The great lakes of Otago and Southland are all of practically the same character. They lie in hollows, partially or wholly excavated by glacial action, and are generally very deep. Lakes Wanaka, Wakatipu, and Hawea, drained by the Clutha, lie in the northern half of Otago. Lake Te Anau lies chiefly in Southland, in the Fiord country, and Lake Manapouri to the south of Te Anau; both are drained by the river Waiau. Among minor lakes in the Alpine regions may be noted Hakapoua, Hauroto, Poteriteri, Mararoa—still some times misnamed Mavora—and Monowai. The only lake of any importance close to the east coast is Waihola Lake, near the mouth of the Taieri. The largest of all these lakes is Te Anau. It is about thirty-eight miles long, and from one to six miles in breadth. Its total area is 132 square miles. Its mean height above sea level is 694 feet, but as its depth is at least 1350 feet, its bottom is 600 feet below ocean level. It has a coast line of 250 miles. Except along a small portion of the east side, it is surrounded by magnificent thickly wooded mountains. The track to Milford Sound by Sutherland Falls is only thirtythree miles long, but the direct distance to the West Coast from Te Anau is in many places considerably less. Lake Manapouri, though the smallest of all the great lakes, is generally regarded as the most beautiful. The Cathedral Peaks (5134 feet) to the north, the Matterhorns (4858 feet) on the west, and the Hunter range on the south, are a fit setting for this picturesque sheet of water. Manaponri is only twelve miles by coach road from Te Anau, and only thirteen miles by track from Deep Cove, at the head of Smith Sound. Lake Wakatipu, the best known of the Alpine lakes, is 1069 feet below the level, but as its depth is about 1300 feet, the bottom is about 250 feet below the level of the ocean. Its length is fifty-four miles, breadth from one to three miles and a half, and its total area about 114 square miles. The mountains around it—the Remarkables, for instance—are singularly bare and rugged, but no one has ever questioned its claim to be regarded as one of the grandest spectacles to be seen in New Zealand. Lake Wanaka is about seventy-five miles direct from Wakatipu (measuring from Queens-town to Makarora, head of Lake Wanaka). The scenery here is of a much softer character, as the hills are well wooded. Wanaka is from thirty to thirty-five miles in length, and from one to three miles in breadth; it lies at 926 feet above sea level, and its depth is 1085 feet. The area is calculated at from seventy-five to eighty square miles. Lake Hawea, about ten miles off, is a smaller and less picturesque sheet of water. It is about nineteen miles long by three in breadth, with an area of forty - eight square miles. It lies 134 feet higher than Wanaka, and its depth page 13 varies from 900 to 1500 feet. The journey from Dunedin to Wakatipu by rail to Kingston covers 174 miles. Another route runs by train to Lawrence, fifty-four miles, and thence by coach to Queenstown, 131 miles further. From Invercargill, the railway runs fifty miles to Lumsden, where it is joined by the line from Dunedin to Kingston, via Waimea plains, and the total distance by this route from Invercargill to Wakatipu is eighty-seven miles. Lumsden is the point at which the road to Te Anau diverges from the railway line. From Lumsden to Te Anau is about fifty-four miles by coach. About forty-two miles from Lumsden, at the Hillside crossing, a road branches off towards Manapouri, which is reached by a drive of twelve miles. An alternative way of getting to Manapouri is to take train from Invercargill to Otautau, twenty-six miles, and then drive past Clifden up the Waiau valley, eighty-seven miles; 113 miles in all.