176 Physical Geography of 



shortly after the recks now forming the Southern Alps had been 

 thrown into the huge foldings they now exhibit, some abyssological 

 force of enormous power, situated near that point had laid the 

 foundation to this remarkable orographical feature by which the 

 country appears starred ; just as we find it in volcanic regions — 

 Lyttelton Harbour, for instance — where, however, the fissures thus 

 formed have been injected by volcanic rocks of a different character 

 from those of which the system has originally been built up. Mr. 

 Dobson, at the same time, observes (paragraph 39 of the same report) : 

 " it might be imagined that these radiating lines would form passes 

 through the central chain at the head of the valleys, but he thinks 

 that, with the exception of the Hurunui valley, this is not the case.'* 

 However, a closer examination of the map will show that such 

 depressions in the Southern Alps do generally exist, although the 

 line, when crossing the water-shed, is sometimes a little deflected. 



For those of my readers who are not acquainted with Mr. Dobson's 

 able Report, I have annexed a copy of his ingenious map, on which 

 all the principal features in question are clearly indicated. It is true, 

 as before observed, that the Hurunui-Teramakau line shows this 

 radiating structure most strikingly, but all the other valleys, although 

 not so clearly indicated, have similar features : thus, to give a few 

 instances — there is Harman's Pass at the head of the Waimakariri, 

 leading into the Taipo ; Sealy's Pass at the head of the Godley river, 

 leading into the Whataroa ; and the deep depression between Mount 

 Cook and Mount Stokes, the direct continuation of the Tasman river 

 and Hooker glacier valleys. A similar well defined opening is the 

 alpine saddle between the Moorhouse range and Mount Holmes, at 

 the head of the Dobson river ; whilst Docherty's Pass, at the head of 

 the Clarke river, might be pointed out as continuing the direction of 

 the Makaroa line over Haast's Pass to the starting point in queation. 



