HOADS, PASSES, AND AVAILABLE LAND. 129 
Having cited my authorities concerning the two last-mentioned 
passes, I may add here that the sources of the Grey and Maruia 
)Y er ® P erfec % we ^ known to the Maories. Tarapuhi, the chief at 
the Mawhera pah, and his brother, Tainui (Veritas), from Kaipoi, 
made me a sketch on the sand; showing the rivers by deep fur¬ 
rows, and the mountains by little hillocks, which I have since 
round to have been perfectly correct. They made it in order to 
show me the best way to the east coast, and it will not be unin¬ 
teresting to hear what they told me in relation to it. Beginning 
1 0rt 7 v i ^ ie P or ^> they described the first pass to be by the head of 
the Maruia, through the Kopi-o-Kaitangata (the thermal springs 
in winch were perfectly well known to them), over a low saddle, 
into the Otaku, the Henry of Mr. Travers; the second, from the 
Pohaturoha or Grey, or Boyle of Mr. Travers, into the Otuteawa, 
or Ann of the same explorer; and the third, from the Ahaura 
into the Whakarewa; the three eastern streams all falling into 
the V aiau-ua. They described these three passes as very easy, 
and they assured me that they can be travelled in the middle of 
winter, as they themselves have done, without any fear of being 
stopped by snow; assuring me that there never was snow, pro¬ 
bably meaning that it did not remain on the ground. 
The fourth pass is by the Taramakau and the Hurunui, which, 
however, the natives consider as not so good as any of the three 
before mentioned, because in winter time there is a good deal of 
snow lying on the saddle between the rivers, and of which, a few 
years ago, Messrs. Mackay and Bochfort had a rather disagreeable 
specimen. The height of the saddle is due to the fact that the 
chain itself has not been broken through by the rivers ; so that the 
traveller has to cross the main range at a considerable altitude, in 
order to pass from one river to the other. If it can be satisfac¬ 
torily ascertained that there would be no serious difficulties in 
descending from the Boyle towards the depression where I first 
struck the Grey, I think that the West Coast could be easily 
reached by the Waiau-ua, and perhaps at less cost, that road 
having at the same time the advantage of pasture all the way. 
The natives assured me that there were no difficulties in this line, 
but as they generally travel along and in river beds, we cannot 
fully rely upon their judgment in the matter. 
There is another pass also from Lake Roto-roa into the Clarence 
country, often used by the Maories in former years. 
That it is also possible to reach the Karamea from the Matiri, 
and probably by what may turn out to be an available road, has 
been also proved by a large Maori party which travelled many years 
ago from Port Cooper to West Wanganui by that line. By fol¬ 
lowing up the Brown Grey, I think an easy road will be found 
into t?ie Inangahua; so that, without going by way of the Grey 
itself, that available country could be reached by a more direct 
line. 
K 
