Canterbury and Westland. 197 



from Darwin's classical works on that region. Like our own "West 

 Coast, the former is covered with a dense and uniform forest vegetation, 

 which, of course, again favours the condensation of the clouds, and, 

 consequently, the fall of rain ; but these dense forests are generally 

 not the cause of the rainfall, as popularly has been assumed, but are a 

 consequence of it. It is obvious, from the fact of the snow-line, 

 which owing to the equable and humid climate on the West Coast, is 

 very low, probably about 6000 feet near Mount Cook, and from the fact 

 that the fall of snow and condensation of moisture must be still greater 

 in those higher regions, where equatorial currents come in contact 

 with the cold surfaces of the Alps, that all necessary conditions exist 

 not only for the formation of large glaciers, but also for their descent 

 to much lower regions than at the east coast. 



Standing at the sea- coast near Hokitika, I very often observed that 

 the mountains bounding the West Coast plains were covered with 

 nimbus or rain clouds, whilst we enjoyed fine weather near the sea. 

 At the same time, very often, smaller freshets in" the rivers could be 

 observed, when not a drop of rain had fallen near the sea-beach, all con- 

 firming the still larger amount of moisture falling in the higher regions. 

 The difference between the eastern and western side of the central 

 chain is well exhibited by the great Tasman glacier, which, although 

 of much larger dimensions than the Francis Joseph glacier, yet 

 descends only to 2456 feet above the sea-level, whilst the latter reaches 

 more than 1700 feet lower, namely, to 705 feet above the sea. It is 

 true that particular circumstances — as, for instance, a large cauldron- 

 like basin, sheltered from the sun's rays by Mount de la Beche and its 

 outrunning spurs, in which these enormous snow masses can accumu- 

 late, is very favourable for allowing that glacier to descend to such a 

 low positon above the sea-level, where arborescent ferns, pines, and 

 other low land trees are growing. But if we compare its position with 

 others in South America, we shall find that, from ranges which are not 

 so elevated as our Southern Alps, even in latitudes corresponding with 

 the northern end of Stewart's Island, enormous glaciers descend in 

 Latitude 46 deg. 50 min., according to Darwin, to the level of the sea, 

 their terminal face being ultimately washed away and carried along as 

 huge icebergs. Thus the conditions for the lowering of the snow- line 

 and of the excess of moisture must still be greater in that part of 

 America than in New Zealand, where the neighbourhood of Australia 

 and Tasmania will certainly exercise some moderating influence, which 

 in Terra del Fue^o does not exist. From observations made in those 



