Canterbury and Westland. 225 



worn tills, its bed expands considerably and being nearly a mile broad, 

 but after having received the outlet of the small Lake Botokino, the 

 river passes through a narrow gorge for about half a mile. It then 

 again expands, and retains the character of a broad shingle river to its 

 mouth. In the same lagoon that this river ha3 formed at its mouth, the 

 two "Waitangis, the Waitangi-toana and Waitangi-roto, empty them- 

 selves. They are of inconsiderable size, drain a great deal of swampy 

 ground, and their sources only go back to the front ranges which 

 branch off Mount Maximilian. 



The Okabito. 



Nine miles south of the Whataroa, the outlet of the Okarito estuary 

 empties itself into the sea. It is fed by the Okarito river, formed 

 by the confluent streams leaving Lakes Mapourika and Wahapo, 

 both of which lakes are surrounded by huge moraines and rocJies mou- 

 tonnees, and fed by the western slopes of the Coast ranges. A low 

 Pass leads from the head of Lake Mapourika into the upper valley 

 of the Waiau river. The Okarito lagoon is an extensive estuary, seven 

 miles long, and on an average nearly one mile broad. Of its grand 

 scenic features, I have given a description in the first part. The two 

 lakes in connection with it are of small size only, the largest one, 

 Lake Mapourika, being about three miles long and one mile broad. 



The "Waiau, 



The next river of importance is the "Waiau, difficult to cross on foot 

 except in autumn and winter, after a continuance of fine weather. It 

 is formed by two principal branches which, although flowing in the 

 same broad valley beginning at the western foot of the Southern Alps, 

 10 miles from the coast-line, unite only three miles from its mouth. 

 The Totara or northern confluent is fed by several glaciers, descending 

 from Mount Beaumont, in their lower portion densely covered with 

 moraines. The southern and main branch, the Waiau, has its prin- 

 cipal source in the Francis Joseph glacier, the terminal face of which 

 in 1865, according to my barometrical measurements, was lying 705 feet 

 above the sea-level. This magnificent glacier descends from the north- 

 western slopes of Mount Haidinger, where large neve accumulations 

 *re situated. Its distance from the sea-shore is 13^ miles. The 

 outlet of this glacier, of which I have given a description in the first 

 part, and of which a lithographic view from a photograph of the lata 



