Geological Survey of Canterbury. 115 



is generally called a native heath by the Europeans. As some of the 

 bushes grow to a height; of ten feet with thick branches, it offers wood 

 enough to keep up a cheerful fire. 



Next morning we started again in a pouring rain After having 

 crossed the highest point of the roclies moutonnees, about 400 feet 

 above the river, we had another piece of sub-alpine vegetation to cross, 

 the density of which defies description. "Working our way for half a 

 mile through this thicket we arrived at an enormous avalanche coming 

 from near the summit of Mount Sale and lying in a regular channel. 

 This avalanche had been much larger, as was well shown when we 

 descended it to the bed of the Arahura, just below the junction of the 

 Harman stream, where in some places it formed a nearly perpendicular 

 wall thirty to forty feet high. It was thus evident that shortly before, 

 it had here filled the whole valleys of the Arahura and Harman to a 

 great altitude, the gorges in which these rivers flow being then hidden 

 altogether. That this channel, several hundred yards broad, is usually 

 filled by avalanches, which fall repeatedly, was not only indicated by 

 the configuration of the mountain side, but we were witnesses of 

 another huge avalanche falling the next morning, when camped on the 

 opposite side of the river, the thunder occasioned by it reverberating 

 in the mountains. Gruided by the miner, we followed, for a short 

 distance the course of the Harman, climbing along the nearly 

 perpendicular banks, through the close-growing vegetation, till he told 

 me, looking at the large swollen torrent below us, that he did not 

 recognise the country ; but as I knew that our road must lead across 

 that stream, I ordered the party at once to descend. On reaching the 

 rocky banks of the river, now swollen and rushing with impetuosity 

 amongst and over high rocks, the guide thought that he must be wrong, 

 because when he and his companions passed here four weeks previously, 

 they crossed no other water-course than the one we had passed the 

 day before, and had seen no deep gorge like this ; on the contrary, 

 the whole country had been here covered with one uniform sheet 

 of snow, on which they had walked across from Mr. Browning's flag- 

 staff to the place we had left in the morning. It was thus clear that 

 the whole deep gorge had been, for about 150 feet, filled up with snow, 

 which had entirely obliterated the configuration of the country ; and in 

 looking up the river, in some places, remains of this huge avalanche 

 were still visible in the form of snow bridges amongst the rocks. And 

 the conviction forced itself upon me that a road, laid out in the way 

 propo»ed by Mr. Browning, namely, to cross the Harman in this neigh- 



