MR. WELD'S JOURNEY BY THE AWATERE VALLEY TO THE CANTERBURY PLAINS.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume X, Issue 471, 15 March 1851, Page 13

MR. WELD'S JOURNEY BY THE AWATERE VALLEY TO THE CANTERBURY PLAINS.

[From the Government Gaxette, Feb. 31.] Sir— By desire of his Excellency the LieutenantGovernor, I have the honour of submitting to you an epitome of Notes taken during a late journey, when I explored a route, by which Lyttelton, in the Canterbury district, may be easily reached from Mr. Tinline's station on the Awatere or Wakefield- river within eight or. ten days, by any tolerable good pedestrian or horseman. By it, stock of any kind may be safely driven in a proportionately short space of time, witti the further advantage of the best of pasturage along the whole line of journey. There is enough firewood to sup. ply the wants of travellers, and the- only drawback is the necessity of crossing several rivers, which, however, I found less formidable than I had anticipated, and which I think will almost always be passable except at the period of the melting of the snows.

Within the course of last month I have seen the whole of the proposed route, and have traversed it all with the exception of about fifteen miles, which, however, present no obstacle, and which I viewed looking southwards from the high lands on the Waiautoa or Clarence river, and northward from the plains of the Waiau-ua. I will endeavour to give a general idea of the country between the two settlements that the route connects, more particularly with a view to enable any person wishing to travel or to drive stock to follow my course by means of the directions I propose to lay down. To effect this, it will be necessary occasionally to enter into details, which, though of little interest to the general reader, must be forgiven by him, as they may prove of service to.the traveller who, with blanket on hi§ back, or leading his jaded horse, anxiously looks out for some previously indicated landmark to assure him of the correctness of his reckoning.

The first part of my journey consisted in walking from Lyttelton to Flaxbourne (Cape Campbell) ; but as much of this route has before been travelled, and is partially known, I shall here confine myself to generalities.

I left Lyttelton on the 4th December, 1850, slowly, journeying with a pleasant party across the great plains in a northerly direction. , The Canterbury district has of late years been so often described and admired, that I need hardly add my felicitations to those more valuable ones which have been so often offered to the fortunate colonists who are to possess this vast expanse o^ unincumbered rich agricultural land, eminently adapted as it also is for cattle breeding, whilst it is bounded by downs that can hardly be surpassed for sheep stations, and which extend almost uninterruptedly from north to south of the island.

It was not till I crossed the Ashley, and left the Canterbury plain, that my travelling commenced in earnest. I had engaged a man named Charles Wilkinson to accompany me, and I can recommend him strongly to any one who may wish to travel the tame road : he is an experienced bushman, and has a good eye to couutrv.

The general character of the coast line of hills along which I travelled from Double Corner to Hurunui, is bold and rounded, occasionally limestone, but oftejaer of clay, gravelly or saudstone formation : at the Double Corner itself the rocks are formed of masses of conglomerate shells, chiefly of the oyster, mussel, and other modern species, with some amongst them closely resembling the fossil ammonites found on the English Dorsetshire coast

The vegetation throughout this district is exceedingly rich, and though in places rather rough, and not capable at present of being very heavily stocked, it is generally a clearfwool growing country i and as there is a great variety of herbs and grasses,apparently little affected by the seasons, I have no doubts as to its capabilities for fattening also.

The Waipara plain lies within these seaward downs, and both it, and as I am informed by Mr. Caverhill, of Motunau (to whom I am indebted for information, assistance, and hospitality), the plains and downs stretching beyond it into the interior, and northwards as far as the Kaikora block, are solely , covered with grass, affording excellent grazing, whilst, being almost free from swamp, they present no impediment to the traveller, who may traverse them in all directions. "The river Hurunui, though easily fordable in the summer months, is evidently dangerous at many seasons of the year, the more so, as it suddenly deepens at its banks ; the track of downs and vallies between this river and the Waiau-ua, now in the occupation of Mr. Caverhill as a heifer station, is the finest and richest cattle run I have seen in either island, and the greater part «f it is not inferior for sheep farming. It was early in the morning of 12th December, that, rising from our camping place on the south side of the Waiau-ua plain, about six or eight, miles from the sea (from which it also is separated I by a line of coast hills parallel to our route), we forded the river somewhat above its 'junction with the Tuahuka, which enters it from the northward. This Waiau-ua, or " female Waiau," and Waiautoa, or " male Waiau," of which I shall speak hereafter, are the two worst rivers between Canterbury and the Wairau, The river was very low when we crossed it, and I do not think that I should have then found much difficulty in doing bo on foot, but I should recommend pedestrians to be careful in making the attempt. A beautiful grassy plain now lay before us, and as we travelled it, I remarked to my companion that the Tuahuka pierced the inland range of downs, and, flowing from the north, evidently arose near the head of tbe Awatere ; tLere also appeared a kind of open, ing in the chain of inland mountains in that direction, and we regretted that our small stock of provisions would not allow us to attempt to penetrate behind the Kaikoras, instead of following the. coast line. A kvr hours' walking now brought us into a different style of country from that which we bad hitherto traversed ; the downs before us began to rise in height ns they approached the seaward Kaikoras, or " Lookers-on ;'' ' the grass plain land gave place to a mixture of. bushes, grass, and scrub ; the frequent patches of black birch on the sides of the bills told of inferior soil and a greater height above the sea level; and when we diverged to the right, and following the ridge of a hill along the. worn channel of a.

