Geological Survey of Canterbury. 83 



and indeed, in running water the whole way. The mountains on both 

 sides show glacier polishings and remains o£ lateral moraines. The 

 difference in height of all the glaciers on the east and west sides of the 

 Southern Alps struck me of course at once, as Lake B runner which 

 formed the end of the Teramakau glacier lies only 227 feet above the 

 sea level, while Lake Sumner, lying opposite, the end of the Hurunui 

 glacier in the same period, has a height of 1735 feet above the sea and 

 lies therefore 1508 feet higher. The cause of this difference which the 

 present glaciers show in the same way, lies in the greater dampness of 

 the climate on the western slopes, since six times as much rain falls on 

 the west coast as on the east. I remained several days at the 

 " paddock " in order to give my men and horses a little rest. During 

 my stay, several parties of diggers arrived, who had travelled 

 along by Lake Brunner and the western and southern sL pes of the 

 Hohonu chain, as it is not possible to follow the Teramakau river from 

 here to the coast on f oot, and the horses have generally to swim at the 

 crossing places These men were literally covered with mud, and gaye 

 such a description of the road that I thought it must be exaggerated ; 

 but I found afterwards, the so-called bush-track was so horribly bad, 

 that no description could give any idea of it. 



A few travelling parties had tried, in order to avoid the deep rapid ford 

 in the gorge of the Teramakau, to take their horses with them along 

 this path, but had either lost them or been obliged to return when half 

 way. I therefore sent my pack-horses and my riding horse with one of 

 my men down the river, to wait for me at the mouth of the Greenstone 

 Creek, and went myself, accompanied by my two other men, along the 

 dreaded bush track, because it afforded so much opportunity to study 

 the geology of the country more closely, and at the same time, to visit 

 Lake Brunner and the Greenstone Creek goldfields. We had 

 therefore to take with us provisions for several days, together with 

 tents and blankets, and started at noon on 18th April. For two miles 

 we followed a well-trodden path over grassland, keeping on the western 

 side of the valley. After we had waded through a broad swamp, 

 we entered a forest and ascended a terrace, on which we soon had a 

 foretaste of what we hai to expect during the next few days. We 

 sank to our middle in the half-liquid marsh, or had to climb over colossal 

 tree stems which lay half rotten in it, or stumbled over blocks of stones 

 and roots of trees. I do not think the best walker could possibly 

 make more than a mile an hour here. Towards evening we arrived at 

 Lake Brunner, on the shore of which we made our camp. This 



