James McKerrow's Geodetical Surveys

I have had a few people asking me about James Mckerrow's work on Geodetical Surveys. here is a page from David Herron's 1948 Thesis.

GEODETICAL SURVEY
IN his annual report for 1862, Mr.J.T. Thomson made a recommendation that McKerrow be employed on Geodetical 1 operations after he had completed the Reconnaissance surveys. Under Thomson’s tutelage he would gain practice in this type of operation 2, so that unaided, he might establish standard bearings and distance, and set up marks to guide the district surveyors 3.As long as the detailed surveys were confined to narrow limits, no harm could arise from the use of small instruments in directing general survey, but as operations were extended the governing power of larger and more delicate appliances became more and more necessary. The cheap and rapid Reconnaissance surveys were adequate to control all preliminary arrangementsfor settlement and to guard against the possibility of major boundary disputes, but as minor triangulation and section survey extended slowly westward, the approximate observations of the Reconnaissance surveys were found to be palpably insufficient. 4Thomson had long been considering the advisability of securing a set of observations exact enough to maintain accuracy in succeeding surveys, but before 1864 could find neither the time nor means to do so.

It had been intended to use the department’s solitary eightinch theodolite to carry out major triangulation from the series of bases sixty miles long. This scheme would have taken twentyeight years to complete5, but the discovery of gold however,
and the subsequent influx of settlers gave such an impetus to settlement in scattered and isolated communities that a more rapid system was needed 6

Thomson had two courses open to him. One was to carryout operations in areas unconnected with one another; the other to use a common standard of reference connected with given points. A decision was essential; to temporize would have
meant immediate relief, but ultimate disgrace and disaster 7
Thomson knew only too well that when isolated and unconforming surveys close, confusion and overlapping is inevitable, and it comes as no surprise to learn that he decided on a system governed by common references. Throwing time-honoured precedents to the winds, he adopted a system appropriate to circumstances. It had as its bases the use ofmeridional circuits; it was rapid, would control settlement
survey and did not deviate from true principle 8. What more could be desired?
The province was to be divided into five large districts named meridional circuits. These were to be not more than 120 miles in length and 90 in breadth, and were to be bounded by conspicuous geographical features. In each circuit there would be set up an initial station, central if possible, from which observations for latitude and true meridian would be made with the eight-inch transit theodolite. 9 The methods to be used were those of “equal altitude of stars”, and “high and low stars”. From the initial points bearings would be extended and traverses carried firstly down those valleys already inhabited, and ultimately into every accessible corner of the province.

Points on these traverses, called geodetic stations, would be placed from ten to fifteen miles apart, and bearings of the traverse lines, all referring to the meridian of the initial station would become fundamental bearings for all subsequent minor triangulation and section survey.10

McKerrow spent his first season in geodetic surveying in extending true bearings in south-eastern Otago.11 His theodolitewas set up at Trig. Station A., North Taieri, the initial station for the south-eastern districts, and from that point observationswere taken to find true meridian 12. The first set of observations taken were to discover the altitude and azimuth of the sun13,
but it was found that evaporation from a nearby swamp was having a considerable effect on the readings. To obtain results independent of this error, observations were directed to thestar B Orionis (Rigel) in order to apply a system of calculation
known as equal altitudes and azimutha 14. This method relied for
success on a clear sky for several hours, but being independent
of latitude, time and altitude, reduced the possibility of error to
a minimum, provided that the instrument was not disturbed.
Reference before and after observations to a distant mark
precluded the possibility of a disturbance passing unnoticed.
The same method was used to determine the true meridian of
Observation Point, Port Chalmers, although on this occasion,
a different star was employed.

The latitudes of the stations were found by observing
stars north and south of the zenith. The stars selected did not
differ much in altitude15 or right ascension 16; thus errors due
to refraction affected each star equally and were neutralized.
It was important however, that the instrument be adjusted
perfectly horizontally. It it wasn’t when it was turned round
to the second of the two stars any error would be doubled.
To guard against such a contingency great care was taken in
levelling the horizontal limb, and, as an added precaution, the
instrument was placed on a massive stone pedestal and wellprotected
from the weather.
McKerrow considered that the mountain masses close to
the initial stations might also be suspect if errors crept into his
observations. To check up on this possibility he recommended
the comparison of measurements by standard chain and
latitudinal observations on half a mile of meridional line on a
level plain. Such an experiment would show the accuracy of the
theodolite observations and enable corrections to be applied to
the initial point.
At Port Chalmers the observations for latitude were taken on
still clear nights, and the results compared with those obtained
by Captain Stokes of the Acheron and by Mr. Thomson. Cloudy
weather hindered operations at North Taieri, and appeared to
preclude the possibility of anything other than an ordinary
geographical determination. McKerrow decided to leave a
geodetical determination for some other time, however, and as
soon as he had determined true meridian began the extension
of bearings through south-east Otago so as to overtake the
surveys in progress. Within a few months bearings on true
meridian had been extended through the surveyed districts
in Kuriwao Peak17 and thence to Glenomaru18, Waikawa19,
Tuturau20, Toitois21 and to the Pomahaka22 and Waikaia valleys.
From Port Chalmers bearings were extended to Black Hill and
up the Waitaki Valley and a start made up the Shag Valley
One of the stations of the minor triangulation was always
converted into a geodetical station if the district had been
triangulated, and from it a round of angles were taken to the
surrounding stations. In this manner much minor triangulation
was checked and the difference between it and the standard
system noted. In unsurveyed districts a reference trig station
was erected within two or three miles of the geodetical station.
This made the geodetical stations available for checking. The
stations were built of stones, when it was necessary to erect one
– otherwise a stone was placed in the centre of a circular plot of
ground twenty feet in diameter and enclosed by a trench. The
augur point was the centre of a circle carved on the face of the
block. Reference trig stations were always selected so that they
could be of use in the minor triangulation system.
To keep the theodolite safe during the journey from station
to station, its parts were placed in strong padded boxes and
carried in a spring wagon. Moreover it was screened from sun
and wind during observation, and its adjustments frequently
checked.
Another duty which fell to McKerrow during his time as
Geodetical Surveyor was to lay down standard length chains
for the use of district surveyors. During his first season he did
this at the Custom House Dunedin, at the survey offices in
Popotunca, Toko, Oamaru, and Hampden23, and on the rocks
on the Otago side of the Mataura Falls. Stone blocks with brass
centres were placed sixty-six feet apart in the ground while the
temperature was between 55o and 60o F. For the convenience
of surveyors testing chains, an oblong pivot was placed on one
of the brass plates, and on this one of the handles of the chain
could be hung while the other was brought up to the graduation
on the second plate. At each ix feet pegs were driven in, so that
if the chain rested on them while being tested, it would be in
one and the same plane.24 At the Mataura Falls the rock had to
be cut down to the level of the line joining the brass centres.25During the course of his work, McKerrow was frequently
called on to repair or renew stations of the minor triangulation.
In some cases both mound and trig were gone and it was
necessary to take observations to re-determine their position.26Mr. J.T. Thomson was gratified with the results achieved.
In his annual report for 1863-64 he stated that “particular
notice is called for to the most important operations that
have been undertaken since I had charge of the Department,
viz. the Geodetical Survey conducted by Mr. McKerrow . .
. So far much objection cannot be taken against the survey
as the error does not exceed the maximum allowed in lineal
measurements; but had the work proceeded on to more distant
areas the error would have increased so materially as to be a
cause of opprobrium against the survey, and this not only in a
professional point of view, but errors of sufficient magnitude to
cause lawsuits regarding disputed boundaries would have crept
in to so great a degree as probably to put the province to the
expenses of a revisal of survey.27On the recommendation of the Chief surveyor McKerrow
spent 1865 in carrying geodetical bearings further into the
interior28. Astronomical observations for latitude, true meridian,
and compass variation were taken at Lindis Peak; then standard
bearings were extended down the Ahuriri Valley to meet with
the line of bearings previously extended up the Waitaki Valley
from Observation Point Port Chalmers. Reference stations were
erected at various points, and standard chain lengths again laid
down, this time at Peninsula Pt., between Taieri Lake and the
mouth of the Kyeburn, at the Mining Survey Office Warden’s
camp, Clyde, and on the banks of the Clutha.29McKerrow’s work once more earned him the approbation
of Mr. Thomson. Regarding the cost of geodetical survey
operations (£114/7/3), the latter wrote: “I need say little, as
the high importance of the service to all future surveys of this
Province is now well established.”30One more season was required for the completion
of geodetical operations, and it was occupied in making
observations for latitude, true meridian and variation of
compass at Mt. York and Mt. Nicholas, and in re-determining
the latitude of the station at North Taieri. The observations for
latitude were taken under flawless conditions. On comparing
the two sets of readings for the latitude of North Taieri,
very little difference was found, a tribute to the accuracy of
McKerrow’s work. When the true meridians of Mt. York
and Mt. Nicholas had been determined, the bearings of the
different meridians were extended and closed on one another,
and it was possible to draw a comparison between calculated
and observed meridional differences.31
Only a slight discrepancy was found, despite the
incorporation of errors accumulated during the extension of
bearings through as many as thirty intermediate stations. A
further comparison, this time of the latitudes obtained during
the Reconnaissance Survey on one hand and the geodetical
operations on the other, led McKerrow to report that “it is
satisfactory . . . that the differences are so nearly uniform”.
Standard chain lengths were laid down during the season at Fern
Hill, Te Anau Downs, and at the Survey Office, Queenstown.
Mr. Thomson received the final report with enthusiasm32.
“The primary operations that will henceforth regulate and
govern all survey operations in the Province I am happy to
state have now been completed by Mr. McKerrow, in so far
as it is at present necessary, the strip of precipitous land on
the West Coast alone remaining, but which does not call for
survey . . . The total cost of the geodetical operations have,
from their commencement amounted to £3735.17. These
operations have extended over 10,300,000 acres, as the rate of
cost per acre is only 8/100ths of a penny . . . As these points
or stations are accessible to all surveyors in different parts of
the province wherever employed, they can now proceed with
their work correctly and without error or difference. A map of
these standards bearings is now in the course of publication so
that the benefit of Mr. McKerrow’s labours will be at the easy
command of all . . . I annex Mr. McKerrow’s report. On his
last year’s work in full, by which the care, patience and skill
with which he has pursued his labours, under many difficulties,
discouragements and not to mention perils, during these last
three years, will be apparent to the Government. The work as
it now stands, if it goes no further, will be a lasting monument
of his services to this department and I have no doubt will
be fully appreciated by those who will reap the most benefit,
viz. the members of his own profession, and the settlers whose
properties can now be surveyed without fear of errors and law
disputes”.
In a newly settled country such as New Zealand in the sixties,
there was opportunity for pioneer work in many spheres; work
of a permanent nature which when done is done for all time.
Thus McKerrow was fortunate in that he was able to secure
a standing in New Zealand surveying circles by engaging in
geographical work of peculiar interest to the colony. McKerrow
himself, with characteristic modesty, attributed his success
to his good fortune in being entrusted with the vital work33,
but the fact remains that he was picked from a staff of highly
competent craftsmen as the most suitable for the job, and he
carried it through to success. He overcame great hardships34,
D 106 d SURVEYOR, EXPLORER AND CIVIL SERVET
used his ingenuity to meet problems as they arose, and secured
valuable and exact data. The value of the Geodetical Surveys
can be established from this fact – they still form the basis of
Otago Surveys.
Notes
1. Geodetical survey, as opposed to plane survey, takes into account the
curvature of the earth. It ties the humbles village in with a world-wide
scheme. Geodesy means literally “earth division”.
2. Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol. V, November 26, 1862, p. 207.
3. V & P Otago Prov. Council, Session XVIII, 1863, Departmental
Reports, p. 12.
4. V & P Otago Prov. Council, Session XIX, 1864, Departmental Reports,
pp. 31-3.
5. Palmer, Major. State of Surveys in New Zealand, App. H of R 1875,
H1.
6. Thomson, J.T. Exposition of Processes and Results of the Otago Survey
System, p. 11, Pamphlet in Hocken Library.
7. V & P Otago Prov. Council Session XXVII, 1870, Departmental
Reports, pp. 30-33.
8. Ibid.
9. The theodolite is used to measure horizontal and vertical angles with
the aid of a telescope and graduated circles. Theodolites are grouped
into two classes; plain and transit. The latter is used for astronomical
and geodetical observations, and differs from the plain in one respect.
The telescope of a plain theodolite can move through an arc of about
45o upwards or downwards from the horizontal plains; in the transit
theodolite the telescope may take a complete revolution from the
horizontal. Thus a different method of mounting the telescope to
correct its adjustments is necessary.
10. Palmer, Major, op cit.
11. V. & P Otago Prov. Council, Session XIX, 1864, Departmental
Reports, pp. 4-8 [McKerrow’s Report].
12. True meridian as opposed to magnetic meridian.
13. The zenith is the point in the celestial sphere immediately above
the observer’s head. The angle which the plane passing through the
zenith and the heavenly body makes with the meridian is known as
the azimuth of the heavenly body. It is generally measured from the
James McKerrow D 107 d
north towards the right, and will of course vary from 0o to 360o. The
term is thus practically synonymous with bearing, and means merely
horizontal direction.
14. All stars appear to revolve from east to west around a point in the sky
known as the Celestial Pole. To mark out a true north and south line,
the direction of the celestial pole must be determined. The simplest
way to do this is to observe a circum polar star, wait until it is seen
again at the same altitude, and then to bisect the line adjoining the
two points of observation. The celestial meridian is thus obtained for it
starts at the celestial pole and passes through the zenith. True meridian
on the earth lies directly below the celestal meridian.
15. Altitude refers to the angular altitude of stars in a vertical plane above
the horizon.
16. Each star crosses a meridian at a definite sidereal time. The sidereal
time at which a star is on the meridian is called its Right Ascension.
17. About 70 miles south of Dunedin.
18. About 65 miles south of Dunedin on the Catlins Line.
19. On the South Coast of the South Island.
20. Forty miles north-east of Invercargill.
21. On the south coast.
22. Ninety-two miles south of Dunedin.
23. Popotunoa is near Clinton, Toko near Milton.
24. V & P. Otago Prov. Council, Session XIX, 1864, Departmental
Reports, pp. 4-8
25. Field Book No. 163, Dunedin Survey Office.
26. V & P. Otago Prov. Council, Session XIX, 1864. Departmental
Reports, Pp. 4-8.
27. Ibid. Thomson’s Report.
28. Ibid.
29. Otago. Prov. Gaz. Vol. IX, September 20, 1865, p. 201. McKerrow’s
Report.
30. Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol. X. September 5, 1866, pp. 172-3, Thomson’s
Report.
31. The difference found when meridional circuits meet is due to the fact
that the meridian of any point in a circuit is calculated as though it were
parallel to true meridian of the initial point of that circuit. Actually it is
not, as lines of meridians converge slightly. Thus a slight discrepancy is
found at the point where circuits meet.
32. Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol X, 5th Sept. 1866, pp. 172-3. Thomson’s
Report.
33. Kilmarnock Standard, September 12, 1903.
34. Unfortunately no narrative accounts of the 1863-66 journeys appear to
have been kept. One of the chainsmen on these journeys died several
years ago at a ripe old age. He is said to have told many tales of the
adventures the party experienced in the

