VIRGIN PEAK CLIMBED

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27563, 21 January 1955, Page 10

VIRGIN PEAK CLIMBED

CANTERBURY PARTY IN FIORDLAND

RARE BIRDS’ REMAINS FOUND

(New Zealand Press Association) INVERCARGILL, January 20. The first ascent of Coronation Peak, a 6000 ft Fiordland mountain discovered only two years ago, has been made by members of the Canterbury Museum’s expedition to the notornis country- west of Lake Te Anau. > 'Members of the party who made the ascent were the leader z of the museum expedition, Mr B. Wiseley, Mr Alister Carey, and Lieutenant T. Couzens, of Christchurch. The laeak was discovered by an earlier Canterbury Museum expedition to the area. The present party made ■ important discoveries about the extent of the notornis colony, and found the remains of two rare birds, the rda, or large grey kiwi, and the kakapo, or ground parrot. From the top of Coronation Peak, bearings and photographs were taken which will help considerably in mapping the area, at present marked “unexplored” on most maps. The party climbed a high snow face on the south-west side of the travelled up a permanent glacier, and had to master some steep bluffs before reaching the top. Mrs Wiseley, wife of the leader of the expedition, accompanied the three men to within 300 feet of the summit. A large collection of alpine insects had been made during the expedition, Mr Wiseley said tonight. Some of these, he was sure, would prove to be previously unknown. He was almost certain that a new type of weka had been found. Habitat of Notornis The party’s explorations had proved that the notornis colony was confined mainly to the eastern end of the Murchison Range, he said, although traces were found at the head of the Cozette burn, further west and south. But it had been proved that the notornis was localised in the area defined by the Lands and Survey Department. The specimens of the roa and kakapo had been found to the north of Bradshaw Sound, said Mr Wiseley. Both were between two and three months old, but would prove valuable. They were being taken to the museum for inspection. The geologists in the party had done a wonderful job, Mr Wiseley said, and although hampered by bad weather, they had made a thorough exploration of the area, and had brought back many bags of samples for investigation. As part of their survey, the geologists carried a Geiger counter to detect possible deposits of radioactive minerals.

At only one place did the Geiger counter show signs of more than usual activity—a point near the base camp, half-way up the Irene river, between Charles and Bradshaw Sounds, said Mr Wiseley. Although of interest, the find was not likely to prove significant. Commenting on the finding by the expedition’s advance party of a moa bone in a cave, Mr Wiseley said it had not been possible for the party to excavate the bone, and it was impossible to tell whether the bird had died in the cave or been eaten, by moa hunters. There were no signs of drawings or smoke patterns on the roof of the cave.