THROUGH VIRGIN BUSH

Evening Star, Issue 14635, 3 August 1911, Page 10

THROUGH VIRGIN BUSH

AND OVER GREAT WHITE WASTES WITH THE HOnTt. MACKENZIE. The Hon. T. .Mackenzie knows New Zealand as.few men know their own city. The path- of the pioneer has always held greater attraction for him than, the beaten 'track of the known and.open road, and no man in this, country is so fit as he to vivify and fortify our "interest in its wonders ; to fire pur imagination with the story, of hardships endured in penetrating the "matchless forests that grow from tho summits of the hills to the, water edge,; or to bring homo to us the menace of the great white wastes of glacier along which tho avalanches thunder, the gigantic amphitheatres of mountains, open to the foot of the pioneer only by perilous passage over black and rugged ridges, over which ice walls, with ruined terraces and almost inaccessible cliffs, and down gaping crevasses with steep ribs of ice; things most beautiful. but most terrible. . With th) aid of lantern and cinematograph film, the Minister of Agriculture last night transported a large audience to some of .these wonderful and treacherous places, which he himself has dared in searching for passes from the west coast to lakeland. There was a tragic side to the talo, for Nature takes her toll of the brave adventurers who pit their skill against her cold treachery, and the history of exploration between the lakes and the fiords embraces the tale of the fate of two noted men— Professor Mainwaring Brown and Quinton M’Kinnon. Mr Mackenzie undertook search for both, and he told tho tragedy well “It was just after my return from Milford in 1888 that Professor Maiuwaring Brown said he was going to attempt to cross from Manapouri to the West. 1 advised him not to attempt it then, because, owing to the weather, avalanches were coming down unexpectedly. But he left, and a few weeks afterwards, when I was sitting in tiie theatre with Sir Harry Atkinson when poor old Tom Bracken was giving ‘ Othello,’ a hand was placed on my shoulder, and Mr Roes said ; “ Mainwaring Brown is lost; wo want you to go out alter him.” . . . We got to the region where he was lost, and it was one of the most dismal 'regions I was ever in. He and Major Goring and Mr John While had often tried to cross here. On this occasion bad weather had enveloped tliem, and the professor, after lying about for part of the day, went out, to stretch his lege. From that moment until this day no trace, has ever been discovered of him. His companions had a bad time coming out. and were not able to accompany us on the search. We had the greatest difficulty in discovering even the place on which he was last seen. Personally, I am quite sure that some accident overtook him. For he could not have been lost in the place where he disappeared. It was a huge canyon with perpendicular walls, and a big step (as it were) many hundred feet high led into a similar canyon, ending in a lake. It was possible, for him to have fallen into a great creek rushing through, or he may have been overwhelmed by an avalanche. We searched long, but found no trace.”

Mr Alackenzie proceeded to describe next The fate of Quinton ATKinnou. “In 1892 he had disappeared for a trip to the west coast, and no word having been received about him, anxiety was felt. An expedition from Te Anait went right across to the west coast, and returned without finding any trace. They reported to the Government, and Air Seddon asked my opinion. I replied, giving my idea of the kind of search necessary, and said that it was possible he had never left Te Anau. Six men were, placed at my disposal, and J proceeded straight to the N.W. Fiord, a most treacherous 'place. ' Within-15 minutes of the beginning of the search tho water party signalled that they had found the boat There she lay on an even keel iu 12ft of water, the tip of her mast above it. She had not capsized and drowned him, but my own opinion is this: he was last seen sitting on the thwarts of the boat, and it is possible that a sudden squall caused her to gibe, and threw him out. . . . Near the spot there was a rocky 'slet with a great, block of granite upon it. There Air D. Henry carved Al’Kinnon's name, and we erected a cross of birch. Nature seemed to brood over our task. All the time we had been searching a sullenness overspread the sea. Great clouds overhung the mountains, but a? we rowed away, our work done, the clouds lifted, revealing the sky. and away towards the Clinton, the scene of M‘Kinnon's achievements, a warm glow suffused everything. Somewhere there rest at last the ashes of that restless man.’’ Air Alackenzie told other stories well—the history of Dusky Sound, scene of the Endeavor ‘mystery, of riot and bloodshed among the early sealers; scene, too, of the wreck of the Waikare. The splendid lantern and cinematograph views showed the Sutherland Falls (1.904ft>. a solid glacier two miles wide, in the middle of which a rock 700 ft high showed like a currant; the Franz Josef glacier, the Duller and Otira Gorges. Wanganui River, the WTaima Falls (Niagara of New Zealand), and some fine films showing thermal activity at Rotorua. The lecture was given in the Early Settlers’ Hall in aid of the funds of the Kaikorai Presbyterian Church. The Alayor (Mr Burnett) presided.