Plucking Turnips

A lone piper plays a dirge overlooking Lake Manapouri, first surveyed by James Mckerrow

James McKerrow – Surveyor

PLUCKING TURNIPS
James McKerrow was born on 7 July 1834 in Kilmarnock, Scotland, with a genealogy that can be traced back to King James the Vth. [1]
His Father, Andrew McKerrow was a famous ploughmaker of Beansburn, Kilmarnock, who manufactured patent single furrowed ploughs and back delivery reaping machines which gave him the means to provide his sons an adequate education. James was a bright young student and frequently was top of his class and had a great love of mathematics, and after a good grounding in both pure and mixed aspects of the subjects under Mr. Thomas Lee of Kilmarnock Academy, he studied these subjects further at Glasgow University. Like all his brothers, James did an apprenticeship in implement making as his father believed that having a trade ‘prove a safe standby in times of need, and would often open the door to numerous other occupations.’[2] During his apprenticeship, James showed more interest in surveying the paddocks in the neighbourhood and gaining knowledge of surveying.
James was the eldest of ten children, nine brothers and one sister. When James was five, his sister Jean was born but she died before the age of one. His brother John, born when he was three, died at the age of 21, the year before James left for New Zealand. He was the first to leave for New Zealand, and later, 6 of his brothers emigrated
James McKerrow married Martha Dunlop at Fenwick, Ayreshire Scotland, on 5 August, 1859. Three weeks after their marriage, James and Martha traveled to Glasgow to board the Cheviot, a ship with a reputation for speed, weighing 1066 tons.
Unfortunately the Ship’s departure was delayed some hours so James and Martha, decided to fill the time in by having their last walk on Scottish soil. As they were strolling through the countryside, they passed a field of turnips, and feeling the pangs of hunger, James climbed over the fence, and plucked a turnip. As he was climbing back over the wall, a farmer appeared and threatened to get the police and take charges against him. James quickly produced a sum of money and paid an exorbitant price for a miserable turnip, and they quickly scurried back to the ship, before any other misfortune came their way.[3]
The cargo vessel ‘Cheviot’ set sail on Tuesday the, 23 August and left ‘The Tail of the Bank’ at Greenock and with it Scotland. The ship was heavily laden with foodstuff, spirituous liquors, iron goods, building materials, farm implements, stud sheep, pigs and cattle.[4] Being a cargo ship, it was only able to accommodate twenty-four cabin and eighteen steerage passengers. The majority of the steerage passengers were emigrating under the sponsorship of a Mr. Holmes, who had made large purchases of land in the Lumsden district where he intended to settle them on his holdings. The McKerrows were in the steerage cabins together with sixteen men and one woman.
The Cheviot rounded Ireland and then reached Madeira on 3 September, passed close to Cape Verde on 7 September, and after confusing winds, crossed the equator on 26 September For the next leg of the journey, the weather was good and they rounded Cape Horn on 25 October and a point, south of Adelaide reached on 18 November.

The trip had been eventful with the discovery of a ‘stowaway, the death of a still born baby, the provisioning of a life boat from a foundered vessel and condition were tough at times with cramped quarters, snow and thunder storms, gales force winds and ripped sails, and near misses from flying blocks. The dairy of one of the passengers, Mr. T.L. Barnhill, on 3 October 1859 shows the spirit on board. “ shipped a sea which ducked almost all the steerage passengers who were standing together- all in good spirits owing to our making such progress.” [5]
James and Martha got their first look at New Zealand a week later when they sighted Stewart Island and the next day after ninety five days at sea, they entered the Otago Harbour.
‘ I was very much struck with the beautiful situation of Dunedin and with the clean, neat appearances of the houses looking out spick and span from picturesque spots in the surrounding bush. In coming up the bay and through the islets of Port Chalmers, I was strongly reminded of beautiful Loch Lomond.[6]
.
In 1859 James amd Martha McKerrow

Surveyor, explorer, administrator
James McKerrow was a man of wide and yet at the same time narrow interests; wide in that anything pertaining to learning, culture, religion, patriotism, and his fellow man and their lives came into his scheme of things; narrow in that the general and conventional frivolities and amusements of the day were of the very slenderest interest to him. Drinking he regarded as reprehensible, smoking as unnecessary, and sports as relatively uninteresting. His time was too fully occupied in the vital and essential elements of life to allow participation in any such extraneous activities. Not that McKerrow could be accused of pursuing a life of unwearied toil unrelieved by amusement or enjoyment. On the contrary he lived happily but his happiness depended not on conventional entertainments, but on his work, his books, his religion, his love of nature and through intercourse with his friends and family..

