THE TOURIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 1752, 20 June 1885, Page 26

THE TOURIST.

TOUIUNG A.T THE COLD LA.KES.

By M. R.

No. XII.— A Climb on Mount Eabnslaw.

Alpine climbing is much more difficult in New Zealand than in a country like Switzerland, where a constant stream of tourists sotting in from all p.irta of t.hq world has resulted in the formation of tracka and the establishment of accomodr.tiou boiwcw at suitable halting points, to aay nothing of tho trusty professional guide who, for a fes of 20dol, is prepared lake you to the topmost paak of Mount Hiano. But here in New Zuaiaad there is uo friendly cbalet perched high up on the mountain aide to offer you ro3t and refreshment. There is no beaten track — no, aot oven a finger-post — to point the way, but, on the contrary, the traveller has to blunder along through a terra incognita where uo man's foot has trod, trusting to good luck and hia own judgment to ovorcomo tho difficulties in the way. Then th re iti another poinl. to be boi'no in mind : tho snow-Hue iv New Zealand ia very low, and according to Mr Crreou, from a mountaineering point of view peaks of 11,000 ft in tbe Southern Alps are quite equal to those of 13,000ffc or 14,000 ft in Swiiz3rland. It will thus be bacxx that in attempting 7000 ft or 8000 ft on Mount Earaslaw in ono day wo had set ourselves no easy t^sk. However, breakfast over, wa packed a good supply of provicions and started on our eventful journsy at 4 a.m. We had to tramp about flight miles up the valley bofore commencing tho climb, besides which wa had to ford the R^as River. Fortunately I caught one of the hordes, which were grazing close at hand, and after finding a ford aud putting Harry across in safety I returned for the other members of the party, and insisted that, to save time, we should all go over at once. Three man on ouo horse, and crossing a rivor without saddlo and bi'idio at; that, seemed to surpriqe our tourist friend a bit, and he hazarded the opinion that wo Colonials did things in qusar style. However, though in fear and trembling, he took his seat without a murmur, r.nd being nafoly landed on tho other side, wo tin nod the anrao back norons the river and procspilod on our jouvuoy. About aii hour's w#lk from tha rivor brought us no the Lennox Falls. It was tedious walking, for we had to orosa a swamp, in which we Bomotimes snj k "~ ' • kaoei- The sight of the Falls was <v'o<i ', •• I worth tho trouble we had taken to gut ..d . . :. A large body of water came down from ' ie heights abovo, leap after leap, with a dull sullen roar that drowned conversation, and at last spent itself in a large basin, worn deop into the solid rock. On ouo aide thore was a sheer precipice beautifully fringed with delicate mosses and fciny ferns, while on either hand the "forest primeval " stretched away up the mountain side, and hid the upper loap-s of the fall from view. These falls were named after Lord Walter Gordon Lennox, who was the first tourist to proceed any great distance into the wilds of tho Rees Valley. We approached right to the foot of tha falls, where we tound a lonely mountain lily growing in a shady corner, but the shower of spray from the fall, and the cold wiad caused by fcha rush of so large a body of water made our stay of the shortest. Noar at hand wa saw tho dried up waterfall, which has been appropriately curiatenad tho Widow's Tear, baoausa it flows for only aix weeks at the commencement of spring and then dries up. We were loth fco turn our backs on the grandeur of fcho Lsanox Falls, but »we had n suS day's work before us, and no tha word v/an givau, Forward ! We plangad into the bush, and swinging round to the right, climbod in a slanting direction so as to avoid some high rocky cliffs chat we had noticed rising perpendicularly from the bush. But wo lrepfc too far to fch3 left, and after a few minutes came face to f.yje with an impassable precipice. We held a brief consultation and decided to keep along its baae for docno distance iv tho hope of finding a break. But we found trut fchero were othsr precipices hidden away in tha bußh, and wo were likely to havo a long journey of st. And bow tho climb commenced iv real earnest. Tha^round was rough and stoop, aud tho Inll birch trees and saplings grew evory whore. The forest was grand, ao doubt, but we did not halt to consider its grandeur! Wo had a different object in view. It was not a scientific ono, and wo did not atop to iQutitute a corn-

