So, so close to a watery end

I posted earlier that we are in Hikkaduwa hoping to go surfing.. At 2 pm the waves were really wild and only one or two locals were braving the thunderous conditions.About 4.30 pm, the waves looked surfable so I thought it would be important for Ablai (11) and me to swim out and get used to the waves that looked huge, but manageable, We had been practicing for two weeks in a local pool to et the arm strength and technique back. We dived through a few, body surfed in and were starting to feel like getting a board to go out. Slowly something happened, almost inperceptably to the currents and a rip pulled us out like the arms of an invisible octopus was tugging us further and further away from shore.
We were in difficulties. What do you say to al ll year old whose Father was once like a fish in water, but slowing a little ? Do you say “don’t panic.” No ! “ Ablai,” I said, “we’re being pulled out, just tred water and save energy.”

“The waves will take us out, but later they will bring us in.” I could see three local surfers relishing in the curling waves and flowing through tube like waves. After some minutes one of them noticed we were in difficulty. First Galem came up and said, “ Can I help.” I said, “yes, can you help Ablai to shore.” I breathed a sigh of relief and being an ex Outward Bound instructor, recalled my words to students, “ You have to learn to push beyond your own self-imposed limitations, and find the real you.” The real me was a drowned Bob, or a wet, tired and live one.

I was trying to conserve energy but was being pulled further out, but reassured Galem was helping Ablai closer to shore. Next this dreadlocked smiling face surfed up to me and said, “ Do you need help ? ”

My Mother used to teach me Genteelism, so I said ” my right arm is bit painful and I am not swimming as strong as I should, would you be so kind as to help.” First he gave me his lightweight board that acted more like a submarine but together we were able to make ground shorewards. The submerged board acted more like a plough and a few minutes later Sanjay turned up with Nadeem, who had a large surf board. With huge smiles om their faces, they gave me the board. Slowly with a little pulling and pushing from Sanjay and Nadeem, I got to shore

Lessons learned ? Many.

We going back tomorrow and i will hire these four professional surf experts who probably saved our lives.

SURVEY WORK IN OTAGO 1867-76

THE prevalence of the spotting system of survey was the source of additional work for Mr. Thomson, and when in 1866 Goldfield’s Survey was added to his list of worries, he decided to appoint an Inspector of Surveys. The duties of this officer would be to examine instruments and equipment at every
station and camp, to check and supervise all field operations, and to ensure careful work on the part of every surveyor in the province

St. Bathan's Range, Otago. Photo: Courtesy Donald Lousley.
.
James McKerrow was the logical choice for this (1) position, and was duly appointed.

The question of the relationship between Goldfield and general survey had been threshed out in 1864 by a Select Committee of the Provincial Council Vincent Pyke, Secretary (2} for the Goldfields, maintained that two departments were covering similar ground in an uncooperative manner which could only lead to inextricable confusion. He advocated their amalgamation, and also pressed for the establishment of District Survey Offices.

Thomson opposed the plan since he himself had had no experience in goldfield survey, and because he could see no merit in a scheme which divided the province into survey districts under men of inferior ability and with incomplete information on land affairs.

The huge swathe of land that James McKerrow Surveyed.

Despite his protests, the Select Committee recommended that the two survey systems be amalgamated, and that District Land Offices be established at the principal goldfields and towns of Central Otago
.
By 1867 the amalgamation had been e ected, and Thomson took steps to satisfy himself as to the e ciency of the surveyors in the goldfields. McKerrow and he started immediately on a thorough tour of inspection.
Proper camp and field equipment (4) was granted to each surveyor, and each member of the sta was
excused the quasi-public duties which had formerly interrupted his work. Each surveyor was then informed that all surveys for record on public maps were to be repeated. With the assistance of several of the officers of the general staff  , rapid progress was made in this work, and credit for much of the improvement must be given to the new inspector.

He applied himself to the instruction of various officers in the routine of the Otago system; a system easily mastered by the more intelligent among them. The whole service was infused with new life and by 1870 Thomson could refer to the in uence of land o ces in Lawrence and Queenstown as turning “the
face of the country from a desert to a garden.” (5)

General as well as goldfields inspection was within the scope of McKerrow’s appointment, and it was his responsibility to check the work being carried out by both government and contracting surveyors . It was felt that contracting surveyors (6) were more liable to error than those working on a standard wage, and for the reason their activities were limited to block survey, the accuracy of which could easily be verified . Under (7) the Boileau sur veying system, McKerrow had only to plant his theodolite on any point of a triangulation or traverse within sight of two or more established points to be able at once to confirm accuracy or detect error. Furthermore, this same check was open to each individual surveyor, and since errors were necessarily either intentional or the result of gross carelessness, dishonesty or incompetency was swiftly disclosed by the logic of the figures. “This”, maintained Thomson “is the secret of our success”. (8)

