16 Transactions. 



A walk of an hour and a half brings one from the Kaitoke Station to 

 this charming spot, where but a couple of years ago was pitched a survey- 

 camp, by the work of whose vanished tenants one wishing to advance into 

 the wilds may largely profit. 



Crossing the Pakuratahi, we soon leave all vestige of a track behind 

 and plunge up the Hutt River. Here and there blazes on the trees are 

 met with, and occasionally one comes across a track cut over the blufi 

 forming one of the walls of some impassable gorge between which the waters 

 rush as through a mill-sluice. The river bends with monotonous frequency, 

 which necessitates incessant crossing to take advantage of the shingle -bank 

 or rocky ledge on the opposite side, in order to gain a few chains advance ; 

 thus, sometimes wading up to one's middle, scrambling over slippery rocks, 

 hanging on by bough, tussock, or pendant kiekie {Freycinetia), always 

 striving to keep the food and blankets, strapped shoulder-high, dry, slow 

 progress is made. Anon one of the party slips from the rock into some 

 deep pool, and the water surges round the knapsack ; but the biscuits, 

 contained in a tin case, are safe, and the victim slowly and laboriously 

 draws himself out of the swift current, and drains himself on the bank. 

 Occasionally the spirit of sport asserts itself, and a halt is called to watch 

 some monster of a trout or eel, the solitary inhabitant of a deep pool, lazily 

 disporting himself. 



The rock scenery of the gorges is truly grand. Cut into fantastic 

 shapes by the current when in flood, here and there a mass of rock which 

 has survived the eroding force of the river stands out in bold relief, often 

 with some narrow defile for a background, through which the river rushes 

 with deafening surge. Pockets and pot-holes in the rock hold a lodgment 

 of silty soil, supporting many beautiful plants. Prominent is Carmichaelia 

 odorata, Veronica catarractcB (well named), MicrolcBna avenacea, Pratia angu- 

 lata, Hijdwcotyle sp., Coriaria ruscifolia, Gnaphaliuni Keriense, sometimes 

 the rare Calceolaria repens, and similar plants requiring a moist, well- 

 drained alluvial soil. 



Feathered friends are not wanting to break the stillness of the bush. 

 Once a pair of blue mountain-duck were startled from the bank, and swam 

 leisurely down-stream, uttering expostulatory quacks against the intruders 

 of their fastness. The quaint little rifleman is observed in numbers, 

 running up the sides of the trees and snapping up many a toothsome 

 morsel with its upwardly inclined bill, whistling from time to time a cheer- 

 ful twit. The tui's musical note is often heard, contrasting strongly with 

 the long-tailed cuckoo's screechy pipe. Fantails flutter here and there, 

 and occasionally a handsome pigeon laboriously wings its musical flight 

 from tree to tree. 



Presently the gorge opens ou,t, and light floods the valley. We are 

 nearing the confluence of the Hutt and the Lesser Hutt. Scrambling down 

 a, steep face, a fine river - beach is reached at 6.30 p.m. Camp is soon 

 pitched, and a hearty meal enjoyed. This camp is about 80U ft. altitude 

 — not greatly different from that of Kaitoke. 



A visit to this camp in November, 1908, when the faint odour of the 

 rangiora {Brachyglottis repanda) was in the air, and the spring flowers had 

 shaken out their petals to the full, showed us many whiteheads, tomtits, 

 riflemen, pied fantails, grey warblers, a pair of grey duck, flocks of chaf- 

 finches, many pigeons, kaka, parrakeets, tuis, long-tailed cuckoos ; and m 

 the still hour of the early dawn a weka visited the tent, was disturbed, and 

 stalked up the valley, waking the echoes with its vibrant call. 



