Abstract
TRAVELLING in the Alps of New Zealand is much rougher and more difficult work than in those of Europe. Inns are all but unknown, chalets and club-huts non-existent; guides, even porters, not to be obtained; the weather is more unsettled and stormy. Mr. Harper is evidently the right man for the work. He is strong and enduring, patient and resolute, not daunted by difficulties or dangers. His opportunities for obtaining a knowledge of the Southern Alps of New Zealand have been exceptional, for, after making holiday expeditions in the Tasman district, from 1889 to 1892, he was employed by the Government, in the three following years, to explore the valleys and glaciers of the west coast of the south island. Thus his book differs from that by Mr. FitzGerald, which we lately noticed, in being one of exploration rather than of mountain climbing. On this point, as we can see from the present volume, and from a correspondence in the Alpine Journal some little soreness has been created, particularly in regard to a certain pass lying to the north of Mount Sefton, by which the chain can be crossed without any serious difficulty.
Pioneer Work in the Alps of New Zealand: a Record of the First Exploration of the Chief Glaciers and Ranges of the Southern Alps.
By Arthur E. Harper Pp. xvi + 336. With maps and illustrations. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1896.)
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BONNEY, T. Pioneer Work in the Alps of New Zealand: a Record of the First Exploration of the Chief Glaciers and Ranges of the Southern Alps. Nature 55, 458–459 (1897). https://doi.org/10.1038/055458a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/055458a0
