SPECIAL ARTICLE.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17749, 28 April 1923, Page 11

SPECIAL ARTICLE.

• THE MOUNTAINS OF LAKE -WAKATIPU. (BTSCUU.T WSITTM FOB "THB PBE3S.") [By Professor A. Wall.] To the mind of the botanical traveller there is something more than usuany .neaestive and alluring about "the fountains west of Lake Wakatipu » and the names of Mt. Earns.aw, the Hmnboldt Mountains, and Mt. Bonpland partly because of their associations with the great names of Hector and Buchanan, the first botanical explorers of this district, provoke the richest anticipations. It was, therefore, with more than ordinary haste and zeal that I visited "at last" these famous localities at the end of January, 1923. The mountains of this area, like those of North and Central Otago, are composed of flat-splitting schist. In this neighbourhood, however, they run up to sharp, broken and very picturesque peaks of which the well-named "Hemarkables" and 'Walter Peak" opposite Queenstown are good examples. Rabbits infest the lower slopes, even as far west as Mt. Earnslaw, so that they are generally rather bare; the only forest is in gullies until the far end of the lake is reached and there, BS on Mt. Bonpland, much of it has been destroyed. The high tops of these mountains exhibit irregular piles of very rough loose rocku, often, as on The Remarkables and Mt. Bonpland, enclosing large cirques which contain either tarns or glaciers. There is sometimes no clearly distinguishable summit among these piles. The slopes facing the lake are generally exceedingly steep and along its whole length they beautifully exhibit the action of the ancient glaciers. . About Queenstown, especially, and up the Kawaran Arm the marks are so clear and distinct that a very slight imaginative effort is required to reconstruct the old scene as it was when one great ice-stream filled un the whole Lake basin, with a main stream majestically moving down towards and over the Kingston end-of the lake, and a great side stream flowing down the present valley of the Kawarau. Up the shelves characteristically cut by this vast tool the climber toils in the ascent of. the Waiatipu Mountains.

Plentifully provided with notes kindly supplied by Mr D. Petrie and DT. Cockayne, who had formerly botanised in this region, and with laboriously made lists of the species to be looked for, I arrived in Queenstown on December 25th. My plan was to work Itie Remarkables, on the east side of the lake, first; then Cecil Peaks on the west side; then the slopes of Mt. Earnslaw from "Paradise"; tiien the Routeburn River and the Lake Harris Saddle

still further west; then to return to the lake, cross to Kinloch and visit iu.t. Bonpland or the Humboldt Mountains; and finally, if time permitted, to stay long enough at Kingston to attempt the Hector Mountains and Mt. Dick. The unsettled season was against me Md my time was limited, so that I was obliged in the end to cut out the Rout*bum and'the Kingston part of the trip altogether.

