OVERLAND TO MILFORD SOUND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2860, 6 January 1909, Page 16

OVERLAND TO MILFORD SOUND.

AN APPRECIATION OF NEW ZEALAND SCENERY. Lieutenant Knox, the Navy League lecturer, who has just returned from the overland trip from Lake Te Anau to Milford Sound, ie (cays the Southland Times) unstinted in hie expressions of admiration for the beautiful scenery on the journey. That he is in an exceptional position to speak on such matters may be made clear when it is explained that he is an inveterate traveller. He has actually walked over the whole of the scenic parts of Europe, including the Dolomites, the Tyrol, the Bavarian Highlands, Switzerland (crossing practically every paes of the Alps), the Carpathians, the Pyrenees, the Hartz Mountains, the Black Forest, the Ardennes, eta He has travelled through every country in Europe except Greece, and 3'efc he ie strongly of opinion that he never has seen, nor even will see, anything finer than the walk between Te Anau and Miford Sound. He spent five days on the track! and tw o days at Miford Sound. " I speak." he said, "of the track, the huts and the people in charge of them, and of my guide (Mr Murrell) as I found them, and I can only say that nobody could' meet with greater civility and attention, nor would it be possible to find better accommodation in any part of the world equally away from the l>eaten track. On my arrival at the Beech huts I found a large number of bluejackets from H.M.S. Pioneer, then lying i,n Milford Sound, in possession, drenched to the fckin, as was I myself. But the drying of their clothes and the providing them with sufficient material to satisfy (ho inner man seemed to present no difficulty whate\er to Mr and Mrs Lynch, to whom nothing was a trouble, and who were apparently quite at home in waiting upon and attending to the wants of everybody at the same tune. I may mention that, in three days, =ome 75 of the Pioneer's crew wore enabled to make the walk from Mil ford Sound to Beech Huts <md back, and I shall be much surprised if they do not pas^, the word round to their chums in the oth»r ships in the Australasian squadron and advi-,© them, if they ever have the opportunity, to take the walk with which they ihem-»ehea uere so much delighted. To me, I admit, every portion of the walk from Te Anau to Milford was a complete revelation. I am not a botanist in the strict =en-e of the word, and therefore am unable to give in detail th<? names of the multitude of ferns, etc., which I saw on the route, but what impieased me from ot finish Mas the fact that Nature had displayed herself apparently entirely regardless of expense I I need hardly .-ay, more than delighted with the abundance of the magnificent tree ferns which I s aw eveiywhere on the last part of the walk. "I hc-uc soon almost every fiord in Norway, and in comparing them v, irh Milford Sound I mu-t gi\e the palm to the latter, l.caui.ful and grand as arc mo«t of the former, although noii" of them can claim the magnificent l.u^h w!n<h 1- gUpl^jml in piofu-ion in tho | u tt"i I ( x] '• r i i '^r{ '<' r <x ?t - iio--il>! L'p/' - in. h !'.-'• of tiio Miifv.J P-u'mj.

and his courteous wife. I spent the best part of one day on the Sound with Mr Sutherland, who, as owner of the Soumd, the peaks, the waterfalls, the grampuses, and the seagulls, played his part to perfection. He apparently haa complete com- . mand of the fishes that move in his waters and, as if by magic, suddenly cabled up > from the deep a whole school of gram- , puses, warning me a second or two before j doing so that they would appear, and that ' I 'had better be ready with my camera, j These disported themselves round the j launch for some 10 minutes, and then ' suddenly vanished to the lower regions on receiving a signal from the magician's wand. The next moment one of the feathered oroatures was called on board the launch by Mr Sutherland, and I had the, . to me, absolutely unicjue opportunity of j photographing at my leisure a seagull which was addressed by my host as Joe perched on the stern of the boat. I nad the extreme good fortune to be accompanied on my walk by Mr H. Fowler, of West Plains, a most delightful companion, who was making the walk for the twelfth time, and it will readily be understood that what he did not know with regard to it was not knowledge. I never ceased to marvel at his unlimited capacity for carrying weights, as he took on his back his half-plate camera, and I am afraid to say how many plates, the whole 64 miles of the trip. I have had the pleasure of seeing many photographs taken by him when walking over the route on former occasions, a.ad I envy his artistic eye for a view as much as I did that of its unlimited strength, not only as a walker but as a carrier."