THE WEST COAST.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 103, 19 October 1863, Page 3

THE WEST COAST.

DR. HECTOR'S EXPEDITION. . From a report in the Daily Times of a public dinner recently given to Dr Hector in Dunedin, we extract the following account which he gave upon that occasion of his explorations . — The object of the expedition was a geological survey of the West Coast, and with a special view of obtaining such geo-.r iphical and other information as fell within my power. I, therpfore, did not require a large staff, and in order to conduct the examination with greater ease, I obtained a moderate sized vessel with the consent of Captain Thomson. Some of my friends thought her too small for the work, but she has proved to be adapted for it, and has been safer than a larger and more cumbersome vessel would i have been, She was fitted out by Captain Thomson, and we had no cause to feel that anything could have been added to render her more adapted to the work. The first place we made for was Riverton, as it was thought I should there obtain the assistance of a native crew, in order to assist in towing. There we' were delayed several weeks, until we got a slant of wind which carried us down to the west to. Stewart's Island. We there called at Port W illiam and Paterson's Inlet, which is one of the most magnificent harbors in the . world. I employed my time at Riverton in making an. examination of the interior, and was able to connect my knowledge of the country, which I obtained during the previous year, of the South Coast, which.

was of great use to ihe afterwards in my examination of the West Coast. There are abGufc 200 people now iesiding on Stewards Island, although I do not think it belongs either to this province or ft ny other. There is only very little land which csn :ever. Jbe cultivated there, as the country is mostly, "of granite, with very little covering of soil. The tirnb r is -the, chief source, of profit,.. but that is inferior to, that found pn tifie West. Coast. From Stewart's Island Sve 0 inn in a' single afternoon to Preservation Iriler, but drif ed past where we wished to go, and it was with great difficulty we got into Chalky Inlet. We arrived there about a month, after leaving Dunedin. That was making the West Coast 'for the first time. The first port" we entered there was Southport, a place visited by the Lady Bird some time ago. We found the names of some of the passengers carved on the trees. The land in that neighborhood will never be of much use, for there is a comparatively small quantity of level land ; some of the land being three to eight thousand feet above the level of the sea. There are sheltered spots where small settlements might be made if minerals were found to render it worth while. We spent a fortnight in Chalky Inlet before we got round to Preservation Inlet, most cf which time was spent in exploring. One remarkable circumstance that strikes one on entering the Sound is the great depth of water close on the shore, which arises .'from the form of the rocks about the Sound But these are details which can only be discussed in a report. The coast veins consist of the same class wlvch occurs at Patterson's Point in Australia. And there are patches of coal there just as there are patches at Patterson's Point, and like them, it will he almost impossible towork them to a profit. Bnt all geologists agree that the c lal beds at Patersott's Point are of the same age as those of Sydney, and, therefore, it is possible, ultimately, they may be profitably worked with such a magnificent harbor as Preservation Inlet. Most of the rock consist of granite of Very fine quality as building stone, and almost every variety of color. Splendid red and grey granite could Tje quarried with great ease in many place?, in blocks, laid ready for being shipped. , Those two Sounds abound in fish of very excellent quality. In the Sounds further north we 1 never got fish so fine as in th"s? two inlets, which arises, no douh% from the difference in the temperature of the water, owing tn a particular set of the current, which infringes on that part of the coast. The fish are of the same description which appear in the market here, but very superior to them, and it may be woith while for those who cure fish to establish themselves there. ' The great danger to Vessels arises from two : reefs which lie to the fight of the sound, and in which the sea breaks fearfully. Fresh water i? discharged here in such quantity as to form a perfect film ovc ; r the surface of the sr.l water several inches thick, and which remains so constantly that there are very few tittoral animals. In consequence of that, barnacles are almost entirely wanting, on account of the fresh water, paving up on the surface of the salt and carrying them off. It was in trying to beat out of Preservation Inlet that we got into a very queer position for a short time. We were caught by a strong current and heavy pea way, s:nd the wind failed us entirely. We could not use oars, and we were drifting towards the reef where the sea was breaking- so that we were obliged to drop the anchor in thirty fathoms of water. A breeze sprung up before dark and it was in making sail out that I huit myself. It was not until the 22nd of July thrffc we got round Uip West Cape. After passing the West Cape, I had arranged with the Maories to proceed at once to Milfonl Sound, but I suppose that they had never taken advantage of the breeze we got, and never followel us, so that they returned a short tine afterwards t.n Riverton. We were becalmed off Caswell I ilet, and about seven miles oT when diy brjke. I shall never forget the view of the whole const from Pembroke Point to Darky Bay. It wa-= a perfect panoramic view of the whole coast. The mountains seemed to rise like a great black wall from the sea, along which gleams of sunlight shone and caused the appearance of black fissures. When you looked at them along the distance, the effect of the light and shadow was most singular. We put into Thomson's Inlet for a fortnight. When once in those places it is a long time before you get out again. It was on the r>th of July that we experienced a most fearful hurricane. The wind was so powerful that we actually were blown about with two anchors down, so that we found it necessary to put a ropo to the trees on the shore to keep the vessel steady, and the rain came down so heavily that an inch, by the rain gauge, fell in six hours. That will give an idea of the quantity that falls on that coast. I made an estimated the quantity nf available land to be found on the West Coast. Compared with the extent of country it is not very great. There were onlj' about 3500 acres of flat land, about4s,ooo acres not elevated more than 1200 feet of moderate slope and good quality. Of the rest it is absolutely mountainous, arid is only fit for feeding sheep and cattle. The structure of these Sounds was best displayed at Milford Sound, which we passed through from Thomson's Sound. Although I bad previously a glimmering of how the Sounds were formed. I had an idea that they have been formed by the sea breaking upon the coast. It was on Thompson's Sound that I said that was im- ' possible, but it was not till we arrived at Milford Sound that I saw how they had been formed. There is no doubt that there have been there mountains, which have been submerged to such an pxfcenr, that the two Alpine Valleys formerly filled by glaciers being now reduced to the sea level, the cavities are now occupied by the sea, and thus we have the remains of a range of mountains, which at one time were many thousand feet higher than at present. There were several facts of great scientific interest, which we were enabled to observe, but none of immediate interest until after leaving Milford Sound. We spent a fortnight or three weeks there, during which I explored all the valleys at the head of it, but I found it surrounded on all sides by a precipitous vale of mountains something about 4'JOO feet above the level of the sea. To the north of Milford Sound', the coast changes altogether. The mountains which hug the shore recede in a northeasterly direction, and retire from the coast, . leaving between the shore line and the high mountain district what would be called a rangy country, not tevel, but not mountainous. It is about six- or eight miles in width, aud extends very likely all the way to the point where the mountains retire towards Mount Cook, eighteen miles north of Milf r 1 Sound, following the coast north, the itrmediate coast line is rock, but still there arv many beaches and sandy bays, as described in the •' New Zealand Pilot." I was making for its river, when I was led to exami c the middle of those bays, and came upon this large rivar, which I found afterwards was the river which leads ultimately to the Wakatipu Lake. The discoverer of this river was, I believe, Alabaster, who communicated some information through Mr Thomson, the Provincial Surveyor. I believe he was on his way a- head in a whale- boat for I went on with three men in a boat for several days, and when we 1 approached the river we saw a fire on shore, and; then a party of Maories. The sea was;; too high for us to land, .and going on we found this river. It was then the Maoris came to us, and I learnt from them trat a party of white men had been in there not long previously, and that two men had been up the river and brought up in a dangerous place. The water had come down upon them so suddenly that they were obliged to leave their gun and provisions and jump into the ding}', and had only time to save their lives. When the schooner had come up, he had some .diffi- . culty in entering the river, not on account of the nature of its bar, nor of any internal