deserted native path famous in the wars of old, descended into the Tutaiputuputu, we had bidden farewell to the prairies of the South, and were evidently journeying amongst the offspurs of the Kaikoras. Passing some pine groves, and walking in the wide shingly channel of tbe river, we reached the sea side, and night overtook us as, after witnessing a glorious sunset from Amuri bluff, we descended through flowering and fragrant bushes upon the site of the old fishery of Amuri. There are no Europeans living there now, and the broken boats and deserted habitations told a melancholy tale of the decay of the whale fishery. Here we found two large boats hauled up, belonging to native's were on, their way, by easy stages, from Motueka to Lyttelton, to work on tbe roads. One old man, the chief, said he was going there to die in the country of his fathers, and indeed he did not look long for this world : * his cßeerfulness, however, was no whit diminished, andwejassed a merry evening by our camping fires.

Next morning, half a mile along wooded white limestone cliffs brought us to the pa of the Ngaitau chief " Kaikora," a man of portly presence and most powerful build; his bluff, handsome, and English countenance, and hearty welcome, were as unlike . those of any native I had ever before seen, as was the breakfast of fried ducks' eggs which he set before us superior to anything I had ever tasted of native cookery. I questioned him on the subject of the inland communication with' the Awatere and Wairaii, and found that I had been right the previous day in my surmises. He described a pass in the mountains to be reached by ascending the Tuahuka, and said that formerly he had often been there to catch kakapos (green night parrots) in a black birch wood above the Awatere pass. As I could here have obtained provisions, I was at first tempted to retrace my steps and attempt to find the pass; but; he alone of all the natives knew it, and none of them could I engage to carry provisions or accompany me, so I determined on proceeding by the coast to Flaxbourne, and thence to ascend the valley of the Awatere, and penetrate far enough to establish the communication from northwards.

Our day's journey along the coast between Amuri and the Kaikoras peninsula, was a rough one. We passed through two natural tunnels or caves in the headlands, one of which was about twenty yards long, and through which we had to crawl on hands and knees ; the other, a uoble archway crowned with bushes,' would have furnished a good subject for the pencil. Besides these underground ways, we had also to climb over sundry necks, and aVong the sides of curiously worn and perforated Tocks. I do not consider that there is either much difficulty or danger to the pedestrian on this coast road, but I mention these impediments more particularly, to shew the utter impossibility of ever driving stock or taking a horse coastwise to Canterbury, as these rocks could only be avoided by ascending precipitous wooded mountains that rise directly from them. The road from Kaikoras peninsula to Waipapa is of a similar nature.

On my arrival at Kaikoras peninsula, I resolved to explore the valley leading inland from thence. I had noticed on my voyage to Port Victoria that it appeared to penetrate to the back of the snowy ranges, and the natives told me that formerly a path, though a difficult one, had existed from it to Re Awatere'. I imagined that if I could penetrate in that direction by mounting the southern spurs of the Kaikoras, I might gain such a view and knowledge of the country as to enable me to judge of the most eligible route between the Waiau-ua and the Awatere. I devoted one day to this attempt, but discovered that the river. to which I had trusted to take me to the head of. the valley (its bed was the only road) issued from between two mighty walls of precipice several thousand feet high, cleaving the very heart of the mountain, whose summit is here more than 8,000 feet above the sea. A more fearful chasm could not be found in Switzerland. Foiled by this unforeseen turn in the river's course, I attempted to force my way through tangled fern and bushes in the direction I wished to take, but upon gaining a point of view, I perceived that to cut a line would be the only mode of exploring here, and that in such travelling it would take weeks to reach the Awatere. I consequently wasted no more time or labour, but, camping by the river, returned next morning to the fishery.

