CHAPTER XVII

THE SOUTHERN ALPS OF NEW ZEALAND

BY MALCOLM ROSS

While distance lends enchantment, it also, not infrequently, presents difficulties. The mountaineer, probably more than most people, realizes this as, beside his winter fire in England, he sees through the smoke-rings of evening pipes alluring visions of the pine-clad Rockies, of the lonely Caucasus, of the giant Himalaya, of the high Andes and of the far-distant Southern Alps. Most climbers are also workers, and it is the time taken and the expense of the journey that no doubt give them pause when they think of the distant ranges; but more particularly of the Himalaya or the New Zealand Alps. In regard to the latter, however, the expedition need not be an expensive one. The return passage from London to New Zealand by the big direct liners is not costly.

[Sidenote: Routes, etc.]

A good service is run by the New Zealand Shipping Company and the Shaw Savill & Albion Company. The voyage out is by the Cape of Good Hope and the return by Cape Horn. The return passages by the alternative and more interesting route between London and Lyttelton cost £132 first class and £75, 10s. second class. The British steamers on this route belong to the P. & O. Company and the Orient Company. The passage occupies about six weeks, but it can be shortened by a week by crossing the English Channel, taking train across France and joining the steamer at Marseilles.

The advantage of this route is that we are often within sight of interesting lands and call at quite a number of ports--Gibraltar, Marseilles, Port Said, Suez, Aden, Ceylon, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. At the southern end of the journey time can be saved by taking train from Adelaide to Melbourne, and thence a Union Company’s steamer to the Bluff, which is the southernmost port in New Zealand. The New Zealand steamers on this route may not, however, be considered so good as those running from Sydney to Auckland or Wellington, and the passage to the Bluff is generally a colder and more stormy one than that from Sydney in the more northern latitude. Besides, Sydney, with its charming harbour, is well worth seeing, and time can still be saved by taking train right through from Adelaide to Sydney. Still quicker though slightly more expensive routes are those across the Atlantic via San Francisco or Vancouver. A change of scene is provided by either of these routes, which avoid the heat of the Red Sea and the cold of the more southern route taken by the direct steamers. Another alternative would be to go East and return by the Western line, thus circumnavigating the globe; and variations in the latter route can be made by which Java, China and Japan can be visited. Yet a further choice will be opened up with the completion of the Panama Canal. My own preference would be to take a return ticket by P. & O. steamer between Marseilles and Adelaide, travel by train from the latter port to Sydney, and from Sydney proceed direct to Wellington, New Zealand, by one of the Union Company’s steamers. At Wellington full particulars regarding the charges _en route_ to Mount Cook and the cost of guides and accommodation can be obtained from the Tourist Department or from the writer of this chapter, who will willingly place at the disposal of any climber any information and advice that he can give.

[Sidenote: Local Conditions, Guides, etc.]

At Mount Cook there is an accommodation house, under Government control, and all charges are reasonable. The best guides are servants of the Government. Their services, however, may not always be available when most wanted, and a man will do better, if he can afford it and desires it, to bring with him his own guide.

The ideal party would be one of three first-rate amateurs, or two amateurs and a good guide, used to both rock and ice work. It would be practically independent of local assistance, and ready to seize all opportunities of fine weather to do first-class climbs or new expeditions. The local guides would willingly co-operate with or advise such a party regarding local conditions, weather, routes, etc.

The weather in New Zealand, as in all mountainous countries, plays an important part in such expeditions, and the climber of high peaks will be well advised to keep his eye on the dreaded north-wester, which sweeps across the Pacific Ocean and assails the beetling crags and snowy summits of the great range with a force and fury which it is difficult successfully to combat.

Our mountains, though not so high as those of the European Alps, are practically the same height from a mountaineering point of view, because in New Zealand the snowline is so much lower and the ranges rise directly from lower elevations than they do in Switzerland. Our alpine chain seems to be more heavily glaciated and the rocks more friable than is the case in Europe. Our glaciers are certainly larger, and the moraines upon and beside them such as to tax the patience if not the endurance of the climber unused to them. The scenery is grand from the purely alpine point of view, but one used to Swiss mountains will miss the well-formed road, the fine hotels and the high mountain hut, to say nothing of the mountain railway, which we must hope may never become the vogue in New Zealand.

