270 REPORT— 1891. 



of exploration and discovery in the South Island undoubtedly 

 began. The preliminary expedition despatched from England 

 on this service was in all respects better equipped than the first, 

 or what may be termed the Wellingtoii one. Captain Arthur 

 Vv^ikefield, a younger brother of Colonel and Edward Gibbon 

 Wakefield, was in charge, and he had under him a very com- 

 petent and efficient staff — men whose names, amongst others, 

 will ever be connected with exploration in the South — Tuckett, 

 Brunner, Barnicoat, Monro, Davison, and Pelichet. Their 

 discoveries form an extensive and important feature in the 

 history of early New Zealand — so extensive, indeed, that an 

 effort now to give any note of them would prove a trespass 

 on }our patience and an injustice to names and deeds so 

 memorable. I shall therefore conveniently close here, and leave 

 my subject, in the hope of again returning to it. 



Whilst engaged in the researches which have resulted in 

 these memoranda, and in others eqiially interesting, the regret 

 has been very keen that no provision exists for the collection 

 and publication of so many early-history matters which now 

 lie buried and all but unknown, This is not creditable, and I 

 sincerely hope that advantage will be taken of this auspicious 

 occasion to initiate a society of this sort whose branches will 

 extend throughout the colony, and v^^hose object will be to 

 collect and record whilst there is opportunity. Should this 

 happy result accrue I need be under no pains to ask your for- 

 bearance for the shortcomings of this paper. 



3. The Exploration of Soutli-ivestern Otarjo. 



By F. E. Chapmam. 



This paper embraced a description of the alpine district lying 

 to the west of the Waiau Eiver, and its lake-reservoirs, Mana- 

 pouri and Te Anau, in the Province of Otago, in the South 

 Island of New Zealand, a^nd a history of the efforts made to 

 explore that region. 



The district is alpine, though the mountains are not of 

 sufficient height, or the snowfields are too limited, to produce 

 great glaciers such as occur in the Southern Alps of Canter- 

 bury, where the range is twice as high. 



The writer denies that there is evidence that a true glacial 

 period ever occurred in New Zealand. The alpine district of 

 Canterbury exhibits ample evidence of more extensive glaciation 

 than now exists, and the region described has been chiselled 

 into its present form by the action of a series of great glaciers. 



