BY GEORGE EDWARD MANNERING MEMBER OF THE NEW ZEALAND ALPINE CLUB MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALASIA MEMBER OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE OF CANTERBURY, N.Z. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16 th STREET 1891 All rights reserved THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO ALL LOVERS OF NATURE...

This short work contains the story of five seasons’ climbing and exploring in the New Zealand Alps. Most of the material embodied in it has already appeared from time to time, in rather a different form, in the Christchurch (N.Z.) ‘Weekly Press.’ The author trusts that the publication of the same in book form, together with a map of the locality and a few photographic reproductions, will supply a want in the shape of a guide-book to the Alpine mountain district which is already beginning to be f

The New Zealand Alps and their glaciers It is unnecessary for me in these days of universal education and enlightenment to describe the geographical position of New Zealand, the ‘Britain of the South,’ and the future playground of Australasia. Everyone knows that New Zealand consists of three islands, situate between the 34th and 47th degrees of south latitude, off the south-east coast of Australia. Reference to almost any handbook of the colony will furnish every information regarding settlemen

A short description of the route to the Mount Cook district, and of the topographical features of the Mueller, Hooker, and Tasman Valleys From Timaru on the east coast the traveller may comfortably reach the glaciers of Aorangi in a two days’ journey. Leaving Timaru by an evening train, Fairlie Creek (the present terminus of the railway line) is reached, where the night is spent. Two days’ coaching then are required to cross over Burke’s Pass into the great Mackenzie plains, across this great an

First impressions—Swagging—The Hochstetter Glacier—Defeat—The perils of river crossing ‘To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first.’ It was on March 24, 1886, that I left Christchurch, in company with my cousin, Mr. C. D. Fox, on my first visit to the great Tasman Glacier and Mount Cook, or Aorangi. [1] [1] The Maori name of Mount Cook is ‘Aorangi,’ or, more properly, ‘Ao-Rangi.’ The commonly accepted meaning of the term is ‘Sky-piercer’ but as the Maori language admits of many varieties o

A Flooded Camp in the Tasman Valley—Hard Struggles with Bad Fortune—We reach Green’s Bivouac During the winter following my first essay at Alpine climbing I was not idle, but made several pig-hunting excursions amongst the foot-hills in North Canterbury, in addition to which, with a companion in the shape of an old friend and schoolfellow, Mr. M. J. Dixon, I made the ascent of Mounts Torlesse (6,434 feet) and Puketeraki (5,780 feet) at a time when these mountains were snow-covered to within 2,00

Photography on the Tasman Glacier—Attempt to scale Mount De la Bêche Where rose the mountains, there to him were friends.— Childe Harold. It is a thousand pities that the ennobling pursuit of mountaineering is so neglected in this wonderland of peaks and glaciers. Such advantages as we enjoy surely cannot exist much longer without calling out the spirit which lies dormant in hundreds of the lovers of adventure and worshippers of the beautiful in Nature, who live on in our midst from day to day i

Camp under De la Bêche—Twelve Hours on Snow and Ice—The Pangs of Hunger Thursday , April 4, was a memorable day, for Annan coming up from the Hermitage with a further supply of the ever-welcome ‘tucker,’ we started on one of the finest mountain expeditions I have seen in our New Zealand mountains. It was not part of our original plan to ascend the Dome; we merely intended to reach the Lendenfeld Saddle and get a glimpse of the opposite coast and the western ocean, and it was with this object in

We reach the Great Plateau at last—Defeat again—The Crossing of the Ball Pass ‘Perge et perage.’ Once again, on January 4, 1890, in company with Mr. Arthur Harper, a gentleman who had then done two seasons’ climbing in Switzerland, I left Christchurch to try conclusions afresh with the monarch of the Southern Alps. On this occasion we reached the Hermitage in two days from Christchurch, riding from Fairlie Creek, and crossing the Tasman River opposite Burnett’s Mount Cook sheep station. Here we

Hard Swagging—Erroneous Maps—The Struggle for Starvation Saddle—Exhaustion and Hunger—Return ‘Fresh fields and pastures new.’ I had often cast a longing eye in the direction of the Murchison Valley, and desired to explore those unvisited scenes which were as yet unknown and unseen by man. We had frequently during this visit to the district spoken of making an excursion in that direction should Mount Cook prove too heavy metal for us. Now was our chance, and we determined to take it. Leaving the

Avalanches — The bivouac again — First attempt repulsed — Second attempt — The Great Plateau — The Linda Glacier — Hard work step-cutting — The terrible couloirs — Victory at last — Descent by lantern-light — Back to civilisation Whymper was eight seasons climbing the Matterhorn. Dent made innumerable attempts ere he conquered the Aiguille du Dru—why should we despair about Aorangi? We certainly were at a great disadvantage as compared with Swiss mountaineers; we had to begin at the very bottom

The cause of glaciers — Formation and structure — Motion — Moraines : Lateral , medial , and terminal — ‘Surface’ moraines — Crevasses — Moulins — Glacier cones — Glacier tables — Surface torrents — Avalanches — Cornices In a work of this nature it may not be out of place to briefly describe some of those interesting features and phenomena which accompany the world above the snow-line. Here is a quotation from a recent review of Professor Heim’s work [2] by a prominent member of the English Alpi

The Waimakariri — The enormous rainfall — Descent of the Waitaki River — The Tasman branch — Lake Pukaki — Leaky canoes — The Pukaki Rapids — The Waitaki Gorge — Out on the plains again — Sixty miles’ paddle to catch the train — Home once more Canoeing on the New Zealand rivers is desperately exciting work. On the west coast of the South Island there is a canoe club, whose members build boats in watertight compartments specially suited for the rough journeys which they undertake. Some of these m

This little book has but told the story of the ramblings and adventures of a lover of Nature. I fear that I have signally failed to do justice to her features, or to convey any adequate idea of her mystic influence. Would that I could impart that which I can feel. Should it fall into the hands of Swiss climbers it may serve to show that the brotherhood of the mountains extends even to out-of-the-way New Zealand, and that in that country, as well as in the Old World, the ineffable glories of the

Arête. —A ridge either of rock, ice, or snow, or combinations of all three. Bergschrund. —The crevasse or deep moat almost invariably found between the sides and upper portions of a glacier or ice slope and the rocks above, or the permanent clinging ice above, as the case may be. Of late the meaning of the term has become extended, and almost any crevasse in the upper parts of a glacier with one lip higher than the other comes under the designation. Col. —Saddle, or dip in a ridge. Cornice. —The