had soon fallen into the European way of charging goldfield prices.) Leaving the town of Hokitika next day and ascending the river, we had to cross several shingle reaches where the water formed rapids, before we arrived at the small township of Kanieri, at the junction of Kanieri river and where I remained a day studying the interesting and instructive occurrence of gold. The numerous shafts sunk in the township itself and all around it, gave me a clear insight into the manner in which the auriferous beds had been formed.
On the following morning we had for a few miles, a delightful paddle up the still and deep brown water of the Kanieri Creek, dammed back by the shingle bank the Hokitika has thrown across it at its junction; this passed, its course became very winding, rapid succeeded rapid, which to ascend gave us considerable trouble, whilst a number of large trees fallen across the water obstructed our passage considerably. We reached at last a spot about five miles above the junction, where further ascent was impossible, and where considerable mining operations—the so-called Five Mile diggings—were in progress. Here, as at the Kanieri township, the wash-dirt had very often been protected by younger morainic accumulations covering it, and have thus been preserved from destruction. At this place, again, I was detained by continuous rain for about a week, but our camping ground was so well sheltered that we never felt any wind, whilst, as I heard afterwards, a fearful storm had been raging along the Coast, houses having been blown away at Hokitika and other settlements and several vessels amongst them the steamer Waipara having been wrecked not far from the mouth of the Hokitika river.
On May 21st we were at last able to continue our journey and reached in the evening the shores of Lake Kanieri, having travelled the greater part of the day over terraces, mostly swampy, the ground covered with Sphagnum, of which the principal vegetation consisted of kahikatea, totara and manuka, mixed with Phyllocladus alpinus and kawaka (libocedrus donianus), but all the trees were small and had a rather stunted appearance; but in the gorges of the tributary streams or along the banks of the river bed, the forest vegetation was very luxuriant and magnificent, the presence of large aborescent ferns adding considerably to the beauty of the scenery.
Lake Kanieri, although small, being about five miles long by two miles broad is a very picturesque piece of water, as it is surrounded on three sides by high mountains with bold outlines, the lower portions being covered with luxuriant forest. It owes its origin to a large semi-circular terminal moraine which crosses the valley from side to side, and through which its outlet has cut a passage. A low saddle is conspicuous near its upper end, leading into the upper Hokitika plains where several roches moutonnees on both sides show distinctly that a portion of Kanieri glacier had here joined the extensive Hokitika glacier during our Great Glacier period,
Returning to Hokitika for a fresh stock of provisions, we started again on May 25th. to ascend this time, the main river, visiting first the Woodstock diggings on the left bank, where I observed a geological structure of the gold-bearing beds similar to that of the Kanieri township deposits. The river presented a very animated scene, a number of boats and canoes ascending and descending; tent houses and small settlements peeped in many spots from amongst the fine forest vegetation which clothed the banks on both sides whilst