parißon v?ith tha prolific vegetation of the carboniferous ago, aa tha modern geologist would no doubt havo done. Naither did we view the scone from an artistic point of view by dwelling on the wonderful play of light aud shade noticaable in such situations. No, we simply wiped tho perspiration from our noble brows and cUinbod away, foaling overy now and than an inclination to borrow a word from the celebrated Mr Mantnlini'a briet but expressive vocabulary and deolare that it was " dem'd hard climbing." The precipice continued, and it appeared as if wo might go on for mile 5 ) and miiea without surmounting the difficulty. In one place I fancied I saw a pass, and I climbed up a ledge and along the face of the cliff till I waa brought to a sudden stop by a steep buttroaa of solid rook. On starting to come back I realised that I had got into a very awkward pasition, and the truth of the alpine maxim that it is easier to ascend a cliff than to descend it came homo to my mind with full force as I attempted to crawl down head first on my hands and knees and found that the journey could be safor accomplished by coming down backwards with my face fco rock, The difficulties of the undertaking were now apparent^ for we were endeavouring to find a way in a dense bush where never man had been before. Oar tourht friend began to show signs of distress and he ovidently had serious doubts about the safety of the undertaking, for after crossing over one gap in the rook which showed the green sward a considerable distance below I heard a voica from the rear exclaim — " Good heavens, have wo got to go over there !" And ovor there we had to go, for there was no other choice except to turn back ; and, to have baaten an ignominious retreat aftar having coma so far would never do. It was hard v/ork, and the cliffs continued, but afe laat persoveranc9 was rewarded, and we found a way out of the difficulty. Unleas we managed to scale the cliff it was patent that our climb would come to a premature end. George and Harry had waited for our touriat friend, and wero some distance behind when I noticod a spot that seemed somewhat promising. Now or never, I thought, and bo taking my bearings I glanced upward and went straight at the rock. It was a caso of hanging on by the eyebrows, but by grasping the pinnacles of tho rock and- a few friendly root* aud saplings. I #ofc to tho top, and seeing the way clear, shouted joyfully to my companiona to "hurry up." Thoy did hurry up —that h, they hurried up as far as the foot of tfyo rock ; then they halted to take observations, and though I did my boat to persuade thßfo it was quite safe, thoy came to the conclusion that it was absolutely dangorous, and refused to budge an inch. My powors of persuasion were limited, and had come to an end f whan I suddenly remembered that I carried a rope across my shoulders. Wa had included it in our equipment i»i caso v/e should reach the glacier- and require to be roped together for greater security. Hera, then, was a chance for the rope. I fixed it firmly to a tree, and one by one my companions hauled themselves up to a plaoe of security, and tho difficulty was at last overcome. We made good progress aftar this, climbing at the rafco of over 2000 feat an hour, which is considered remarkably good work. Another series of cliffs wa3 encountered later oa ; but we got oyor these without much difficulty, and at twenty minutes past 7 got a glimpsa of tho rugged brow of the mountain through tho stately birch troea. A« wo proceeded it became interesting to study the change in tha vepebation consequent upon the highar altitude to which we had attained. First we notiosd a Bpooios of juniper with fino prickly loaves and red borriea, then a small shrub known as the matapau, which grows on the skirt* of the bush line, aud as we proceeded the birch treoa grew more and more dwarfed and became draped with a beautiful white and yellow lichen, which gave the forest quite a wintry appearanca. We climbed and climbed and climbed, and at last, with a cheary hurrah, we broke into the open and left the bush behind. Our first glance, of couroQ, was upward, and we were Badly disappointed to find that the mountain top was hidden in mist. But after a while the mists rosa, and the steep rugged edge of the Lennox glacier came gradually mto < view above ua on our left. The huge glaoier looming out of the morning mists, with its numerous crevasaas and seracs and huge blocks and minarets or solid ice piled in majestic confusion, and a hundred silvery waterfalls leaping from out its icy caverns, and shooting down over sheer precipices of black rock, was a sceno of greater grandeur than I imagined could bo aeon in this world. It baffled description, and we could only look and give way to exclamation as some new wondar ia the embattled heights met our delighted gaze. We stood " Admiring Nature in her wildest crasw, The meeting glens that deep-sunk crlena divide ; A Bwoepinu; theatie of hanging woods, 'ii c incessani roar of headiocg, tumbling fljods "