The Otago survey staff soon came to enjoy a reputation for speed and e ciency unrivalled in New Zealand. Among the members of this sta moved McKerrow, checking, inspecting, and ready with encouragement or practical suggestion. “The measurement of this base . . . was completed in the presence of . . . Mr. McKerrow, who himself made the requisite corrections. . . on two steep terrace slopes, at each end of the line, and worked out the result”, wrote J.S. Connell (9)

As time went on, and the survey sta settled into an established routine, McKerrow found time to turn his attention to special projects which from time to time devolved on the Survey Department.
One of these special problems occurred in 1869. In that year, Mr. Thomson, despairing of securing adequate longitudes for the Otago survey system, erected a small observatory of his own, and set out to ascertain the longitude of the Pronvincial Surveys by independent astronomical observation. The method
he employed was that known as “Moon culminating stars”.

Between August 1869 and March 1870 the moon’s transits were observed at all hours of the night, but adverse weather conditions cut down considerably the number of acceptable readings. McKerrow’s and Thomson’s calculations of the longitudinal determinations di ered slightly, but this was attributed to the di erent tables and principles of computation employed. The results of the e ort were considered to be very satisfactory. Thomson reported: “I have much pleasure in here stating that I have been accompanied by McKerrow in all the calculations required in the . . . astronomical and geodesical observations which have been long and laborious, and which could never have been produced with confidence had I no one
competent, as he is, to a ord me check”. (10)

Early in 1870 preparations for the establishment of smallbody of settlers at Martin’s Bay, Western Otago were set on foot, and McKerrow was sent to see if a practicable bridle track could be pushed through to the Hollyford River via the Dart River, the Routeburn River and Lake Harris. Several explorers,
P.Q Caples included, had already used this route, and the Otago Witness was therefore at fault when it stated that McKerrow’s party was seeking a pass to the West Coast . The purpose of (11) the trip was not to discover a pass; this had already been done.

It was to Survey the district and to make a report on the track. The party went up the Routeburn, passed over the Harris saddle, climbed peaks commanding a view of the complete course of the Hollyford River, and descended into the Hollyford Valley. After crossing the river and making an examination of
the land on the western side, they retraced their steps. McKerrow reported that the distance from Lake Wakatiputo Lake McKerrow was thirty five miles, and that if trees were blazed on the track and dead timber removed, it should be possible to walk the distance in one day. He found this track
shorter than any other, but pointed out that several di cult places had to be negotiated and, that as the altitude of the pass was 4500 feet, it might prove to be impassable for a few weeks
each winter (12)

A tracing of McKerrow’s map was in use as early as April 1870, and although some confusion arose through the incorrect aming of a ford it was found to be extremely useful (13)

This survey provided for a long felt want since it enabledarrangements for the Jamestown settlement to go ahead, and he Otago Witness expressed its satisfaction that McKerrow ad attracted more attention to this rather inaccessible cornerof the province (14)

During 1871 McKerrow spent some time in inspectingsurveys, and, along with Mr. J.H. Baker, in extending standardbearings over the Southland District and Stewart Island,(15) bu to an ever increasing degree he was being called on to report on the suitability of blocks of land under consideration
for Hundreds.

In July 1871, in response to a series of1 6 qestions put to him in a memorandum from Mr. Thomson, he furnished evidence regarding the fertility, topography and suitability for settlement of a 5800 acre block at Waiarika
.
At (17) the conclusion of the report, he pointed out that as bona fide  settlement was a ver y gradual process large areas must always be open for selection (18)

Another run McKerrow examined was that of Mr. W.J. Clarke of Mao Flat. Part of the run had been sold but as contradictor y reports were in circulation regarding the quality of the land, a request was made to the Chief Sur veyor that he “instruct an officer of his department (in whose judgement regarding such matters he can place confidence) to make a thorough inspection,” and prepare a plan delineating such
features as agricultural and pastoral lands, streams, and the position of roads. McKerrow duly furnished a report and explained that he had modified the boundaries of the original
application in order to preserve the connection between the road and the back country, and to include the homestead in the agricultural block selected by the leaseholder.

In 1872 the survey Department was reorganized, and for purposes of inspection was divided into two districts; one under McKerrow, the other under Baker (19) interest in land questions was fully maintained. Donald Reid introduced his deferred payment scheme in 1872, and in the same year a committee was set up by Parliament to enquire into the sale of large blocks of land in the goldfields by the Otago Waste
Lands Baord. McKerrow was asked to report on the 20,000 acre block opposite Clarke’s Moa Flat Station which Messsrs. Cargill and Anderson wished to purchase. His contention that the block
contained no agricultural land was vigorously contested by the Roxburgh Progress League, whose members protested that the best inland district in Otago was being locked up from agricultural
and mining settlement. The widely divergent opinions of other witnesses as to the precise area of good agricultural land in the block would suggest that they were not altogether in agreement
as to what constituted agricultural land (20)

Other blocks examined by McKerrow towards the end of 1872 included one in the Glenkenich and Waipahi district, and another between the Pomahaka and Waikoikoi Streams.