He arrived in New Zealand in November 1859 to take up an appointment with the survey department of the Otago Province. McKerrow worked with J. T. Thomson in the triangulation of Otago and Southland, helping to make the Otago system of surveying, based on the practice of the survey of India, the best in New Zealand and later its model.
One of McKerrow's main tasks was the exploration and mapping of the Otago lakes district, where sheep farmers had already penetrated, between 1861 and 1864. He began with a journey through from Wanaka down into Southland. Then he explored the two northern lakes, Wanaka and Hawea, reached over the Lindis Pass, and his excellent account in the Otago Provincial Gazette comments shrewdly on the possibilities and the drawbacks of this inland region with its pastoral as well as goldmining potentialities. It could be reached by bullock dray only by the Lindis Pass, and the unfordable Clutha made southern access difficult. McKerrow explored the Matukituki, Motatapu, Makarora, and many subsidiary river systems. He noted especially the great seasonal fluctuations in volume of the glacier-fed mountain rivers. Later McKerrow travelled through the southern portion of the lakes district, exploring Wakatipu, Te Anau, and Manapouri, with the rivers feeding the lakes from the Kawarau south to the Waiau. He left the exploration of country beyond Lake Hauroko to be completed from Preservation Inlet. Again his report was shrewd and realistic: even if passes existed to the West Coast, the routes would be so menaced by flooding rivers as to be of doubtful value.
The physical difficulties of these journeys, in which over 500 square miles of country were explored, can hardly be exaggerated, even though the existence of a few scattered sheep stations provided a certain amount of support. Lakes Wanaka and Hawea were surveyed from a whaleboat. A much smaller craft had to be used in similar waterborne surveys of Manapouri and Te Anau, where storms made the enterprise especially dangerous. In January 1864 McKerrow and his companion landed at the head of the western-lying Middle Fiord of Te Anau and made their only deliberate attempt to reach the West Coast. Although after some days of struggle in this very difficult region they stopped short of their objective, they did reach a mountain top from which they could see Caswell Sound in the distance.
In 1863 McKerrow was appointed Geodesical Surveyor and Inspector of Surveys in Otago. His work was of a high standard; his younger colleague, J. H. Baker, who accompanied him on his visit to Bluff Hill to take bearings on prominent distant features, attested his debt to McKerrow: “This work and my conversations with Mr McKerrow were of great use to me, as they gave me an insight into the higher branch of my profession which I had not had before”.
In 1873 McKerrow was appointed Chief Surveyor of Otago. In 1877, after the abolition of the provinces and the absorption of their servants into the General Government's civil service, McKerrow became Assistant Surveyor-General. Two years later he was appointed Surveyor-General and Secretary of Lands and Mines. In 1882 McKerrow observed the transit of Venus from the Wellington Observatory, and in 1885 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
As a competent administrator, McKerrow had much to do with work with other Government Departments. He was appointed Chief Commissioner of Railways in 1889 and on the dissolution of the Railways Commission in 1895 he became chairman of the Land Purchase Board. He retired from the Public Service on 31 December 1901. In 1905 he was appointed chairman of the Land Commission. He died on 30 June 1919.
A casual acquaintance, C. S. Ross, reported McKerrow's genial nature and that “his wide and comprehensive knowledge of New Zealand made him a most attractive and interesting companion”. McKerrow was typical of the lad “of pairts” who came out from Scotland with a good education and undertook skilled tasks with “painstaking enthusiasm and tireless accuracy”. In addition to his meticulous survey field work, McKerrow discharged with distinction the tasks of a higher public servant at a time when administration needed resource and invention as well as energy and method.
by David Oswald William Hall, M.A., Director, Adult Education, University of Otago (retired).
History of Otago, McLintock, A. H. (1949)
Exploration of New Zealand, McClymont, W. G. (1959)
Early Otago and Some of its Notable Men, Ross, C. S. (1907)
A Surveyor in New Zealand, Baker, J. H.
Related stories from Te Ara
· Scots

From Survey Quarterly, Issue 37 march 2004 by Janet Holm

As Surveyor General, he admired the work his surveyors did and he could empasise with the hardships they encountered.

By then Westland had been divided into three circuits – Hokitika, Okariti and Jackson Bay, and Roberts was to extend the standard bearings through the Hokitika circuit. James McKerrow outlined roberts’ undertaking in his annual report in mid-1877. He had just spent three months under Mr Mueller’s direction, selecting and preparing stations ‘through wooded, mountainous country’. Several were extremely high and difficult to access, so would become the points of major triangulation, while numerous reference stations would be easily accessible.

In the 1978 report McKerrow wrote that Roberts had extended bearings from the geodesical station at Koiterangi to that at Arahura. This ‘….under very great difficulties of a busy country and wet climate, which laid him up for a time….’
In 1890 Roberts led the first survey party to venture into the glaciated regions of Westland. To him must go the credit of being the first New Zealand-born mountaineer to read up on the subject of mountaineering beforehand. With his foreman Dan Strachan, he went up the Wanganui Valley to the Lambert Junction, and spent three days cutting a track from the forks up a steep bush ridge to a rock promontory which terminated a range coming off the Divide.[7] This promontory, named Blue Lookout, became central to later journeys by Douglas and Teichelmann who built on Robert’s earlier survey. Roberts completed his 1880 explorations by moving from Blue Lookout and exploring the snow grass platforms. ‘Above them rose a line of vertical rock faces (the Lord Range) and towards these the party moved, finding the snow slopes very useful for by cutting steps (we) got to the top of peaks otherwise unscalable’ until they were ‘finally jammed by the western (south-west) precipices of Dan's Peak’. Eventually the party found access to the Main Divide by following along the northern side of the Lord Range to the point where it met The Divide. Here three high massifs met at a low depression (which they named Strachan Pass) leading through to the Ramsay Glacier in Canterbury. Among lower peaks there were potential trig points and, through the pass, others of much the same altitude could be seen in line; both close at hand on the Butler Range and far away on the north shoulder of the Arrowsmiths.’
‘Roberts found mountaineering skills to be essential in the course of his work, and had forged a link between mountaineering and surveying.’[8]

Deeply impressed by the outstanding work of Roberts, McKerrow wrote in his 1881 Report:
‘ This was very arduous work, conducted, as it necessarity was, for a considerable distance over glaciers and snow-fields, with trigonometrical stations 5000, 6000, and 7000 feet in height…’
He further noted that several of the surveyors had been ill ‘owing to continuous work in the wet bush of the West Coast district.’
Roberts triangulation surveys continued down the West Coast and by 1882 had got close to Jackson’s Bay. In his report McKerrow wrote: The accuracy of this officer’s work, and the progress he has made, despite the difficulties of a very rugged bush-country and a wet climate, entitle him to the warmest commendations.’
[1] Andrew Kennedy McKerrow, Your Folk and Mine – The story of the McKerrows, private circulation, Edinburgh, 1990
[2]
[3] David G.Herron, James McKerrow –SURVEYOR, EXPLORER AND CIVIL SERVANT- With special reference to Exploration, 1861-3, Presented for History Honours, University of New Zealand.1948
[4] Otago Witness, 3 December, 1859
[5] Barnhill, T.L., MSS Dairy of Voyage of Cheviot. Read by D.C. Herron, 1947.
[6] Mckerrow, J., Reminiscences, p.10 MSS
[7] John Acheson, op cit.
[8] Trish McCormack, A History of Survey and Mountaineering in South Westland. Department of Conservation, Hokitika, 1988. pp23, 30.

JAMES MCKERROW. THE FIRST RECONNAISANCE SURVEY 1861

Yesterday, at the request of Terry Thomsen, I am posting three more chapters on James McKerrow's three remarkable Reconnaissance Surveys conducted in the years 1861-63. This was probably the most land surveyed by a single survey team in such a short period of time.

I have to edit them further as mistakes have crept in when changing formats.

I would like to dedicate this posting. and the next two, to my Auntie, Francis McKerrow, who got a copy of James Herron's thesis way back in 1969 and sent to me when I was working in Antarctica. I spent the winter of 1970 at Vanda Station, Wright Valley, Antarctica, and one of my hobbies was retyping his wonderful thesis.

A map of James McKerrow's survey expeditions 1861-63. This map shows the enormous area he covered

THE FIRST
RECONNAISSANCE SURVEY
Between the time of McKerrow’s arrival in Dunedin and the completion of his work in rural section survey, the search for pastoral land had been going on space. The disinclination of pastoral explorers to wait for survey before occupation led them far beyond the boundaries of the 1857 and 1858 Reconnaissance Surveys.

As early as 1856 John Chubbin, the Morrison brothers, and M. McFerlane, following directions given them by Reko, a Maori at Tuturau, left McKeller’s station on the Waimea Plains and forced their way through spear grass and matagouri to the south end of Lake Wakatipu.

There they were obliged to 1 immerse themselves in the lake, for a lighted match had fired the parched vegetation.
From that time on squatters advanced2up the Mataura Valley in a steady stream.
In 1859, W. Saunders and N. Bates led the rush to Wakatipu by this route, and the former hastened back to Dunedin to lease a block of land.
In the same year D.A. and W. Cameron 3and A.A.McDonald induced a Maori from Riverton to guide them up to the south-eastern side of the lake. J.T. Thomson appreciated all the information on this region that this party could give him when they arrived in Dunedin to apply for runs.4 A more comprehensive exploration of the lake was made in the latter part of 1859 by Donald Hay, a hardy Australian sheep farmer, who was introduced to the Wakatipu district by D.A. Cameron. Hay found an abandoned moki on the lake and used it to establish the fact of the existence of the great north arm of the lake. 5


A lone piper, facing Lake Manapouri and the mountains of Fiordland, plays a tribute to the hardy Scottish explorer and surveyor, James McKerrow, who surveyed this lake. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Soon after, the Canterbury surveyors Jollie and Young spotted the lake from near the Motatapu river whilst engaged in plotting the boundary between Otago and Canterbury.
They were not able to visit the head of Waneka since they had no boat, and it was left to H.S. Thomson and G.M. Hassing 6 to explore this region. These two went twenty miles up the Makarora and set fire to the wilderness of ax, fern and cabbage trees. 7


Upper Makarora from Scrubby Pass

An extensive area of land between Wanaka and Wakatipu still remained unexplored. In 1860 W.G. Rees and Nicholas von Tunzelman pushed their way down the Cardrona Valley
over the Crown Range and on to Lake Wakatipu. Their four more faint-hearted companions had turned back at what was seemingly impenetrable scrub. Following some exploration on 8 the lake itself, Rees supplied the Lands Office with a sketch map, and secured a pastoral license for land on the east side of the lake. Von Tunzelman took up land on the west side, near the mouth of the Von river. 9
The mountainous district between Lakes Wakatipu and Te Anau remained unexplored until 1861 when D. McKellar and G. Gunn went up the Mararoa River, over the Greenstone Saddle, and eventually sighted the coast. 10

The pastoralists were playing an increasingly important part in the a airs and prosperity of the Province. Between 1855 and 1861 the number of sheep in Otago increased from 59,000 to 694,000, and cattle numbered 44,000 as compared with 6,500. Pastoralists began to penetrate into every corner 11 of the province, and the survey staff found it impossible to keep up with them. The basis of most surveying systems is triangulation. If one side and three angles of a triangle can be measured, then the other two sides can be calculated. Any one of these sides may form the base of an adjoining triangle, and a network of triangles varying in size and shape may be extended throughout the country. As the three established stations of a triangulation may be too few from which to cover an area for topographic detail, triangulation is supplemented by traverse lines. A traverse is a local survey, complete and accurate in itself, but tied to a triangulation before its true position can be calculated. Baselines may be measured along a stream or a road, and o sets referred to bends or nearby objects. Ultimately bearings are referred back to the initial starting point and the traverse should close. It remains then to refer the end points of the traverse to the trig station of a triangulation. When the traverse has been linked to a triangulation, the true position of all its points can be calculated. The ideal arrangement for a survey is a general triangulation interlaced by traverse lines.
The steps in general survey adopted by Otago surveyors were as follows : After marking the block boundaries, the surveyor laid out the roads, connected the traverses to the sides of a triangulation, and designed the shape and arrangement of sections. These were generally quadrilateral in shape and varied from forty to three hundred acres depending on the course of the road, the topography of the country, and fertility of the soil. The details were plotted on a black plan of eight inches to the mile. About one tenth of the plans were examined in the field; the remainder was completed in the o ce. When the plans had been passed and the press notified, lithographed copies were made available to the public as an index for selecting land. 12
This system was admirable in every respect, save one. T was too slow; it was creeping westward with tantalizing deliberation.

