MANAPOURI TO DEEP COVE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19202, 19 June 1924, Page 9

MANAPOURI TO DEEP COVE.

TRACK TO WEST COAST. A PIONEER- EXPEDITION. [The interest that is being manifested in the truck from Lake Manapouri Ift Deep Cove, at the head of Smith Sound, this being- the short cut to the moose and wapiti country, prompts ns to publish the following hitherto unpublished paper, read by .Air C. W. Chamberlain, at a meeting of the Otago Institute, in June, 1891 33 years ago—describing what was then a new track to the West Coast.] This track bus just; been cut by the Southland Surrey Department, and as 1 happened to be the first “amateur casual'’ to make use of it (in fact, 1 went through before it was quite finished) I take ujion myself the task of giving some description of it. It is, 1 believe, the shortest and lowest pass over the Southern Alps, between the East and West Coasts, and though it has not the magnificent beauty of the Clinton Valley or ol the truck from Lake Te Anau to George Sound, it must take first place among the passes now known for the humbler but. more useful qualities mentioned. . . The itinerary from Dunedin to the West Coast is as follows: —Dunedin to Lumsden by rail, 137 miles; Lumsden to Manapoun bv coach, 52 miles; Manapouri township to the Head of the Lake by steam launch, three hours; over (he pass to Deep Cove, Smith Sound, on foot, 1C miles 50 chains. The distance from the lake to the top of the puss is seven, miles 10 chains; from the (op to Deep Gove, three miles 40 chains. The height I believe to bo about 2000 ft. We had not an aneroid barometer with us when 1 went over; but. from the character of the vegetation, the absence of snow, and the appearance of the pass itselt from Deep Cove, I do not think this estimate can be far out. 'Looking up from the sea beach at Deep Cove, the lemarkable gap in the high mountains surrounding the sound is very conspicuous, a deep narrow notch being cut. out. of the range, to fully two-thirds of its depth. ' , , .. The whole of the track,.from the landing where the Spey River enters Lake Manapouri to the sandy beach at the head ot Deep Cove, runs through dense bush, with tho exception of a few yards of nyer here and there and a scrubby flat, high up on the eastern slope. On this side, when a few improvements ami what a track-cutter called “divarsions have been made to avoid some steep pinches, the route will present no serious difficulties, and an average walker will be able to stroll up the gradual ascent with his hands in his pockets. ’ ■ ,ii , On the west side the case is different. The whole 2000 ft or so of height has to be taken in about three miles, and a few hundred feet at the top of the pass will be found rather trying. A huge tumbled heap of rocks, varying from the size of a fourroomed house (I am not exaggerating) down to the ordinary boulder no bigger than a dining table, all thickly covered with the dense vegetation of the West Coast has to bo. negotiated. This is a very stiff bit, but probably a longer and easier way could be lound if necessary. On the other hand, the three, miles of valley down which the western- track runs, beside the Lyvia River, lie beautifully open to the north and west, getting whatever sun and wind there is, and should probably be free from serious obstruction by snow. I give the distances from actual measurement; the height is guesswork; and as the number of miles (ravelled in the bush docs not convey much idea of the work done, X may say that I walked from the lake to the sound in seven hours, and returned m rather less time, although the truck was unformed part of the way. . , , I carried a swag, which I estimated weighed, at starting. 251 b. though .before X took it off I felt, like Mark Twain s blue jay in the story, that it was ‘ not any less than two tons.” . As I was fresh from office work', and by no* means in the first bloom of youth, you will see that the excursion cannot be a very difficult one. , .. , . , • This pass has something of historical interest, for 'while searching for it, lata in 1888 the late Professor Mainwarmg Brown lost his life. The gap in the ranges, before alluded to, having been seen from Deep Cove, and its position noted. Professor Brown. Major Goring, and Mr John White left the head of Lake Manapouri early in December, 1888, to try to find it from the, east side. They went up the right branch of the Spey River to the Mica Burn, Leaving the Spey, they followed the Mica up to Disaster Burn, where they camped. Bad weather came on, and they could go no further. Early on the morning of the 6th of December Brown left the camp, saying he would take a short stroll up the burn. lie never returned. His companions searched for him as long as their provisions lasted, as did. afterwards, other parties of explorers, bait his fate remains, to this day, a mystery. No one who has seen these mountains, will be surprised that the search failed. No more broken, rugged, and inaccessible bit of country can well be imagined. • . , The present route was discovered by air Robert Murrell ot Manapouri, -who, with a companion named Barber, went in search of Brown as soon as news of his loss reached them. Murrell and Barber pushed on past Disaster Burn, and. after much labour and hardship, reached the top of the mountains overlooking Smith Sound, and from this point they saw Deep Cove lying 500€ ft below them, and to their left they looxed down on the pass itself, of which Brown had been in search. Murrell went down to the sea, but being short of provisions and bad weather coming