1865 - Howitt, W. The History of Discovery in Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand [New Zealand sections] - CHAPTER XXIII. DISCOVERIES IN THE MIDDLE ISLAND CONTINUED, p 427-438

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CHAPTER XXIII.

DISCOVERIES IN THE MIDDLE ISLAND CONTINUED.

MR. DOBSON'S DISCOVERY OF A ROUTE OVER THE MOUNTAINS TO THE WEST COAST OF THE MIDDLE ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND.

In the Lyttleton Times of October 14, 1857, appeared a report of an expedition by Mr. Dobson, the Provincial Engineer, along the river Hurunui, and over a low saddle to where the waters began to run westward. It appears that a Maori path had been always known from the east to the west coast by the gorge of the Hurunui, at what is called Mount Noble, near Mr. Mason's station, Waitu, and from accounts of Maories, the existence of some level land in the interior had long been understood. A certain precipitous gulley in the gorge

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above mentioned, which the Maories crossed with flax ropes and ladders, has always been the obstacle to exploring expeditions in this direction. Mr. Dobson endeavoured to find a passable road for horses along this route, and with Mr. Mason, Mr. Taylor of the Wairau, Mr. Dampier, a shepherd of Mr. Mason's, and I believe another man, attacked the precipitous gulley in question with spades and pick-axes. In four days a track was cut by which horses could be led from one side to the other, and the party pursued their way up the gorge, keeping a little above the river bank on the south side.

In a very short time they came upon flat land. This was the half-expected country, superior to their anticipations in many respects. Dry, though well watered, open, grassy country, with clumps of wood standing upon it, and with corners of the forest running down to it from the mountain spurs, enclosed in hills, but containing more or less 60,000 acres of pasture land. A good deal of limestone and quartz prevailed in the neighbourhood. The timber trees were the ordinary varieties of pine and totara, with some white birch. The general level was about the same as the great plain, perhaps at the highest 600 feet above the water level. The main branch of the Hurunui flowed slowly along the northern edge of the basin, forming the boundary of the province. On the southern side of the basin another stream of the river flowed and formed an island, which again was divided down the middle by a third water-course.

On all the streams were lakes, six in number, to which the discoverers gave names; one of them, named Lake Sumner, is of considerable dimensions. "The valley is picturesque, having low, grassy hills, and separating streams, with insulated mounds, diversified by woods, and offsets of the mountains. Following this pleasant valley, the head waters of the Hurunui were reached, a low saddle was passed, and the party found themselves upon a tolerable stream running westward. They had thus passed the dividing range, and could have reached the sea without difficulty, but continuous bad weather stopped

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them. The stream running westward was the Brunner, only about thirty miles from the west coast, and the highest point of the line was found to be only about 1,000 feet above the sea level. A few miles down the Hurunui, there was a branch valley also passing over a low saddle to the river Grey, said by Brunner to run through a valley sixty miles long, and full of lakes.

Mr. Dobson's report and sketches of this newly discovered country brought instant applications for the land, and all that was available was at once taken up as sheep runs. Quartz, indicating gold, abounded on the western slopes of the mountains. It was decided that a road should be laid out through this route to the west.

This successful expedition soon produced others. Mr. Torlesse reported a tour, and brought down a map of the country discovered by him in the upper valley of the Ashley, and a district lying between Harewood Forest and the snowy range, dividing the basin of the Upper Ashley from the valley of the Hurunui. He stated that from the ranges dividing the Ashley from the Waimakiriri, he had a good view of the country watered by the Waimakiriri, and estimated the available land at 500,000 acres.

Soon after, Mr. Leonard Harper, with a party, made an expedition to the western coast. They started on the 4th of November, 1857, from Mr. Mason's out-station in the Waitohi valley, and passed through the Maori gulley along the south bank of the Hurunui. They then followed the south branch of the Hurunui to Loch Katrine, a small lake connected with Lake Sumner. Arrived at the north western extremity of Lake Sumner, they thence ascended the eastern Teramakau, up to the saddle, which was then covered with melting snow. They then made their way down the north side to the western Teramakau, and followed the bed of the stream, to the junction of the Otira, a south branch of the Hurunui. The natives informed them that out of the Otira ran the river Waimakiriri, and not from a lake, as was supposed. They next reached the Cross Range, and a lake, out of which the natives told them a stream ran

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into the Grey, navigable for canoes. Embarking on a raft on the Teramakau, which they soon after reached, they were whirled amongst trees and bushes torn away by the torrent, to the western coast. Owing to delays, occasioned by bad weather, snow, and want of food, the journey from Mr. Mason's to the coast lasted twenty-three days, but they made the return journey in fourteen days, of which only eight were spent in travelling. The natives assured them that there was an easy way up the valley of the Waitanga to the east coast, through an open country, but which does not yet seem to have been discovered. They found many wild dogs in the bush, which the natives tamed, and used for catching birds. These natives all professed Christianity, and had no pigs or wheat, but lived on potatoes, Maori cabbage, and fern, with eels and other fish.