Having made all arrangements overnight, I left Queenstown at 5 a.m. on the 26th, carrying my sustenance for tie day; walked the five miles to the Kawarau Falls, and after some casting .fbout found a cottage where a boat tould be got; crossed the river, hastily breakfasted in a willow-grove and began tne ascent of the westernmost spur ot m llemarkables by about 7.30. The w»ther was very hot with a strong north-west wind and the high tops were \ »teor less shrouded in flying mists all j «J. _I followed the main r.dge with- • «* difficulty until, after negotiating a : leep precipitous notch and painfully |.*«oending over long slopes of loose \ Wrecks, 1 reached about mid-day the | m of the Double Cone, at a height *« about 7400 ft. Here the combined of high wind (then very cold), Ijfcjrfog, a crippled shoulder, and a I'J*'°f 'J«oed legs prevented me from f-gemptinjr the final pitch, where the laT? 1 S l ™ wa y *° the Alpinist. 1 **b descended to one of the beautiful : *&» which are half ringed round by :.T*j Mjage heights which ldOk. so SiTf from Queenstown; there 1 'H? and collected a few things in 7 J°Bgy ground near the outlet of 12J"" "id then returned to the ■J*' the spur, the river, the boat, ST n* * I road > and so t0 Q ueens " 4?Yv*. t™ Homeric thirst gener<LY all carried out <?f ee<i ? Tery hot weather, and Hrl^ 0n l e »° measures by which it 'wpcessfully quenched during the ; Immodesty forbids me to speak. igJW Queenstown about 5.30 p.m., Ctl, 8 * * mt about » mile lX?7 I " ln the parson's motor. furious day. The general *SL • i 8 re S et a tio n of The ReWr. *■" 9 ardrona . Pisa and the I •fciXf , «! h ! oh * had iust Drevi - I » ' that not mu ch of great I NWw7 wa y- T ll6 view from I V» . a % s up both arms of the I Vikf* 11 * fine; this is. I I kril xt best , P oi °t from which a I of the '"'hole »s to be ■ K«l o^\> the 27th . I crossed I Kw? °** Peaks where the Earns " I '•» s»L condescension I fcCH?* ft Bteamer > dr °PP« a I M*mu3P I W« er . as su e bore I S^Mm, a of , h oliday-makers back 1 I WA hours 01,6 Die and , 1'?P««V. I e overlooking the 1 Si for,, on («77ft), where 1 ' lfclfW»M ollgt,mo - In the after- ' I&bS y mvself to a IS m i mek J where I beanie I&lAr^? 01 ? difficulties and delb Xg^-rf- 1 and h™. ■ fc* tWw • hls was a splendid IS" fc r? mSt - Th °«gh Lake IfcStdrifi * narrow there is a I^tft*? 6 We€n the eastIK? to , eS^ rn « de s of it m I^isinfklf 8 t! ? n owin K *o the I CS*«*i 0n tbe astern side. I & titt ß T eral fine thill gs for r the tO P I un " I <L>SS fe mto a dee P and : I W "chimney" quite full » I !Slfr Buchanan's Batter, % l»tr4 i rg6^abl « thrill. Here B lg gar's Veronica, »* JB*&wß then , in full flower ; •* WVLso«fckS e * e . adorne d with the »■ mis i a ramulosa, also *»,;J| aere I ooUected a large

Rock-cress which >jars large spikes of white flowers and differs in important respects from the wellkncrwn species of Canterbury and Marlborough, C. Enysii and C. fastigiata, During the 28th I gave myself a rest and greatly admired the collection of native plants in the Queenstown Gardens. v/n the 29th I went on bv boat and motor to Glenorchy, at the head of the lake, and Paradise, where I arrived at the famous.old house —Aitken's —about mid-day, too late to do any climbing. Mt. Earnslaw, my next objective, dominates the whole valley of the Lower Rees and Dart at the head of the lake. The mountain (9200 ft) consists of an imposing snow-clad ridge rising into several sharp penks. The whole is, roughly, of horseshoe sbaoe. From the main ridee, which south, two long parallel spurs run for about six miles, enclosing at thi.Lupper end the Earnslaw Glacier and the sources of the Earnslaw Creek Of those two spurs the eastern, nloiii three miles f-om Aitken's. is clear of bush and grassy except along th * (.reek itself; the othe'r is thicklv willi the beech forest up to about 450011. The grassy spur offers the morn convenient approach to the glacier; the Earnslaw station has a hut aho'it five miles up the spur, not very far frm the glacier, and a small but very serviceable track can be followed nearly all the -way at a heignt of abnu 4000 ft. On the 30th I set out along i\v< spur intending to visit the cirque below the glacier where Dr. Cockayne first collected the Veronica which bears his name. All went well till about 10 a.m., when I was about half-way along the spur. A fierce nor'-west storm with heavy rain then fell upon me. I bad to Give up the glacier but held on iv> the (-put to about 6000 ft when tiling became too bad and I had to return. Sbeini ing for a few minutes ind*r >i ii-ilgo of rock, I found a Willowi.erb 'Epiiobium purpuratum) which alone compensated me for all my woes, ns'ii has never been seen since Hector ni'd Buchanan first collected it in the 'sixties.

I was more fortunate next day when, after nearly five hours' hard travelling, I descended into the desired cirque.

