328 T raiisacfions. 



exactly opposite AVhitcombe Pass. But by far the most important are tlie 

 glaciers at the actual head of the Rakaia, from which the river derives a 

 great part of its water. The furthest west of these is the Lyell Glacier. 



(i.) Lyell Glacier. 

 (See tig. 3, and Plate IV, tig. 1.) 



The Lyell Glacier was discovered by Dr. von Haast in the year 1862. 

 He saw it from Mein's Knob, but did not actually visit it, although he must 

 have sent on some one to take an aneroid reading of the height of the 

 terminal face. Mr. G. J. Roberts, the late Chief Surveyor for Westland, 

 crossed the end of it when he made his survey of the Ramsay Glacier and 

 its neighbourhood, but he does not seem to have done more. It is thus an 

 unknown glacier, although within a reasonable distance of settled parts of 

 Canterbury. The present writer, with two students, made an exploration 

 of it in December last, and the following facts about it are the result of 

 observations made on that occasion. 



The Lyell Glacier extends from Mount Tyndall* in an easterly direction 

 for nearly five miles till it reaches to within a mile and a half of Mein's Knob, 

 the bluff which fronts the Ramsay Glacier on the south side of the Rakaia 

 River. It is bounded on the south by Mount Goethe, and on the north 

 by the main range of the Southern Alps, and then by a spur from that 

 range stretching in an easterly direction towards Mount Kinkel. The 

 floor of the valley is a little over a half a mile wide on the average ; it is 

 wider than lower down, immediately between Mount Kinkel and Mein's 

 Knob, where the valley takes a turn to the north towards the Ramsay 

 Glacier. In former times the Lyell Glacier overrode the end of the spur 

 where Mein's Knob now is, and truncated it partially, leaving the knob 

 with the characteristic shape produced by this mode of glacier erosion. 

 Jim's Knob, on the opposite side of the river, has been formed in the same 

 way by the Ramsay Glacier. The river which issues from the present 

 Lyell Glacier may well be called the Lyell River, the name " Rakaia " 

 being given to the stream formed by the jmiction of the Lyell with the 

 twin stream from the Ramsay, the present confluence being between Mein's 

 Knob and Jim's Knob. The two streams from the Ramsay and the Lyell 

 appear to be of about equal size. 



The Lyell River issued at the time of our visit from near the north side 

 of the terminal face. A large body of water came from an ice-cave near 

 the middle, ran by a tunnel under the ice in a northerly direction, and 

 added considerably to the volume of the main stream. Behind the ice- 

 cave the cliffs rose to a height of 60 ft. A small creek coming from the east 

 side of Mount Goethe enters the valley on its south side immediately below 

 the end of the glacier. This marks roughly the present position of the face. 

 The floor of the valley is kept fairly clear of morainic accumulations by 

 the transporting action of the powerful stream issuing from the glacier. 

 About a half a mile dowji a high mound still remains which belonged 

 to a former lateral moraine ; but even this shows signs of being rapidly 

 removed by the river. It is hard to tell from the present form of the ter- 

 minal face whether the glacier is retreating at the present time, but the 

 southern side shows signs of a collapse, which suggests that this is the case. 



* This is not Mount Tyndall of the Westland survey, but the peak called so by 

 Haast when exploring the Upper Ralcaia VaUey. The name has been retained in 

 this paper, although it must certaiulx be replaced by another at an early date. 