Squatters sought accurate fixations of boundaries, but could get little assistance from the Survey O ce. At least one third of the best map available was a virtual blank although often decorated with caricatures of the great lake and river systems.
These represented an ingenious but unavailing attempt to interpret and reconcile an accumulation of Maori tradition and squatters’ reports. Thus Te Anau, the largest lake in the South Island, was shown by a mere dot, while Wakatipu had been
represented in so many ways that many believed there were two lakes in the region.
It was left to Hay and Rees to explode 13that myth.
The land office had no option but to delineate applications for runs in squares and oblongs on a blank map. These were to be systematically assorted after survey. Confusion arose almost immediately. Mountains, lakes and snow-fields were tentatively
granted to speculators as runs, and “spotting” surveys, 14.15
related neither to one another nor to a common point, proved a fruitful sources of dispute, claim and counter claim.

Edward Gibbon Wakefield had foreseen this very di culty and in his “Art of Colonization” devoted a few lines of warning to the avils of exploration before survey. The explorer, having chosen his spot, could not describe its boundaries to
the government; in most cases, he could not even tell the government where the spot was; for without a map, he could not say it is here or there. Without a map, all he could say is, it is somewhere where I have been, but whereabouts the spot is I cannot tell, except that it is near a river, and not far fromsome hills . . . A good map, the result of a careful survey, is indispensable . . . The sur veys should extend over the whole colony; and at any rate, for all colonies, a very large extent of the waste adjoining every settlement should at all times be keptsurveyed, in order that so wide a liberty of choice should at all times exist.”16
In his diary Goldie painted a picture of confusion which bore out Wakefield’s views. “One gentleman (goes) in search of a run for himself, finds a suitable places, fixes his marks from a certain mountain or stream giving the name of these points or streams himself, then . . . applies to the Westland (sic-waste land) Board for a run and gets it by paying his license. In course of time another . . . does the same, fixing on his point from a certain point eastward to a certain point westward, perhaps one of his points are (sic – is) from the centre or part of the first applicants’ run, thus they have become all locked and intermixed with each other, and I would not be surprised although some by the end will (be) . . . without runs altogether.”17 Infiltration by pastoralists into the country between the di erent lakes and north of the Takitimo mountains made the need for a further Reconnaissance Sur vey urgent. The Provincial Government sympathized with the feelings of the squatters since it had itself felt the need of a map of the country as far as the Southern Alps for purposes of administration. Accordingly it issued an order to the Dunedin Survey Office sanctioning the dispatch of a party to the interior.
J.T. Thomson was nothing18loath to comply with these instructions.
As early as May 1860 he had intimated his intention of carrying out a project of this sort,and in his report for the 19 1860-61 season, provision for a surveyor to carry out this work had been listed as a first priority.
Major Richardson 20the Superintendent of Otago readily gave his consent. “In accordance with the suggestion of the Chief Survey,” he said, “I am desirous that he should in the ensuing season devote the attention of the department to firstly a Reconnaissance Survey of the Waiau and Lake Districts, and if possible of the West Coast.”
Thomson was eager to undertake the task21 and complete the survey he had unfinished in 1856, but multifarious duties and failing health compelled him to entrust it to a subordinate.

All the other members of the staff were 22therefore invited to submit their qualifications for the task. 23

To his surprise James McKerrow was chosen. His satisfaction at receiving the appointment was tempered with di dence as to his ability to overcome the inherent di culties of the assignment.
“I happened to be the junior member of the survey staff at the time,” he wrote many years later, “and was therefore not a little surprised when the Chief of the Department called me into his room one day and said, `You see the blank on the map? I wish you to fill it up. Make ready and proceed as soon as possible. You have `carte blanche’ as to all your arrangements.’”
Thomson24had doubtless been impressed by the initiative, trustworthiness and hardiness already displayed by the young surveyor and it
was these qualities in addition to the essential knowledge of practical astronomy
which McKerrow possessed, that won 25 him this distinction in competition with his more experienced colleagues.
As the blank referred to on the map extended more than 8000 square miles and was known to be characterized by high snow-clad peaks, stormy lakes, dense forests, and uctuating snow-fed mountain torrents, McKerrow’s fears were no mere flights of fancy. Early explorers and squatters had left reliable reports of the conditions which could be expected. A general idea of what he might encounter could be gained from a perusal of the New Zealand Pilot. “A view of the surrounding country
from the summit of one of the mountains bordering on the cost, of from 4000 to 5000 feet elevation, is perhaps one of the most grand and magnificent spectacles it is possible to imagine,” it maintained, “and standing on such an elevation, rising over
the south side of Caswell’s Sound, Cook’s description of the region was forcibly called to mind.
He says - `a prospect more 26 rude and craggy is rarely to be met with, for inland appeared to nothing but the summits of mountains of a stupendous height and consisting of rock that are totally barren and naked, except
where they are covered with snow.’” 27 In addition to the thought of having to scale cheerless and uninviting peaks, knowledge of the depressing numbers of pioneers who yearly met death by drowning, and speculation
on the mysterious fate of Dr. Schmidt must have given 28each explorer food for serious thought. Exploration in Otago was indeed no sinecure. Obstacles of a nature rarely encountered either in Eastern Otago or in the North Island had to be conquered almost daily. Dr. J.R. Elder describes these difficulties thus: “The high alpine chain, that forms the backbone of the island presented a formidable barrier to his who sought to cross from east to west. The search for low passes over which a roadline might be carried, involved long journeys into di cult country, where the bed of the mountain torrent usually presented the only practicable route. The ever present danger was that the creek which presented no obstacle and was easily forded today, might tomorrow owing to sudden rains on the melting of snow on the great divide, become a deep rushing torrent impassable by man or beast. Cut off from supplies amid the desolate mountains the surveyors were often called on the face starvation. Death by drowning was the fate of many who risked the danger of swollen rivers in the endeavour to return to the base for supplies.” 29
A further potential menace, if prevalent and persistent rumours could be believed, was the presence in the remote recesses of fiordland of a truculent renegade Maori tribe, the so called “Lost Tribe” of the Ngatimamoe people.
In deference 30 to the pleas of friends that he should arm himself, McKerrow purchased a gun from Mr. Mills, the well known gunsmith in Stafford Street. Before the sale was legal, the purchased was required to sign a form declaring that his weapon would notreach the hands of natives engaged in the Maori Wars. While
the form authorizing the sale was still in the post, events in Dunedin made the completion of the transaction impossible. “I found the shopkeeper standing at his door with a very long face,” wrote McKerrow recalling the incident, “I said, showing him the authority. `I have come for my gun.’” “He said, `have you not heard what has happened?’” “No, what?” “Some of these rascals from Victoria have cleaned out my place and taken your gun also.” 31 The “rascals from Victoria” were some of the rougher lement among the so called “New Iniquities” who were pouring into the recently discovered goldfields in numbers hat soon reduced the “Old Identities” to the position of a inority group. From this time on Otago gradually lost some of its distinctive pecularities. Locks and keys became necessary,
the former pervading atmosphere of trust became somewhat modified, and imperial troops and an e cient police force replaced, as the guardians of law and order, the two plain-clothes government servants who had found time to engage in sundry duties besides that of keeping the peace. The threat previously used to intimidate runaway seamen, namely that they would be excluded from the jail and a night’s lodging if they overstayed their leave, became no longer practicable. Roads improved, and with this improvement the bullock, slow, independent and invaluable under bad conditions, began to give way to themore active horse. Even the thatched fern tree or clay houses, which had been hastily constructed in the early days when remunerative labour was of primary importance, were being replaced by more stately and pretentious structures. 32
This sudden influx of immigrants on an unprecedented scale threw an even heavier load onto the shoulders of Mr.Thomson and his already overworked staff. “The work of
a surveyor in a new country is very onerous, as he has first to survey lands suitable for immediate settlement of the immigrants and colonists, and then to permanently secure their titles, the former task requiring rapidity of execution, and
the latter practical correctness.”33