ROCHFORT'S SURVEYS.

Mr. Rochfort gives some account of two excursions made during the surveys, in the Geographical Journal, vol. xxxii. These took place in 1858. The first excursion was from Port Cooper up the Hurunui to the Taramakau, across Lake Brunner, and down the Arnold, or Kotukuwakaho river to the Grey, on the west coast, now a very familiar track, across the island. In his survey of the Arnold, which runs out at the N. W. end of the lake Brunner, he and his men suffered great hardships. The Arnold at its source is a wide river, taking the overflow of Lake Brunner, and for two miles passes through a dense forest of pine and birch, but has little current, and no fall; but when joined by two streams from the north, falls follow each other in rapid succession: the current increases with such velocity that it becomes a race, and the snags are so plentiful as to leave no available channel whatever. In attempting to sail down this river in a canoe, they were, as might have been expected, soon stuck fast, and were compelled to carry their instruments, papers, and small stock of flour, and march on through the bush amid almost continual and drenching

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SURVEYS OF MR. ROCHFORD.

rain--the common account which travellers have to give on the west side of Middle Island. For weeks they had been living on starvation rations. "We suffered," says Mr. Rochford, "other inconveniences than those of wet and cold, for our larder boasted no greater delicacy than thin paste, made of a tablespoonful of flour boiled in a quart of water. This we had twice a day while the flour lasted. In our exhausted condition we were enabled to accomplish but a short distance each day, and our small stock of flour soon vanished. One day we would have nothing to eat; another day, only a small robin between three of us and the dog; and a chance pigeon or two on another day, until at length we reached the Maori pah. Here every civility and kindness awaited us, and though only potatoes were procurable, they were sufficient not merely to support life, but to stimulate appetites, which, for six long months, had submitted to worse than English paupers' fare.

With these Maories, Mr. Rochford says he learned the existence of a wild tribe of natives--the Ngationamoi- or wild men of the bush. A woman of this tribe had been captured by the Maories two years before, but soon eluded them, and escaped into the bush.

Mr. Rochfort's second campaign of survey was on the west coast, commencing from the mouth of the River Buller. He pursued the coast southward some distance, crossing the Okari, the Waitakeri, and the Waitohi, on the latter rivers finding seams of coal. But his most thorough survey was that of the River Buller and the country adjoining it, as far as the nine feet fall, where they lost their canoe and instruments, which were all carried down the rapids, and whirled away from them, as they were endeavouring to haul the canoe up the rocks of the fall. The great incident, during this survey, was the discovery of gold, as described in the following entry of the journal:-- "November the 8th, While I was chaining, I was surprised and no less gratified by one of the hands--F. Millington--announcing the discovery of gold, an event as unexpected as propitious, and one

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DR. HAAST'S EXPLORATIONS.

which must have a powerful influence on the future prospects of this long-neglected west land. The royal mineral was lying on the edge of the river, glittering in the sun, and in such quantity as induced rather a mutinous spirit, my hands having a greater preference for the golden prospects before them than for the sterner duties of surveying."

In 1858 Mr. Dobson made an adventurous attempt to force a way through the mountains from the Hurunui towards Nelson, in the hope of establishing an inland route to that colony.

In the province of Nelson Mr. Rochfort, the government surveyor, has been for some years engaged in tracing and mapping out the hitherto little known parts of the country, especially on the west coast. In these openings up of the mountains of the Middle Island and its west coast, the indefatigable explorations and discoveries of coal by Mr. J. Mackay also require a prominent mention.

DR. HAAST'S EXPLORATIONS OF THE MOUNTAINOUS REGIONS AND THE RIVERS OF THE MIDDLE ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND.

