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magnificent Alpine heights clothed in perpetual snow, the giant 
summits of which now bear the names of Cook and Tasman. The 
wild forms of the huge rocky masses on the West Coast towering 
to the skies, and bidding defiance to the terrific breakers, were 
always an object of deep admiration to the sailors visiting these 
shores ; but up to our times this mountain region remained a wilder- 
ness, untrodden by the foot of man. On the discovery of New 
Zealand it was uninhabited, — for the natives shunned this soli- 
tary mountain wilderness, — and it has remained uninhabited to 
this very day; incontestably one of the most remarkable and the 
grandest objects, which has been reserved for the physico- geo- 
graphical and geological investigations of our time. It is only within 
the last ten years, — since European colonists from the rapidly 
rising and prosperous settlements of Lyttleton and Christchurch, 
situated in the neighbourhood of the excellent harbours of Banks 
Peninsula, have taken possession of the fertile plains at the eastern 
foot of the Alps, — that any attempt has been made to penetrate 
the unknown mountain districts. Some few squatters have advanced 
with their runs to the grassy valleys and downs at the foot of the 
Alps; and of late years intrepid men, inspired by a bold spirit of 
discovery, have penetrated to the icy glaciers of the highest moun- 
tain masses, while the discovery of the rich goldfields on the West 
Coast has accelerated the construction and opening of the first road 
across the mountains. 1 Thus we see now the chaos of this grand 
alpine system become, through geographical and geological explora- 
tions, more and more disentangled and its formation and structure 
brought to light. 
Foremost among the alpine explorers stands the name of my 
energetic friend, Dr. J. Haast, who as Government geologist of 
the province of Canterbury penetrated, in 1861, to the sources of 
the Rangitata, in 1862 undertook the task of exploring the head- 
waters of the Waitaki in the neighbourhood of Mount Cook, and 
in the last years repeatedly has crossed the dividing range to the 
West Coast. His animated descriptions and interesting communi- 
1 The Otira Road See Appendix to Chapter XXL 
