DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH OF NEW ZEALAND. 



From this saddle we could see the flat land on the west coast, and here we had the 

 first view of the western ocean. The westerly lower peak of the Hochstetter Dome is 

 round, the easterly one is pointed. We made for the latter. There was a large crevasse 



before us, which was soon reached ; we had not only to 

 find a place where it was bridged over by the debris of 

 an avalanche and get over it, but we also had to cut. steps 

 up the other slope a steep wall of ice. Although the 

 height was one hundred and ten feet, this took an hour." 



A bergschrund proved a formidable obstacle to farther 

 progress, and the party was obliged to go round the highest 

 peak over the Main Range on the northern side. After this 

 the narrator continues : " I was able to scramble up the 



ice-wall, and we were over the 

 bergschrund at 4.30 p.m. We 

 got up to the main ridge again, 

 cutting steps along the upper 

 margin in very steep ice, and 

 then walked along the ridge 

 towards the summit. Another 

 crevasse, which runs through 

 the summit from north to south, 

 forced .us to descend the steep 

 northern side once more. We 

 rounded this last difficulty and 

 cut steps up to the top. The 

 incline of this last bit was so 

 great that it was necessary not 

 only to cut large steps to stand 

 in, but also to cut little holes 

 for our hands. Slow was the 

 work, and I had to exert all 

 the energy that was left in my 

 brain to press on. At last, 

 when lifting the ice-axe for a 



blow, I saw the sun shining on its glittering blade ; the sun shone over the top. Two 

 steps more and I was on the top, and pulled the others after me with the rope ; this 

 was at 5.50 p.m. The sky was cloudless, and not a breath of wind disturbed the ab- 

 solute stillness which surrounded us. New Zealand lay at our feet. We sun-eyed the 

 land from sea to sea a glorious panorama ; the Southern Alps extended from south to 

 north, glittering in all the colours of the rainbow in the parting sun. . . . The wide 

 expanse of the western ocean, changing in colour rapidly as the sun neared the horizon, 

 lay at our feet to the westward ; the clear straight horizon line apparently towering to 

 heaven. We could discern the coast-line to the south of Hokitika and the belt of flat 

 land which fringes the western slope of the Southern Alps. We could dimly recognize 





A GALACIAL CAVE. 



