, 1889-11-16
a trip to the Mont Blanc
OF New Zealand.
by ". Il. Triggs)

Alps rms almost throughout the entire
length of the South Island. And thew ara
Alps worthy OF the name. In whatever
part Of the South Island you travel, YOU
are pretty sure to see on q clear dav q
background Of mountains covered with
perpetual snow.
There are scores of peaks ranging from
1000 to 10000 feet high. Mount Cook.
the monarch of them all-the Mont Blanc
of New Zealand-towers aloft no less than
12,375 feet, and one or two of his near
neighbours, such as Mount Tasman. Mount
Stokes, and Mount Seton, are scarcely
less imposing.
. 1t may be, in the course Of q few wears.
0 that Switzerland has been .'done'' so
thoroughly, and seeing communication with
New Zealand is made so expeditions. hat
Alpine tourists, tired of going over careful
~ marked.o out routes, will visit the South.
ern Alps of New Zealand to strike out a
line for Themselves.
Ouce in the colony, it is easy enough to
reach Mount Cook. From either CHRIST.
church or Dunedin excursion tickets ara
issued for five pounds, which cover the
cost. of a day's travelling by rail and two
days coaching. At the end of that time
you fnd yourself 1T u cOmfortable hostelry,
hO A ASAl AibOSTR 6uA Slku6bo
under the southern Spnr of Mount Cook.
from which it is separated by the 81 ,oker
River. You are in the very heart of
glaciers, and i~ce-caveS, and Alpine won.
ders Of every kind. The house is built ut
the foot of the Mueller MOrainp, and half
All hours scramble over the large accumu-
lation of rocks aud debris, brought down
hY the Mueller Glacier, lands yOu at the
terminal face. Here are cliffs Of ica. in
some places as much as $50 feet high.
There is an ice.cave filled with a delicate
light of shimmering blue, aud looking for
all the world like thu enchanted grOt Of
some magician. Above it is y sheer preci.
pice of ice, $50 feet high; and below, the
River Mueller finds its way to the surface
from the bottom of the glacier, boiling out
from unknown depths, surging and raging,
az If impatient to be- free, aud clanking and
grinding huge rocks together in it's impet.
uOus course along the torrent. bed as if
they were 30 many pebbles. On the ice.
precipice above, great masses of stone,
brought down by the glacier, are trembling
on the verge, preparing, as it would seem,
20 launch themselves on the heads of any
veuturesome intruder who dares to enter
the Msgician's. Cave. The undertaking is
not devoid of danger to people unac-
QudIuISU VIII Lu0 ptdCcS DuU Uu0 Rulu0, VINO
is y marvel of caution and foresight, tells
US We may make the attempt. Accordingly
We make q run for it, reach the cave in
safety, aud enjoy for q time the c~Oolness
and the wondrOus beauty of the effect pro-
duced by sunlight filtered through ice.
Presently the guide, with another cautious
look alOtt, beckOns to Us to come out again.
Then when We are looking round at the
vast accumulation of debris brought down
by this one glacier, one OR two of the rocks
which were poised on the edge of the ice-
cliff come crashing down on the ledge we
nave just left, and then roll down the slope
to the river bed, showing us at once the
danger of entering an ice.cave without
keeping your eyes open, and also giving a
practical illustration of the way in which
a glacier does it's work in disintegrating
mountains and making plains and valleys.
An avalanche seen making its way down
b side of one of the ne%ighbouring heights
soon afterwards completes the lesson.
Observed at a distance, it is a most curious
phenomenon, and bearing in mind what
you have heard of the tremendous magni-
tude of avalanches, and the wild havoc aud
devastation which they work, You are at
hrst inclined TO laugh aloud at the sight. You
are watching the snow-clsd sides of the
mountain When, you notice what appears