438

The ease of this route may be judged of from the fact, that a woman, I was told, performed this journey alone. As far as I have been able to learn, however, it was not by this Pass, but by the one which leads from the true Awarua to the head of the Wanaka Lake, that the Maories of the North Island used in former times to make their incursions on the natives that lived by the Clutha and Matadra Rivers.

In that valley there are also two lakes, but from my elevated point of view, I could not discover whether the watershed is to the north or the south of them.

Both these valleys, with the lakes that lie in them, were described by Messrs. McKellar and Gun, and from their sketch, were laid down in a map of the Province published by the Chief Surveyor Mr. Thomson, more than two years since, and long prior to the discovery of any gold fields but those of the Lindis and Tuapeka.

The Kakapo River, above the point where we left, or rather from above where it is joined by the stream from the westward of the two low valleys, appears to become a mere mountain torrent taking its rise from several heads that descend from the Darran Mountains, and are separated by lofty "cols" or snow passes from the heads of the various tributaries of the Cleddau River that flows into Milford Sound. Some of the peaks along this range are very prominent, the principal one being Mount Christina, of McKerrow’s map, a high conical mountain, very distinctly seen from the sea, off Milford Sound. To the south-east, and rising probably from the head of the Te Anau Lake, are three well marked peaks that I believe can be also observed from one position in Milford Sound when looking up the valley of the Arthur River.

After two hours’ walk along the ridge next morning in a south-east direction, we descended into the Greenstone Valley and reached my furthest camp of last April, and by nightfall got several miles below the point where we, on that occasion, left our horses.

The descent of the valley of the west, or McKellar’s branch of the Greenstone River, is very gentle and uniform, and the total fall from the McKellar Lake at the summit level to the Wakatipu Lake, a distance of about 22 miles, cannot exceed 400 feet.

As the lower part of the Greenstone River, for a few miles above where it receives the eastern or Caples branch, is obstructed by bush, I again followed McKellar and Gun’s track by the Mararoa River, and next day reached the out hut of Mr. Von Tunzelmann, situated on the Riverton track, 10 miles south-west of the Wakatipu Lake. The total distance from the Kakapo Lake to the Wakatipu Lake by the route I followed is 90 miles.

But if we had followed straight up the Kakapo Valley, and followed down the Greenstone River to where it enters the Lake, which would be the proper line to cut a track, the distance would be less than 50 miles.

The time actually employed in travelling was as follows:

Next day, being the 4th October, I reached Queenstown, and from there sent back two men to clear the track I had "blazed" to the Kakapo Lake, and then return to the height of land and there await my arrival from Dunedin. Accompanied by Mr Hutchinson, whose business engagements prevents his remaining longer absent from town, I then proceeded by the ordinary route to the Dunstan, and thence by coach to this place, and had the pleasure of reporting my arrival to his Honor on the 7th instant.

In the foregoing description of the route I have followed in crossing the mountains, and of the country at its western extremity, as given in the enclosed narrative, I have limited myself to the statement of what I observed and recorded on the spot, and have intentionally avoided expressing an opinion as to whether the present requirements of the Province are such as to make the result of this part of my explorations of immediate practical value. However, I may state that when such requirements do exist, there will be no difficulty in constructing a road at a moderate expense between the Wakatipu and Kakapo Lakes that will pass over a summit level of the mountains that does not involve a rise of more than 400 feet above the Wakatipu Lake, which, being elevated 1000 feet above the sea, consequently makes the western descent equal to 1400 feet, 400 of which may be accomplished with an imperceptible gradient.

Since my arrival, information has been given me by the Chief Surveyor, Mr Thomson, respecting the Kakapo Lake, which had been furnished to him by a Captain Alabaster, and from which I immediately recognised that his was the party that the Maoris informed us had visited the Lake with a cutter, and which I believe was the first vessel of any kind that ever entered the Kaduku river. The short verbal account he gave of the country is in every respect clear and trustworthy. Above the point where we left the dingy on the Kakapo River, we observed no tracks of any one, until within a few miles of the Pass Creek, when we saw a camping place about six months old beside a prospect hole; and a little further on we saw the fresh tracks of two men and a small dog.