expected to communicate with me. He describes the bay as being very deep, with a bold boulder-beach, without any appearance of a river, and complained of the great risk he had run in being led to sweep so close in-shore in search of the river through the error of the chart, for, if a nor'wester had sprung up, he never could have beat out against it.
Early on the morning of the 28th I proceeded up the river, accompanied by the skipper, to see how far up it would be advisable to take the yacht. We had the advantage of the flood-tide, which carried us rapidly up; and, after a distance of 4 miles, we were surprised and delighted to find that it flows out of a lake 1 to 2 miles in width, and extending in a southerly direction for 10 or 12 miles. We had a fair wind up this lake, so that by noon we reached its upper extremity, where a considerable stream enters it from the S.S.E., and up which we were able to take the boat for nearly a mile. The lower part of this lake is comparatively shallow, varying from 6 to 10 fathoms, and surrounded by a large extent of level land, which is continuous with the flat through which the river winds, and is bounded on either hand by low sloping hills.
About 5 miles from its lower end it, however, acquires all the characters of one of the Sounds, being bounded by steep mountains that rise out of deep water. At the head of the lake there is a large flat, covered with thickets of the tutu, fuchsia, and other shrubs. This river is called by the Maoris the Wakatipu-kaduku, or the river that leads up to the Wakatipu Lake; by which they mean, not the Wakatipu Lake of the east side of the mountains, but the lake I had just discovered, and which, in order to avoid confusion, I propose to name the Kakapo Lake, in order to preserve the name of that rare and interesting bird which will, in all probability, soon become extinct; and preserving part of the Maori name, I would name the river Kaduku.[1]
Martin's Bay, into which the Kaduku River flows, is 4 miles across, between the two headlands, and rather less than a mile in depth. The best weather for entering the Kaduku River is after a few days of light n.n.e. or south-east winds, or with a light south-west wind if there has not been previously a gale from that quarter, as in that case there is sure to be a heavy swell, especially if the barometer is low. The most severe gales on the coast are from between n.n.e. and n.n.w., and not often from north-west, as is the case farther south, and on the whole these were the prevailing winds during the month's experience we had of the place. As the bay is open and the current sets strongly off shore to the south-
- ↑ The lake is called "McKerrow" on the official maps, and the river at the head of the lake "Hollyford."