I had already to thank Messrs. Henderson, Staunton, Ley, &c, for their hospitality, and now I was further indebted to them for a lift in a whaleboat to Waipapa, which saved me some fifteen miles of bad beach walking. Waipapa, another deserted whaling station, is the most beautiful nook I had yet seen — embowered in gigantic karaka strees, its cottages stand on the seaside beneath a white cliff draperied with foliage : as on all the seaward side of the Kaikoras the mountains rise abruptly from the coast, and are ,well wooded, here there is even a considerable quantity of pine.

Dec. 16. — My Waipapa and Kaikora friends again pushed out to sea, and, pulling about five miles to the northward, landed Wilkinson and myself beyond the mouth of the Waiautoa, a rapid and dangerous river which flows between the Lookers-on and tbe inland Kaikoras, and here falls into the lea: it has also been variously' named, as the Waipapa, the Big River, and the Clarence, which name appears the most euphonious and easily remembered. We accomplished the journey between.it and FlaxbOume the same day, walking chiefly along heavy sand a distance of about twenty-seven miles, with rough hills the greater part of the way on our landward side. We had been twelve days on our way from Port Cooper, and when I deducted delays and stoppages, we were convinced that we might easily have accomplished it in eight. I remained a few days at the station, and then, as Wilkinson had strained his foot, I set forward with Mr. Lovegrove, who offered to accompany me upon the latter and more important portion of my journey. Nearly three years ago, when I attended some of the hills on the upper part of the Awatere valley, X had formed my opinion that an outlet to the southward must be sought by ascending its course ; and when Captain Impey and Mr. M'Rae last year made the attempt, I was sanguine as to their success, which it now appears failed merely from the 35stacles presented to them by the inclemency of tue weather. Often as I had

been prevented by unforeseen circumstances from making the trial my&lf, it was with no small feel, ing of gratification that, upon the 20th of December, I found myself, riding over the green downs at the foot of Haldon Hill on my way to Mr. 1 Bedborough's station, where we were to leave our. quadrupeds, and to start fairly in search of an inland communication with the plains I had just been traversing in the south.

I left Mr. Bedborough's on the 21st December, but as the route over the run now in the occupation' of Mr. Tinline is well known, I shall only remark that though the hills at its south-west extremity present no serious obstacle to the drover, they would form perhaps as tedious and difficult a portion of his journey as any he would have to encounter in its entire course. I should recommend keeping a little distance from the Awatere till after passing a stream some three miles beyond the ' Jordan.' It was here that we fixed our camping place for the first night ; we should however have added seveial miles to our day's journey had I not deviated from the path over Mr. Tinline's run, to satisfy myself as to the kind of travelling on the opposite (west) bank of the Awatere : in this I should strongly recommend no future traveller to follow my example, unless he be tempted to explore a most curious gully or fissure which barred our way for some hours, and into which, having with much labour descended, we found it exceedingly difficult to make our exit on the opposite side, and were also foiled in the attempt to. follow the course to the Awatere. It is a narrow watercourse, where the light of the sun has never penetrated, so narrow, that standing within it we could at all times touch its walls on either hand, and often we could hardly find room to pass between .them, as they rose perpendicularly to the height of 100 feet, in many places scarcely leaving a slight strip of blue sky visible through the overhanging branches above them.

