TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13665, 2 April 1908, Page 8

TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK.

♦ A VIVID IMPRESSION. Dr. Cockuyh&V who lias iusi- returned to Christchuron after making an ex»t^ntled botr.aie.al survey of the Tongariro National Park., was interviewed by a representative of tl>e Press. In the course of his remarks he stated that he had finished the field work and botanical survey, and Mr Phillip Turner, Inspector of Scenic Reserves, had conclude 4 his geographical work. There now remained tp write the report for the Government, which would deal with the geography, geology, "plant life, animal life, the park as a tourist resort, the' economic possibilities of the adjacent country/ and otKer matters of bot'i scientino and economic interest. "Theso two. terms, economic and scientific," said Dr. . Cockayne, "by the general puLilo aro considered contradictory, bujb .frequently, in the, long run, the purely scientific becomes more economic, than that which is now, considered monay-prodnqing. The park has recently _ bounded into prominence through its closeness to the. Main Trunk Line, and the important point was to find whether an easy route could be made from' the line to the summit Of the highest rjeak. At present, by any c: the routes as now used, the summit cf* the mountain is distant from the railway line from 16 to 30 miles. While studying tho variation of 'plant life according, to altitude, I happened to,' find a most easy route to' the mountains, which, when a track is- cut through the seven or eight miles of v • bcauUfoMoeeat,' \wilL lead- the tourist . by an extremely easy grade within three hours of Rangatawa (a station on tho main trunk) to the terminal face of . the Manghuehue glacier, and a couple of hours more will easily put him on the' summit of Paretetaitonga* > the highest point of Ruapehu. Such a track win be of distinct monetary value to the Dominion. " Speaking of the Main Trunk line, Dr. Cockayne said that he was much, struck with the capability of the adjacent country for close settlement. "Of course, in the first place," he said, "the magnificent red pine f-rest will fall beforo the sawmiller, and that forest near Ohakune i 3 probably the finest of its kind now in New Zealand. It is pleasing to picture the smiling farm lands of the future, but at the same time one cannot check a feeling "of sorrow when thinking of the destruction of this beautiful association of forest giants, with the wealth of ferns beneath them, and the remarkable animal life, which alone can subsist beneath their shad©., This forest is at present a source of delight tor all those who travel overland to Auckland by the Main Trunk line, oyer what I consider the finest coach rbad, as far as scenery is concerned, in the Dominion." Dr. Cockayne explained that the greater part, of Tongariro Park was not a country of forests, but one of deserts, '*Some of these desert plants," he said, "would thrive remarkably well in %he villa gardens of "this city. There is a strong feeling existing that we do not cultivate enough of our native plants. flore are a few of those wbjch grow in the neighbourhood of Tongariro:— A most interesting ■* whipcord veronica, wWich Was originally mistaken by the elder Hooker for a pine called veronica tetragona; another veronica called after Sir Joseph Hooker bears aburtdJaneq dfr lilac-coloured flowers on its ! creeping stems, and would form a, most excellent plant for a rock garden; prettier still js verOnjea opathulata, also a . very lowly plant which forms close mats ot cushions, which in due season are completely covered with snow-white blossoms; the true piltbsporum Colensoi grows abundantly on the forest outskirts in the neighbourhood of the park, land in my opinion it is a distinct plant jfrom a South Island 'species which has jbeen called by the same name; 1 Ranunicnltis nivahs is a find yellow buttercuD, {very, abundant at an altitude of 5000 feet' on Tongariro. Strange to say, • this latter range' is much" larger in h)]#nt life than is its mightier sister i Ruapehu, while the active volcano N^aruruhoe, fdr its final 3000 feet, is •quite destitute of plant life, even its leva being without lichens. "So far as the Tongariro National Park as a whole is concerned," Dr. 'Cockayne continued, "it possesses more I varieties' of scenery' and interesting jspect acle3 than any other equal area v of ]tend*in the Dominion. Glaciers, active Volcanoes, boiling pools, a hot lake in the midst of a snow field, a river whose water oven near its mouth is highly charged with chemicals, wonderful lava flows cut up into most fantastic shapes,, deserts vast and awe-inspiring, lakes in 7 old volcanic craters with Dine or ; green waters, beantiful Alpine flowers, jforost3 of different kinds, brown grassy [plains where wild horses roam, rivers j issuing suddenly from solid rock,widert\it}<r out into pools, haunts for wild 'dock, pr -foaming over thejr stony beds, |foras£ birds in great numbers, some almost extinct elsewhere — these are some of, the possessions of the Park which make it by no means one of the smallest assets of our land, so richly dowered by Nature."