a—9.

16

Creek. The travelling was difficult and tiresome throughout, and the swagging of food and baggage was a most arduous task. The traverse of the Kokatahi and its northern branch, the Crawford, was finished about the middle of January, and Mr. Whitehorn and party shifted to the main camp at the Upper Kokatahi settlement. Simultaneously with the survey of the Kokatahi, a party under my chainman, Mr. Allan Wilson, was making a traverse of the Toaroha. This river flows through dense forest country almost for its entire length. The valley, though not of so rough a character as that of the Kokatahi, was difficult to traverse. It was practically an unexplored region, and it was found necessary to cut a good walking-track up the valley. The track starts from a point about two miles above the Styx River, and follows a well-selected route along the eastern side of the Toaroha. Attention was drawn last year to the possibilities of the Toaroha as a water-power at the canon situated from four and a quarter to five miles above the mouth of the river, and. also to a fine hot spring discovered about a mile above the canon. It may be noted in this connection that the people of Hokitika are evincing keen interest in the possible development of the water-power and of putting the hot spring to practical use. The volume of water in the Toaroha was carefully measured in January, 1906, and an accurate section made of the river. The discharge was computed to be 440 cubic feet per second. The si ream was again measured in May of the same year by Mr. Percy Morgan, of the Geological Survey staff, who obtained a result of 435 cubic feet a second. A calculation made on the assumption that there was a discharge of only 200 cubic feet a second, instead of the actual measured discharge of 435 ft., gave 17,000 actual horse-power.* The measurements of the river last year were each made after a long spell of dry weather, and it is believed give a good average discharge. The Toaroha is a snow-fed river, and large tributaries flow from the slopes of Mount Chamberlain and Mount Bannatyne on the east and Mount Ross and Mount O'Connor on the west. These mountains are apparently always snow-clad. The discharge of the river is, it is estimated, about equal in summer and winter, owing to the melting of the snow in the summer and the heavy rainfall in the winter. The survey of the Toaroha was started at a point where it had previously been carried by the Lands and Survey Department, and continued to its source on the Toaroha Saddle. Several of its tributaries, including the Macmillan, Barton, Wren, Jumble, and Bannatyne, were also traversed for part of their courses. Work in the Toaroha Valley was completed about the 20th January, and the whole of my party shifted camp to the Wilberforce River. The baggage and stores were carted by way of Kanieri and Kanieri Lake to Milltown, and thence packed on horses up the Arahura Valley to the Pyramid Rocks, at the foot of Browning's Pass, the members of the party going by way of the Styx Valley, up which at that time there was a good walking-track. The whole of the stores and baggage had to be swagged over Browning's Pass, this work requiring considerable time and exertion. The ascent of the pass on the Arahura side, though steep in places, is generally not a difficult one. The point where the track crosses the main divide, at an altitude of 4,950 ft. above sea-level, is about half a mile to the north of the actual pass and about 150 ft. higher, and is 1,650 ft. above the level of the Pyramid Rocks. The descent of the Wilberforce Valley is very abrupt. For the first 500 ft. the path zigzags down the precipitous rocky faces and then descends a steep talus-slide to the Wilberforce River, the total drop from the top of the range to the river being nearly 1,700 ft. By the end of January the whole of the baggage and stores had been carried over the pass and a main camp fixed on the western side of the Wilberforce Valley, near the mouth of Cronin Creek. A detailed survey of the country in the vicinity of the Westland Reefs was then undertaken. The Wilberforce River was surveyed from its source at Pope's Pass (which has an altitude of 5,290 ft.) for a distance of twelve miles to about a mile below the junction of the Stewart or Unknown River. As well as the main Wilberforce River, all its tributaries, including even all the small creeks, were traversed. Chief among the tributaries are Hall Creek, which flows from the Hall Glacier; Grave Creek, flowing from the Grave Glacier : Cronin Creek, rising at Whitehorn Pass near the main divide; Snowy Creek; Sylvia Creek; the Gifford River, a large stream fed by the Gifford Glacier, which extends to the main watershed; and the Stewart River. The last-named was surveyed to its source, together with its large tributaries, the Griffiths and the Gibson. A survey was made of the Griffiths Glacier, at the head of the Griffiths Stream, which forms one of the largest ice-rivers of the northern part of the Alps. With the exception of small belts of alpine scrub, the area surveyed on the Canterbury side of the main range is all open country, which enabled much better progress to be made than is possible in Westland. The traverse of the Taipo River, a tributary of the Teremakau, which was last year continued to a point about three miles north of Pope's Pass, was this year completed and connected with the Wilberforce Survey. In March an exploration and rough survey was made of the summits of the Turiwhate Range, the Griffin Range, the Tera Tama Range, and the Campbell Range. Fortunately we were favoured by exceedingly fine weather during our investigation of this elevated and rugged part of the country. Thus the topographical information of the area was greatly increased and many valuable data were obtained. From the view obtained from the prominent summit of Mount Turiwhate, one cannot fail to be impressed with the vast undeveloped timber resources of Westland, and it is apparent that there will be a great expansion of the sawmilling industry there in the near future. The work in connection with the detailed surveys in the Wilberforce and Browning's Pass district was carried on until the end. of April. The weather experienced was particularly unfavourable, short spells of fine weather being broken by much rain, accompanied by heavy snowfalls. Early in May I departed for Wellington, leaving my chainman, Mr. Alfred Whitehorn, to finish a few details and to shift camp to the Hokitika River.

* Capable of producing about 13,000 electrical horse-power.