Our second day's journey, after -the first two miles, lay over comparatively open country. We avoided the hilly travelling here spoken of by Captain Impey, by keeping the downs of the east bank of the Awatere. Abont five miles from our camp we passed a rapid mountain stream (" the Hodder") rushing down from an inland summit of the Kaikora range (" Mount Gladstone") ; as we proceeded the country still improved, and at midday we found ourselves in the midst of one of the finest tracts of gazing land that is to be found in this or any other country. The Awatere here takes a sudden turn S. S. W., and for five or six miles on either side of it are downs rising on the east to the Kaikora range, and on the west to that which separates the Awatere from the Waiopai, over which there is here an old native route ; the pass, though high, did not look impracticable for stock, and I regretted that time did. not allow me to ascend it. The Isis here enters the Awatere, and I noticed the cascade also mentioned by Captain Impey, and which may fitly bear the name of its discoverer, who, a visitor to our colony, yet devoted time and labour to its benefit, by exploring under all the disadvantages arising from the lateness and inclemency of the season. Several other streams fall into the river and water " Fairfield Downs," a name that this tract_ of country deserves from the beauty of its scenery, and its natural advantages of wood, water, and luxuriant herbage. I wish that the difficulty of carriage for supplies and produce did not go far to neutralize these advantages. Proceeding onwards our next step was rather a false one. We followed the course of the river which here winds among the spurs forming the inland base of the Kaikoras. After remarking an earthquake crack some thirty feet broad and twelve feet deep on a narrow neck of land, we camped for the night within five miles of the foot of their highest peaks, in a spot that, in years to come, from the wild sublimity of its scenery, may become the Chamouni of New Zealand. Next. morning we toiled painfully along the river course, crossing it more than knee deep twenty seven times in a distance of some half dozen miles, as it wound with endless snakelike twists and writhings amongst volcanic rocks and cliff's, presenting at every turn the most romantic scenery, which I must say we very ill appreciated. On emerging into more open country I found that all this might have been avoided — the proper route is, after crossing the Awatere once at Fairfield Downs, where it turns td the south, to "leave it, and following a kind of opening in the hills, to travel about W. by S. for about three miles, when having crossed a brook, you will find on your left a neck of land connecting the downs and hills rising from the river side with the mountains. You ascend it, and then bear S. by W., heading several small creeks that take their rise in the uplands that you are on ; 8 or 10 miles from the ford at Fairfield will thus bring you to a stream running to the Awatere from a high dark castellated* mass of crags ; follow this stream to the Awatere, and you will avoid all the bad travelling and again find yourself in open country, and be rejoiced as we were to see the river (now diminished in size) after passing some remarkable needle docks, flowing in a direct course through a narrow plain some five miles long by a breadth of about half a mile. Small rounded hills with bare rocks piercing through their grassy sword are ranged on either side as regularly as if placed there/by a jurveyor ; and such is the artificial and street-like appearance of the place, that I could hardly divest mvaelf of the idea that I was looking up a long vista of some grass-grown remains of Cyclopean architecture. The view is closed by a conical peak, and at its base the river divides into two branches, one of which takes its source in the ! Kaikoras, whilst another (along which the route lies) flows from the S. W. Near their junction, conspicuous amongst the array of fantastically shaped rocks, a steeple of solid stone rises from the plain to a height of about fifty feet. I named this Middlehurst Steeple, and the hills and grass land on either side of tbe river, Middlehurst Downs. The valley itself (as Captain Impey had remarked before me) seems central between the Kaikoras and the inland range of Mongatere. It is well grassed, and I have no doubt, like all the country I had hitherto passed over, would be admirably adapted for fattening stock. The mountains of the Kaikora ranges lying to our left, I mt>y here remark, all bore evident traces of volcanic action ; and among their lower ranges, oa ground covered with yeltovr or reddish dust glittering with mica, quartz, and feldspar, or again presenting the appearance- of a deserted brick-field, grew the | greenest and moat luxuriant vegetation ; whilst

their < scorious and basaltic rocks were dark coloured, and rose in every describable and indescribable form of dome and spire and minaref. Thejnland ranged on our right were more rounded and massive in form, and generally presenting bare summits covered with small broken pieces of freestone like a Macadamized road; the vege. tation at their bases though good, was less luxu. riant. Though the course of the river may be here followed the whole way, I diverged to the right at the confluence of a small stream about a mile and a half before I reached the Steeple, and' avoiding the obtuse angle formed by the river's course, I walked over downs for about two miles in a south.west direction, and encamped for the night on a branch of the Awatere, which here, rising in a high bare-topped mountain, flows down to join that river.

