New-York tribune., 1896-07-29
ALPINE NEW-ZEALAND.
A NEW REGION OF PEAKS. PASSES AND
GLACIERS.

conSe'E 2 s with Many Illustrations from
Original Drawings by JosGBn psnneh by the
Author. with New Map fp XVII 'o'' i"'-
ported by Charles Scrihners SONS
Though 1t treats Of a less important neio' '"iS
book deserves to rank with Sir Martin Conway
fne work on the peaks and glaciers OF 'he iin"".
,svas II is record Of discovery and not OF
mere athletics among familiar peaks ana passes
The main trouble with the Alps or southern
Sauzaa,and appears to have been that they
u,ere practically inaccessible from the western
coast of the island Yet on that side the nnest
.umn,its were distant only fifteen miles from the
ocean. while on the east side a long journey was
reouired over roads characteristic or ne" co"i-
try. across rivers subject to sudden iioods' anu
In climate that changed from sunshine ~
TEMPEST almost without warning. MT f"~
coro,d had with him the most famous of Alpine
guides Zurbrggen, who was also with Noh""s
in the Himalayas and Zurbriggens op'''l0n VI
the Naw-Zealand climate was emphatic ne ue-
clared that 1t paid no attention whatever 10 'ne
hints Of the barometer The surest preihoi''oh
was the direction of the wind II II pew l'oii
the northwest and shook the flying snow from
the hoary head Of Mount Seton then the proper
thing TO do was to look for refuge as speedily
as possible on the mountainsdes escape from
the fury of q tempest was almost Impossible
explorer made. He and his party entered the
district which they meant to investigate by way
of the road I'D the Tasman River valley Ihere
Is q New-Zealand Alpine Society, and the coioh'ai
Government has taken interest enough III 'he
matter TO have mountain house, Known DIS '"e
Hermitage built on one OF the Iasinahs u'ou-
taries called the Hooker River. These streams
and all the rest In the region are gaclal streams
and 1t is only short distance in summer IN any
direction from the Hermitage to the foot OF
glacier Up the Tasman Glacier almost dlrec'iy
northeast from the Hermitage, is an iron nut
i,ui,t bv the Government for mountain climbers.
One Of the first efforts of the explorer was lhe
conquest Of Mount Tasman. which lies north from
the Alpine hut. The view is described IN words
that make one wish to have better knowledge
OF the unaccustomed names which greet one
eye The names of the European Alps nave
ooetic value because they familiar but With
ouf this familiarity IL Is hard to picture the vast
icy sea with ranges and peaks here and there
named Darwin and Matte Brun and Hoch-
stetter The whole Of this wonderful mountain
region of the Antpodes is disigured by names
which no literary skill can ever make agreeable
Mr. Fitz Gerald has only added to the difficulty
in the additions which he has made TO the map
Reao,eg over his account of mountains and
glaciers is like an extract from the catalogue OF
the Royal Geographical Society or page or TWO
from the London Directory. How on earth IS
one ever to get such names into memorable verse
or prose either? Yet splendid mountains WIN
out splendid literature about them either pres
ent or to come. might as we'll be fiat plains
There never has been any mountain population
In New-Zealand The Maoris Stunned the high
lands with the characteristic superstition OF
seagong race. II they had any names Tor the
peaks by which they must have guided their
canoes there is no sign that these have been
recollected 1t Is useless to expect that the Eng
lish race will discover names for the imagina'ion
to cling to It's wearisome prosaicalty In the
United States and in Australia has merely re-
peated Itself N romantic New-Zealano. one
feeble effort Of the imagination is to be observed
In the recurrence in NewZeaand of words like
"Silberhorn" borrowed from the German Alps
or of "Matterhorn' as a descriptive name for
Mount Seton. but even these are rather prod
uct Of memory than Of fancy
Sometimes in night journey across the
glaciers and the snowfields, Mr.. Fitz Gerald
would find the same warm temperature that III
the European Alps indicated coming storm; but
the sign failed in New-Zealand. His conclusion
after much experience was that no forecast
could be made and that the only thing to do
was to keep on climbing until the storm actually
burst and compelled a descent to shelter. Ihe
sudden rush of a tempest was felt by the eX-
plorers in all it's force among the cliffs overlook
ing the foot Of the Victoria Glacier. which ap-
preached from the west coast of the Island One
moment they were working their way content
edly up the steep slopes the next they were
startled by peal of thunder and the massing or
clouds in the northwest. II the wind had con-
tinued to come from the northwest, all would
have gone we'll but they had barely got under an
overhanging rock and stretched up sheet Of
macintosh 10 shed the rain and protect small
fire for heating water. when everything was
blown away. the rair blew in their faces, turning
70 snow a few minutes later as the thermometer
fell below the freezing point When the storm
had snent its force it ceased as suddenly as 1t
began The clouds drifted away. one by one
tho STARS came out and the mountains cleaned
even in the darkness under the new fallen snow,
and almost at their feet. only few miles away,
could be seen the long line Of phosphorescent
foam. where the South Pacific broke upon the
shore with the sudden stiffness, adds the
author "the cold increased. and our wet clothes
literally froze upon us. so that they cracked
whenever we turned round and we dared not
sleep lest we should be unable TO resist the
piercing cold OF that rarefed atmosphere. ex-
hausted as were by the TWO previous hishts
we had spent in the open"
glance at the map which accompanies this
book gives the impression of a vast glacial lake,
in which the highest peaks look like Islands,
while the valleys between the ranges of foot
hills are filled by the outstretched arms OF the
central sea On the right hand Of a person as
cendng the great Tasman Glacier there is vast
island OF snow-covered rocks pierced with glacial
streams at such regular intervals that II looks on
the map like the skeleton Of some gigantic ami
NAL, with the central ridge for backbone and
the ribs carefully outlined each side. The
long tortuOus ridge in which stand the peaks OF
Tasman. the Silberhorn. and. highest OF all,
Mount Cook named after the famous navigator,
winds like a serpent between the glaciers that