Geological Survey of Canterbury . 97 



seems that without being able to account for it, one heavy gale very 

 often brings such an amount of sand with it, that nearly all the rocks 

 between high and low water mark are covered with it. During one, or 

 several gales, it remains in that condition, till at last another washes it 

 all out again. Thus it happens that after nearly every heavy gale such 

 great changes take place, that one cannot count with certainty on 

 bringing horses round without very great trouble. Eor the first 

 mile or so we had very fair travelling ground, but soon became aware 

 that we had started too late, as the tide began to rise, covering the 

 lower part of the beach, which consisted mostly of small boulders and 

 sand, and we were obliged to take a higher line, where, from the nature 

 of the huge blocks, we were often obliged to round them by waiting for 

 the retreat of the waves, and then rushing through the water. So we 

 toiled on, now and then caught by a great wave ; the feet of the horses 

 slipped between the boulders, and were sometimes only extricated with 

 the loss of a shoe ; and although the poor animals were bleeding and 

 exhausted, we could not lose a moment, as the tide was rising. So we 

 unpacked them with all haste, and brought them near high water line, 

 where on examining the ground, I had discovered a better track, made 

 by a party of diggers who had preceded us with horses. By filling up 

 the interstices between the large boulders, and cutting through smaller 

 cliffs of silt, they had made it possible to get round the last point 

 before reaching the Whataroa river. It is here that Abut Head is 

 situated, which rises almost perpendicularly several hundred feet from 

 the sea. Eor a great distance enormous blocks of rock lie scattered in 

 the surf, over which the waves dash with the utmost violence. Thus I 

 again had an opportunity of observing that the digger, when once bent 

 upon exploring a country, will not be beaten by any obstacle in his 

 way, and that being often made an engineer by necessity, he will find at 

 last his way to the proposed goal without flinching from his self-im- 

 posed task. Having at last brought the horses safely round the point, 

 we returned to fetch their loads, and as the high tide would 

 not allow us to cross the Whataroa (which, immediately south of Abut 

 Head, reaches the sea), we had to wait till nearly evening in a cold 

 south-wester, accompained by occasional showers. About four 

 o'clock, the river had fallen sufficiently to allow r us to cross, which had 

 to be done in two branches ; and, although the water, owing to the cold 

 weather, was exceedingly low, it reached in the first branch nearly to 

 the armpits ; whilst in the second branch, being the largest, it was not so 

 high, owing to its wide expanse. On the southern side we had to traverse 