on he and Ills companion returned by the way they had come, but they were able to report to the Chief Surveyor of Southland that, the way to the pass lay up the Dashwood. a creek running into the Spey River out of a deep ravine about three miles above the Mica Burn Little more was done until January of this year (1891). when Mr Wilmot, Chief Surveyor of Southland, went up the Dashwood with a party, found Murrodd’s account to be correct, and laid off, roughly, (ho line of the present track to Deep Cove, but this party did not go down to the sea. Mr Wilmot’s name was given to the pass, but I venture to think that Murrell’s Ross ” would have been more appropriate, as commemorating the name of the original discoverer. Xu Anril a party of bushmen, under Murrell, went up to cut the track through, imd had a very tough time. They started from Lake Manapouri on the north, or right, bank of the Spey River, crossed the Mica Burn, and, leaving the Spey about four miles’ from the lake, turned up the right, or north, bank of the Dashwood Creek, which runs right up to the saddle. On the western slope the track keeps pretty well on the ridge of a bold spur until near the foot of the valley of the Lyvia River, when it drops down, something very bite a precipice on to a scrubby flat and comes out on the sea beach dose to the mouth of the river. If I may occupy a few minutes more of your time I will give some details of my trip, which was made in May last, well into the winter. A friend—Mr M and I had gone to Manapouri for a holiday, hoping to get some shooting, but the weather was bad and we had poor sport. Finding- that Murrell -was away in the ranges with the bush party, wo decided to pay them a visit We made two attempts, but were stopped by bad weather, and M- bad to return to Dunedin. Then Murrell came down for provisions, and I returned with him. We left Manapouri township (two houses) in the fast and powerful s.s. Titiroa (Captain John Dore), and the lake, under a sky fast clearing after bad weather, was a grand study of beauty and magnificence. 1 think it' mast be admitted that Manapouri is the most beautiful of our lakes. Anyone who does not agree with me. has only to see it as 1 have seen it, and he will be convinced. After three hours of calm enjoyment wo reached the Head of the Lake, where we bad some trouble in securing the steamer in a backwater of the Spey River, which was running, brown and full, a turbulent and rather formidable little stream. A couple of Blue. Mountain thicks, close by, watched us, obviously much interested. until (he usual small boy, who, of course, was on board, landed, and began to throw stones at them, on which they flew a few yards, whistled indignantly, and settled down again. Wo boiled the billy, bad lunch, packed up our swags, lent, blankets, provisions, and a change of clothes, and started. The ground rises very gradually for some miles, and there is no difficulty except the Mica Burn, across which a tree had been felied by way of a bridge. The leu foot track forms an avenue, shut m on both sides and overhead by loweringbeech trees, with a thick undergrowth of smaller trees and shrubs, and everywhere carpeted with the softest and greenest ot moss, the Spey roaring down on our left hand! The going would be good enough if it were not so wet. 'The universal carpet }f nioss, into which one often sinks up to the knees, suggests walking on a huge bath sponge, and soon becomes distinctly tirecoma.

We camped just before dark, where the Dashwood runs into the Spey, and had difficulty with our fire, everything being so wet. The Dashwood Valley is dark and cold, shut in by lofty cliffs, standing at an angle of about 30deg from the perpendicular, and clothed with dense bush for 3000 ft or 4000 ft up. It gets little sun, and is altogether nor. a cheerful place. Soon after leaving camp after a cold and frosty night, we crossed a little open swamp, where among flax and toi toi grass grew: some bog nines-—Jhe only ones 1 .saw on this trip. From this swamp, which was half frozen and wholly uncomfortable, there ia a very striking view of a mountain named Sheba’s Breast. The top is fairly hemispherical, apparently a granite dome, covered with clear white frozen snow, suggesting a well-iced biithday cake. From the centre projects a huge black monolith, something like the well-known “Old Man” on the range of that name on the (Jtago Goldfields. After a sharp climb the valley widens out into a scrub-covered flat. Ribbon wood, Koromiko —two or three kinds of seneoi copiosma, fuchsia, and so on, replace the. big beech limber for a couple of miles. There is a very fine fall on the south side of this, valley, or flat. A couple of huge rocky bastions, perhaps half a mild apart, project boldly into tho valley, connected bv a curtain or wall of rock, fully 1500 feet* high. The bastions themselves must be over 2000 feet, and from the ciMilre of the curtain a stream of water pours almost sheer into the valley beneath, making a beautiful and picturesque fall,’ not peibaps to Ik> compared to the Suther-, land Fall, but quite one of the most beantiful in New Zealand. ‘‘The track (utters did me the honour to suggest that my name should be tacked to' tins very pretty bit of scenery, as I was the first: tourist who had seen it. But my invincible modesty led me to compromise, bv- giving it the’ name of my cottage m Dunedin, and I hope the “Cleve Garth” Fall may soon be better known to lovers of the beauties of New. - Zealand. This flat makes very easy going,' tire scrub being light, and the grade not steep. Many clumps of