THE LEADER EXPEDITION IN FIORDLAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10359, 14 May 1895, Page 7

THE LEADER EXPEDITION IN FIORDLAND.

SOME PARTICULARS OP THB . COUNTRY EXPLORED. The members of the Leader expedition, who went overland to' Milford with the' view of exploring some new country in Fiordland, returned to town on Saturday evening, wellsatisfied with, the work accomplished. Indeed,thetrip has beensuccessfuTbeyohd expectation; A representative of this paper, who had a brief interview with Mr Malcolm *'"Ross,* 'was ab»e to glean _ a few interesting particulars ot -the expedition. It would appear that the undertaking was nob accomnlished without; difficulty and a good deal of trying work The original intention was to proceed to Milford ,°_?- in the Hinemoa which had been placed at the disposal of the party by the Government,' but as the vessel was delayed so long in the norfch.by'bad weather it was decided not to wail; tor her, but to proceed-overland before ifc got too late in the season.' This necessitated a complete alteration of plans afc the last moment, and a great deal of hard work m the "swagging" of Divisions' ahd camp impedimenta for the double journey over .M'Kinnon's Pass. A good ' stock of provisions was; taken as far as the hut at Ljike Mintaro, and from there Mr Ross ahd Mr •tfyte made an attempt to scale Mount Balloon' The climbing, was very difficult owing to thp state of the; mountain—large masses of snow and ah occasional piece of rock 'coming down over, the precipices from great heights, and' makmgthe ascent dangerous, so that after proceeding upwards from the Saddle for a couple ot hours it was deemed wise to beat a' retreat Nexir.day- the whole party crossed' the pass, which was knee deep in snow, in a driving blizzard. The mountain "scenery was grand in the extreme—Mount Hart towering above a .bank of cloud like-a veritable Matterhorn, and the mid-daysun glinting oh the J.rVoiS'Glacier and the snow- Beamed-couloirs" of 'the more distant mountains. : The advance guard ofthe' party arrived early- at • the Beech "Huts',*' Malcolm; and Kenneth Ross'tsmamihg b-hihd'to explore ior a route to the summit' of Mount B\lloon from; the - head :of ! Roirihg creek. What promised to be a fairly, easy roate was discovered,-bufc, bad weather coining ori,*• ■v descent was made to thi Beech Huts la.c the same evening. Next day the Sutherland- Palls were visited, gome of the party ascending to the foot of the first leap in less than an hour and experiencing no difficulty in theclimb. In-the evening three of the party returned-to the assault on"Mount Balloon' bivouacking in the bash some 1500 ft above the Beech Huts. Bad weather again coming on they had to return next morning, and ifc was decided to proceed oh down to the Sound. The rivers and creeks were in- high flood, some ofthe streams being crossed with difficulty, but the Arthur- Valley was a magnificent sight--hundreds of waterfalls, "many of tbim rivalling the Sutherland Palls both inbeauty and height", Plundering down over the'granite precipices. A mile and a-half from the Beech Hilts the party came suddenly upon Mr Butler's Government'road party, who had been engaged for six months in these wilds extending the track from Lake Ada to the falls. The party were almost out of provisions and were anxiously awaiting the arrival ofthe Government steamer. Ihey had experienced a remarkably fine season,' and had done excellent' work!'' Indeed the evenness and stability of the track formed" was" quite a revelation, and Mr Ross says that next season, when the work is completed,; there will .be not the slightest difficulty in riding a bicycle to the foot of the Sutherland Fail's.' Mr Butler and two of his men. very, kindly piloted the parfcjr down' the Arthur river and across Lake Ada- in their; large boat. .The track between' Lake Ada and;the lower, boat' landing oh the Arthur river was alsp"'found in capital' order,' but not so the boats for the last stage of tho journey. ■'; There was only a yery old and Jeaky' white, pine boat and a " flatty." These, how-eyerj-were baled out, and the party; ■ numbering seven, proceeded to feel their way down the river 'to the sound. Ifc was a perfect, sunny afternoon, not a ripple on the wafcer,_ as, baling their frail 'craft! all. the time, they rowed slowly down -the quiet reaches ,of .....tho Arthur river, and entered the still waters of Milford Sound.'where the mountains, and'the splendid Bowen Falls-^1 swollen by the reeeat rains—were mirrored as if in a lookibg-glass. It was a great surprise to the limited population of Milford to find the party coming overland, and though provisions had ran somewhat low, fche strangers were made heartily welcome at Sutherland's. . Next; morning, the weather being fine, Messrs Malcolm and Kenneth Ross, Mr Hodgkins, and Mr Fyfe started off up the north branch of the Cleddau nver with'the intention of exploring io to its source and locating and making the ascent of Mount Tutoko, the highest mountain in these parts. Mr Fyfe unfortunately was suffering from a severe attack of neuralgia, and after proceeding a mile or two had to return to'Milford. The others were accompanied as far as their highest camp by Mr Donald Ross, the Government guide, who proved himself an excellent bushman, and rendered valuable assistance. The journey to the upper campdistant only 10 miles from the Sound—occupied all day, and was a very arduous one, the party carrying heavy swags through the dank virgin forest and over the huge and slippery granite boulders of the north branch of the Cleddau river, which for miles is a roaring torrent of very considerable volume. The scenery of this valley was very fine. Nine miles up a glacier of considerable extent was seen crowning the pass afc the head of the valley, and splendid peaks rose on either hand. On. the right was a deep valley with a glacier thafc came down fco the bush-line, and a fine snow-clad mountain at its head was supposed and turned out to be Tutoko, though nothing definite couidbe decided as to its position".! thp maps could not be relied on, the position of the river being wrongly marked.,' For. this mountain, however, the .climbera made and camped on an ancient tree-covered moraine 'at nightfall, 1100 ft above sea-level. Next day the brofcher3 Ross and Mr Hodgkins started early on their climb. A certain bufc somewhat difficult and dangerous route to' the summit presented itself up the main glacier, but this was abandoned in favour of a safer but more problematical route to the right of the glacier After ascending some 2000 ft above the camp the climbers were surprised to see,' right above them, a magnificent ice-fall which came from a plateau beyond. Getting above this an easy route over gentle snow slopes, cleft; by great bergschrunds, led to the final peak, which the party now expected to reach in an hour. Their expectations, however, were not realised, for the upper slopes very hard, and a great deal of step-cutting was required, while the rocks oh the final peak were glazed with ice. The rope and the ice-axes were here in continual use for four hours, and the greatest caution had to be observed. Ifc was nob till sunset that fche crest of the final peak was reached. The view as the sun sank in a bank of cloud, miles to the westward, over a wilderness of peaks, and as almost simultaneously tha moon rose behind Tutoko, was one never to be forgotten. Several interesting discoveries were made, and the aneroid showed the mountain to be over 9000 ft high. The descent was of rather a thrilling nature, the party having to spend the night out on the mountain 2000ffc above camp. But on these and other details connected with the trip Mr Ross did not care to express himself too freely, wishing to reserve his narrative for the articles he is contributing to the Melbourne Age and "Fiordland." S a