On the west coast the scenery is more varied than on the east, because of the forest that clothes the lower Alps; but the weather is wetter, and the dense vegetation often a bar or at least a hindrance to the attainment of a high bivouac. The difficulty is accentuated when one has to carry one’s own tent and provisions on one’s own back, although there is not nowadays the same difficulty in obtaining porters which the pioneers had to put up with. Such huts as there are, are low down in the valleys; and if new ground is to be broken, the expedition should come provided with its own tents and sleeping-bags, and be prepared often to spend the night under the more or less friendly shelter of some detached rock. To the mountaineer, however, the dispensing with such luxuries will only add to the joy of his new climbs and tend to make him more fully appreciate the luxuries of civilization when, with his peak in his pocket, he returns again to the lower altitudes. From the technical point of view the climbing is very much like what it is in Switzerland; but the strange climber would always do well to remember that the dangers from avalanches and falling rocks are not so accurately mapped out as they are in ranges that have been climbed by several generations of experienced mountaineers.

While the new field will certainly prove fascinating from the climber’s point of view, it is also worth remembering that it abounds in objects of interest to the geologist, the botanist and the zoologist. The glaciers are among the largest and most interesting in the world; the flora is of the most diversified character; and the fauna, though limited, is curious.

[Sidenote: Topography and Structure.]

Large as the glacier system is at the present day, it is small as compared with the extent of the glaciers which descended far down the plains in the Pleistocene period. The greatest accumulation of ice and snow lies at the head of the Tasman and Murchison glaciers, on the eastern side of the main range of the Alps. The Mueller, the Hooker and the Godley glaciers, on the same side, are, however, likewise of large extent; while on the western side of the Mount Cook Range there are other glaciers of large size, one of which--the Franz Josef glacier--descends to within about 600 feet of the sea, and has beautiful tree-ferns, and a vegetation which appears almost semi-tropical, growing within a few yards of its terminal face.

One peculiar feature of the Southern Alps is the absence of any number of low sub-alpine passes over the main range. The principal low passes are the Haast Pass, leading from Lake Wanaka to the west coast; the Hurunui Pass, dividing the sources of the river of that name; and Arthur’s Pass, over 3000 feet high, across which the coach runs through the wonderful scenery of the Otira Gorge to Hokitika and Greymouth. The first point to be noticed in regard to the central chain is that it does not present an unbroken line of watershed, but rather a series of peaks and broken ridges, separated from each other by deep ravines, and for the most part not easy of access. The clue to this system of ravines and ridges is to be found in the fact that the Palæozoic rocks forming the main range have been at a very early period subjected to extensive pressure, the effect of which has been to crumple them up into huge folds, the upper portions of which have been removed, leaving the remaining portions of the strata standing up on edge, either in a vertical position or at very steep inclinations. The strike of the beds differs from the general direction of the dividing range by 33°. The rule which has been found to prevail in other mountain chains of similar formation appears also to hold good in the central chain--viz., that the greatest amount of denudation has taken place along the original ridges, which are now occupied by valleys, whilst the existing peaks and ridges are on the sites of former depressions.

The next feature to be noticed is the jointed structure of the rocks. Although the joints cross each other in all directions, apparently without order, there are two prevailing systems of joints which have an important influence on the configuration of the surface. These are: First, a system of vertical cross-joints at right angles to the stratification, and running in unbroken lines for great distances, with such regularity that they might easily be mistaken for planes of stratification were it not for the frequent occurrence of beds of trap-rock, the outcrop of which marks unmistakably the true bedding; secondly, a system of joints, more or less inclined to the horizon, not running in parallel planes, but arranged in a series of curves radiating from a common centre.

The effect of this system of jointing, combined with the strike of the beds, or the direction of the axis of folding, is to produce two distinct systems of valleys in the central chain, the direction of which is very remarkable. The one radiates from a common centre, situated about fifty miles north of Mount Darien, in the sea near Cliffy Head. This system includes all the principal valleys from the Teremakau on the north to the Makarora on the south, their direction varying from N. 82° E. to S. 30° W., giving the idea that the country has been starred, just as a mirror is starred by a violent blow. To the other system belong the valleys of rivers and watercourses, running either on the strike of the beds, or in the direction of the cross-joints, or in a zigzag course, following alternately these two directions and giving to the cliffs which bound these valleys a peculiar rectangular appearance, resembling ruined masonry on a gigantic scale.

The western slope and part of the central chain consist of crystalline rocks and metamorphic schists resting on a basis of granite, that presents itself here and there to the view in the rugged bluffs and declivities on the west coast. To the eastward of the crystalline zone stratified sedimentary rocks appear, such as slates, sandstones, conglomerates and indurated shales. These compose the greater part of the eastern side of the central chain, exhibiting everywhere huge foldings. The extensive development of limestones such as are peculiar to the European Alps is totally lacking, and it is easily seen that only the eastern half of a complete mountain system has been preserved, while the western half is buried in the depth of the main.