“The Surveyor may leisurely proceed with his 36-inch theodolite to measure the various angles of his great triangulation, and may occupy his time in solving . . . interesting geographical problems . . . without a single person feeling the want of his services or being possibly aware of his existence.”
“It is, however, quite another matter where the surveyor is required to deal with naked portions of the earth’s sur face and, with the least possible delay, divide the some into suitable portions for the occupation of the colonists.”34
It was the latter situation which faced the Otago survey staff . Their activities were of such general interest and importance, that they enjoyed a greater amount of limelight than do members of their profession today. Their work was often spectacular and exciting but the chief surveyor was frequently called on at a
moment’s notice to accomplish accurately, simply, and speedily, tasks which were beyond his resources.
Such was the position which Mr. Thomson faced in late 1861. He was expected to arrange for the survey of a huge block of virgin country in such a manner that the subsequent map would be useful in giving the heights of mountains, passes, and of lakes for use in later survey work. It had also to act as a guide for the distribution of pastoral runs and leases, and for the subdivision of the province into districts within natural boundaries for various registration purposes. It had to
be of some assistance in promoting village settlement and road construction, and should also serve as a general and intelligible geographical guide to Government Authorities. Every day’s delay meant that more miners were surging towards unsurveyed
lands.35 The system of survey Thomson finally adopted was almost
identical with that use in 1856-7. In his 1859 report he had written “Requirements . . . numerous and urgent . . . could not be met in a limited period by conforming to the most approved and tardy systems adopted in Land Survey, viz., triangulation and traverse. Considering the above circumstances and the
nature of the country to be submitted for survey, which possessed in every direction prominent features or natural survey stations in the numerous peaks . . . considering also that the requirements of the Board did not demand absolute
minuteness as a foundation to their measures . . . it appeared to me that the system so much had recourse to in Nautical Survey, viz., the ascertaining of di erences of latitude for the basis, and the observation of converging angles for the details, was
admirably suited to compass the objects in view, by its rapidity of execution and correctness of principle.”
From the summit 36 of an initial station, the true position of which was known, the surveyor took bearing with a theodolite to some prominent
objects in the area to be surveyed. The position of these latter could be fixed by plane trigonometry as soon as bearings had been directed from it both back to the initial station and to other points seen previously from the initial station.
Observations of angles were taken at every two to four miles to three or more of the stations in view, and the position of such topographical features as rivers, ridges, and bushes fixed by cross transit and tangent bearings and by rough sketches.
The beauty of this system, employed by McKerrow with only minor variations, lay in the fact that no artifically constructed stations were necessary. In addition, since for its basis the system depended on the distance between objects at the extremities of the operations, any incidental errors decreased as operations contracted from the extensive to the minute.37 Since the survey was being conducted inland, the most immediate and fundamental requirement was the establishment astronomically of the true position of the three initial meridians on which all subsequent observations were to be built.
At 38 each point observations for latitude, longitude, true meridian
and altitude would be necessary. Sextant observations of the circummeridianal altitudes of the sun would readily determine latitudes but the determination oflongitudes presented 39 more di culty. It was decided to calculate them through a comparison of the di erences in time of two chronometers set
to the time of observation Point Port Chalmers, the focal point of the Otago Coast Survey. The method was relatively simple in theory, but in practice it proved difficult. The longitude of a first station is known; also the time at which the sun is at high noon over it. In addition the rate of the sun’s progress East to West is known. If the di erence in the times of high noon at the first station and a second can be measured accurately, it is possible to calculate the distance between the two stations and hence determine the longitude of the second did not fulfil expectations for after a severe jolting from a packhorse picking its way over tortuous mountain track, the chronometers were found to be inaccurate. 40
By December 1861, McKerrow and his three assistants, John Goldie, James Bryce, and Malcolm McLean were ready for their preliminary trip. The region they hoped to explore extended 170 miles from the head of Lake Wanaka in the north to Sandhill Point in the South and varied in width between the outposts of former surveys in the East and the watershed of the est Coast. In all, it embraced over 4,000,000 acres. 41

On the 11th of the month the party packed their baggageand turned to the north. Three packhorses swayed under bulky loads made up of provisions, a tent, oilskins, blankets, clothes, a barometer, a thermometer, an ar tificial horizon, a
prismatic compass and a theodolite. Everything except the 42 indispensable necessities for the trip were pruned from the load. The only cooking utensils carried consisted of two billycans and a frying pan. Even the o er of a six-barrelled revolver for defence purposes was refused, and it was decided to rely on
improvised means rather than firearms for stocking the larder with game.
43
The start was inauspicious and provided the party with a foretaste of the trials they could expect. Three weeks had been spent waiting for a glimpse of the sun in order to set the chronometers, but before more than a few miles had been covered
one of the instruments was found to have stopped, and it was 44 necessary to return to Dunedin in order to regulate it. 45
After this experience particular care was taken in carr ying the chronometers. They were carried by hand for five hundred miles, but the attempt to keep them steady while traversing 46 rugged country was doomed to failure. The daily comparison of the two instruments showed that not only was there a discrepancy in time, but that this discrepancy varied a second or two from day to day.47 Conditions at the outset were wretched.
Two of the horses 48 shed shoes on the first day, a pack saddle broke on the second, and drizzling or torrential rain soaked the party all the way to
Waikouaiti. From there, provisioned and with the horses re-shod, they made their way up the Shag Valley to the parched and rocky hills at the head of Taieri Lake. Here they pitched camp for a night before tackling the scattered low-lying ridges
and muddy creeks of the Strath Taieri Plain. The Ida Valley plain was still before them. They crossed it the same day and pitched camp on the bank of the Manuherikia River. The nearby plain was interlaced by a number of streams issuing from the rugged
sides of the nearby Dunstan Range, and Christmas Day being foggy, it was decided to utilize it in shifting camp nearer thebase of this formidable mountain barrier. On Boxing Day they scaled the double range successfully although not without a
great deal of di culty. The task of leading the packhorses down through the loose shingle on the steep western side was one requiring great care and resourcefulness. That night camp was made at the Lindis Burn. In the morning McKerrow went in seach of a suitable hill for his first meridian. He considered Lindis Peak, a high peaked
knoll situated about one mile north-west of the junction of the Clutha and the Lindis, but came to the conclusion that it would be too di cult to climb while carrying a chronometer. Further search revealed no more prominent landmarks however, and he fixed on Lindis Peak for his purposes. While McKerrow himself was engaged in taking observations for time and latitude, and in referring bearings for tr ue meridian to the highest peaks towards Wanaka and the Southwest, John Goldie went up the Lindis River to secure stores and a shovel from McLean and Gibson’s store. The Lindis district had been the first Otago Goldfield, although by this time its glory had faded and all its inhabitants save the storekeeper had abandoned it to seeking
the red metal in the more recently discovered Tirapeka fields.
It was decided to spend a day prospecting. Pieces of quartz indicated the presence of the precious metal but the party was composed of sur veyors, not miners, and they were without the tools necessary to prevent water fro ooding the holes they had sunk in the river bank. Thus all e orts were fruitless.

The last day of 1861 was spent constructing a large and conspicuous mound over the spot from which the observations had been taken.
On New Year’s day 1862 and with the position of the first of three meridians satisfactorily determined, tracks were made for the Clutha River. Dwarfed by Mt. Dunstan to the rear, seven or eight snow-clad mountains in front, and a high peak
towering on either side, the party crept humbly westward along the river valley, its members awed by the majesty of the scene and fully conscious of their own insignificance. The same night they reached a point opposite Wilkins’ station and took the opportunity to cross the Clutha in a punt. At this point the river was swift and turbulent ood as it surged from nearby lakes, and fording it was out of the question. From Wilkins’ station they forged up the bed of the Cardrona River. Near its source the river became so narrow that tracks had to be dug so that the horses could edge their bulky loads between the rocks and scramble up on to the Crown
Ridge. They struggled along the ridge, heartened by the sight of Lake Wakatipu in the distance, and turn down to the terraces while still a mile short of the Crown.


Tracks had to be dug so that the horses could edge their bulky loads between the rocks and scramble up on to the Crown Ridge. They struggled along the ridge, heartened by the sight of Lake Wakatipu in the distance, and turn down to the terraces while still a mile short of the Crown.

A shepherd living in a hut beside Lake Hayes gave McKerrow detailed directions how to
ford the Shotover, and enabled the party to press on without delay over a well grassed plain to Mr. W.G. Rees’ station. There McKerrow took the opportunity to dispatch a batch of letters and reports to Dunedin.

On Monday the 6th January the horses were turned loose, and the survey party rowed fifteen miles over the lake to Von Tunzelman’s station. The station was deserted, so while McKerrow, Bryce and McLean established the second meridian on Mt. Nicholas, a peak to the south-west commanding an extensive view, Goldie pushed on to White’s station to borrow a packhorse. There he drew another blank – there was not
even a horse in sight; but on his return journey he succeeded in driving before him two horses which were subsequently identified as belonging to Von Tunzelman. Hardly had the horses been secured when they snapped their others and made for the hills. Meanwhile Van Tunzelman had returned home in time to join Goldie and Bryce in an unsuccessful hide-and-seek with the horses. McKerrow and Goldie soon completed their observations and were ready to move on to White’s. The search for the horses
was therefore abandoned, and swags containing blankets and provisions made up. Conditions were wretched and swags heavy, but the trampers still found time to admire the never-ending sea of deep green waving birch trees growing in gravel beyond the Oreti River. Mr. White offered McKerrow the loan of a mare as far as Hamilton’s, and subsequently Mr. Hamilton agreed to lend the party a horse for the journey to Hankinson’s. The latter beast proved to be particularly intractable and
not till she had broken a bullock hide bridle, attempted to rid herself of her pack, and rolled McKerrow on the ground, did she submit to some timely attery and the inevitable tether rope. The route now led up the Mararoa Valley, and the realization
of his proximity to Lake Te Anau, already sighted from Bald Hill near Hamilton’s, prompted McKerrow to veer northward to Mt. Prospect, the only peak near the lake at all suitable for a meridian. The peak proved admirable in many respects, but as
it was too near to Mt. Nicholas, it was resolved to carry on to Hankinson’s station. Hankinson had no boat, and could not suggest how one might be procured, but he gave McKerrow a pen and ink sketch of the district drawn by his brother. He suggested that Mt. York, picturesquely situated on the right bank of the Mararoa near its junction to the Whitestone Creek, might be a suitable meridian. If it was then it would not be necessary to use a boat in looking for a peak. The following day McKerrow walked as far as Mt. York, viewed it without making the ascent, and
arrived back at the camp wet, weary and ragged after the thir ty mile journey, through charred scrub. He had found that Mt.York, although small in comparison with neighbouring peaks, commanded an extensive panorama of rugged and barren
mountains as far as snow capped “Whitehead” on the West side of Lake Te Anau. Next day the whole party moved immediately to Mt. York, and spent three days there securing observations and building a cairn.
On January 21, 1862, provisions were secured from the st Gillow brothers’ station, and the little party headed back up the fertile Mararoa Valley. They spent a night in one of Von Tunzelman’s huts eleven miles from Lake Wakatipu, and those eleven miles to Von Tunzelman’s station were covered in such torrential rain that any halt for obser vations at Mt. Nicholas was clearly out of the question.
At Von Tunzelman’s a fortuitous meeting with Rees’ boatman obviated the necessity for lighting the beacon fire, the signal to Rees that transport was required. McKerrow had no intention of crossing the lake immediately however, always a
stickler for precision he was perturbed at the daily variation of the chronometers, and had decided to check the instruments t the two meridians he would pass on the homeward journey.
It became apparent that one chronometer was fast but losing ime and the other was slow but gaining. The former varied to more limited extent, however, and it alone was considered eliable enough for use in determining the differences in ongitude between meridians. 49

The heavy rain of the previous day had resulted in creeks nd rivers being swollen with oodwaters, and it was found o be impossible to reach Mt. Nicholas on foot. The di culty as overcome by Rees’s boatman rowing McKerrow cross the on River and giving him an opportunity to complete his bservations on Mt. Nicholas in brilliant sunshine. The party hen bade farewell to Von Tunzelman and made for Rees Station.

