Through South Westland : A journey to the Haast and Mount Aspiring New Zealand . ay the horsesmight attempt it, and we rode across the flat tothe ford, and found the river divided into twostreams, swirling by tumultuously. Huge brownwaves curled in yeasty foam over the boulders—it looked a terrible place to venture in with were a party of five, and the horses breastedit bravely, but I was glad when we reached theother side. As we turned up the track of yesterday,how different it looked now with the blue skyabove, and the leaves shining with we crossed the torrent, and l
Through South Westland : A journey to the Haast and Mount Aspiring New Zealand . ay the horsesmight attempt it, and we rode across the flat tothe ford, and found the river divided into twostreams, swirling by tumultuously. Huge brownwaves curled in yeasty foam over the boulders—it looked a terrible place to venture in with were a party of five, and the horses breastedit bravely, but I was glad when we reached theother side. As we turned up the track of yesterday,how different it looked now with the blue skyabove, and the leaves shining with we crossed the torrent, and leaving thehorses on a shingle island, began a toilsome,muddy scramble up the barricade and on to theglacier. When we had climbed over the moun-tainous pile of frozen dirt and stones, and stoodat last on the great frozen river, the ice provedto be in the worst possible condition. The wavesof that river have tossed themselves into everyfantastic shape. Glassy pinnacles and serratededges rear themselves hundreds of feet over deepcrevasses—at times it seemed like climbing the. THE WAIHO GORGE. 55 walls of a vast cathedral of crystal—and everystep had to be cut. The colouring was marvellous:turquoise and green—and that blue of glacier-pools which is neither—mingled with opal andpink. Since then I have been on several otherNew Zealand glaciers, but never one of them alllike this. In two hours we had not progresseda quarter of a mile, but we were high enough tosee its winding course, and the glittering snow-fields at its head. Then we turned to look enormous roche moutonnee seemed to blockits course to one side, and we looked away beyondthis to the waving forest with its crimson ratas,and Okarito lying m a blue liaze. But it was coldwork standing with ones feet in a little ice niche,and we could only move one at a time. We hadseen enough for a first acquamtance with theglacier, and so we came dowTi and rode back to theinn. Next day we were to start early and see theF
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