A few of the more important features of the country explored were named in commemoration of the expedition and those identified with the project. A fine rock peak to the south-west of Tutoko was named Mount Syme; the large glsoier coming from ifc and Tutoko, the Age Glacier; and the branch of the river issuing from the glacier, Leader creek. A magnificent snow-clad mountain about 9000ffc high adjoining Tutoko on the west was named Mount Fosbery, and the icefall on the main glacier the Herbert Icefall. To some of the other peaks and glaciers appropriate Maori names will be given.

In answer to a question as to what impressed him most on the trip Mr Ross stated that the view from Tutoko must be placed first, though the scenery from M'Kinnon's Pass after thb recent snowfall was exceptionally grand. Both Mr Fyfe and he agreed that the view embracin"Mount Hart, Balloon Peak, and particularly Mount Elliot and the pretty little Jervois Glacier, was aa wild and remarkable a scene as they had ever gazed upon in all their wanderings in the Southern Alps. From a climber's point of view, there are many peaks far surpassing Mount Balloon; but the climbing generally is difficult, owing to the dense scrub and the polished granite slopes and precipices on the mountains.

In conclusion, Mr Ross, on behalf of himself and Mr E. T. Luke, referred to the indebtedness of the party to Mr Crosbie, of Lumsden, Mr and Mrs Snodgrass and Captain Duncan, of Te Anau, and Messrs Murrell and Dore of Manapouri, for the many facilities afforded the expedition; and spoke in terms of the highest praise of the energy and perseverance of Messrs T. C. Fyfe, W. Hodgkins, C. Ziele, and his other companions—often in ihe face of considerable difficulties—oa the overlaad trio