i et” ie 
TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 863 
surpassed by anything in Switzerland, while the glaciers that roll down from these 
great mountains exceed in length and area any of those we know in Europe. 
The Southern Alps, which were explored by the author and Mr. C. G. Barrow 
in 1894-95, lie close to the west coast of the South Island. Mount Cook, the 
monarch of the range, rises to a height of 12,349 feet, and is situated at not more 
than fifteen miles from the sea-coast. The author's work was confined to the | 
Mount Cook district, between Mount McKerrow and the Whymper Glacier. His 
object was to find a pass feasible for tourist traffic during the summer months 
between The Hermitage, a small inn in the Tasman Valley, at the foot of the 
Hooker and Miiller Glaciers, and the country of Westland, so beautiful in its 
luxuriant subtropical vegetation and its great glaciers that roll down amidst lianas _, 
and tree ferns to within 600 feet of the sea level. The part of Canterbury situated 
near these ranges is extremely bare and rugged. A great plateau or table land, 
called the McKenzie country, reaches up towards the Tasman Valley, and in this 
are two great elacier-fed lakes, Pukaki and Tekapo. All up and along this great 
plain, some 2,000 feet above sea level, can be seen traces of ancient glacier action. . 
Huge mounds of moraine matter are strewed about, while a low species of snow 
grass covers the whole, rendering it all a dreary brown colour. 
Mount Sealy, 8,631 feet ; Mount Tasman, second highest in the Colony, 11,475 
feet; Mount Haidinger, 10,107 feet; the Silberhorn, 10,250 feet; and Mount 
Sefton, 10,359 feet, were ascended. In these ascents much trouble was given by 
the rotten condition of the rocks, and by the huge overhanging glaciers, caused no | 
doubt by the enormous rainfall, and therefore snowfall, in high altitudes. The 
snow line is very low, not more than 6,000 feet. This, combined with the fact that 
one had to commence operations from almost sea-level, renders ascents far more 
difficult than in Switzerland. When on the top of Mount Sefton the author was 
fortunate enough to see how a pass could be effected to the Karangarua River in 
Westland, and accordingly ten days later he set out with his guide Zurbriggen to 
cross the ranges, and accomplished this journey in three days, after many difficulties 
and hardships, over a saddle 7,180 feet above sea-level, which the New Zealand 
Government have named the Fitzgerald Pass. This passage could be rendered easy 
for tourists by a path being made, and it is only twenty-two miles in length. He 
came back over some of the largest glaciers in the Colony, and several high Alpine 
passes, when four consecutive nights were spent in the open. Mr. Harper, one of 
the New Zealand Government Surveyors, accompanied the expedition on its 
return, 
In a few weeks the author proposes to leave for South America to try and 
climb the mountain Aconcagua, which rises to a height of about 23,000 feet, and is 
the highest mountain in South America—in fact, outside of the Himalayan range 
it is the highest mountain in the world. His plan is to proceed from Buenos 
Ayres to Mendoza, and thence towards the Cordilleras de los Andes. The party 
will consist of Mr. C. L. Barrow, who was with the author in New Zealand; Mr. 
de Trafford ; Mr. Stewart Vines ; Mr. Philip Gosse, who will be charged with the 
natural history collections which will be made; and Zurbriggen, with three other 
guides and a porter from Switzerland. 
The author intends to cover as much of the country as possible ; to ascend 
several peaks; and to bring back natural history and geological specimens. He 
hopes to ascend Aconcagua gradually, moving slowly upwards and establishing 
several camps ; and by leaving one of the party at each camp he expects to keep 
up communication and to facilitate the supply of provisions, while at the same 
time he hopes to report the ascent to London immediately on reaching the summit 
if he should be successful. 
2. The Egyptian Sudan. 
By General Sir Cuartes Witson, .C.B., FBS. 