In 1860 Dr. Julius Haast, the geologist of the province, set out to make an examination of the mountainous regions of Nelson; and the report of this exploratory tour was published by the provincial government in 1861. From this report we learn that Dr. Haast set out on the 8th of January, 1860, from Nelson, the capital of the province, accompanied by Mr. James Burnett, a surveyor, and by three other Europeans, two Maories, and pack-horses carrying their provisions. One of their principal objects was to find a practicable route from Nelson to the fevers Buller and Grey on the west coast, where coal and gold fields had been discovered. They ascended into the mountains from the Motueka Valley, and directed their course through the hills to the Lake Roto-iti. They were greatly struck with the magnificent scenery near this lake, the hills there being

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nearly 5000 feet high, and giving grand views into the celebrated Wairau Valley. Thence they proceeded through the mountains to Lake Howard, naming a lofty range on the way Mount Franklin, after Sir John Franklin. From the Howard, or Rotoroa, they directed their course over mountains and through passes formerly penetrated by Messrs. Brunner, Heaphy, and Fox, towards the Tiraumea Plains, and through scenery which they pronounced equal to that of Switzerland. On this route they named Mounts McLean and Murchison. On the 31st of January, they arrived at the junction of the Tutaki and Buller. After ascending Mount Murchison, and enjoying a wide view over the surrounding country, and perceiving that a route to the southward was practicable from Nelson, they descended the Buller some distance, and then struck southward for the Grey. On this coast they named a rocky range westward Mount Lyell. Crossing the Tutaki, the Mataki-taki, the Matiri, and the Buller, and other rivers, they struck the Grey, and crossed it and its tributaries repeatedly, amid continual rains, which all travellers alike find plentifully towards the west, or, as some of the party preferred to call it, the wet coast; and, on the 21st of March, they embarked in a canoe, and reached the mouth of the Grey. Going down the river, they passed the camp of Mr. John Rochfort, the surveyor. Thus they had proved the practicability of a track from Nelson to the Grey on the west coast.

Obtaining fresh supplies here, they then ascended the Grey, still through pouring rains, towards its sources, and from the summit of a mountain, which they named Mount Deception, supposing it to have a neighbouring height called Black Hill, they enjoyed immense views of the southern Alps, Mount Cook being conspicuous amid his snows. They had full view of Lake Brunner and another water, which they named Lake Hochstetter. The whole of the route of the Grey lay below them. On returning to the mouth of the river, Dr. Haast observed valuable beds of coal. Thence they set out, and

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traced the coast to the Buller, which they reached on the 13th of June. From this point, still continuing their way north-east along the coast, crossing numerous streams, and enduring much hardship from wet and cold, they named three hills Mounts Rochfort, William, and Frederick. After ascending Mounts Rochfort and William, and taking observations of the country from their summits, they returned to the Buller, and thence followed the wild and precipitous coast all the way to Cape Farewell, whence they sailed to Nelson. The results of this journey were an elaborate topographical map of the south-west portion of the province and a mass of information in the report on its physical geography, geology, zoology, and botany.

Since then Dr. Haast has been laboriously pursuing his labours amongst the mountains of Canterbury. In 1861 he gave a lecture in Canterbury, detailing his journey up the River Rangitata and its tributaries the Havelock and the Clyde. His descriptions of the scenery amongst these mountains represent it as sublime in the highest degree, mountain peaks piercing the blue sky at from 5000 to 12,000 feet above the level of the sea, glaciers shining like molten silver, waterfalls descending over their sides to a depth sometimes of 1700 feet; huge pyramids rising sublimely from the midst of torrents which swept around them, and vast chains and ridges covered with eternal snows, from whose ice caverns the waters of the Waimakariri, Rakaia, Ashburton, Rangitata, Waitaki, and Waitanga rush. It was in this journey that his companion, Dr. Sinclair, lost his life in attempting to cross a river.

In the following year, Dr. Haast was exploring the sources of the Kowai amongst the mountains of that name, 3000 feet above the plains of Christchurch. His object was to visit the coal beds lying in the heart of these mountains, and in his continued examinations of which he discovered extensive beds of iron ore; he ascended also the highest peak of the Mount Torlesse Range, whence he could gaze, as it were, over a great part

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of the province, and saw the Southern Alps in all their majesty bound the horizon, amongst which Mount Cook, 13,200 feet high, with its tent-shaped form, rose conspicuously over other ranges, whilst, more in the foreground, Mount Arrowsmith, Mount Ashburton, and the Moorhouse Glaciers, through the clear New Zealand atmosphere, seem almost close at hand. From the Big Ben, the highest summit of the Thirteen Mile Bush Range, the picturesque Rakaia, from its icy sources to its mouth, was wholly visible, and the blue waters of Lake Coleridge, lying at the base of this latter range, gave a striking charm to the noble panorama.