The Earnslaw glacier is one of the finest things to bo seen in New Zealand. Approaching it along the gra.ssv sour you are confronted with the whole extent of it, about one mile in breadth, exactly opposite you across the cirque at a distance of three or four hundred yards just like the drop scene in a theatre. The high snowfields of the main peaks merge in the upper icefields of the glacier; below them extends tier after tier of hanging ice-falls and below them is a series of sheer crags over which the glacier water falls in three or four huge cascades and several smaller streams. These unite to form the Earnslaw Creek. At the moment when I sighted,it at close quarters an immense avalanche came away with deafening roar, the falling fragments forming a cascade which continued to fall and roar for about six minutes. Smaller falls of this sort went on with little cessation all the time I was in the neighbourhood. The scene is all the more striking by the contrast with the pleasant pasture upon which one stands to view it. The cirque is well grassed and full of cattle and sheep which graze quietly close up to the falls without being in the least disturbed by the growls, cracks, roars and explosions which the noisy monster continually gives forth. I found the cirque much burned on my side of the creeii and failed to identify Cockayne's Veronica though some other notable things were obtained.

Next day, February Ist, I ascended the Western Spur, only half a mile from Aitken's. A good blazed track takes one up through the bush. On the top of the spur, which I followed to about many fine things were found; especially valued was Matthews' Buttercup, a very large handsome species, evidently a hybrid between those of Buchanan and Lyall, and only found where these two also occur. The flowers are lemon-yellow. Very little after mid-day I was again driven from the mountain* by heavy rain. During these two days it had rained almost incessantly up the Bouteburn and continued to do so on the next, when 1 gave up that hope, returned to Glenorchy, and crossed to Kinloch (Bryant's) the same evening. Before leaving the subject of Mt. Earnslaw I wish to suggest, and indeed to urge very strongly, that a bridle track should be formed from the Enrnslaw Bridge along the eastern spur to the erlacier so as to open up this noble scene for tourist traffic. As it is, few .people ever see it; only very vigorous walkers in the best form can do the journey from Paradise and back in the day with any comfort, whereas a good path oould easily be made and a very great attraction added to this district, where at present, to tell the truth, when the forest about Paradise has once been visited, there remains very little to do or see.

Mt. Bonpland <BIO2 feet) is a high portion of the Humboldt Range enclosing a fine hanging glacier, the • "Bryant." Immediately behind Kinloch a very sharp point, Bold Peak (6700 feet) formed an objective beyond which the botanist has no business to go. Several tarns-lie below this point and overlook the Bryant Glacier; here I expected to find certain greatly desired plants. The morning of the 3rd was miserably wet and nothing could be done. In the afternoon I went up to the present bush-line and explored the blazed track in preparation for the morrow. During the night heavy rain fell, nnd on the 4th, my only remaining day, the mountain was thickly coated with snow very nearly to the hush-line. J went up nevertheless and was able to find some good things in the subalpine scrub above the forest and even higher up where the steepness of the rocks prevented the snow from lying. I then went on "to the xjo.d Peak and ascended nearly to the top in quite deep snow. Finding the neighbourhood of the tarns hopelessly masked in snow, which could not possibly disappear before several days had elapsed, I came back to the scrub and there finished what proved to be my last day of collecting on this trip. The hotelkeeper from Glenorchr came over for me in the evening in a small launch which he intended to deliver to a purchaser at Queenstown the same night if possible. In order to save a day I ventured on tho trip with him. He started after 5 p.m., the launch was about the size of a child's pencil-box but fitted with a very powerlul engine. The captain and the crew of one and the one passenger with luggage completely filled it. All went well till we had passed Pigeon Island, when we ran into a southerly -which made us jump a good deal. When we had run about 15 miles and it was nearly dark the apparatus for cooling the engine struck work. She heated very rapidly and could not be approached with a light, so we had to head for the shore and run aground. Fortunately the engine continued to function until we were near Oreighton's, where there is a station. The crew got ashore and the captain held her off the ground with a plank—vei-y hard work in a southerly jobble—until a boat was brought from the station. An hour's towing brought us to the wharf. The station received us with great hospitality and we spent a comfortable nigut there. At daylight the launch was got into order and rattled us along to Queenstown without mishap in time to catch the Mountaineer for Kingston. Altogether, I thought, a verv neat", gentlemanly well-managed shipwreck | My failure to reach the Routeburr and the true westerly vegetation irm , of course, a great disappointment, yet the botanical results of this journe'. ; were, on the whole, very satisfactory'