VIII 
KEAS 
247 
the conclusion that discretion was the better part of 
valour, we swam the rest across, and ourselves chose 
the cage hung on wire ropes, a primitive way of being 
hurled over one by one. The sun was just rising as 
we mounted our horses again. Away down the valley 
between the high range of hills rose a flood of crimson 
light, tipping all the mountain-tops and the shred-like 
fragments of clouds as they floated by. 
Leaving the Hooker, we went along the shingle and 
boulder flats of the Tasman River, on to the moraine, 
and up a narrow gorge where the horses literally climbed 
the rocks. There was a delightful sensation of ex- 
pectancy as to which steps would prove fatal, but 
horses reared In these rock-strewn mountains become 
almost like goats in their habits, and after a time you 
rather enjoy the sensation of wondering what they 
cannot accomplish. Then we made a breakneck and 
sensational descent which was too much for the doctor 
and the tourists, and they got off and walked, and as it 
was all they could do to keep on their own feet the 
guides had to lead their horses. We reached the hut 
at nine o’clock. This not over -luxurious abode is 
generally a rendezvous for the night. We boiled the 
kettle, made “ Billy ” tea, and had a second breakfast, 
Keas, large green parrots, watching us all the time with 
the greatest curiosity. They occasionally, as if in 
derision, screamed their hardest at us, and wheeled in 
the air so close that we could almost knock them over. 
These most destructive creatures are found in great 
numbers at the foot of the snow mountains and kill the 
sheep by fastening their strong claws to their wool 
while they tear the flesh and eat out their livers. The 
poor creatures are so terrified of Keas, that on one 
occasion when pursued by them, five hundred went over 
the cliffs into space below. 