Both were being opened up for sale following the payment of compensation to the leaseholder (21)

The sale of a 10,000 acre block in the Maerewhenua district (22} brought more work, for the miners who had acquired rights in the gullies of the run had brought in water at considerable expense,
and protested that their interests were being neglected. By all accounts much of the land within the block was auriferous. McKerrow had examined the block some time previous to the outery, and had advised that it was predominantly suitable for pastoral purposes, but in December, 1872, together with
Mr. T.L. Shepherd, he was appointed to a commission with instructions to re-examine the block and report back with special reference to its auriferous nature. The members of the
commission questioned the miners, examined their sluices and claims, and reported that the 5800 acres of auriferous land in the Maerowhenua Block was capable of providing steady employment to the miners for years.

The advisability of diverting the head-waters of the Kakanui River was also discussed. The miners claimed that such a diversion was essential for the prosperity of the goldfield. On the other hand, the mill owners and fellmongers at the mouth of the river objected, and maintained that any diversion
would decrease the volume of water at the river’s mouth to a level insu cient for their purposes. The commission advised a better utilistion of the available water by the mill owners and fellmongers as a solution to the problem.

In June 1873 McKerrow made his way back to the Maerehenua block to prepare a report on the amended application. At the same time he examined the Otiake and Otekaike valleys and Doctor’s Creek to determine their auriferous nature. For two days, he and several members of the Mining Association prospected for gold with tin dishes and shovels, but although specks of gold were found, it was agreed
that the expense necessary to sink shafts and to bring in water would not be justified
.
Besides undertaking duties in connection with land sales, McKerrow continued his work as Inspector of Surveys. During the 1872-3 season he checked work at Lawrence, Queenstown,
Naseby, Clyde, Balclutha, Mataura, Dunedin, Camaru; also the triangulations being carried out between Lake Ohau and Mt. Aspiring. (24)

In November 1873, a change took place in the department.Under provisions of the 1872 Otago Waste Lands Act, the Chief urveyor was not entitled to hold his position in conjunction ith that of Commissioner of Crown Lands and of the Waste Lnds Board. Mr. Thomson decided to retain the latter two
appointments and after a period of seventeen years as Chief Surveyor severed his offcial connection with the Otago Survey Department.(25)

James McKerrow was Thomson’s logical successor and was apointed Chief Surveyor as from 26 November, 1873

The appointment met with general approval. “I thus had a new chief ”, writes J.H. Baker, “but as I had met and worked with him before, I knew that I should have no di culty in getting
on with him” (27}
There was no revolutionary change in policy or procedure.

The work of the department proceeded smoothly and e ciently and McKerrow passed the necessary plans. These he kept indexed in his field book (28)

He was often required to pass judgement on proposeddeferred payment blocks, and, as a guide, prepared a tabulation showing the extent of certain runs, the area of land which (29) could be taken from them, and the area which it was proposed to take from them immediately it appeared that one block of 82,600 acres was to be opened between the Waiairiki Hundred and the boundary of the Wairuna and Pomahaka Hundreds at Popotunoa. McKerrow pointed out that the opening of this (30) block would complete the chain of settlement from Riverton to the Waitaki River. He also prepared reports on hundreds
at Heriot and in the Waikaka Valley, and an estimate of the agricultural and pastoral potentialities of the Waiau Valley. Yet another report dealt with the protest which Messrs. Cargill and Anderson lodged against the decision to open for settlement 2800 acres of their run. McKerrow had suggested that part of the run was suitable for closer division, but the run-holders took the case to law and succeeded in retaining possession of the disputed part.

In his first annual report McKerrow was able to report a satisfactory standard of e ciency and attainment by both surveyors and draughtsmen. He pointed out that as large areas awaited trigonometrical survey and 8,000,000 acres had still to undergo section survey, there was ample work to occupy offcers of the department for many years. (31)

During his years as Chief Sur veyor, McKerrow had to discharge sundr y duties other than those of a surveyor and an Assessor of Waste Lands.

