2 
DESCRIPTIVE NARRATIVE OE JOURNEY, 
Wairau road, which leads towards the south-west, up one of the 
numerous little valleys here branching off from the main valley. 
The road then passes over a ridge, from 500 to GOO feet high, into 
the valley of the Motupiko. 
Crossing this river also, we ascended a spur on its opposite side. 
Here our road diverged from that leading through the Big Bush 
into the Wairau, ours trending more to the westward. After 
having passed over several hills densely covered with fern, we 
arrived at the Bainy river, a tributary of the Motueka. As if to 
justify its name, the rain began to fall more heavily than in the 
morning, whilst we proceeded to ascend the wooded range on its 
western side (rising to the height of 2,350 feet), wTiich forms the 
watershed between Blind Bay and the West Coast. We there¬ 
fore pushed across this range as fast as we could, for the purpose 
of obtaining shelter. We found it very steep; and it was not 
until late in the evening that we reached the old station-house, 
which is situated in a small grassy valley, the water flowing 
through which falls into the Boto-iti river, above the Devil’s Grip. 
We rested for the night in the old house, which we found going 
rapidly to decay, and started the next morning towards Lake 
Boto-iti. 
Ascending a low saddle which separates the Lake-house station 
from the Boto-iti valley, I obtained an extensive view of the 
country. In the foreground, close below us, lav the large valley 
of the Boto-iti, which we could see up to the point at which the 
river flovs out of the lake, and which contains several regular 
terraces covered with grass. To the east and south-east rose high 
rocky mountains, bounding the Wairau valley, and running to a 
common centre in Mount Franklin, which towered above them 
all, its huge sides clad with eternal snow. On the west lay the 
rugged chains between the Wangapeka and the Buller, sloping 
down to the Devil s Grip. On the southern side of the Devil’s 
Grip appeared rounded summits, clothed with wood, over which 
SkT At l harp P AA glving to the wllole landscape a 
variety to which the pencil of the artist alone can do justice. 1 
f +r /A i' C us ’I 0 "? t,ie banks of the meandering Eoto-iti 
to the lake, where, after a walk of twelve miles, we pitched our 
tents on its north-western bank, at the foot of a low wooded hill 
It was with the greatest delight that I looked over this beautiful 
lake; its deep blue waters reflected the high rocky monntnh! 
chains on its eastern and southern shores, which for a consider 
able height from the water’s ed<m Grom J. ’ . a n C(msi , er ' 
are clad with luxuriant primeval forest. The surfoce ofothTif’ 
swarmed with birds eiviiur lift* iv, nr 6 tace ot t,ie bike 
peaceful aspect was,’ howefer soon cWd 8 ?®'*' 1 ! < Ite 
came up fro'm the westward; de tZfd V re t & at™ 
dred times from the mountain ravines •,? ” I 1 ? 11 ’ 
awe. Towards evening the 
