famous Franz Josef Glacier and near the termination point of Brunner’s “southing.” Because of the luxurious comfort enjoyed during this never-to-be-forgotten motor drive, some may be prone to disparage the explorer’s achievement of nearly a century ago. But it should ever be remembered that the forest through which he walked (or crawled when the undergrowth became too thick) was then in its primeval condition, with innumerable spurs and gullies to be reconnoitred, with flooded rivers (which held him up for weeks on end) to be crossed, and miles of howling black birch country, utterly devoid of natural food of any sort, to be traversed. Remember, too, that at times he was starving, and so weakened by constant exposure to the weather, that he fell ill, and had it not been for the devotion of the Maori Ekehu and his wife, would have died. Yet even when all these things are taken into consideration, the actual extent of the privations suffered by Thomas Brunner could only have been known in reality to the adventurous explorers who followed, and to the fearless gold miners, who travelled, years later, over much of the same ground in their frenzied search for the metal royal.
Brunner’s services were recognized in the colony and in London, the Royal Geographical Society’s medal being awarded to him; and who was more entitled to receive