From these mountains, Dr. Haast, in his indefatigable explorations, pursued his way through the valleys and passes to Lake Tekapo, and on to Lake Pukaki, the Great Tasman Glacier, and the Moorhouse Range. It is not often that we hear a sober geologist breaking out into raptures at the scenes around him, his mind being generally attracted by the peculiar substance and tissue of the rocks, but we find Dr. Haast thus exclaiming at the sights around him:-- "Oh! that I were a poet to sing the beauty of the Southern Alps. The time will surely come when pilgrims from all parts of the southern hemisphere will hasten to visit these mountains, and then the good folks of Canterbury will be inundated with poetical effusions, and 'My Rambles to the Southern Alps,' or 'Impressions of a Journey to Mount Cook,' with splendid engravings, will be on the drawing-room tables of future generations." This journey was continued to the Ohou, and, in the researches for gold, as well as in his own proper geological pursuits, Dr. Haast bids fair to make the complete tour and survey of the mountains and rivers of the Middle Island.

This idea is confirmed by our last news of Dr. Haast, who, in the early months of 1863, was penetrating into the mountains of Otago, whilst Mr. Drake was pursuing researches in the field he had left, and reported having crossed the Canterbury Mountains to the mouth of the River Taramakau, and reported a large tract of level

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country, though thickly timbered, between the Grey and the Hokitika.

Dr. Haast, meanwhile, had proceeded from the Ahuriri River to Mount Hawea, on the frontiers of Otago, and thence to Lake Oanaka, or Wanaka. Thence they ascended the Makarora, and, from Wilkin's Station, proceeded through dense forests; they returned to Lake Hawea, and back to the Ahuriri. Dr. Haast and his party reached Christchurch on the 12th of May, and reported the country they had explored another Switzerland.

In these latter researches Dr. Haast had entered a field then undergoing examination by Dr. Hector, the government geologist of Otago. In February Dr. Hector left Dunedin to ascend the mountain range of Matukituki, where he encountered tumultuously rushing rivers, eternal snows, and glaciers with awful crevasses and traces of devastating avalanches. The principal glacier he named Haast's Glacier, 'in honour of the enterprising geologist of Canterbury.' Intensely wet weather and shortness of provisions prevented them reaching the west coast in this direction. His companion, Mr. Sullivan, editor of the Otago Times, has given a very vivid description of the scenes and dangers of his journey, which were by no means trivial, especially on the lofty icefields of Mount Aspiring.

In May of the same year Dr. Hector left Port Chalmers in a small schooner of 20 tons, to examine the numerous inlets and sounds of the west coast of Otago. At Preservation Inlet he noticed immense quantities of splendid granite, capable of being easily quarried and shipped; at Paterson's Point strata of very good coal. But his greatest discovery was that of a considerable river between Martin's Bay and the Awarua river, which was named the Kaduku. Tracing this up, it led him to a lake called by him Kakapo Lake, ten miles in length, by four or five miles in width, whence he followed a valley to the central Lake Wakatipua, near the Greenstone River. Dr. Hector was only forty-six hours

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from leaving the schooner to reaching Queen's Town, and it could have been done in much less time. As these regions lie very near the great Clutha river, this route opens up a direct highway across the island; but Dr. Hector was of opinion that a still better and more direct route to these lakes could be found from Milford Sound, whence there is an old Maori pass. This, on further examination, was found cut off by a large precipice. On Dr. Hector's publication of his discovery, it was soon notified that part of this route had been opened up at an earlier date by a Mr. Charles Cameron, who had in consequence asked for the lease of a squatting station as a reward, as well as by Messrs. Caple, Alabaster and others. Dr. Hector freely admitted these prior claims on their being made known to him, which chiefly consisted of the discovery of the river Kaduku, and the Lake Kakapo.

About the same time Mr. Rochfort announced the discovery of an easy pass connecting the Wangapeka with the Karamea and the Lyell, or some other river running into the Buller on the west coast of Nelson, and another by Mr. David Clarke from the Motupika to the Buller.

The newspapers of Canterbury of Oct. 13, 1863, stated that Mr. A. Dobson, and a surveying party had gone to the west coast of that province via Nelson in a small schooner, which had been wrecked at the entrance of the Grey river, but that Mr. Dobson and his companions escaped and were making their examination of that coast.

Many of these expeditions of exploration are but small compared with the great journeys across the Australian continent, but, though less in extent, they are not the less arduous, as far as they go, from the nature of the country. The steepness, ruggedness, and intricacy of the mountains which run like a huge back-bone from end to end of these islands, from the wild impetus of the mountain rivers, the density of the forest, and the snow,

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cataracts, and ice-bergs, which are encountered in the Alpine regions. These expeditions show a spirit of research and adventure which have well nigh laid open the whole of New Zealand to the feet and the knowledge of its population.