EXPLORATION OF FIORD COUNTY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 2796, 8 September 1883, Page 3

EXPLORATION OF FIORD COUNTY.

> The following is the official report oj ' exploration m the County of Fiord bj i Mr John Hay, District Surveyor :— r River ton, 22nd June, 1883. f I have the honor to forward herewith re ' connaismnce map of part of Fiord County s As will be seen from the plan, it embraces al " the southern portion of the said County ■ the mrthern limit of surrey is bounded by t ' line running m a south-east direction fron i near north-east arm of Dusky Bound to south * side of Monowai Lake j and the westeri 3 boundary by a lino from head of Long Soum ■ to near north-eaet arm of Dusky Sound. Th( •> surrey is based upon the position of th * known peaks of Titiroa, Cleughearn am 1 Helmet Hill, and the altitudes depend oi * Cleughearn, 6166 feot above •sa-lerel. Th

country includod within these boundirie«, with the exception of a strip of busli land, three or four miles wide, bordering Fovraux St.rnit, ia exceedingly rugged, wholly consisting of high rocky peoks and mountain spurs, inlnn-nelert by innumerable ravines. Out of 554 400 acres the open land only amounts to 109,200 nores, ranging m altitude from 3000 to 5600 feet above sealevei ; and this, of course, is mado up of high peaks, tops of tortuous inotinUin ranges and spurs Thi» open area is not m one continuous bloclr, but is mado up of areas from 5000 to 17,000 seres, separated by precipitous wooded ravines, m mnny places quite impo»»il)lo to cross. Tbe country gem-rally is poorly grassed, and wliern not rocky m of a wet peaty nature, sparsely rovercJ with a wiry kind of gruss the nutritious qualities of which are very doubtful Tnkiug into consideration that tho country is poorly grassed, high, broken and most inaccessible, I fear it cannot be profitably used for pastoral purposes, even as summer country, ns there ia absolutely no low ground upon which stock could be wintered. Coast Line. — From ■ Fuysegur Point to Kiwi Burn, a distance, say, of eight miles, thfl ftvernge duration is about 100 feet ; and extending buck from this for a di-tanc" of, say, four miles, the country gradually risen until it. attains an altitude of about 1800 feet, the whole block being of a wet, nioesy, and peaty nature, partly open; but. moeily covered with a dense growth f;f hog pine, mixed with stunted birch. From Kiwi Burn to Big Hirer, a distance, of, say, eight miles, the coast-lino is rather higher, but as tho country extends nwßy towards the foot of tho mountains it becomes more broken and ridgy ; the land is poor m quality, very mossy, and densely cjvrred with birch and bog pine. In the whole distance from Puysegur Point to Big River there is no timber of any commercial value, and tho land is of a most miserable quality. From Big River to Wsitutu River, a dietmen of, soy, six miles, tbe land is of very good quality, with an average breadth of about ono mile; but it probably extends buck for two orthree miles pretty lovol. This country is mostly covered witb biro, but towards tho back, I think, it. becom-s of a mixed nature. Tho land between Waitutu river and WairnuraMri River, a distance of, say, six mile-, is of a very good quality, bettor than that mentioned m the preceding block, and of a greater extont, as the good land appears to run up the banks of both rivers for a distance of, say, three miles. There is hero a large block of land, moderately level, extending m a north direction from the coact line to a line fn-m a point about six miles up from south end of Potoritori Luke to a point about two miles south of Uauroto Lake. There is some very good timber m tliw block j although a birch foreit, it contains a considerable mixture of red pine, nnd m the immediate vicinity of the coast there is a large quantity of moat excollent iron-wood. From Wairaurahiri River to Sandhill Point, a distance of, say, seven miles, the level land is very g>od, but it natro»e down considerably to a strip of about three-quarters of a mile wide, a littlo broken and ridgy, and covered witb mixed bush of rather an inferior nature. I may hero mention that the land immediitely on the coast-liDO from Big River to Sandhill Point maintains a pretty uniform elevation of about 100 feet. The Nnd between Sandhill Point and the big bight m To Waiwui Bay, a distance of, eiy, fight mil-s, is similar m quality and breadth to the. preceding block, but considerably sleeper, and covered with a mixed bush probably of an improving nature. Immediately behind Mussel Beach I noticed somo good red pine, which appeared to run up the ipun some distance towards the Hump. I presumo a report list already been made on tbe land from t.be big bight m To Wuiwai Bay ta Waiau Mouth, a distance of eleven miles, but I ni»y mention that it ia similar m quality and breath to that hptween Waiau Mouth and Orepuki. Between To Wuiwai Bay and tho east arm of Haurolo Like it appears to be poor, mosvr, ridgy land, covered mostly with birch. There is some red pine en tho spurs adjacent to the south side of the east arm of the lake, but no great quantity. It will bo seen that there is a strip of gooil land, m breadth about one mile, running along tho coast from Waiau Mouth to Big River, whioli will nt some future rlate, no doubt, bo used for settlement. The great drawback is thoro are no harbors m the whole distanco (about forty miles), but thoic are a number of good boutlandings m northerly ami easterly weather. From Puysegur Point to lieaii of Long Sound, although bordered tho wholo distance with limber, it is of no commercial value, being principally birch of a very inferior description, and m the interior it is even of a more inferior naturo, consisting mostly of stunted birch and beg pine. " Lakes.— Hnuroto is about twenty-two miles long by ab >a< one wide, and covers an area of ahout 17,1 00 acres. Poteriteri Lake is about eighteen miles by one, and next m sizo is Lake Hakapoua, at tbfl head of Hig River, which is about four and a half miles long by bilf a mile wide, and is tidal. There are a number of other lakes scattered throughout tho country, but none of them are of any great, size. Birds. — 1 did not see any that are not common to the high country j kiwis &ro not vory numerous m th« intorior, but k»kapos are very plentiful m most place*. No signs of the takabe (yolaniis Manlelli), but I urn led to believe that, ibis bird ia more likely to be found m the country west of Lake To Anau. I may mention that the rabbit* havo not yet reached tho Princess Mountains, but there are a few round the south-east tide of Lako Hauroto, and I saw traces of them on tho east side, us far up as opposite Caroline. Peak j but I neither saw them nor tbeir traces on the Billow Mountains, opposito tho abovementioned peak. All through tho interior I tato the rook to be mica schist and gneiss, the latter probnbly a whito grauito. From a point about two miles up Long Sound from Kisbeo Bay the formation changes to ■ sandstone, slate and granite, and this extends along the coast, with an occasional break of conglomerate, to about, three miles east of Big River. From here to Sandhill Point a bed of drift gravel 20 to 50 feet deep overlies a soft slate formation. A milo or two oust of Windsor Point I noticed on tbe boach a seam of coal cropping out. and thia I presume is a continuation of the coal worked some years ago nt Preservation Inlet. In concluding this report I may say that the country to the north of that which I have gone over appears equally rugged, of about the same altitude, but probably more, rocky and destitute of vegetation.