BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 113 
was, and how full of danger is well described by the following 
extract from a review of the report published at the time in the 
Lyttelton Times :—“The process of penetrating the mountain 
ranges of the South Island is indeed not easy. Besides the steep 
mountain side and the precipitous rock, there are peculiar diff- 
culties in the exploration of this country arising from the density 
of the forest, the treacherous character of the rivers, the uncer- 
tainty of the climate, the almost entire want of animals or vege- 
tables fit for human food, and the absence of inhabitants. In 
consequence the explorer must take with him large supplies of 
food and necessaries, on his own back, tor no beast of burden can 
be taken up and down New Zealand cliffs, over New Zealand 
torrents, or through New Zealand forests, where man works his 
way only by the aid of human ingenuity, patience, forethought, 
and appliances. The traveller here has but one advantage over 
similar adventurers in other countries, he is not liable to the 
attack of beasts of prey, he may lie down in safety at night 
without fear of any visitor from the forest more dangerous than 
a rat or a woodhen ; but, granting him this security, still he takes 
his life in his hands. Brunner and Haast give unanimous testi- 
mony upon this point. At every few miles an unpleasant dilemma 
presents itself; one alternative invariably is to remain and be 
starved, the other varies according to circumstances. It is per- 
haps to venture through a fog and be lost ; or to scramble down 
a precipice and be dashed to pieces ; or ‘to cross the snowy top 
of a mountain and be frozen to death; or to wade a swollen 
river and be drowned. As the alternative is only probable while 
starvation is certain, the former must be chosen whatever it be, 
so that the chances are considerably against the life of the ex- 
plorer. We learn that ifa man be a bad walker he need not 
attempt to go; if he be timid in crossing rivers he will be in 
constant peril ; if he have not a good organ of locality as well 
as acompass he is certain to be lost; if he have little fore- 
sight and a large appetite (Mr Haast adds—if he be of a slim 
figure) he runs double risk of starvation ; if he be liable to giddi- 
ness he encounters dreadful danger at the precipices which must 
be crossed. The explorer in our West Country must have none 
of these defects ; but he must be strong to carry weights of 50 to 
70 pounds on his shoulders on along day’s march; he must be 
expert at fishing and cooking, and, above all, at making a fire 
under any difficulties ; he must have a constitution to stand for 
hours on a mountain top in a sleety southerly wind, or to sleep 
in wet blankets, without ill effects from either; he must be as 
active as a cat, with joints that will not dislocate and bones that 
will not break; he must have the digestion of an ostrich, the 
acuteness ofa leather-stocking, and the temper of a Mark Tapley, 
or he is not fit even to make the odd man ofa party on an ex- 
ploring trip through the mountains to the West Coast of this 
Island. These qualifications, after all, are merely the ground- 
work to which others of a higher character must be added by a 
really efficient explorer of new country. It is required of him 
