i46 Historical Notes on the 



Before reaching the "Waimakariri, we crossed Groldney's saddle, and 

 made rapid progress, the road along the ranges being finished and in 

 good order. The splendid scenery upon which I had gazed with such 

 admiration eighteen months before had lost nothing by being seen again. 

 The broad river-bed, deep below us, with its numerous branches 

 anastomosing and .gradually getting narrower before it disappeared 

 amongst the outrunning spurs of the Southern Alps, formed the central 

 portion of the landscape. On both sides stood magnificent ranges, 

 covered for several thousand feet with a fine uniform beech forest. As 

 the eye followed them, the forest line gradually lowered, and before 

 the central range was reached, it had disappeared, to give way to alpine 

 vegetation, of which vivid green patches were visible from here. The 

 background was formed by a high range, with large snow-fields between 

 the rocky buttresses, from which several glaciers descended to lower 

 regions. It is a truly Xew Zealand alpine landscape, only to be 

 rivalled by one other on the whole "West Coast road, and that of a 

 different character, namely, the romantic valley of the Otira, not with- 

 out justice, so highly praised for its beautiful and diversified scenery. 



Arriving on March the 12th at the Bealey, Tre found this locality, 

 where some 18 months previously a small township existed, now almost 

 deserted, everybody, with the exception of the telegraphist and a 

 sergeant of police in charge of the station, having left. So we had 

 quite a choice of habitations, instead of being obliged to pitch our 

 tents. During my stay at the junction of the Bealey, I once more visited 

 Arthur's Pass, being able, in the almost continuous rock cutting along 

 the banks of the river, to obtain very clear sections nearly up to the 

 summit, whilst after the road had descended into the bed of the 

 Otira, similar cuttings continued to offer reliable information concern- 

 ing the geological structure of the central chain. The mountains on both 

 sides of the Pass were ascended by us to a considerable height, and 

 large and valuable collections made. The remarkable small rock wren 

 (Xenicus gilviventris) , of which I had obtained several specimens pre- 

 viously, was also found to enhabit the large taluses of debris and the 

 morainic accumulations leaning on the sides of the high mountains. 

 Although we were rather late in the year for collecting flowering plants, 

 a very rich flora was found to exist on the summit of the Pass, where, 

 like on all the alpine Passes visited in Canterbury, a considerable 

 area is covered with boggy ground, water-holes, and lagoons, in and 

 around which, a rich harvest of rare alpine plants was made. 

 The geological features proved to be similar to those observed on the 