Lingering there only long enough to secure the packhorses nd to procure stores, they set out for the base of the Crown ange. They crossed the Range in the almost unendurable heat of a Central Otago day, and the sun continued to beat
down mercilessly while the weary travelers retraced their steps down the Cardrona, down the Clutha, and on to Lindis Peak. Everyone was anxious to secure the necessary observations at Lindis Peak and to pursue a rapid course homewards, but the
sun was perversity itself and refused for two days to oblige with its presence. Goldie took advantage of the delay to secure provisions from the Lindis, its population now increased to five by the addition of four goldminers. He and Bryce then took the horses to the junction of the Clutha and Lindis Rivers and awaited the arrival of McKerrow and McLean. All the observations on the meridians were completed and the party pushed on with all possible haste. They followed the Clutha for four miles, then turned eastward on to one of the ridges of Mt. Dunstan. Under a broiling sun which fatigued both man and beast to the point of exhaustion they crossed the rugged Dunstan Range and set out over the upper Strath Taieri plain. The Shang Valley, Waikouaiti and Blueskin village were swiftly left behind as the men hurried over the last lap of their 500-mile journey. From Blueskin, Goldie pushed on over the bushtrack to Dunedin with the packhorses and a batch of letters, but the other members of the party had to spend two days taking observations at Port Chalmers before they could look for ward to obser vations for time on Bell Hill Dunedin,
and the completion of the first Reconnaissance Sur vey. That date was February 1, 1862.

In the report presented six days later for the scrutiny of Mr. Thomson, a strictly objective account of observations was set out.
“Although the chronometers were carried with the 50 utmost care, all the observations obtained with a clear sky, and the rates frequently verified,” wrote McKerrow, “I would not claim any higher value for the longitudinal determinations
than a near approximation; for the chronometers were always a ected more or less when carried over high elevations. This may be attributed to the zig-zag course one has to take at some places and also to the change of temperature. The uniformity of
rate for di erent intervals, and the comparatively small change of rate when it did take place, show that compensation of errors takes place to some extent, but still there will be some error remaining which cannot be eliminated until the chronometers
can be got to act independently of such in uences . . . The observations for latitude and true meridian were taken undergood circumstances. To obtain a clear sky I had to wait several days at each meridian – the weather being broken and clouded
throughout.” 51 The three meridians which were to form the foundations of the survey system, had been determined; the more laborious
task of filling in the details lay ahead. This preliminary survey was valuable experience for Goldie, Bryce and McKerrow. During its course they not only
gained valuable geographical information but learned to adapt
themselves to the life of the wide open spaces. They learned to bake dough, in a hollow in the ground beneath the hot ashes of a scrub fire. “The result called damper was not very sightly, but it passed for good bread when there was nothing better. A baking of damper would sometimes last three weeks, so that in
such a case one’s digestion was not impaired by eating newly baked bread.”52 They also learned to trap the inquisitive and pugnacious“weka” by persuading him that a red rag bobbing on the end of a stick and accompanied by a chirping noise was a challenge to combat; a foolhardy misconception which led him immediately into a noose and ultimately into a stew. The weka was soon discovered to be an astute pilferer, although not soon enough to prevent the disappearance of the camp cutlery. Despite this universal tendency, the species held a warm place in McKerrow’s heart, and he considered it a matter for regret that poisoning and ferrets were gradually leading to their extermination.
Thirty years after his Reconnaissance Surveys he stated that “Even now when I hear their well known cry as they go home in the gloaming, it carries my thoughts back with gratitude to savoury stews, that did not require any sauce to make them
palatable.”53
Prolonged absence from their homes and the accepted amenities of town life had accustomed the surveyors to a simpler scheme of things, and on their return home they were forcibly struck by the contrast.
I was just as well that they had 54 no nostalgia for comfort; ten months of the next fifteen were destined to be spent under canvas.

Notes
1. Beattie, H., Pioneer Recollections, Vol. I, P. 13
2. Gilkison, R., Early Days in Central Otago, P. 25
3. McClymont, P. 125. Beattie, H., op cit., Pp. 195-6.
4. Beattie, H. Pioneer Recollections, Vol. II, P. 47.
5. Ibid, Pp. 155-159 being letters of D. Hay to D.A. Cameron
6. Beattie, H., op cit. Pp. 187-190 – letters from Mr. Young
7. Hassing, G.M., Pages from the Memory Log of G.M. Hassing, P. 32.
8. Von Tunzelman, N., Struggles of a pioneer in the Lake Wakatipu
District, MSS., Hocken Library, Dunedin
9. McClymont, W.G. op cit. Pp. 127-9.
10. McKerrow, J., Diary, Account of talk with D. McKellar in 1863, see
Appendix D
11. Hocken, op cit, P. 168.
12. Palmer, Major, State of Surveys in New Zealand, App. H. of R., 1875,
H1.
13. McKerrow, J., Letter to Hocken, 20th May, 1907, Hocken Library
14. Ibid
15. Mr. J.T. Thomson condemned “spotting” surveys in practically every
annual report.
16. Wakefield, E.G., “A Letter from Sydney and other Writings.” (Everyman
Edition) P. 245
17. Goldie, J., Diary of First Tour in New Zealand. M.S.S. in Hocken
Library, Dunedin
18. McKerrow, J., Reminiscences, P. 15
19. Otago Witness, 26 May, 1860
20. Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol. IV, 11 Nov. 1861, P 262
21. Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol. IV, 26 June 1861, P. 222
22. McKerrow’s letter to Hocken
23. Kilmarnock Standard, 22 Aug. 1903
24. Reminiscences, P. 15
25. Kilmarnock Standard, 22 Aug. 1903
26. Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol. III, 22 Sept. 1859, P. 282
27. Cook, Captain James, A Voyage towards the South Pole, Vol. I, P. 96.
28. App. V. & P. Otago Prov. Council, Vol. I, Session II, 1855, Pp. 96-100.
Dr. Schmidt set out in 1855 to carry out a lengthy exploratory trip in
Otago, but disappeared somewhere in the Catlins Bush. His fate is
unknown to this day.
29. Elder, J.R., The Pioneer Explorers of New Zealand, Pp. 33-4.
30. The belief in the existence of a renegade tribe persisted as late as 1930.
Beattie, H., The Southern Maori, O.D.T. 20/9/30, 15/11/30, 7/4/31.
Southland Times, 21/10/30, 23/20/30, 29/10/30, 30/10/30
31. McKerrow, J., Reminiscences, P. 16, M.S.S. (Punctuation slightly altered)
32. McKerrow, J., Reminiscences, M.S.S. Pp. 11-13.
33. Jourdain, W.R., History of Land Legislation and Settlement in New
Zealand, P. 200
34. Connell, J.S., On New Zealand Surveys, App. Trans., N.Z. Institute,
1875, P. XXVIII.
35. Palmer, Major. State of Surveys in New Zealand. App., H. of R. H1.
1875, P. 22
36. Thomson, J.T., Report, Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol. III. Sept. 22, 1859, Pp.
256-7.
37. Ibid
38. McKerrow J., Reminiscences, M.S.S. and McKerrow, J., Letter to Dr.
Hocken, M.S.S.
39. If at noon on a particular day, an observer measures by sextant the
distance in degrees of the sun above the horizon, he can immediately
ascertain his latitude by consulting the appropriate table in the Nautical
Almanac
40. McKerrow J., Survey Report, Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol. V July 23, 1862
Pp. 11-12
41. McKerrow, J., Letter to Hocken
42. Goldie, J., Diary of Town in N.Z., M.S.S. Hocken Library, Dunedin.
Artificial Horizon. At sea level the altitude of a celestial body is
determined by measuring the vertical angle between it and the visible
horizon. In hilly country this is impossible and an artificial horizon is
employed. It consists of a trough of mercury protected by two glass
plates inclined at 45o. The surface of the liquid adjusts itself so as to
form a minor. Re ection is the basis of the method
43. McKerrow, J., Reminiscences, M.S.S.
44. Goldie, J., Ibid.
45. McKerrow, J., Diary of Explorations in N.Z., M.S.S. – the property of
Mr. J.A.D. Ritchie, Wellington
46. McKerrow, J., Reminiscences
47. Report, Otago Prov. Gaz., Vol. V, 23 July, 1862, Pp. 11-12.
48. Unless expressly stated otherwise, information on this first
Reconnaissance Survey is drawn from two parallel sources, the first
being McKerrow’s own diary, and the second the diary of Goldie his
lieutenant.
49. Report, Otago Prov. Gaz., Vol. V. 23rd July, 1862, Pp. 11-12
50. Report, Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol. V, 23 July, 1862, Pp. 11-12.
51. Report, Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol. V, 23 July, 1862, Pp. 11-12
52. McKerrow, Reminiscences
53. McKerrow, Reminiscences
54. Ibid

JAMES MCKERROW. THE SECOND RECONNAISANCE SURVEY - 1862

Chapter IV
THE SECOND
RECONNAISSANCE SURVEY

In his report on the first Reconnaissance Survey McKerrow wrote – “I will now proceed to the Wakatip(u) Lake, and direct my attention to the survey of the country between it and the Wanaka Lake. How much I may accomplish before the end of the season, I cannot estimate, as the country there seems to be almost inaccessible and the work is new to me: I shall push forward as much as I possibly can.”
Despite his 1 own misgivings as to the accuracy of the initial observations, 2 McKerrow evidently satisfied Thomson that the work had been competently carried out, and he was instructed to carr y on with a more detailed Reconnaissance Survey.
James McKerrow

On Monday, February 17th , 1862, only six days after the completion of their first journey, Goldie and Bryce loaded up two packhorses and set out for Lake Wakatipu. Two days later McKerrow over took them in the Shag Valley. The route from there to Lindis Pass was practically identical with that used on the previous trip. On this occasion however, they managed to find a much easier path over the Dunstan Range and were able to make Lindis Peak in good time. They made use of this peak to fix points towards Wanaka and Hawea, then crossed the Clutha in Wilkins’ boat and pushed on to Roy’s. The manager of the latter station agreed to supply them with provisions, although he did so with extreme reluctance and only after McKerrow as leader of the party had made personal representations. 3

The Second Reconnaissance Survey had not yet opened up fresh regions to the party, but when they turned westward (45)and began coasting round the shores of Lake Wanaka, new and impressive vistas were constantly being revealed.


