76 Historical Notes on the 



The path led now along the northern side of the valley, which consists 

 generally of grassy flats. Eive miles from the lake, although the yalley 

 is still tolerably wide, the river flows in a more narrowed bed, little 

 terraces are formed on both sides, mostly covered with a luxuriant forest 

 vegetation, which rises above the grass in smaller or larger groups not 

 unlike a park, and consisting of either little thickets of beeches or bushes 

 of Scrophularinecs, Coprosmas and Compositae. Of the first, different 

 kinds of Veronicas, as V. salicifolia, Jlenziesii, ouxifolia &c, form 

 regular half -globe-like shrubs, while of the last, Olearia nitida and 

 CunningJiamii, Cassinia fulvida, and several others, please the eye by 

 their elegant forms and the variety of their tints. As soon as the view- 

 opens out to the west, the saddle wdiich forms the pass lies before us, 

 a clearly defined depression in the mountain range, which rises 

 steeply above it 4000 to 4500 feet on both sides. About four miles 

 from the pass, the road enters the forest and does not leave the river 

 again, which now assumes the character of a true mountain stream, 

 and rushes foaming over huge boulders ; from here it has to be 

 frequently crossed. 



The character of the landscape now becomes continually more ex- 

 tensive and grander. Roaring torrents come down from the northern 

 sides of the mountain, and Fagus Solandri gives place to Fagus Menziesii 

 which prefers a damper mountain climate : here and there isolated 

 forms of sub-alpine Senecios, Veronicas and Olearias occur. The 

 beautiful Ranunculus LyaUii with large cup-shaped leaves, and the 

 delicate Ligusticum Haastii with deeply serrated leases are found at 

 the water-courses, while the Aciphylla Colensoi, which till uow grew on 

 the grass flats and open places, is replaced by the gigantic Aciphylla 

 LyaUii with bluish-green, sharp bayonet-like leaves, and a flower-stalk 

 often ten feet high. Everything showed that we were now ascending 

 more rapidly, and approaching the pass. At the foot of the saddle two 

 mountain streams, coming from the north-west and south-west unite 

 and form the Hurunui. Here a blockhouse stands, built a few 

 years ago by the party accompanying Charles Howitt, w^ho was drowned 

 in Lake B runner while he was occupied in making a path through the 

 bush and over the pass into the valley of the Teramakau ; it was now 

 filled with provisions and belonged to a dealer, who was doing a very 

 good business, but complained that his profits were very much 

 lessened by the numbers of half-starving people who returned without 

 any money. I found in the blockhouse, the provisions that I had sent 

 on from the Waitohi gorge, consisting of flour, bacon, sugar and tea. 



