c.—i

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In the Landsborough are some fine birch (or beech— Fagus) trees, and a variety of others, besides shrubs, but no valuable timber. The forest-line reaches the same altitude as it does on the Canterbury side of the range, viz., about 4,000 ft. The variety of trees, shrubs, and ferns in the Otoko Valley is much greater; we saw birch, totara, mountain-pine, and most of the common trees and shrubs, but birch predominated. There are, however, very few trees of any commercial value in the upper part of the valley ; lower down red-pine is very common, and on the Paringa all the pines are fairly represented. The only plants I have not seen in other parts of New Zealand were a variety of lancewood with exceedingly narrow leaves, and a species of ground lawyer, or bramble, bearing a tasteless scarlet berry, almost If in. long, and-J in. in diameter ;in appearance, it is not unlike a large alpine strawberry. Rabbits are numerous in the Landsborough Valley, on the grassy flat immediately below the Huxley Pass, and there remain a few old traces of them on other flats on both sides of the river, but they appear to have died out or been destroyed by stoats and weasels. These latter vermin are very numerous, for we picked up several birds that had been killed by them, among others a grey and white petrel (several kinds of petrels go inland at night), and I saw a weasel kill a full-grown rabbit. The native crows and thrushes, which were so plentiful in the Landsborough seven years ago, have disappeared, and extermination will certainly be the fate of our charming New Zealand birds, for their confiding ways and habits of nesting in places accessible to the vermin make them an easy prey. The English blackbirds, thrushes, and goldfinches, which were numerous, are far too wary to be caught easily by anything. Already wekas, blue ducks, and robins are very scarce, though, strange to say, kiwis and kakapos are still numerous, but it requires an experienced eye and ear to detect their presence, because of their nocturnal habits; and it may be worth mentioning, as I have not seen it stated before, that kakapos, when feeding on grass, never swallow the fibre; it is invariably rolled into pellets about the size of a marble, sucked until it has the appearance of tow, and then put out again. We saw these on every grass-flat we visited, high or lew, from the Huxley Pass to Paringa, but they were generally more plentiful just above the bush-line, and nearly every night we heard both kakapos and kiwis crying out. On the Paringa, pigeons, kakas, and ducks were plentiful, but there were very few anywhere else. We found no gold, though the country looks to be auriferous ; quartz is plentiful, and there is an outcrop of it on Mount Matheson. Matheson says he found another reef in the Landsborough bush, between Mount Gow and Solution Hill; he also states, in his account of his month spent in the Landsborough Valley, that his party prospected the valley in a superficial way, but found very little gold. Below Jack's Creek we saw a prospector's holes in the bush, but lam told very little prospecting has been done. Mica is so plentiful in the Otoko it would be very easy to overlook gold. Directions for following our Route from Lake Ohau to Paringa. From Lake Ohau to the Huxley Forks requires no description ; it is smooth river-bed or grassy flats all the way, and can be ridden over with ease and comfort. Although horses have been taken over the Huxley Pass, and a track cut up the river where necessary to enable this to be done, it is only waste of time to take them beyond the slip about a mile higher than the forks; from there the track can be followed on foot for some distance, and the east bank of the stream should be kept till the crossing-place marked on the plan is arrived at. Time can be saved in one or two places at the bends by going through the bush, and if the proper places are chosen for doing this flat leads will be found. After crossing the Huxley, and climbing the burnt spur on to the flat immediately below the pass, cross the creek flowing from the glacier on the west and follow the smooth lead between it and the steep face of the pass westwards for about 20 chains, or till the tracks made by Mr. Matheson's horses are seen; they lead upwards in an easterly direction, and do not turn westward until they reach the crown of a leading spur above a small pond. From there to the summit of the pass follow the natural trend of the country. When descending on the other side, after going down a few hundred feet strike along a grassy ridge in an easterly direction, cross the creek, and keep about half-way between it and the rocky and precipitous side of the mountain until within 20 chains of the bush ; then follow the grassy spur down to the creek, and the creek down to Matheson's old camp, marked by poles and fireplace; cross there, and ascend some 50 ft. to a point above a steep bank, where an open place will be found in a hollow, and a few chains down is where we camped. It is most important to keep upwards, in a westerly direction, from this point until the top of the spur is gained, otherwise difficult, not to say dangerous, places, which took us many hours to surmount, will be encountered at the lower levels, though it is easy going at first. The spur thus ascended should be followed right down to the bend of the creek, as shown on the plan. From there down to the open grassy flat on the Landsborough is easy going, and the creek may be followed if it is preferred, but I should recommend crossing it at the bend, and going down its western side. The Landsborough fords are good when the river is low, but as they often shift it is useless to describe them. The river is, however, generally fordable at the places marked, though during floods it is quite impassable. Until a track has been cut, the best way, after crossing the river, is to go up the bed of the Landsborough Creek to the bend, and afterwards follow the crown of the spur nearest the creek to the top of the bush ; then make for the top of Solution Range, going north-east so as not to do more climbing than necessary. Having arrived on the summit, keep the top of the range over Mount Matheson, and descend to what looks like the terminal face of the Otoko Glacier, and follow along the narrow flat in front of it. This is a rather peculiar place. The Clarke River takes its rise beyond the Otoko Glacier, and, though flowing close past, is separated from it by a lateral moraine. After reaching the end of the above-mentioned flat, which is about opposite the terminal face of the Otoko Glacier, a gradual descent must be made along the shingle-face to the upper edge of the scrub, striking it not far from the Otoko River. The route will be seen at a glance ; it is not nearly so difficult as it looks, and we found it—not the first time —in a thick fog and rain, and went down with heavy swags on our backs. From the edge of