Lakes.

On the inland side of the west coast range the place of these sounds is taken by the arms of the Lakes Te Anau, Manipori, Monowai, and Howloko; and so far do these fresh water arms on the east and salt water sounds on the west penetrate into the heart of the mountains that in several places they approach to within nine or ten miles of each other.

To the north-east lies Lake Wakatipu, and further on in the same direction Lakes Wanaka and Hawea. These lakes present scenery unsurpassed probably in the world, for, unlike the Swiss lakes, they do not lie outside the principal mountain masses, but wind themselves close round their feet. Wanaka, which is perhaps the most beautiful lake in the world, and Wakatipu show glorious views of snowy mountains, to which Lucerne and Brienz cannot aspire. The great length of Te Anau in a straight line (38 miles) with the shoulders of the mountains, coming down one behind the other, gives a view totally unlike anything in Switzerland; while Manipori is dark and stern, but relieved by the green islands dotted over its surface.

Not much is yet known of the physical geography of these lakes, but what is known will be found in Mr. McKerrow’s paper in the third volume of the ‘Transactions of the New Zealand Institute.’ Lake Wakatipu is the only one that has been sounded, and its greatest depth is said to be 1400ft, which is about 400ft below the level of the sea. This feature, however, is by no means peculiar to the lakes of Otago. All the large lakes of North America, except Lake Erie, and several of those in Italy, descend below the sea, while Loch Lomond, in Scotland, is 600ft deep, and only 20ft above the sea level.

The water in the southern half of Lake Wakatipu is as blue as the Rhone at Geneva, but near the head it turns a pale, milky colour, owing to the fine mud brought by the Dart and Rees from the glaciers of Mount Earnslaw and Cosmos Peak. In many places terraces fringe the lake, which prove that the water once page 7stood higher; but around the greater part these are absent. These terraces are generally found at the embouchures of the large streams, and owing to the steepness of the sides of the lake, no deposit is now forming at other places; so that these gravel beds are not continuous, and do not extend across the lake, although they are at the same level on both sides. Ultimately, however, as the lake fills up, they will be all connected.

The arms of Lake Te Anau and Manipori exactly resemble the sounds on the West Coast, and although the other lakes do not show the same abruptness of outline, still the valleys of the streams in the neighborhood have many analogies with the sounds. For instance, the Shotover River has no falls nor rapids in its course, but has cut a narrow gorge in the solid rock to a depth of about 200ft. (See fig. 16.) All the larger lateral streams have also cut down their channels to the same level, but some of the smaller ones enter the gorge by falls, just like Milford Sound. Again the gorges up the Routeburn are perpendicular and rough, exactly like those of the West Coast sounds in miniature. But away from the western mountains the scenery is quite different, and high, perpendicular precipices give way to gentler slopes and more rounded outlines.