THE MACKENZIE COUNTRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1885, 6 January 1888, Page 27

THE MACKENZIE COUNTRY.

(St. James' Gazette). In New Zealand, about 30 years ago, a Mackenzie, during a revival of the business which his ancestors so successfully cairied on in the old days, made an unexpected discovery. Turning westward from a raid upon the sheep runs down in the valleys, he fled, presumably with the object of escaping vengeance ; and, mounting in his flight the steep slopes of some snow-capped mountains, he reached a point of vantage from which he overlooked the surrounding country. Eastward lay the long valleys of the outlying spurs of the Southern Alps, and beyond them the sea. Northward and southward the view waa blocked by gigantic ranges thrown across in confusion. But when he cast his eye westward he saw in place of the continuous pile of mountains which he had expected, a vast plain no more than a thousand feet or so below him. Whether his discovery was held to balance his misdeeds does not appear ; but it is certain that the New Zealand colonists were not slow to take advantage of the tableland above their heads, which was henceforward known as tho Mackenzie country. To reach the Mackenzie country was a very difficult feat 30 years ago; but it is now almost as easy as taking train to Edinburgh. The railway will convey you some distance up the valleys, and then you must tramp or ride or drive. The tableland is much broken, and in fact is only a tableland in comparison with the surrounding country. Once upon a time tho whole district was oae vast glacier with moraines to match; but as time wore on the ice retreated and silt took the place of rough, rock. But the process was tedious and uneven ; and now the plain looks like a great lake frozen into rock as its waters heaved tumultuously. Mountains enclose the plain on all sides,; for here, in fact, is the heart of the Alpine country. The main range is tho western boundary, and in it there is no peak under 10,000 ft. Mount Cook lies at the northwestern corner, fully 13,000 ft abovo the level of the sea. Lakes and rivers cut up the Mackenzie country ; and they axo uniquo in their way, as, indeed, is the whole district. From the east the downs roll westward across the River Tekapo, whioh, issuing from the lake of the same name, cleaves its way through a dark deep canon towards the sea; and if you wander along those downs, falsely called plains, as far as the main range of which I have spoken, you will be brought faoe to face with as remarkable a sight as you could wish to see. Below you, and between you and the mountains, lies a valley some two miles across, whip/a valley is the bed of a river. The Tasinan rises at the base of the great glacier, -which is three miles longer than the Aletsch, and blocks the eastern face of Mount Cook. Hence it has a short swift run of some 12 miles into the Lake Pukaki, where it loses its name, and sweeps on through mountain gorges s.outhward and eastward. The want of vegetation is most remarkable. The lakes are large sheets of water, 20 or 25 miles in length, rimmed round by ice-bound slopes, with never a stick of growing timber visible, The water is blue and extremely cold, Wandering among the hills or hillocks, you may stumble across numbers of lakelets all of the same character— blue, cold, and bare, tenanted only by myriads of paradise ducks and swamp fowls. Fish exist in none of them. There _are no fences, no houses, no sign of human life. X$ you are very lucky you may fall & with some shepherd crooning over his foe in an outhut, or a stray bullook.-cfray toiling down from the distant xv\n3. Gorges, defiles, passes, glaciers, landslips, river-beds, and eternal snows surround you, and the silence ig unbroken unless by the crash of an avalanche. Of animals there are none, save sheep, which are supposed fco see the shearing shed once a year ; but many of them, to judge by their appearance, have managed to escape the obligation. As they get old they get cunning, and mustering is" very cljfjgeult out here. Sometimes they fall victy^s to the [ kea — the hawklike parrot, whjoh, swooping down upon them, fastens oa^heix backs' and literally gnaws at their vitals: Years ago there wer.e quite as many rqns in thju country, as. there are now; for it makes no progress, nor ever will except as a groun,d for tourists and Alpine clubs. There are very few inhabitants, and as far as there has. been any change it haja been for t&e woree ; for originally. squatters worked their own runs; tm,t no,w thoj teave shepherds in charge. The reason o£ fch s ohange is the intense cold as well as the remoteness of the Mackenzie plains. Even in midsummer you are never seoure against frosts. In the middle of February, answering to our July, frosts have been known to kill lambs and fcoggets. In the afternoon you are forced to throw off your coat ; in the nsg}»t your tea is frozen in your pannikjjU Moreover, the Mackenzie^ country, has its seasons of violent storms, when the snow lies thick upon the ground month afier month. About 20 years ago, in, the great; sn,ow • describe b^

Lady Barker, many of the runholders in the Mackenzie Country were practically ruined. It snowed for more than a fortnight without intermission, and then froze. Next morning a friend of mine, who was then " squatting " in that district, rode 30 miles above 6ft of snow, and over the carcasses of his 15,000 sheep.