ranunculus, celmisia, and other alpine plant;- carpet the ground. _ A short, but rather steep climb, through a. belt of beech forest brings one to the foot of the (saddle. Here the vegetation islighter, consisting largely of mako-mako,' , or wineberry, which persists right to _ the top of the puss —evidence that the height is not over 2000 ft, as Kirk (“ Forest Flora”) says it is rarely found in any quantity at that altitude. There is also a good deal of heavy beech timber on the hillsides far above the Saddle. The Clinton Saddle which, if I remember, right, is 35C0ft high, is far above the bush' lino, and even the small scrub runs out, a long way from the top, which is covered principally with wiry grass and sedge and small alpine plants. , We found the camp of .the road party at the top of the pass, the tents nestling under the huge boulders which coyer The] saddle and the western slope. After a rest and light lunch we went on towards the sound. The climate here is quite different from that on the eastern side. We had trudged up in amost constant shade, frost, and ice, with some snow lying on the ; ground, the lower valley of the Dashwood being especially cold and gloomy, but directly we began to descend to the west the north-west wind, warm ble w in our faces, the frost and snow disappeared, and the sun shone once more. Soon wo saw the mountains between the sound and the sea, hazy and soft in the distance, the ■ colour, a deep ijndigo purple, with black shadows in the valley, Then a long pairrow streak of pearl grey appeared, stretching a way. east and west, between the .dark mountains. This was Deep Cove, at th® head of .Smith Sound, about 30. miles from the sea. , ,_.. The bush here alters a good deal. While beech still predominates, it is mixed with other timber —red, white, and black pines, kaniahi, a. few totaras, and silver pine, panax. mapau, and some of the finest fuchsia trees I have ever seen. These evidently furnish good pasturage for the kakapos, which abound here. The road party found two that morning sitting in a. fuchsia tree, in broad davlignt, wearing that embarrassed air of having been 'out all night, don’t you know,” which kakapos so often show. We also saw a fine roa. I should think *, he stood 3ft high. Wekas were plentiful all along the track, mostly of the black variety. Pigeons and kakas were not numerous. All we saw were high up in the hills. There were none in the low country. I did not see either wattled crows, _ saddle backs, or native thrushes, all of which are found on the Clinton track,_ but there were • many koromikos, a few tuis. flocks of yeL low-headed bush canary, and a. small greenish brown bird, with a ridiculous stump of a tail, which I think must have been the rifleman, but he was never still for long enough to give me a good view of him. Bush robins and fantails, black and med, were everywhere, as usual. Unfortunately. I could not study nature - very closely hero, for my powers- of observation were generally concentrated on the track, and where to put my feet, and they - were sorely needed. We passed the road party_ half-way to the sound, left our swags with them, to my great relief, and pushed on through the dense bush, with the scrub and undergrowth , as ueual, full of moisture. So far I had not been wet much above the knees. but after leaving the track behind and struggling through a mile or so of scrub I had not a dry thread on me, but the going was quite hard enough to prevent me from feeling cold. After a rather steep descent we came bo a lightly-timbered flat, bordering the Lyvia River, then a belt of toi-toi and flax, andfinally the flat sandy beach at the head of Deep Cove. The day was fine, still, and hazy, and I was glad" to lie on the sand and bask in the sun. Deep Cove is not so beautiful as some of the Sounds, but the mountains round it are high and steep. There is a very pretty island—Rollo Island—near the head, and a fine waterfall drops into it from a high rockv face in the north side, not unlike the Stirling Fall at Milford. ■ , There were man v birds on the quiet watersof the Sound—gulls in great numbers, black swans, grey and paradise ducks, and others which I could not identify, also a fewwaders on the flats, all pretty tame and taking little notice of us. We would have liked to camp at 'the Sound, but, having little spare time and the weather being broken, we decided to return at once. ' My companions, Messrs Murrell and Dore, made the pace pretty hot going back, and I must confess that when we got to the foot of the saddle I was fairly “all out." and felt that I could not ret to the ton to save my life. It was the first time I had felt like that, and I didn’t like it. However, Murrell soon pitched our tout, lighted a fire, and boiled the billy. I got my wet, cold clothes off, and i a rest and a meal soon put me right. After a smoke I rolled into the blankets, and slept the sleep of the just until daylight next morning. We struck camp at 8 a.m., took the pass in good style, and reached the steamer at (be head of the lake about 1 p.m, after a pleasant but uneventful walk. ■' Rain came on at we steamed down the lake, increasing to a heavy downpour by the time we readied View House, and Mrs Murrell’s welcome hospitality. After a change of clothes and an excellent dinner, I sat in an easy chair before a blazing fire of manuka logs, my pipe drawing well, lis 7 teued to the rain on the roof, and sincerely pitied the poor road party shivering in a. wet tent and wet: clothes over a fire of wet wood with nothing more appetising than cold boiled wcodhe.n for dinner.