Crossing over a ridge of table land on , the morning of the 24th, I again came upon the Awatere and found it still flowing through level land ; about eight miles however brought us to a gorge by some low rounded hills, and here the valley again began to change its character, being narrower, and* occasionally somewhat swampy. As we proceeded we noticed evident signs of the altitude above the sea level to which we had attained ; even yesterday we had remarked little or no wood but gigantic "wild Irishmen," here as large as hawthorns, and some black birch at the foot of Mongatere, by the source of that branch of the Awatere on which we camped. The soil too bore signs, in its light puffy appearance, .of having frequently been covered with snow, and now the land was poorer, and the vegetation, though still good, more tufty. For the first time in New Zealand | remarked juniper bushes, also the broad-leaved dandelion of the common English sort; the dwarf nettle too had this morning reminded us of a change of climate, though neither of us were. sufficiently devoted to the cause of science to try whether it was the stinging or the blind nettle ; its flower rather resembled the latter. Following -the main branch of the valley we here lost all signs of Captain Impey's horsetraoks which we had before occasionally seen. We were now evidently approaching a pass, if pass there were ; the Awatere, now a rivulet, received a rill from every gully, whilst the mountains from Mongatere on the west to the Kaikora ranges on the east, seemed gradually to sweep round and hem us in. Before us, forming a kind of link in the giant chain, we saw a low neck between two stony roundbacked grey-coloured mountains, and from this neck one of the branches of the Awatere takes its rise ; another branch to the left apparently flows from another and a higher pass, and seemingly a steeper one, so we determined to try the one to the right. The ascent was not difficult, spear grass was the only impediment. I remarked on the summit of the mountain to the right a curious semi-cydrical aperture that struck me as being probably the extinct crater of a volcano. Around us I noticed several varieties of plants and flowers, some European and some entirely new to me. A visit to " Barefells' Pass" would amply repay the botanist, and might well redeem the flora of New Zealand from the reproach of barrenness. I must mention for the benefit of the traveller, that, of flax which is not elsewhere found within twenty miles of the pass, a new and very superior variety grows - almost on its summit.

At length, standing upon loose shingle of broken freestone, we looked down from the summit of the pass. The view we had so anxiously expected was merely a narrow valley running south ; the descent into it was not long nor difficult, and stock of any kind might pass over it in safety. We now pushed on, anxiously- expecting at every turn to see some plain, or the bush old " Kaikora " had mentioned : this however was evidently not his route, and night closed in -after we had walked some six or seven miles from the pass, and with it rain. We had travelled on till dark, and there was neither toi, flax, nor sticks to build a. shelter ; so, thoroughly wet and cold, we spent a cheerless Christmas eye, our only consolation being that I had noticed a yellow flower (asphodel ?), which is plentiful on the southern plain, and is not found north ofxthe Kaikoras. This led me to believe that we had indeed penetrated the mountain barrier, and almost achieved our purpose: The morning of the 25th was destined to convince me that I was right in my surmises; we were afoot by day dawn, and hurrying on in search of a spot to kindle a fire and warm and dry ourselves, to our great joy our next mile down " Guidesdale " shewed us the Waiautoa or Clarence river before us ; the sun too shone out at the moment and brightened up the vallies and the streams at their meeting, and on the whole we thought that our morning's wish of a happy Christmas had been more nearly gratified that we had anticipated. We crossed the Waiautoa without any difficulty just above where the " Guide " falls into it ; there is here a shingle bank or island, whence you ford up the | stream to another shingle bank opposite ; there i are two or three small rocks in the stream near the south bank. When the small upper one, in a line between the shingly island and the opposite i shingle bank, is plainly visible I should have no I hesitation in crossing, especially were I coming from the south, when the traveller would have the advantage of fording with the current. The bottom here is good hard gravel ; the river was scarcely knee deep when we forded it, and not very rapid ; the rock was fully a foot out of water : the river rose a foot or eighteen inches within a quarter of an hour after we crossed, and became turbid with the fresh, but next morning it was clear and as low as ever. Having crossed, we encamped by a blazing fire, and did our best to celebrate Christmas day; after remaining some hours at the camp we walked along the downs to a low neck of land some four miles below the entrance of Guidesdale on the south side of the Clarence. Standing upon it I at once saw that my object was attained. Before me lay the low downs of the Waiau-ua, whilst a water-coarse rising below my feet, running S. by W., led I directly to them ; unfortunately the clouds hung low to the south and precluded all distant view, but we both thought that we could plainly discern the waters of the Waiau-ua; and the downs that I now saw before me completely corresponded to those I had passed when a fortnight before 1 had forded the Waiau-ua on my way from the southward. My position also wa» fixed by a dark range

of mountains with patches pf snow about six miles , distant bearing due west, which 1 had /rtso seen ■ from the Waiau-ua. In fine, I was perfectly satisfied that the "Leader," as I named the stream, at my feet, was identical with the Tuahuka mentioned before ; or in any case, that the Leader falls into the Waiau-ua within five miles of the" ford where I crossed it, and ' from which I now was only separated by about fifteeu miles of open grass country as nearly as I could estimate.' It was evident that no further obstacle existed, and as I turned again and traversed "Whittington Downs " to our camping place, I only thought of returning home with as little delay as possible, as our provisious were lowland my time but limited.

