small shrub, that hardly rises higher than the tussocks; it is only in
the back country that it attains any considerable size: there its trunk
is often as thick as a man's body.

We got back about an hour after sundown, just as heavy rain was coming
on, and were very glad not to be again camping out, for it rained
furiously and incessantly the whole night long. Next day we returned to
the lower station belonging to my companion, which was as replete with
European comforts as the upper was devoid of them; yet, for my part, I
could live very comfortably at either.



CHAPTER V



Ascent of the Waimakiriri--Crossing the River--Gorge--Ascent of the
Rangitata--View of M'Kenzie Plains--M'Kenzie--Mount Cook--Ascent of the
Hurunui--Col leading to West Coast.

Since my last, I have made another expedition into the back country, in
the hope of finding some little run which had been overlooked. I have
been unsuccessful, as indeed I was likely to be: still I had a pleasant
excursion, and have seen many more glaciers, and much finer ones than on
my last trip. This time I went up the Waimakiriri by myself, and found
that we had been fully right in our supposition that the Rakaia saddles
would only lead on to that river. The main features were precisely
similar to those on the Rakaia, save that the valley was broader, the
river longer, and the mountains very much higher. I had to cross the