6 Historical Notes on the 



we arrived at last on the left bank of the tributary, which I named the 

 Forbes. The ground here became so rough that we were obliged to leave 

 the horses behind, and climbing over the huge boulders and masses of 

 debris, brought down no doubt by avalanches, through and over 

 which the foaming water was roaring, we soon reached the first 

 tributary of this stream, descending at an inclination of 20 degrees 

 from a glacier of the second order, hanging some 2500 feet above, on 

 the side of the huge mountain, down which its icy outlet rushed with 

 such fury that we had difliculty in crossing it. Signs of 

 avalanches became now very numerous, couloir succeeding couloir 

 and the mountain sides were everywhere covered with debris 

 and blocks of rock, and although these signs of destruction were 

 great, the power of nature was still greater. Everywhere 

 amongst these blocks, where the least stability could be obtained, 

 plants, often in great luxuriance, had driven their roots. The 

 clear atmosphere of New Zealand, which is deceptive when judging 

 of distances, was still more so here. The snowy giants seemed 

 quite close before us, and it was only by walking continually towards 

 them that their distance became apparent. 



After three miles walking the valley became narrower, the river 

 rushed over enormous blocks of rock, which impeded its progress so 

 that it wandered from one side to the other, compelling us constantly 

 to climb over the huge blocks or along the rocky walls of the 

 jutting spurs. A large green parrot, quite unknown to me, flew 

 screaming over the valley, wondering at the intruders on his domain, 

 whilst a few Paradise and blue ducks on the edges of the river 

 uttered their well-known notes. After two hours' climbing, 

 having passed in the mean time over several other outlets from 

 glaciers of the second order, we reached a large stream, pouring 

 down the steep mountain side with a thundering roar. The feeder of 

 this torrent hung like a huge frozen tear from the slope of the 

 mountain. "We had great difliculty in crossing it, the water rushing 

 against our legs like a mill-stream against the paddles of a water-wheel. 

 Climbing another small ridge before us, squeezed between two 

 •precipitous promontories, the first true glacier came in sight. It was 

 about 600 feet broad, 100 feet high, consisting of well stratified ice, 

 the layers of a thickness of from three to five feet, concave and 

 apparently adopting the form of the valley. The ice itself was very 

 dirty at the terminal face, and the whole surface was deeply covered 

 with fragments of rocks, some of enormous size, so as to conceal it 



