COURAGE AND DARING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20761, 2 January 1931, Page 10

COURAGE AND DARING.

A NOTABLE EXPLORER.

DISCOVERY OF ARTHUR'S PASS. WORK OF SIR ARTHUR DOBSON. The knighthood which it is announced to-day has been conferred on Mr. Arthur Dudley Dobson recalls one of ths most notable and difficult exploits in tho history of New Zealanad exploration —the discovery of Arthur's Pass, tho famous passago over tho Southern Alps. Few men in tho Dominion have a greater record for courago and daring, enterprise and resourcefulness, and downright hard work than Sir Arthur. Ho carried out his duties as Government surveyor in days when New Zealand was largoly unexplored and travelling was exceedingly arduous, when much of the rough country round the Southern Alps had been traversed only by bands of roving Maoris and an occasional prospector and when to succeed was to risk one's life time and time again. It was in the latter part of 1863 that Sir Arthur undertook a contract with the Provincial of Canterbury to survey tho west coast from the mouth of the Grey River southward to Abut Head and inland to tho river sources in the Southern Alps. He chartered the little schooner Gipsy to take hiis stores and equipment round the coast from Nelson. Tho vessel took no less than five stormy weeks to travel the short distance and tho voyage ended with the schooner's wreck on the Grey River bar. All hands got on shore safely and salvaged their goods. Then Sir Arthur commenced his task. Work of the Pathfinder. After several months surveying he returned to Christchurch, where Mr. Cass, the chief surveyor, was so pleased with his work that he asked him, before going back to tho West Coast, to explore the mountainous region between Waimakariri and the rivers running into Westland to ascertain whether any available passes between east and west existed in that part of the country. Sir Arthur set out on March 8, 1864, with his younger brother, Edward. Their story has been told by Sir Arthur in the following unvarnished words:— "I rod© off from Christchurch to tho upper Waimakariri country, reaching Goldney's station, near where tho Cass railway station is now, on the 10th. Tho next day wo rode up tho Waimakariri River bed to a large tributary, which I named the Bealey, and up this stream as far as we could take the horses and camped. Next day (March 12)« we started and followed the water up until it ended in a long, 6\vampy flat. (This

is now known as Arthur's Pass.) The barometer showed us to be 3000 feet abovo sea level. We camped for the night*, and next day followed along the high flat and found it ended at an old moraine which lay across the valley, and a strong stream came in from the" south from a high mountain which I named Mount Rolleston. The water then ran down over a great mass of rocks and plunged down nelow narrow cliffs into a long narrow valley. This, as we found out later, was the head of Ihe Otira. Mapping the Coach Route.

"I saw that this would make a very useful pass, when money was available to make the road through to the West Coast, that it would be quite impossible to get horses through it at that time, and it would require several miles of very extensive work to be done before that would be possible. Heavy rain came on so we returned to Goldney's! on March 14. "Mr. Goldney was much interested! in the discovery, and was anxious to m'ake a trip over the pass himself to seei if there was any available open prass cjountry, so I agreed to take him over, (as 'I was also anxious to see what the coutntry looked like further down. There were no maps of any of that part of (the country at the time. j "On March 15 we went up the Bealey as far as the horses could go and cammed. Next day.it rained heavily, but on {the 17th we went ov«r the pass and into/thu head of the Otira. Here, at. the edge of the old moraine, the water falls apout 200 ft. down over a mass of immtense rocks into a narrow gorge with verftical rock sides. In one place we hadi to make a rough ladder (Maori style) with flax and kiekie to get down a vertiical face 40ft. high. We had to lower /our dog down at this place with a flax line and pull him up again going back. lOf course, we had to wade often np to Ipur waists getting doivn the gorge. 1 The Great Westland Forest. 1 "We went down the Otira Gorge iiflto the open river bod—now the Otira riftil■way yard—and sor some distance Howard the Teramaliau, but climbing up aha hillsides and looking ahead we could See nothing but bush -covered hills and mot a blade of grass, so we returned and reached Goldney's; on the 21 st. J "I returned to Christchurch. In Aforil I left Christchurch wiith my new pajrty of white men, all sailors. On the l®th I crossed the Hurunui Saddle. A roilgh track had been made by the Government, and several f;old prospectors 1 i:l taken horses over to the West Coast.. J Or. the 19th I camped about five miles be cv the junction of the Otira. From t h.s point. Mount Rolleston could be so .-n. and I then realised that the pass I Had discovered was the end of the Otira, j md the swift river that came down j the gorge joined the Teramakau, not the A rahura." | In these straightforward words jpir Arthur tells the story of one of the m&pt, important discoveries in the history |of New Zealand exploration. A rond w|is put through the pass soon afterwards and thousands of gold-diggers used it on thiir way to the West Coast, goldfields. Staae coaches followed. To day the road Is little used, the traveller going under thje mountain range by a tunnel, 51 mile's long, which is tsna of the great engineering works of the world.