While we gazed a loud report was bomo to our ea.ra through tho still air. Then there wsh a crash which gave way to a dull and distant rumbling, which in turn developed into a roar, and then gradually died away. The ice-slopes of Mount Earnshaw were wakening up to their morning work— vn avalanoho had started off from its homo among tha glaciers, and gona booming and crashing from crag to crag, splintering its huge boulders and masses of ice into atoms in the obscure depths below. We were thankful it was not on our side of the mountain, for we were almost directly under 1 he, great mass of the Lennox glacier. The Lennox glacier, though huudreds of acres in extent, ia only a pigmy compared to tho one on the south-western slope of the mountain, or the huge fields of ice that are held up for admiration on the bosom of Mount Aspiring. It is nevertheless a splendid specimen of a glacier as it hangs in a very steep slope overhanging a series of precipices on the mountain side. These precipices naturally causo tbe glacier to come to an abrupt termination, and as tho mass of ipe moves imperceptibly over tho first piece of broken ground, its surface becomes rent with innumerable crevasses and seracs, while from time to time immense blocks of ico break away from the edge of tho glacier and go tumbling down over the precipices with a report loud as a cannon shot. Some of the crevasses, whioh cleave tbe glacier to a depth of hundreds of feet,are very beautiful, emitting a fairy like greenish light from their unknown depths. Having gained bo high an elevation, we looked about us for tha beßt route to a still higher elevation, and at the same time anxiously scanned the sides of the mountain through our glasses in the hope of finding an easier return route. But there was not much to choose from. We thought of going across the slopes underneath the glacier, but in places tho rocks as viewed through the glara seemed fcoo steep to obtain a foothold, besides which there was tha_ risk of a mass .of overhanging ice broaking away at any moment and involving us in danger. So, without much dobate, it was decided to return through tho buuh the way we cams, using the rope should we have any further difficulty with the precipice?. ■ By this time— it was 9 o'clock— we were pretty tired and hungry, so we bivouacked at a stream tho icy cold waters of whioh seemed like neotarto our parched