They turned westward and began coasting round the shores of Lake Wanaka, new and impressive vistas were constantly being revealed.

Unfortunately fog tended to disrupt the work, to limit the visibility, and to mar the view. At the outlet of the Motatapu, McKerrow decided to follow this river to its source. He forced his way up the rugged valley, fixed the position of the river, then turned up the Matukituki. The latter was low at the time, and no di cultywas experience in fording it although it was found necessary to eep a keen look out for quicksands.Ascents of the mountains overlooking the river were interrupted again and again by drizzling rains and thick blankets of fog. On one occasion McKerrow and Goldie discovered that one of the tethered horses was missing, and its more faithful companion subsequently shied, chucking its double burden to the ground and bolted. Even a successful ascent was often accompanied by unpleasantconditions. Goldie described one in detail. “For the first two hundreds yards or so, we had to creep on our hands and knees if not serpent like on our bellies, from the bank of the river till we gained the foot of the mountain through among thick growing high overtopping scrub, then we had to scramble up a pile of steep rugged rocks, clinging to some jutting piece of rock, the roots of some scrubby bush or anything that would favour us with assistance, halting now and again in an eerie swither, whether to proceed or return. Then again we would be weltering amongstthick scrub . . . Again you will find us pulling ourselves up some almost perpendicular rock, thus alternately we proceeded from scrub to rock, till we gained the more open ground, where we were able to walk half bent to the top . . . Mr. McKerrow fell from a rock several feet high . . . fortunately after a little faintness he felt himself little hurt.” As compensation for this effort, Goldie and McKerrow were rewarded with a magnificent view of rugged ranges studied with lofty snow capped peaks.


As the party pushed up the Matukituki to the point where its two branches sidle round the foothills of Mt. Aspiring, it became apparent to them that it would be certainly unprofitable and most likely impossible to find a path to the west over the frozen slopes of 10,000 foot Aspiring and her satellite peaks.

Through the telescope they could discern glaciers hanging precariously to the flanks of these glistening mountain giants. As the party pushed up the Matukituki to the point where its two branches sidle round the foothills of Mt. Aspiring, it became apparent to them that it would be certainly unprofitable and most likely impossible to find a path to the west over the frozen slopes of 10,000 foot Aspiring and her satellite peaks. Instead, it was decided to follow each branch of the river in turn; the south-west first. “At some places,” wrote McKerrow, “the water forces its way through a narrow gorge between two opposing precipices, at others and especially at the many rapids on the course it dashes impetuously through amidst the huge boulders that oppose its progress.” The scenery up the branch rising north of Aspiring was also strikingly picturesque, but it was restricted by perpendicular cliffs rising almost sheer from either side of the river bed. These formidable varriers dissuaded the explorers from probing further afield. They were en foot now, for under the circumstances ahorse would merely have been an encumbrance.

“I can assure you that the scenery here in its native grandeur was beyond anything I have ever seen for beauty,” wrote Goldie.“Each side was clothed with deep green waving birch trees, . . . here and there were to be seen splendid waterfalls, teeming
their water rainbow-like over some rocks . . . of several hundred feet in height high up on the mountain side, while many others were to be seen whose waters tumbled from one high rock to another dashing themselves into foam and mist-like spray . .. I myself regretted not a little at not being able to handle a pencil.” McKerrow was similarly enchanted. “The thunder of the avalanche is frequently heard and its over whelming forcedisplayed in its ruthless track left through the forest where remains of great trees lie torn and snapped into matchwood! Glacier Dome and Mount Aspiring enthroned amid perpetual snow and ice, bid defiance to the sun and forbid the approach of the beholder, who is spellbound, impressed with awe and
veneration at the stupendous forces of nature.”
“The Glaciers 4 pour down from the precipices that support them, every form and variety of cataract and cascade. The eye at one view may
see the waters bounding in sportive mood from crag to crag, as if eager to anticipate the more genial clime that awaits it, at another curling up like smoke as if appalled at the awful abyss that yawns below.” 5
They trudged past the last known cutpost of European exploration and found themselves further up the river and further west than any of their venturesome predecessors. As the ountry ahead appeared to be useless for cultivation and in any
case was within the borders of Canterbury, McKerrow decided ot to follow the river to its source. Itwas a comparatively easy task to make tracks back to the lake, and to push round the shore as far as Stuart Kinrees and Co's Station, but from that point onwards the waters of the lake lapped on to heavily weeded and irregular peninsulas, and numerous mountain spurs terminated abruptly in dangerous,
precipitous ridges. A beat was essential. McKerrow had been promised one sometime previously by the manager of the station, but it had not yet arrived from the head of the lake. In the meantime he occupied himself by determining the position
of the lake, and in comparing his findings with these secured two years previously by the Canterbury sur veyors Jollie and Young. It appeared to McKerrow, (and a comparison of the two maps confirms his belief ) that Jollie and Young had sadly
distorted the outline of the lake.

Only a limited amount of work could be carried out without a boat, and it was a profound relief to McKerrow when it arrived and enabled him to continue with his observations further north. He pursued a zigzag course up the lake, and from
the peaks which rose high above either shore, took observations to other mountains, to bays, or to various landmarks in the Hawea and north-west regions. From the isthmus separating Lakes Hawea and Wanaka he finally determined the position
of the latter lake, then extended bearings to Hawea from the same point. From the upper end of Lake Wanaka and for many miles northward, there extended a long, narrow alley, fringed by rough scr ub and dominated by birth-covered hills and snow-
topped ranges. Through the valley the Makarora River flowed down to Lake Wanaka.


Through the valley the Makarora River flowed down to Lake Wanaka.

It had been McKerrow’s fer vent desire to spend a few days searching for the Maori track which was reputed to lead from Wanaka to the West Coast; a track of mystery and romantic allure to the pakeha, one of imper fectly recalled historical associations to the Maori. The discovery of such a route was one of the objectives of the expedition.

“The West Coast still remains a terra incognita,” Thomson had written. “It would be well to have the mysteries of the locality cleared up and its resources made known.”
The long valley and 6 broken ranges suggested a track, but the eye could pick out no opening in the confusion of forest, snow, and rock, stretching
thirty miles into the distance.

It was the 20th of April and snowstorms could be expected before the survey was finished. Rather reluctantly McKerrow turned his back on the Makarora valley, leaving the elusive pass for others to conquer.
His interest in the pass did not ag 7 however, and at several of the nearby stations he set enquiries on foot. When the sur vey was completed McKerrow received a letter from Mr. Hopwood, the manager of the station of the
station of Lake Hawea. In it some light was thrown on the Maori use of the track. It appeared that a Maori from Noeraki had been paying a visit to Hawea to show a youthful companion the traditional route used in procuring eels and woodhens from
the West Coast. For Hopwod’s benefit the native described theroute from the lower end of Hawea over the range to the head of Wanaka, and from there ten miles up the Makarora to a place where a large Totara grew. Here the party had split. The
narrator had remained there catching eels until his companions returned eight days later. Hopwood had some faith in the tale, for the native was evidently well acquainted with the lake and the tracks around it. 8

It was too risky to venture a oat in a cockleshell boat during the prevailing story weather, and for two days the surveying party kicked their heels at the top of the lake. Then the wind dropped and they rowed down to Kinross’s station in
a at calm. Here they left the boat, took in supplies, recovered their horses, and set out for Roys. At Roys they borrowed fresh horses, but the additional beasts often proved more of a liability than an asset, and their nightly habit of breaking their tethers and bolting kept Goldie busy tramping in pursuit for half a day
at a time. The party next turned southwards, crossed the Cardrona
and followed down the right bank of the Clutha. McKerrow sent the men on to the junction of the Clutha and the Lindis while he continued with his work, but when later the same night be attempted to find their camp, he by-passed it in the
dark and was forced to spend a chilly night in the open with a free as his only shelter. In the morning he heard shouts and was able to rejoin his companions. Downstream they went, taking bearings to Lindis Peak and Trig Hill from all the
Clutha’s tributaries up to and including the Kawarau. When McKerrow had determined the course of the Clutha to his own satisfaction, tracks were made for the outlet of the Cardrona and Wilkins’ station.
At Wilkins’ they left a batch of mail for delivery to Dunedin, then crossed over the Wanaka branch of the Clutha to the fertile run lying between Wanaka and Hawea. From Mt. Brown which lay nearby, McKerrow took observations to the bends of the Hawea River and to the east side of the Wanaka Peninsula.

Later he climbed Mt. Moude and took a set of observations to Hawea and its encircling mountains, and to Quartz Creek. At this latter spot McKerrow met an experienced miner who had been fortunate enough to strike gold. After he had dug thirteen feet, water seeping in had stopped him, but in the spring he
intended to exploit the claim with suitable equipment. This discovery was duly reported to Mr. Thomson. 9

On the 9th of May the survey of Lake Hawea began. After fording the Hawea branch of the Clutha, McKerrow determined its course, then extended bearings from Mt. Maude forward to other land marks. From the south side of the lake campwas shifted round the shore of the lake as far as Jones’ lower station. The place was deserted; even worse, there was no boat. McKerrow and Goldie decided to scramble along the side of the lake as far as Jones’ upper station, and set out prepared to spend several nights in the open. They had covered only four miles however, when they sighted four sawyers rowing down the lake. Both McKerrow and Goldie shouted at the top of their voices, and noted with satisfaction that the sawyers had seen them and were drawing in to the bank. It was the sur veyors’ lucky day, for two miles further on impassable precipices rose perpendicularly from the lake-side. After some discussion the sawyers agreed to row Goldie and McKerrow round the precipices and to set them ashore near a hut occupied by a contractor engaged in blasting out a bridle-track for stock. From that point it would be possible to reach their destination on foot. This course was adopted and eventually the surveyors reached Jones’ upper station. Mr. Hopwood the manager of the station at once lent them a boat, and for two days they rowed up and down the lake taking observations. It was not found necessary to proceed far up the Hunter River since for the most part it lay in Canterbury, and on the 17th May Hopwood rowed Goldie and McKerrow down to the bottom of the lake.

