506 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
in breadth, and so high that in many places the rivers do not cut 
down to the bottom, and do not disclose the geological forma- 
tion on which it rests. The Tekapo Lake is like other Alpine 
lakes, particularly dirty, and looks like milk. The same is the 
case with smaller lakes of the same description in the European 
Alps, but it would be hard to find a lake in Europe which is so 
large as the Tekapo, and at the same time so dirty. The reason 
of this is that these New Zealand lakes are shallow. The Lake 
of Geneva, though fed in the same way as the Tekapo trom 
glaciers, is remarkable for its blue and transparent water; but these 
lakes in New Zealand are nearly as muddy as the streams which 
fill them, and the streams which issue from them still bear the 
same character. The suspended particles cannot settle, in con- | 
sequence of the strong currents which prevail. 
From Lake Tekapo we proceeded to the Tasman valley, 
which is cut much deeper into the country, the Tasman Lake 
lying 720ft lower than the Tekapo. Of course, all this country 
is very well known, and our exploration did not commence till 
we got high up the Tasman valley. The Government survey 
extends up to the junction of the Tollie with the Tasman River ; 
from there northward, we had to do all the work of surveying 
right up to the end of the glacier. Although some horizontal 
angles had been measured by Dr von Haast, the vertical angles 
had not been taken, so that the heights of all the mountains were 
unknown. In the Admirality chart the heights are given of 
Mount Cook and Mount Tasman, but these are incorrect, the 
_ mountains not being put in their right places. The Tasman 
valley is very unlike any valley in Europe; its sides are steep 
and covered with densevegetation, out of whichrocks loom in many 
places, and its bottom is a flat expanse of shingle, with only here 
and there a few tussocks of grass or Wild Irishman, which will 
after a shorter or longer time be washed away again by the ever- 
changing river. We had to cross the Tasman River, as it is 
quite impossible to get along the eastern side on account of the 
river flowing along the steep mountain side for a distance of 
several miles, and also because the Murchison River separates 
the glacier from the eastern range. The Murchison is so rapid 
and so full of large boulders that it would be next to impossible 
to cross itin summer. After waiting eight days, we succeeded, 
but not without great difficulty and danger, in getting across the 
Tasman River. It is well known how many people have lost 
their lives in these New Zealand rivers, and I. can easily under- 
stand how, after waiting four or five days, a man will risk some- 
thing to get across. We crossed the Hooker River the same 
day, and then made for the glacier. You will remember from 
the account given by Mr Green how difficult he found it to get 
along on the glacier, and we found the same difficulty, which 
arises from the very large amount of morainic accumulation, 
and the dense scrub at the sides of the glacier. This moraine is 
larger than the moraines are in the European Alps. The cause 
of this is the slower motion of the New Zealand glaciers, and 
