460 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, 
At the Bluff I purchased provisions to last for three months. 
The ‘ Stella’ left the Bluff on the evening of the 2nd, and, after 
calling in at several of the Sounds, arrived at Martin Bay on the 
afternoon of Saturday, 6th January. Owing toa dense fog I 
could not get a view of the country surrounding any of the 
Sounds until we came to Milford. There, however, I was able 
to note several of the peaks, such as the Mitre, so as to identify 
them if visible from any points on the Hollyford Ranges. As 
the surf was too heavy (a sou-wester blowing at the time) we 
could not land at the river at Martin Bay, but had to land at the 
south end of the beach. Next morning, however, it was calm, 
and we launched the boat and pulled along the beach, crossing 
the bar without any difficulty. At the bay I engaged another 
man, Robertson, making five in all. The first work was to get 
the provisions over to the old survey office at Jamestown, which 
I used as a depét. The office I found in good repair, with the 
exception of the piles on which it is built, some of which are 
giving way. I had understood that I should find some drawing 
instruments and surveying tools there; but, ifleft there, they have 
all disappeared, except a beam compass, which I packed ina 
case to be called for by the Stella last trip. Having housed the 
bulk of the provisions safely, we proceeded with a boat-load up 
to the head of the lake, where we found the two men from 
Queenstown had arrived two days before. Next day (12th 
January) the ordinary work was started, our camp being fixed at 
the head of the lake. I found that trig Z had not been cleared, 
and that another trig (A) and a sub-trig had to be built. This 
occupied nearly a week, during which, however, I observed at 
the trigs about the head of the lake. Onthe 19th we struck 
camp and started in the boat for Pyke Creek. After a hard 
struggle all day, tacking, and pulling, and wading, we camped 
that night about three-quarters of a mile below Pyke’s, and next 
morning reached our camping ground. 
“Up to this time we had had good weather, but during the 
three weeks we were at this camp fully one-half of the time was 
lost owing to rain, flooded rivers and creeks, and fog. On the 
24th January we took the boat up Pyke Creek into Lake Ala- 
baster, thence up to the head of the Lake, and about three miles 
up the river which comes in at the head of the lake. This river 
differs very much from the Hollyford, not having so many rapids, 
and having open beaches along the greater part of its course. 
“ About five or six miles above Lake Alabaster there is another 
lake of about the same size, from which the river I have men- 
tioned flows. It was to ascertain whether it was practicable to 
take a boat up into this lake that I made the trip ; and although 
we did not reach the upper lake (not wishing to spend more than 
a day over it), I saw that there would be no difficulty in so doing. 
The character of the gravel upon the beaches would lead me to 
suppose that the river comes from a gold-bearing country. 
While at Pyke Creek there were two heavy floods in succession, 
with not sufficient time between them to allow the river to fall, 
