6 Proceedings. 



Field, member of Parliament for Otaki, accompanied Mr. Aston to Mount Hector 

 from the Kaitoke end, and came out at Otaki. I wished him to have a look at 

 the Kaitoke end with a view to our co-operating with him in his efforts to cut a 

 good track from the Otaki side, for which purpose a sum has been voted by the 

 Government. I believe that the Lands Department has now agreed to undertake 

 the expenditure of this £50 on the track from the Otaki Gorge through the bush 

 at that end up to the clear land on Mount Denham. There is also a bridge being 

 placed across the creek at that end. I hope that during the present season we 

 shall be able to complete arrangements for working on our end of the track in the 

 vvay of clearing the present track, so that horses may be taken up with provisions 

 or materials for erecting a permanent hut. There are also some small ditticulties 

 about the approach to the track which I hope will be got over shortly, and I think 

 that this year the Society might vote a small sum towards the expense of clearing 

 the approaches. In my last address I suggested that we should endeavour to have 

 a permanent hut erected on Ruapehu and another on the Tararuas. Since then I 

 visited Ruapehu from Rangitaua, and I am of the opinion that there is no necessity 

 for us to take the initiative in building a hut on that side of the mountain : the 

 people in the locality have taken the matter up with so much vigour that in a short 

 time I think every necessary facility will be provided for. At present there is very 

 little difficulty in liding to within a short distance of the siunmit. This leaves us 

 to devote oar energies to co-operating with those who are working on the Tararua 

 tracks from the Otaki side, and also with those who are working with a similar 

 track from Masterton and the Wairarapa. It therefore appears that next summer 

 we may be able to say that the Tararua Range is open to the study of naturalists 

 to a better degree than it has ever been. 



The results of the small amount of collecting on the Quoin and the adjacent 

 parts show that there is a vast amount of material of a most interesting character 

 ready to our hand. The collectors who have been there have been well rewarded 

 in ol3taining new species of insects and new records for many Lcpidopteia. The 

 iilpine insects are so very local that as each fresh region of the alpine country is 

 examined we may expect fresh discoveries and additions to our fauna and floi-a. 



In one of Mr. Aston's papers which will appear in the forthcoming volume of 

 the Transactions there is a useful map, unfortunately on a small scale, prepared by 

 the Lands Department, showing the tracks upon the different spurs. 



Mountain Oh.^crvaturic-'t. — Before leaving this subject I may say that I should 

 like to see later on a small observatory built en Mount Hector at which self- 

 recording instruments could be installed for the purpose of making records 

 during the winter-time, mainly of the rainfall and barometric pressure. The 

 amount of alpine rainfall is not sufficiently estimated in this country, as a rule. 

 Owing to the destruction of the bush on the lower grounds which retarded 

 the descent of the water from the higher portions of the watersheds, the rainfall 

 now descends very rapidly, and in consequence is liable to injure the valuable land 

 on the flat, to say nothing of the culverts, bridges, roads, &c. I saw a suggestion 

 the other day that observations of this kind should be taken on Momit Egmont, 

 as there were facilities for doing so at the present time at the moimtain houses. 

 This should certainly be arranged, and observations taken at the head-waters of 

 all the larger streams with a view to getting a better understanding of the water- 

 power which will be valuable for industrial purposes when the question of the 

 harnessing of rivers for electiical purposes is in a more practical position. This 

 question of an accurate knowledge of the condition and amount of rainfall over 

 given areas is perhaps even more important to those in manufacturing localities 

 than a knowledge of the local weather is to the agriculturists and others who are 

 concerned in the ripening and preservation of their crops. If electrical energy is 

 provided for industrial purposes by water-power, we must have the knowledge of the 

 probable I'ainfall, as well as the means of conserving and properly distributing the 

 supply of water for the energy required. 



Coiiief. — Perhaps I may be permitted to make one or two remarks on the 

 subject of the comet, about which you will hear more this evening, which may 

 interest, and which I think are hardly likely to be made by any of the gentlemen 

 who are speaking on this subject. This brilliant visitor, known as Halley's Comet, 

 is generally regarded as one which has made many brilliant visits at various dates, 

 and the visit of lOGfi is recorded in the Saxon chronicle in the following terms : 

 " There was seen over all England such a sign in the heavens as no man ever before 

 saw. Some men said that it was the star Cometa, which some men called the 

 haired star; and it first appeared on the eve of Litania major, the viiith of the 

 Kal. of May [24th April], and so shone all the seven nights." This was regarded 

 after the event as William's lucky star. 



