﻿DoBSON. — On Traces of Ayicient Glaciers in Nelson Province. 337 



from the moiintains to what is at present the coast line ; and if the relative 

 level of sea and land was the same at that time as it is noAv, the west coast of the 

 Middle Island must have much resembled the North Polar lands described by 

 Dr. Kane, where the glaciers descending from the mountains reach the sea, 

 and, breaking off in enormous masses, float away, covered with rocks and 

 moraine matter. 



The glaciers, both ancient and modern, of the Southern Alps have been 

 fully explored and reported upon by Dr. liaast, and are only mentioned here 

 to show that, with these enormous traces of former glaciation in Westland and 

 Canterbury, it is to be expected that similar appearances will be found amongst 

 the Nelson mountains. 



The mountains to the westward of Nelson rise to an altitude of from 5,000 

 to 6,000 feet above the sea level, and are covered with snow during the winter 

 months ; many streams rise amongst them, and at the head of nearly every 

 large stream well defined traces of glacial action exist. I am not aware that 

 these facts have ever been described before, and those unacquainted with the 

 appearance of glacial phenomena, and also ignorant of the extent to which the 

 country was once covered with snow and ice, might easily pass by these indi- 

 cations, or, if noticing indifferently, might perhaps mistake them for the traces 

 of avalanches. 



The ancient glacier beds are mvich overgi-ov/n with scrub and bush, the 

 striated and polished rocks frequently covered with broken rock and grass, so 

 that there is not often much to catch the eye of a casual observer. 



The most clearly-defined glacier bed that I have seen west of Nelson is 

 situated at the head of the Boulder River, a tributary of the Aoi-ere, which 

 falls into Golden Bay at Col ling wood. The river takes its rise from a lake 

 (Te Warau), which is 3,200 feet above the sea level, and occu^^iesthe lower end 

 of a narrow valley formed by Lead Hill on the west, and a lidge which divides 

 the Boulder River from Rocky River and the heads of the Anatoki on the 

 east. Lead Hill is a mass of granite, which rises to a height of 4,450 feet 

 above the sea, and has forced up the slate which forms the opposite ridge to 

 the eastward to a highly inclined angle. 



The valley in which the lake is situated lies between the granite and the 

 slate, and is about three miles long from the southwaixl ; it commences amongst 

 the mountain spurs, ending at the north in a cliff 200 feet high, over which 

 the water from the lake falls in one unbroken sheet. Just above the cliff a 

 dome of granite rises about 100 feet above the lake, its sides furrowed and 

 polished, and every angle rubbed off, giving it the appeai-ance of a huge grey 

 snowball left standing on the hill side. All the surrounding rocks are also 

 scored and polished for a height of about 150 feet above the lake. The height 

 at wdiich the scouring action of the glacier ceased is most distinctly marked, 