lips. A fifteen minutes' rest, and off we went again. Our tourist friend began to show signs of despair, but we cheered him up, and tightening our bolts, went straight at a steep ridge that led up to the main snow-clad are is. It was hard work, but we stuck to it gamely or half an hour without rest, though the perspiration triokle.i down our back's in an Unpleasant manner. We were Boon fairly >m tha midat of the alpine vegatation. The ground was in places oovorad v/it.h the beautiful mountaid lilies: — .-v spocioa of ranunculus — and varlods kinds of veronica scrub. Higher Up wo name on a patch of lilies in full bloom, and vory pretty they looked with their immense saucershaped dark groan loavo3 contrasting strangely with the delicate white yellow patalled flower I that grow iv buqehes at the end of its long stalk*. The leaves often contain half a pint of water, which proves particularly welcome iti slaking tha thirst of the weary traveller when ho is otherwise out of the reach of water, lurther oa wo oamo upon another beautiful flower which is commonly known as Mount Gook violet, and then high up among tbe anow-fiolda wo discovered the far-famed edelweisa—the _ bridal flower of Switzerland— modestly hiding its unpretentious form among the stately rocks that intervened. We were diuappointed with tha edelweiss at first, and were at a losa to understand why it is so highly prized by tha Swiss poople. I had always imagined it to be a flower of rare and delicate beauty, but; when I saw the hardy dwarfed little plant with small, thick, felt-like leaves and a dirty whitish plush like flower I did not exhibit any particular amount of excitement in plucking the first bunoh. But now I have learned to prize the simple little flower, and I can understand how the Swiss love their edelweiss which grows in lonely spoto far beyond the reach of the " m idding crowd " and as I look on tha well-proserved specimen in my acrapbook mouiory carries me back, to that pleasant holiday among the mountains, and once more I am tied to the end of tbe rope and leading the way with my jovial companions ankle\« deop over the soit snowy ridge that lad us up } to the Leanox glacier among the clouda, 8000 foet above tho sea. But now lam letting sentiment ruu riot with my pen, and I bavo taken an unpardonable jump of a couple of thousand feet from the anow line right oa to tho glaciers. We reached the first snow at •11 o'clock after eight hours' hard work. I hastened ahead, and as Harry Birley came bobbing up serenely I gave him a volley of snow-ballrf that suggoaced tha addition of another verae to the song in " La Mauola '': When 5n a utato of perspiration You walk up and diuilj aoe A fellow without exp'.auatlcn Snowball jou with fiondiah glee ; Tlj»s is tho tima lor disappearing, Jusa take a header, down you'tfo, And when tho chap abovo is "clearing " ■ Bjb up seren ?ly from below. Harry, however, did not think for a moment of diaappearing, and I,j delighted with the novelty of snow-balling in the middle of i autumn, replenished my store of ammunition and resumed operations on the other members ot the party. Our tourist waa now quite exhausted He said he would be contented with touching the snow, and would not proceed any further, ao ba lay down on hia back and contemplated the heavens. We were not going 6o be satisfied with reaching the snow line, though that had been the highest elevation ever attained on Mount Eamshaw ; bo we took a -rest for a few minutes aud resumed our climb. We were soon at an elevation of 6000 foet, and the Alpine vegetation . had given place to loose slopes of slaty rock between the large banks of snow. Climbing over thia part of tho mountain was extremely hard work. For every two or three steps we took upward we slid down one, but at last fcho loose rock wa3 passsd, and the dark, solid schist formation j could be seen peeping out of the frozen snow, ' with here aud there a small waterfall rushing ovor its slippery sides before disappearing again into the dark channels that it had worn under the snow. A pretty, black butterfly, i dead in the anow, was the laat aign of life we saw. It had winged it way far from tha, haunts of man, and sinking exhausted in tbe cold had ended its butterfly existence on the wide bosom of a field" of unsullied snow. Tbe heat of its frail body had melted a little grave for it in the snow, and there it lay— a tiny black speck— a thing beautiful in itself, and yet contrasting strangely with the pure beauty of that wido expanse of spotless suow. I htted it tenderly from its cold grave, and wrapped it oareiully in my note- book as an interesting memento of my first Alpine climb. _ Here, fcoo, it was that we made our acquaintance with that Alpine phenomenon — red Bnow. j Leaving the rocks, behind we traversed another snow slope, which got gradually steeper and steeper tho further we advanced, and at last ifc was deemed advisable to put on the ropes ior greater safety in case of a slip or fall on tha part of any member of the party. The short h»ls which we made to tie ourselves togother gave u& an idea of the intense cold ot the high elevation we had reached, ahd our operations were hastened by a cold, biting wind which came sweeping around the mountain from the couth-west. It waß too cold to remain long sUtioan.y, so we went at the mountain again, and soon the perspiration was dropoing from our brow by the great exertiOD, though our feet were wet and kept nearly at freezing temperature by the cold snow. I led the way, but soon came to the conclußion that the charm of having the post of honour barely, compensated one for the extra labour lnyolvedT in breaking the step 3 for the othera m the cold aaow. We were now fairly on to the glacier, and had' to avoid some nasty-looking crevaase3 by making a slight detour to the riHtit. A few stepa further and we were on the main arfoc that led up to the steepest pinnacie of Mount Earnslaw, so Bteep in places that oven the snow refused to lie on it. We halted to take our bearings and have a general look about uo, Far down below us we could bee our friend Mr W. like a speck on the mountain utde, and further to the southward ft magnificent view of theseraoa and crevasaas on the lower edge of the Lennox Glacier was obtained, with the waterfalls like threads of silver disappeacingjover the rock walls. On the other band wore the splendid glaziers and anow-fielda of Mount Anstaad and neighbouring mountains —a regular mer de glace that reflected the sun's rayu with wonderful brilliancy, while down below us f ar f a r clown in the valley the River was just noticeable in the distance. Dense mists came driving around the mountain top and we could only catch glimpaos of its summit at infcervala, hut irom what we saw there would be no real difficulty ia tho way of an accent . till tho laot thousand feet or so was entered * upon. It was evident; that the man who would gain tho summit of Mount Earnslaw by way of tho northern arStc must be an experienced alpine climbui* with proper guides and appliances for , cutting steps in the ice, &o. In one place a Bolid buttress of perpendicular rock seemed to ' bar tho way completely, but that obstacle might probably be avoided by following round its baso to tha south-western side, but as we could not see anything of that side of the mountain there might have baen even greater difficulties in the way. Having gained, the

