Canterbury and Westland. 183 



I have already pointed out that Sealy's Pass, a neve saddle of about 

 6000 feet altitude, leads from the Godley glacier into the head waters 

 of the Whataroa, a rapid and large glacier river, reaching the sea about 

 four miles north of the Okarito lagoon. It is important to note this 

 fact, as it proves convincingly that owing to the enormous size of the 

 Godley glacier, and the vast snow-fields from which it is formed, there 

 is such a great amount of condensation of atmospheric moisture, and 

 such a lowering of the mean annual temperature in this part of the 

 Southern Alps, that the perpetual snow-line here descends considerably 

 below 6000 feet. The Keith Johnston range on the southern side of 

 Sealy's Pass, is separated from the Hector range by a high col ; this 

 latter range falls abruptly towards the Grey glacier, a tributary of the 

 Godley glacier, whilst on its south-eastern slopes, large neve fields feed 

 the Classen glacier. At the southern end of the Hector range, Mount 

 Beaumont rises, and from the West Coast stands out as a high rocky 

 pyramid, with abrupt slopes and a nearly square summit ; whilst, viewed 

 from the Great Tasman glacier, it appears almost entirely enveloped in 

 snow-fields of great extent, so that scarcely any rocks are visible. An. 

 important chain branches off from here, running to the south, 

 separated from Mount Beaumont by a neve saddle, about 8000 feet 

 high. It first forms, on the southern side of the col, the Hochstetter 

 Dome, the sides and summit of which are entirely hidden by snow-fields. 

 This mountain is separated by a deep depression from Mount Darwin, 

 a magnificent mountain about 12,000 feet high, resembling in its grand 

 pyramidical form Mount Beaumont, as seen from the West Coast. 

 Some of the principal glaciers of the New Zealand Alps have their 

 origin here ; the Tasman glacier from the south-western, the Classen 

 glacier from the eastern, and the Murchison glacier from the southern 

 slopes. The Agassiz glacier, and some other smaller glaciers north of 

 it, descend from the western divide of Mount Beaumont towards the 

 West Coast, forming the northern branches of the Waiau river. 

 Between the Tasman and Murchison glaciers, lies the bold and 

 picturesque Malte Brun range, appearing like an island, the Murchison 

 glacier having at no distant date joined the former and thus surrounded 

 this lofty snow-capped ridge. From Mount Darwin, the convergent 

 range still continues its southern direction, where first in the Liebig 

 range, the glacier sources of the River Cass, one of the affluents of Lake 

 Takapo are situated, and then still further south in Mount Jukes, those 

 of the river Joliie, one of the tributaries of the Tasman. From Mount 

 Beaumont, the Southern Alps continue their south-westerly direction 

 without interruption, forming the glorious peaks of Mount delaBeche, 



