow into the Wakatipu Lake.

The Dart is considerably the largest of the tributaries just mentioned; it issues in one stream from a deep wooded gorge west of Earnslaw, and at a distance in a straight line of 16 miles nearly due north of the head of the Wakatipu Lake, into which it flows; the bearing of the gorge and the size of the river there, both indicate that it has its sources on or about the boundary line between Otago and Canterbury. The glaciers of the Forbes and the Humboldt Mountains are situated on the opposite sides of the Upper Dart. That its supply depends almost entirely on melted snow and ice, is evident from the great fluctuations that characterise its volume. Immediately below the gorge the channel widens out to a shingle bed from half a mile to a mile wide; this breadth is maintained on to the lake, a distance of 20 miles by the river. During the survey, the river ran over this shingle bed in several streams, but flood debris showed that it is sometimes all covered.

The trees enter the head of the Wakatipu Lake only a few yards east of the Dart. Like the latter, it also issues from a wooded gorge, at a distance in a straight line of 16 miles N.N.E. from the head of the lake. It has its upper sources in the ice and snow fields of the Forbes and Richardson Mountains. The flat part of its valley presents similar appearances to the Dart, though on a less scale, for that river is about three times the size of the Rees.

The Greenstone takes its rise by two branches, viz., the McKellar and Caples. The McKellar branch, according to Mr. David McKellar, who explored its head sources about three years ago, takes its rise near the head of Milford Sound, and after flowing through two small lakes and a considerable extent of bush, enters an open narrow valley. It flows down through this valley in nearly a straight line for ten miles in a S.S.E. direction; it then bends at right angles, and after forcing its way through a very narrow gorge for six miles in an E.N.E. course, it is joined by the Caples branch from the N.N.W. The united Greenstone then flows in an easterly direction for nearly two miles, before entering the west side of the Wakatipu Lake.

The Von is formed by the union of two branches, each about nine miles in length. The south branch issues from the Eyre Mountains, and the north branch from the Thomson Mountains; they unite in a deep dell on the south side of Mount Turnbull, and after a course of nine miles in a N.E. direction, through a finely grassed valley, the Von falls into the west side of the Wakatipu Lake.

The Lochy, by means of several branches, drains the barren region enclosed by the Eyre Mountains. Its length is about 15 miles, and general direction E. by N.; it falls into the Wakatipu Lake at Halfway Bay.

The Shotover ranks next to the Dart, of the rivers that are tributary to the Kawarau. It takes its rise in the ice and snow fields of the Richardson and Harris Mountains, and as these are its principal sources, it attains to near its full size early in its course. That for the first 15 miles is S. by E., then eight miles S.W. to the junction of Stony Creek, then nine miles S. in a general direction to Arthur’s Point; it there leaves the mountains, and at the same time bends to the east for three miles, and then again S. by E. for other three miles, before joining with the Kawarau. On its west side it receives the famous creeks—Skippers, Story, Moonlight, and Moke (united)—in the order named. The Shotover, during the greater part of its course, is so hemmed in by opposing mountains, that its banks are impassable in many places for either man or horse. The confined nature of its banks and the snow-clad watersheds, sufficiently explain the sudden and overwhelming floods that characterise it. The incessant action of the river along one course for ages, has cut out its bed into an abrupt gutter-like channel. This, mechanically speaking, may account for the rich auriferous deposits found in the bed of the Shotover; for, as the river kept deepening its banks would slip into it as into a great sluice-box, where, coming under the action of so powerful a current, the gold would be washed out and deposited, while the lighter matter would be carried along.

The Arrow takes its rise from the snow on Mount Hyde, and after a crooked course through a succession of deep gorges, during which it receives several tributaries, all known to be highly auriferous. It emerges into the open country at Arrowtown, and after a further course of six miles along the base of the Crown Ridge, it joins