483 
the West Coast near Milford-Haven , at the point where the striking 
fiord - formation on the Southwest Coast of the Island commences. 
Towards Northeast it strikes the coast between Cape Campbell and 
Queen Charlotte-Sound on Cook’s Strait, thus intersecting the South 
Island diagonally and forming the dividing line between the West 
and North Coast on one side and the East and South Coast on 
the other side. 
The explorations of Dr. llaast at the head- waters of the Moly- 
neux, the Waitaki, the Ran git at a, and the Rakaia, and those of 
the Provincial Engineer Mr. E. Dobson in the upper valley of 
the Waimakariri, have fully established the fact that throughout the 
entire length of the 'Southern Alps in the province of Canterbury 
there are only three real passes, viz, the Ilurunui Saddle, divid- 
ing the sources of the Ilurunui and Teramakau; ITaast’s Pass at 
the head of Lake Wanaka , which leads over a very low saddle 
into the valley of the llaast river, which falls into the sea near 
Jackson’s Bay; and Arthur’s Pass, which is nothing more than a 
great fissure , running in a tolerably direct line from the valley of 
the Waimakariri to that of the Teramakau. The so-called North 
Rakaia Pass has no real claim to the title; its eastern face being 
simply a wall rising abruptly from the valley to a height of 1500 feet, 
and being at so great an elevation as to be buried deep in snow 
during eight months in the year. 
This absence of passes throughout so great a distance can only 
be accounted for by the very peculiar structure of the central chain, 
as clearly explained by Mr. E. Dobson in his able report upon 
the Passes through the dividing range of the Canterbury Province. 1 
The first point, says Mr. Dobson, to be noticed in regard to the 
central chain is, that it does not, as is popularly supposed, pre- 
sent an unbroken line of watershed, but rather a series of peaks 
and broken ridges separated from each other by deep ravines, 
and for the most part perfectly inaccessible. The clue to this 
1 E. Dobson, C. E., Report upon the Gorge of the Otira and upon the Cha- 
racter of the Passes through the dividing Range of the Canterbury Province. Christ- 
church 1865. 