Dunedin was the next objective.
McKerrow had a high regard for those enterprising runholders who were prepared to risk their capital and spend their time on country which would not pay its way for many years. Sheep and shepherds were exposed to the dangers of 10
mountains and gorge, a full muster for shearing was merely a pipe-dream, communications and the shipping of stock were of necessity by water till a bridle-track could be blasted through, valuable cattle land could not be utilized; and in spite of it all hardy pioneers took up runs and, what is more, overcame all di culties with indomitable courage and astonishingingenuity.

The travelers had turned for home none too soon. Warm sunshine prevailed as far as the Dunstan Range, and as there was no vestige of snow on its slopes, the sur veyors elected to camp for a couple of days on the western side. This decision was instantly reversed in the morning when the dawn revealed the countryside thickly mantled with snow. The snow was still falling thickly and continuously, and if the Dunstan Range was to be crossed before conditions deteriorated too far, there was no
time to be lost. The horses were packed, camp was struck, and then began the long weary trudge up one of the valleys leading to the summit. That night, the horses, hungry and without anything to chew, stood hobbled outside the tent in biting frost
and falling snow. Inside, three surveyors lay and shivered on six inches of snow. Before the horses could be saddled next day, frozen snow was scraped from their backs, and they were led up and down until body heat and sweat melted the foot-long circles which hung from their bellies. Shivering in the chill wind the miserable little procession plunged in Indian file through knee-deep snow. Each man took his turn at leading; then returned exhausted to the rear. At times, great balls of snow formed on the horses’ feet and caused them to stumble and fall. Each one of the party had the private fear that their tracks had led up apromising spur only to peter out in an impassable ridge, and it was a welcome relief when the curtain of snow lefted and the Maniototo and Manuherikia Plains burst into view. 11
That night camp was pitched in scrub which provided fuel for a miserable fire and some slight nourishment for the ravenous pack-horses. The following morning McKerrow took a horse and pushed on alone. The unexpected depth of the snow on the plains impeded his progress more than he had anticipated, and at dusk there was no sign of the shepherd’s hut in which he had intended to spend the night. Just when he was pondering on the unpleasant prospect of a night in the open, he saw the smoke of a chimney, and a figure silhouetted against the doorway of a hut. The down-and-out miner who greeted McKerrow invited him in for the night and supplied him with a sheepskin to cut hobbles for the horse, since it was unlikely that the animal would prefer the bleak environment of the hut to shelter and the company of his companions. At daybreak McKerrow set out on another lap of his journey to Dunedin. Two days later, amidst the convenient shades of a winter evening, a very weary and ragged horseman rode into Dunedin and on to his cosy little home in Forth Street Pelichet Bay.

For James McKerrow the second Reconnaissance Survey 12 was at an end. Goldie and Bryce spent three days camped on snow and a further two delayed by rain before they were able to slog their way through mud tracks to Dunedin. They arrive there on the 30th of May, 1862, after an absence of nearly four months. 13
McKerrow set to work immediately to compile a report and to produce a map of the area he had covered. A preliminary report was handed to Mr. Thomson before the end of June. 14 In it McKerrow gave a brief account of the method of survey he had adopted. “A base of three miles was . . . measured on the terrace between the Wanaka Lake and the Cardrona River; from the ends of his base, and with the true bearings brought forward from Lindis Peak, several triangles with sides of from three to six miles were forced – these again, when completed, served in their turn as new bases for triangles, greater or less according to the position of the mountain peaks. In this manner about 1000 square miles of countr y have been gone over . . .
The three angles of each triangle in the middle of the survey were observed; in case where it was only possible to observe the two angles of a triangle a bearing from a third position ser ved as a check.” 15
The report then went on to describe the physical features of the area surveyed and in particular the character and surroundings of the streams and rivers. For example, the Matukituki’s uctuations were ascribed to its glacial origin, the volume of melted show in the river depending on the heat of the day. Of Wanaka he stated that “with its many peninsulas and sinuosities, it yields to the passing gaze panoramic views unsurpassed . . . by the far famed Loch Lomond of Scotland.”
A brief note on the reputed Maori track followed. The report then went on to discuss the evidence suggesting that Hawea, Wanaka and the terraces of the Clutha had at one time all been under one large lake until an earthquake had cut a passage for the Clutha through the Dunstan Range. Another possibility, it pointed out, was that a swift current had worn away the river bed in the rock. The investigation of such a problem could well be left to the Geological Survey.

The complete report,written by the 9th of July 1862, was 16 lengthy without being in any way verbose or irrelevant. It gave a precise summary of the physical characteristics of the country the party had covered. Of the 1829 square miles surveyed, 940 square miles were considered suitable for pastoral purposes.
The balance of the land in Otago consisted of 40 square miles of forest, 180 of lake and 326 of barren ground. The part of Canterbury surveyed was practically all barren.
The permanent snowline, based on frequent observations of 7838 foot Mt. Alta was estimated at about 8000 feet, but observations to glaciers on Mt. Alta and Mt. Aspiring indicated that the permanent glacier level was considerably lower. The source, course and characteristics of the main snow fed rivers such as the Matukituki, the Makarora, the Hunger,the Motatapu, the Dingle and the Timaru were described in appropriate detail, and the contention that their waters varied with the melting of the snow was substantiated by reports of flood marks around the lakes. The lakes McKerrow suggested appeared to act as reservoirs in conserving ood waters and in controlling the ow of the Clutha. Without the lakes, the mighty Clutha might well have been an intermittent torrent.
Some space was devoted to a discussion of the agricultural and pastoral potentialities of the various districts, and a concise and illuminating summary of the details was set out. Another valuable section dealt with di culties which could be anticipated in gaining access to these areas. In McKerrow’s opinion part of
the Clutha Valley would grow cereals and vegetables, although the absence of suitable timber for fence-posts might prove a drawback for farm purposes. The last section of general interest discussed the all important question of communications. McKerrow pointed out that the only overland route to the interior suitable for dray was through the Lindis Pass, but that this track, like the bridle tracks over the Dunstan Range and Crown Ridge, was generally impassable for a few weeks every winter. Even at the best of times drays could be taken no further than the junction of the Wanaka and Hawea Rivers. There their contents had to be transferred to ferries. It was possible to cross the Clutha on horseback at certain times of the year, but in the meantime the upper reaches of Wanaka and Hawea were accessible only by boat.
Short paragraphs on nomenclature and gold discovery concluded the narrative section of the report, but appended to it was a list of the heights of the mountains, a summary of the different classes of land and a day to day record of the 17.18 weather conditions, together with barometer and thermometer readings.
The report was published in the Otago Provincial Gazette.
Its importance can scarcely be overemphasized. For the first time squatters had a reliable and comprehensive description of the upper Clutha Valley. They could venture forth secure in the knowledge that no hostile natives would molest them and
that the land they had bought in Dunedin would be clearly delineated on an o cial map. No land piracy was possible. McKerrow was not feted in any way for his work, but J.T. Thomson, a taciturn Northumbrian inclined to be frugal in his praise, realized that his trust in McKerrow’s ability had not been misplaced. “The service was one of the great delicacy and diffculty” he maintained, “and having being satisfactorily accomplished by that officer, (i.e. McKerrow) much credit is due to him.” 19
For the year of these operations was £805.3.2, and the price per acre of the Reconnaissance Survey worked out at a penny to a penny halfpenny per acre. For a service which fixed the 20 positions of pastoral runs, district boundaries, tracks and routes acquainted the public with the fertility of Central and north-Western Otago and brought large sums rolling into the coffers of the Provincial Council, it was money well spent.

Notes
1. Report. Otago Prov. Gaz., Vol. IV, 23 July 1862, Pp. 11-12.
2. Ibid
3. Unless stated to the contrary, the description of this journey is taken from the diaries of Goldie and McKerrow. Fixing the position of the Cardrona river and its tributaries. From the Pisa Range bearings were carried west to the Kawarau River. “It is a river worthy of no small admiration,” wrote Goldie . . . Its principal attraction consists in this that it passes through so many narrow and rocky gorges churning its waters into foam, places that at a short distance from them, one would think you could step over them . . . if its equal was in the old
country many a pleasure party would be witnessed on its banks.” From the Kawarau they retraced their steps up the Cardrona valley to the fertile strip of land at the outlet of the Cardrona River. On the way the observations were taken during winds of gale force, and it was found necessary to improvise additional supports for the theodolite.
4. McKerrow’s letter to Hocken
5. McKerrow’s diary
6. Report by J.T. Thomson, Otago Prov Gaz. Vol. V, 26th Nov. 1862 P.206
7. Report by McKerrow, O.D.T., 28th June, 1862
8. M.S.S. Letter from Hopwood to McKerrow – in back of field book No. 127, Dunedin Survey O ce.
9. Report Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol. V, 23rd July, 1862, P. 16.
10. Report, Otago Prov. Gaz., Vol. V, 23rd July, 1862, P. 15. McKerrow’s diary for this trip breaks o on the 15th of May on which date he was still engaged in surveying Lake Hawea. Goldie’s diary is complete however, and part of the journey back to Dunedin is described in McKerrow’s “Reminiscences.”
11. McKerrow’s Reminiscences
12. Ibid. – I have it on the authority of the Misses Todd that Mrs. McKerrow lived at “Burnside” in Halfway Bush during the surveys.
The Todds lived next door. I cannot explain McKerrow’s reference to his home being in Pelichet Bay
13. Goldie’s Diary
14. Report, O.D.T., 28th June, 1862.
15. Ibid
16. Report, Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol. V, 28th July, 1862, Pp. 12-16
17. See Appendix E
18. See Appendix F
19. Report, V. & P. Otago Prov. Council, Departmental Reports, Session
XIX 186 Z, P. 2
20. Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol.V, 26th November, 1862, P. 208