I have only to add that about ten miles down the river it apparently makes a sudden bend to the N.E., whilst beyond it to the S.E. you see through an opening in the hills that (running from the seaward Kaikoras or Lookers-on) form its southern boundary, the low hills and downs at the back of Amuri; this probably is one of the two old native passes; the double pass and the black birch kakapo bush between the Clarence and the Awatere, mentioned to me by " Kaikora," must be to the east of " Barefells' Pass," where the offspurs of the Kaikoras cover more ground and are higher, yet I doubt not could be penetrated by following, some branch of the Awatere.

I will not now trespass upon your patierce much longer. Four days brought us from our furthest point to Mr. Bedborough's ; we set fire to those places on which the spear grass or an accumulation of old herbage rendered walking difficult, which will render the road much more easy to the future traveller ; indeed lam quite satisfied that the Waiau-ua may be gained in four days, whence Lyttelton may with great ease be reached in four more.

I may as well mention that I found nothing new in the way of ornithology in my journey ; I saw one sepecimen of the cuckoo on the grass land between the Hurunui and the Waiau-ua, also five young hawks in a nest built on the ground, which I mention as they were all of different sizes, a circumstance which I have often noticed in kakas' nests, and which I believe is common with New Zealand birds ; the old natives told me that kakapos were numerous in the inland black birch woods ; my journey, however, lying through open .country, J did not find any. The kiwi, the natives said, was rare, but sometimes, found near the sources of the Awatere, where one night I imagined that I recognized its cry. Woodhens and blue whistling and paradise ducks formed our chief food in the latter part of our expedition', and indeed we, had little else to eat; they were all very tame : as to the former, their coolness was often provoking ; they would walk up to us at our fireside and help themselves to anything they might fancy, quite regardless of consequences. My dog killed more of them than we could eat ; and- on one occasion I saw one of them, in defence of its young, fly at the dog with sucb courage, that the event of the battle was for a moment doubtful : another I remarked gazing with cool curiosity at the murder of its companion by my dog, seemingly quite unconscious of its own imminent fate, which soon overtook it. Of the moa, to my surprise, I sawneither bones nor relics of any kind after leaving Canterbury. To the plants and shrubs Thave already enumerated,.* I may recapitulate amongst others a most magnificent broom, whose lilac blossoms cover the whole shrub with their festoons : I consider it, almost without exception, the handsomest shrub I have ever s.een : I noticed one tree twenty feet high, with a trunk a foot and a half in diameter, growing by a brook side on Fairfield Downs ; it is also found, though smaller in size, on the Awatere, about Mr. Tinline's run ; also several veronicas of great beauty, wild thyme, dwarf yew, Alpine rose (consanthettum), white violet, a ribes, several heaths, gentianella, harebell,* a lily, and several varieties of ranunculus. I might enumerate a great many more curious plants &nd flowers (some with the richest scent), but I am unfortunately not sufficiently versed in botany accurately to describe them : they chiefly grow about the pass at the source of the Awatere.

With regard to climate in those elevated vallies, it may be almost needless for me to say, that though on our first leaving the lowlands we luxuriated in the midday bath and siesta, we soon found ourselves in a very different temperature ; the nights especially were very cold; and' on Christmas night the ground on which we lay wa» white with hoar frost. I have already made a few passing observations on the nature of the rocks which we observed on our route ; I will only add that the channel of the lower part of the Awatere, where it is fed from the highest parts of the Kaikoras, is filled with masses of granite and porphyry : also, it may be interesting to note that the white limestone of Flaxbourne and Amuri appears again in a low stratum at the back of the Kaikoras in the river bed at Fairfield Downs.

I will now, Sir, bring this imperfect sketch to a conclusion. A glance at the map mil shew that (especially should the Waiopai pass to the Awatere prove practicable) the route I have endeavoured to describe will be almost a direct line between Nelson and Lyttleton. I regret that I have not had the opportunity of comparing my journal with that of Messrs. Dashwood and Mitchell, whose route to the westward of mine was separated from it by a high and generally snow-capped range of hills. Should any thing I have discovered aid in furthering the great object of overland communication between the two settlements, in promoting which those gentlemen took the lead, and encountered many difficulties and hardships, the earnest wish will have been gratified of,, _ Sir, Your most obedient, servant, Feed. A. Wild. Wellington, January, 1851. P.S. — I have prepared a sketch map of the route, and shall forward a copy to Mr. Godley at Lyttelton, and to Major. Richmond at Nelson, who will, I have no doubt, allow any intending traveller to inspect it. — P. A. W.

Thus much in favour of activity and occupation, that the more one has to do, the more one is capable of doing, even beyond our direct task.