DESCRIPTIVE NARRATIVE OF JOURNEY. 
35 
to get a glimpse of the summit, we were unable to do so, in con¬ 
sequence of the compact roof of foliage above our heads. After 
a great deal of climbing, we at length found a good spur, leading 
apparently in the right direction, which we ascended for 
about 800 to 1,000 feet, in order to satisfy ourselves of the fact. 
Finding that it did so, we blazed it for future use, and returned, 
of course wet to the skin, to our camp. 
We started the next morning, the weather being still fine, and 
followed the spur, which continued to rise gently, with the ex¬ 
ception of a few rocky points, and was covered with dense vege¬ 
tation. At an altitude of 3,000 feet the forest ceased, and was 
succeeded by a sub-Alpine vegetation so dense that it is extremely 
difficult to give an accurate idea of it. Seeing that it was im¬ 
possible to proceed with our loads, and having found a clear 
spring in the vicinity, I ordered the tents to be pitched; but as 
the sides of the mountain were here very steep, this could not 
be done until we had erected a kind of stasre. 
o 
Mr. Burnett, myself, and one of my hands, in the. meantime 
started to cut a line for our upward route, which, however, was 
more easily projected than done. It was necessary to cut every 
branch in our track, for as they grew downwards, they offered an 
almost impassable barrier; and, to do this, we were frequently 
compelled to climb over them, in order to reach their upper sides. 
W e worked for three hours without intermission, and had then 
only ascended 300 feet. The sides of the mountain moreover be¬ 
came gradually steeper, and we were often obliged to climb round 
overhanging rocks. 
After overcoming all these obstacles, however, we at last came 
to a more serious impediment to our progress, in the shape of a 
perpendicular granite wall, thirty feet high, which stretched away 
in both directions, and which, unfortunately, was so smooth that it 
seemed impossible to ascend it. Upon searching, however, we 
found a spot where, in crevices of the rock, some ranunculus 
plants had taken root, and which seemed to offer a prospect of 
foothold. Here we climbed up without boots or stockings, which 
we took off in order to have a better footing, and then found 
that there were no further obstacles to our reaching the 
summit. 
As night was approaching, we descended to our camp, which 
we reached in a quarter of an hour, passing in that time over 
ground which had taken us nearly four hours to ascend. In 
the evening the Maories plaited a flax rope, for the purpose of 
drawing up our loads at the granite wall. 
I started the next morning (April 18) with one tent, and pro¬ 
visions for two days, intending to camp on the top of the moun¬ 
tain. The weather again changed, and we were enveloped in 
dense clouds, which very soon wetted us through. After having 
passed the cliff, the road continued through sub-Alpine vegetation, 
Ti /. 
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