Above the lower cliffs, which descend perpendicularly into the river,
rise lofty mountains to an elevation of several thousand feet: so that
the scenery here is truly fine. In the river-bed, near the gorge, there
is a good deal of lignite, and, near the Kowai, a little tributary which
comes in a few miles below the gorge, there is an extensive bed of true
and valuable coal.
The back country of the Waimakiriri is inaccessible by dray, so that all
the stores and all the wool have to be packed in and packed out on
horseback. This is a very great drawback, and one which is not likely
to be soon removed. In winter-time, also, the pass which leads into it
is sometimes entirely obstructed by snow, so that the squatters in that
part of the country must have a harder time of it than those on the
plains. They have bush, however, and that is a very important thing.
I shall not give you any full account of what I saw as I went up the
Waimakiriri, for were I to do so I should only repeat my last letter.
Suffice it that there is a magnificent mountain chain of truly Alpine
character at the head of the river, and that, in parts, the scenery is
quite equal in grandeur to that of Switzerland, but far inferior in
beauty.
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