﻿14 New Zealand Institute. 



here be mentioned that a river named the Kaduku (or Holly ford), with a 

 difficult bar at its month, rnns into Martin's Bay from Lake M'Kerrow (or 

 (Kakapo), on the northern shore of which a few adventurous settlers from 

 Otago have lately planted themselves. 



On the 27th February we were agreeably surprised by the arrival in Bligh 

 Sound of a small steamer, the 'Storm Bird,' despatched to our assistance by the 

 Colonial Government, with fifty sheep and other provisions for the officers and 

 crew, so soon as Dr. Hector had reached the nearest settlement and made our 

 situation known by telegraph. Shortly afterwards the 'Yirago' also arrived 

 to the aid of the ' Clio. ' Commodore Stirling then determined to take his 

 ship to be docked at Sydney ; so_, on the morning of the 1st March, I left 

 Bligh Sound in the ' Storm Bird ' for Invercargill. After passing successively 

 the entrances to George, Caswell, Charles, and Nancy Sounds, we anchored at 

 sunset in the secure harbour of Deas Cove, about three miles from the entrance 

 of Thomson Sound. On the following morning we started at daybreak, 

 steamed up Thomson Sound, and returned to the open sea by Doubtful Inlet. 

 After passing the entrance to Daggs Sound, we entered Breaksea Sound, and 

 regained the sea by Dusky Bay, in which Captain Cook remained for several 

 weeks in 1773, and which he has described with his usual graphic accuracy. 

 Afterwards we passed the entrances to Chalky and Preservation Inlets, and 

 then proceeded to the Solander Islets, at the west end of Foveaux Straits. It 

 had been reported that some seamen had been cast away there from a recent 

 wreck ; but after a careful examination, no trace of any visitors could be found 

 on these desolate rocks, so we bore up for Invercai'gill, where I landed on the 

 3rd March. Here began an official tour of great interest through the Middle 

 Island, where I was received by the provincial authorities and by all classes 

 of the community with a warmth of courtesy and hospitality for which I shall 

 ever feel grateful. 



Although Milford Sound, at the extreme north of the thirteen inlets of the 

 West Coast, surpasses the rest in stern grandeur and awful solitude, they all 

 have many features in common. They are everywhere deep and narrow, 

 subject to violent winds and strong tides and curi'ents, and with few safe and 

 sheltered anchorages. A tumbled sea of mountains looks down from above 

 on the long swell of the Souihern Ocean, breaking in clouds of snow-white foam 

 on ci'aggy cliffs rising abruptly from the shore, while glaciers and snowy peaks, 

 slopes covered with noble forest trees, gloomy valleys and glittering waterfalls, 

 — all combine to present an ever-varying succession of sublime pictures. 



The official tours of a Governor may be made practically useful, for they 

 enable him to point out, from personal knowledge and in an authoritative 

 shape, the resources and capabilities of the several districts of the Colony over 

 which he presides, and the advantages which they afford for immigration and 

 for the investment of capital. I have learned from several quarters that the 