main snow arite wo might wilhoub much difficulty have followed ifc tip to those rocks but there was no objsct in doiug so, tor we would not havo inoreascd our elevation much, by the long walk thai; wouli ba uaeo3eary to thia undertaking; end iaoxperieijcarl as we were we did not intend to risk our necks in attempting the steopos'; and most dangerous part of the climb. Besides thin, thi inisi.3 which had encircled the mountain's brow during the wholo day began to descend lcw«r and lower, and foccad upon us tho advisability of baatiaff a hasty resr«afc. W a . had reachod an elevation of about 8000 feat, 2000 fuei hv,'hrr than any one had climbed biioro, and 3000 feet higaar than the point where Mr Grt?«n and his alpiun guidea, together with W. vjcot,t and Air Hodgkins, ware overtaken by a suowofcor.n in Maich 1882, and forced to return to Glßnnrcby, Tha cold was becoming iatnns", aud the day v/aq wearing on, so we put off bul, little time. Bafore commencing the descent we chipped off with our alpenstocks a block of glacier ioe to take back to Birley'a with us, and so cold waa it that tha temper was taken completely out of tha shear blades which formed tho points of tho a'Sponstocka and tha iron broke off as if it were a pieca of glass. We cautiously descended the steep onoiv elope with our faces toward the mountain, &ad then taking off the rope glissaded down over tho remaining snow in " lass than no time." By pressing our alpenstocks into the snow behind us we were able to regulate our course and slacken our speed at will, but ia "doing the final glissade George lost his baiß.nce and went whizzing down 300 feet in less than a minute. Landing at the foot, he did aaveral yards over the loose rock, greatly to tfe detriment cf his nether garments, and started a small avalanche of stones down the hill. Mark Twain, in his " Tramp Abroad,", tells how he climbed with grp&t difficulty to the Gorner Glacier, and how, having heard of tho downward movement of glaciers, he took passage on the edge of it, and waited for three solid days expecting ifi to take him to the foot of the mountain. At tho end of that time he came to the conclusion that glaciers as a moans of locomotion were not a success, and did not travel at railway express speed. It is evident that Mark Twain did iiot thoroughly understand glaciers. It is easily seen from the foregoing incident that he did not select a slippoiy enough locality for his experiments. Hsd ho taken George's plan he would soon have reached Zarmatt without any apparent injury to the glacier, and would have dainonatrai nd the fact that a man can travel very quickly by glacier. Ab it is, George's time tor 100 yards is the best on record. Writing of such incidents as the above reminds mo of another glacier atory I heard at the Lakes. A prospector lost himself among the snowa of Mount Earnslaw, and uight approaching he was at a losa to know what to do to regain his hut. At last a happy thought struck him. «Me had with him his long-handled shovel, and so pacing it on the snow elope smooth side downwards he sat down on it and without further preliminaries took passage for tho Bees Valley. He bounded along at; an inorediblo speed, till at last the friction of the iron Pushing over the snow produced so great a heat that his clothes caught fire, and be bad unfortunately to abandon the experiment. Thus an interest ing scientific experiment came to an abrupt and premature termination. But I rather suspect this man was, like Mark Twain, a Yankeo, and that he rodo a Yankee shovel. To resume my story, we reaobed the edgo of the snow in safety, and *ha mists clearing for a few minutes we had another glorious view of the glaciers. Full many a wasto I'd wandrrod o'or, Cl< mb many b erae, oroa ed many a moor ; But by my haildoui ! A sceno so irrand so wild as thia, Yes go sublime in barrenness, •'"Ne'er dirt my wandering footsteps pre-s

Where'er I happ'tl to roam.

Our view did not last long ; the mists closed around -the mountain and it was gone — gone like a pleasant dream. We soon caught up on our tourist friend, and found him Buffering from colic in consequenco of having taken snow to quench his thirst. It is strange that snow doeß not satisfy tho craving for water. On the other band it only seems to make thirst more intense, and produces a burning sensation in the mouth. We were fortunate in finding a tolerably easy way down through the bush, and made good progress to the Rses, which we forded with some, iuconvenirauco. Oa getting to the other side and dressing, Mr W. found that we had left a particular piece of oilcloth belonging to him, and nothing would satisfy him but to recross the river and search for it. It was an amusing spaotacle to see him wandering barelegged over the plain with his nether garments in one hand and hie boots in the other in search of the missing article. He rejoined us at the hut at dusk, but was too tired t6 eat anything. We three made fearful havoc with the good things that remained over from our previous meal, and saddling our horses we started on our long ride in the dark, back to Glenorchy, It was too dark to see fche track, so we gave. our steeds the bridlao and they conducted ua in eafoty over the winding bridle track to Birley's Hotel shortly before midnight. We had been on the move from \< o'clock that murning till near midnight--nearly twenty hoard A number of tourists were waiting up at the hotel for our arrival, and the ioe and the eidelweiss were in great demand. We were too tirad and sleepy to remain long out of bed, and half an hour bad scarcely elapsed after our return till we were in dreamland. Thus ended our tour at the Cold Lakes. We had met with kindness and hospitality on every hand, and now that wa are back once more in tha.din and bustle of the bußy city, we look back with fond memory at the most enjoyable holiday it had ever been our lotto spend, and long for the time when we will be once more together among the keen bracing air of Ofcago's lofty snow-clad mountains, and once more engaged in the pleasant and invigorating occupation of "Touring at the Cold Lakeß."