[Sidenote: Flora and Fauna.]

At Mount Cook the botanist has a splendid field before him. The alpine and sub-alpine flora is of the most beautiful and diversified character, and to the traveller making his first visit from Australia or the Northern Hemisphere it will also have the charm of novelty. Among the shrubs there is considerable variety, and many of the bushes are during the autumn laden with prettily coloured berries. Among the larger trees a variety of beech is most prominent. The pretty green foliage of the broadleaf is also conspicuous, and a number of the Coniferæ. But it is probably among the herbaceous plants that the botanist will delight most to linger.

On Mount Torlesse, in the lower and more eastern range, Dr. von Haast, during his early explorations, collected over two hundred flowering plants, over thirty of which were new to science, and even in these later years new discoveries are still being made.

Splendid herds of red deer inhabit the heights and vales of the lesser Alps, so that after the mountaineer has bagged his peaks he can change his ice-axe for his rifle and bag a few fine heads as well. Recently chamois have been successfully acclimatized in the Mount Cook region, while elk and moose have been liberated in other localities. In the rivers of both the North and the South Island there are fish that will make the rods bend and the reels give to some purpose.

The birds of the alpine and sub-alpine regions are especially interesting. The kiwi and the kakapo, those strange flightless birds of the South and West, will prove a novelty to the explorer from northern climes; while the inquisitive friendly weka, with his rudimentary wings, and the curious kea, who digs into the loins of the living sheep with his powerful hooked beak to make a meal of the kidney fat, will be a never-failing source of interest to the traveller, who will find the former a thief and the latter rather a noisy companion whilst he is endeavouring to seek repose in one or other of the iron-roofed mountain huts. Wood-pigeons and a bush parrot known as the kaka are also to be found, and, in unexplored country, may make a welcome addition to the larder. A native thrush, two species of cuckoo that come down from the equatorial islands, wrens and fly-catchers are also met with; while the tui and the bell bird sometimes fill the woods with glorious song. In a chapter on mountains there is not space to do them all justice; but anyone who is specially interested in that strange bird, the kea, will find his habits and his character more fully described in my recently published book, _A Climber in New Zealand_.

[Sidenote: Glaciers.]

The following table, showing comparative sizes of the Canterbury or east coast glaciers compiled by Mr. T. N. Brodrick of the New Zealand Government Survey Department, will give some idea of the extent of the glaciation and prove interesting to anyone contemplating a mountaineering expedition to the Southern Alps:

TABLE SHOWING COMPARATIVE SIZES OF THE CANTERBURY GLACIERS

+---------+--------+------------+---------+-----------+--------+---------+ | Name. |Area of | Area of |Length of| Average |Greatest|Narrowest| | |Glacier.|Country from| Glacier.| Width. | Width. | Width. | | | |which Supply| | | | | | | | of Ice is | | | | | | | | drawn.[35] | | | | | +---------+--------+------------+---------+-----------+--------+---------+ | | Acres. | Acres. | Mls. Cs.|Mls. Cs. |Mls. Cs.|Mls. Cs.| |Tasman |13,664 | 25,000 | 18 0| 1 15 | 2 14| 0 60| |Murchison| 5,800 | 14,000 | 10 70| 0 66-7/10| 1 5| 0 42| |Godley | 5,312 | 10,560 | 8 0| 1 3 | 1 55| 0 58| |Mueller | 3,200 | 7,740 | 8 0| 0 50 | 0 61| 0 37| |Hooker | 2,416 | 4,112 | 7 25| 0 41-3/10| 0 54| 0 30| |Classen | 1,707 | 3,972 | 4 70| 0 43¾ | 0 73| 0 21| +---------+--------+------------+---------+-----------+--------+---------+

First-class mountains in the New Zealand Alps may be said to range in height from 10,000 feet to 12,347 feet, which latter is the height of Mount Cook. All the mountains of 10,000 feet and over have now been climbed; but there is much interesting work yet to be done in connection with new routes and high pinnacles and passes on the main range, while there are still many untrodden peaks of the second class scattered over a wide extent of explored and unexplored country. In short, there is in New Zealand work for generations of climbers yet to do.

FOOTNOTES:

[35] This is not the whole watershed, but only that portion on which the _névé_ snow lies.

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