XXV 



iii France. He afterwards made extensive journeys over many parts 

 of Europe, visiting Russia, Austria, and Italy. 



A large firm of shipowners, who wished to direct the stream of 

 emigration from Germany to New Zealand, made him an offer to 

 visit that colony on their behalf, for the purpose of ascertaining its 

 fitness as a field for emigration, an offer which Mr. Haast accepted. 

 Arriving at Auckland in December, 1858, he met Dr. Ferdinand 

 Hochstetter, of the Austrian " Novara " Exploring Expedition, who 

 had just undertaken a geological examination of the North Island on 

 behalf of the Colonial Government. The financial state of the colony 

 at that time, and the disturbances with the Maoris, at once convinced 

 Mr. Haast that it was hardly a suitable field for his countrymen. He 

 accordingly terminated his agreement and joined Dr. Hochstetter's 

 expedition through the North Island. He was subsequently em- 

 ployed by the Provincial Government of Nelson to explore the 

 western and southern portions of that province. With only four 

 companions, he started on an expedition which took him away from 

 civilised life for a period of eight months. During this journey, in 

 addition to the discovery of the Grey and Buller coal fields, and of 

 several gold-bearing districts, he filled in the topography of a large 

 part of Nelson, and added largely to the knowledge of the geology, as 

 well as the fauna and flora, of these alpine portions of New Zealand. 

 On his return, the Government published a full report of the journey, 

 and of the scientific and other discoveries which had been made. 

 This report attracted some attention in Europe, and the Royal 

 University of Tubingen, in 1862, bestowed upon the author the 

 honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 



The undoubted success of this Nelson enterprise induced the 

 Canterbury Government to offer Dr. Haast the position of Provincial 

 Geologist. Accepting the offer, he commenced work by similarly 

 investigating the topography and mineral resources of the western 

 ranges of that province. After several years of continuous labour 

 this work was carried to a successful issue, and the practical results 

 were embodied in a voluminous Report on the Geology of the Pro- 

 vinces of Canterbury and Westland. Years before the publication of 

 this complete report the detached accounts of Dr. Haast's explorations 

 were very favourably received and commented on. Sir R. Murchi- 

 son, the President of the Royal Geographical Society, thus referred 

 to them : — " He was proud to preside upon an occasion when a 

 gentleman, who was a geologist by profession, had proved himself to 

 be a good geographer, and had shown how intimately the subjects of 

 physical geography and geology were united. Dr. Haast's labours 

 were worthy of all commendation." To the general reader the book 

 is a highly interesting and instructive one. The very large amount 

 of geological detail, and the breadth and completeness of the author's 



