495 
be seen, from which the ice, traversed by deep fissures and clefts, 
ascends in terraces up to the snow-fields. Great portions of this 
glacier having melted off on the sides of the valley, even its lower 
surface could be seen resting upon large rounded boulders as upon 
rollers, so that it was possible to creep between the larger boulders 
The Ashburton glacier with Ml, Arrowsmith. 
under the glacier. The commencement of winter put an end to 
Dr. Haast’s investigations. Till end of May, my friend wrote 
to me, the weather was delightful, despite the very cold nights, in 
which the thermometer fell as low as 24° Fahr. , but now winter set 
in with fogs , rain and snow ; it was time to retire to the lower 
regions; but it was most reluctantly that I parted from that grand 
nature and from the majestic scenery of the Southern Alps. 1 
1 The joyful satisfaction over these discoveries was sadly dimmed by the death 
of my lamented friend Dr. A. Sinclair, who found a premature death during this 
first New Zealand glacier expedition. It was but in April 1861 that I received a 
letter from him, dated Christ-Church , 18 th February 1861, in which he communi- 
cated to me with youthful enthusiasm: U I now proceed with our common friend, 
jolly, joyous Haast, to the glaciers of the Southern- Alps.” But already on the 
26 th March he found his death while crossing the Clyde river, in the swift floods of 
that torrent. In him science lost the man, who had been called to create a work 
