332 



But let us take another and even more extraordinary instance. I mean 

 that of Westland, and the country to the north of it, forming part of the 

 Pi'ovince of Nelson, and lying to the westward of the Mount Arthur Range 

 and the Spencer Mountains. The whole of this extensive tract consists of 

 broken mountain ranges, attaining, on a base of thirty to thirty-five miles from 

 the West Coast, a general elevation approaching 7000 feet, whilst in Mount 

 Cook we find it rising to upwards of 13,000 feet, and in the Spencer Mountains 

 to upwards of 9000 feet. From these ranges a large number of rivers flow to 

 the coast, the principal ones being the Buller, with its great tributaries, the 

 Maruia, the Inangahau, and the Matakitaki ; the Grey, with its tributary the 

 Ahaura ; the Teremakau, the Hokitika, the Waihau, flowing from the Mount 

 Cook glaciers ; the Haast, and the Arawhata ; whilst a host of smaller ones 

 help to cany off" the abundant rain-fall by which this district, in common with 

 the western slopes of these Islands generally, is characterized. The country in 

 question is, moreover, densely clothed with forest, consisting chiefly of Fagus, 

 after reaching an elevation of seven to eight hundred feet, whilst the alluvial 

 deposits near the mouths of the rivers support various species of the Conifer ce 

 of New Zealand, with the usual dense undergrowth. 



At a few places along this coast, in and previously to the year 1864, small 

 settlements of natives existed, the people of which lived in great seclusion and 

 poverty, subsisting chiefly on fish and small degenerate potatoes, whilst the 

 whole district remained in the condition of an almost virgin country, 

 showing but little sign of interference on the part of man. In the year 1847, 

 shoi'tly after the establishment of the Nelson settlement, Mr. Thomas Brunner, 

 lately Chief Surveyor for the Province of Nelson, undertook to explore the 

 West Coast of the settlement, and, accompanied by a small party of natives, 

 he succeeded, after undergoing great fatigue and hardship, in reaching a point 

 somewhere to the south of the Grey. He was actually absent for upwards of 

 twenty months, during which time he had no o];)portunity of communicating 

 with any other European; and, in the journal which he published, he described 

 the country as being rugged, worthless, and unprofitable to a degree, and the 

 rain-fall as utterly excessive. His description of its character, the length of 

 time spent in his explorations, the extreme difficulties and hardships he 

 encountei^ed, were quite sufficient to deter any attempt to utilize it for purposes 

 of settlement, and it i^emained an almost unknown land until visited, many 

 years after, by Mr. James Mackay, in connection with its purchase from the 

 natives. In 1861, in consequence of suggestions made by persons in Nelson, 

 who were desirous of having further information in regard to its topography, 

 geology, and natural productions. Dr. Haast was appointed by the Nelson 

 Government to make a further exploration, and to report upon it. The result 

 of his examination was embodied in a report presented to the Nelson Govern- 

 raent, at the end of that year, in which, however. Dr. Haast made no 