impediment to entering it, but from" the fact that the schooner incidentally, amvecb there a few minutes after' high water," and a northwest" wind was blowing. There w,as no choice between going irftliere and going back to Milford Sound, which wquld.haye lost a fortnight; so, with some risk, we" took her over the; bar. While' we Twere getting: her in, the windlass broke, and I thought the expedition had come to an encl, but weinanaged to get her in safely. . A considerable time, was spent at the mouth or 1 thefiversurye^ihg it, and making an examination of the neighboring country* aftet ,ivvliiclx, we took the schooner right up the HVek. lour, and a half ' miles through a beautiful wooded • country, .with fine alluvial banks* and then entered a large laj^e. ten miles flong, where the' schooner ; now lies, The lake lies north land sou th> arid forms part of a large valley whicr±'lies across in that direction. A short examination of, the country confirmed my idea of ray position, and I determined to cominunreate with , the Government by the route of the Waka- j tipu. I therefore left the schooner on the ! 25th of last month, and with a few dajs'i travelling — many days were wet, so ; that we had only three days of actual travelling — I reached the Wakatipu Lake. In reaching it I followed a river of no great size The river receives the waters of a lirge lake in the north, which is not laid down on the map. The road is up a valley which is continuous throughout. There are two valleys wifh a low hill in the centre, contin«o is to the south One proceeds south to the same lake, and the other by Greenstone River to the Wakatipu lake. The rise is about 300 or 400 feet in four miles, after which there is a rise of 800 or 900 feet, and then a gentle rise for a few miles. I could not determine the exact measurements, a? the barometers were broken. The barren cippc-aiaice presented by the mountains is ent rely ovtrcone by the natural valley. Of course, a road across would be of no use without a good port by the sea, but whether that exists or not is difficult to decide upon a short visit, The entrance to the river is extremely narrow, the channel being about 110 feat wide. 'There is a shelf of rorks ono side, and a sandbank on the other, both of which mi »ht, to a great extent, be removed. But after all. it is a very exposed coast, and I hardly think the port could at all times be entered without an extensive breakwater. The difficul'y, 'however, would not be great, especially for steam boats or vessels independent of wind. There is only one Maori family there now, but there was at one tioie a large number. The country round Wakatipu La}ce is of fair extent, so that there is ft gt od deal of level land ; but I see no trace of any rood by which Jackson's Bay could be reached. The natives, however, have been in the habit of passing that way and I believe the last party comprised a little boj' and two girls, who passe 1 by that route. With regard to the prospects of gold on the West Coast, I cannot give an opinion. Ths rocks consist of ■•syenite, and later rocks where coal docs often occur. But the rocks in which gold is often found are in the lower part of these -mountains, a-nd as the land retires towards Cascade Point, it may be found there In the low ground it is very unli'k :ly, that is, in ttie deep valleys, because all those valleys have rocky walls which Sip to a great depth, ■a d the deposits are of the most mixed character, consisting of laigi anpu'ar blocks, with clay in the moatdesulto y manner.