His intimate knowledge of Central Otago made him an admirable guide for scientists. On one occasion he and Captain F.W. Hutton spent some time searching around Wakatipu for traces (other than moraines) left by the reteating glacier. The search was fruitless, and none of the more perishable remains,
such as blocs perches and straite, were to be found (32)

In 1874 a scientific event of peculiar interest occurred. A transit of Venus was due. On learning that British and American expeditions were being dispatched to New Zealand, the Otago
Institute appointed Messrs. Thomson, McKerrow and Skey as a committee to assist the visitors. The committee collected data on climate, traveling facilities, and suitable localities in
Otago for obser vation, and forwarded reports and maps to the Astronomer Royal at Greenwich and to the States Astronomer in America. No reply was received from the former, but the latter
reported that Professor Peters would consider the proposals on his arrival in New Zealand.
Lieutenant Bass of the American party preceded Peters to New Zealand, and under the guidance of McKerrow made an extensive tour of Central Otago. He decided to follow the Institute’s advice and to make Queenstown the base for operations. From there the Americans enjoyed singular success in their observations. No fewer than 160 photographs of the transit of the planet on the sun’s disc were secured. “The scientific world may . . . congratulate themselves on his success”, stated Thoson “as owing to the failure of all other expeditions the most valuable data has been secured for all nations”. Peters acknowledged his debt to this voluntary band of helpers, whose advicee had enabled him to choose an ideal spot. The other expeditions had not been so fortunate for bad weather had hindered their operations
(33)

Major Palmer, the leader of the English party engaged in observing the transit of Venus, was an authority on sur veying, and before he left the country was approached by the Central
 Government o undertake the examination of what was generally conceded to be a disjointed and ine ective survey system.

The Chief Surveyors of the Provinces were well aware of
the deficiencies in their sta s and systems, but maintained that
lack of time and trained personnel had forced them to push
on with systems lacking a consistent geodetic basis. They met
in conference in 1873, and recommended the adoption of one
co-ordinated system throughout the country. Thomson, who
was unable to be present, wrote emphasizing the need for the
establishment of a national system under a Surveyor General
before too much of the country was surveyed into sections (34)

The Government had made no move in this direction, but by 1875 was forced to institute an enquir y.
Palmer’s report revealed chaos and disorder in practically
every province. He described the history of Auckland Surveys
as “one of lamentable confusion and neglect, and want of
system and accuracy”. The only system which came in for any
substantial measure of commendation was that of Otago. Of
it he wrote that “Surveys of Otago which have mainly been
carried out on this safe and steady system, are on the whole
in a better state than those of the other provinces . . . The
Late Chief Sur veyor, Mr. J.T. Thomson established in 1861 a
uniform system of surveying which was . . . simple and practical.
Upon this system the surveys have been pushed forward as
rapidly as possible under the direction of Mr. Thomson, and
latterly under that of his successor, Mr. McKerrow. They have
generally kept pace with the demands of settlement, and are
at present in a forward state . . . All work hitherto done may
be considered fairly accurate showing that, as an expedient for
promoting rapid and correct land sales and preventing waste,
the Otago system has answered well. Indeed both of the cardinal
branches, trigonometrical and detail, have been surrounded
with most of the safeguards and precautions which should be
looked for in a well-managed survey department. All original
records, moreover, have been carefully kept and registered, and
the trigonometrical stations with few exceptions are erect and
permanently marked, so that ever y part will be available for
further use if required”.
“When as the surveys within circuits progressed the various
initial points came to be connected together by inter vening
minor triangulations, it became possible to test the accuracy
of the work by making comparisons between the observed
di erences of latitude and di erences computed through the
network of triangles; also by comparing the observed and
computed convergence of meridians. The results of these tests
were very satisfactory, considering the means and instruments
used, and they do high credit to the skill and care of Mr.
McKerrow, by whom all the original observations for latitude
and tr ue azimuth were made” (35)

Palmer came to the conclusion that one exact and
comprehensive system was needed to eliminate small errors,
and to weld the existing piecemeal systems into a homogeneous unit
. No immediate action was taken to implement these (36)
suggestions immediately however, and the province found
themselves free to pursue their activities unchecked.

During 1875 and 1876 the work of the Otago Survey
Depar tment went on at high pressure, and showed every
indication of continuing that way. The rate of settlement under
the deferred payment system was increasing in tempo, and
it was necessar y to keep surveys ahead of settlement. Sixteen
pastoral leases embracing a total area of 400,000 acres were
due to expire in 1878, and something more detailed than a
Reconnaissance Survey would be required for administrative
purposes. Maps, grants and lease must also be prepared for
District Land Offices (37)

McKerrow was not destined to supervise all these plans.
In 1875 the Central Government decided that the Provincial
Governments had outlived their usefulness. Despite vigorous
protests, they were abolished the following year, and most of their
essential functions transferred to Government Departments
in Wellington. Mr. J.T. Thomson was appointed Sur veyor
General, and expected that McKerrow would be his assistant
. Nor was he disappointed for on the 16of December, 1876 (38)
James McKerrow was appointed Assistant Surveyor General.
Thus at one blow Otago lost to wider spheres of service two
gentlemen who had played an active part in opening up and
settling the province’s lands. They had subjected the work of
their subordinates to stringent enquiry, and by encouragement
and personal example had succeeded in inculcating an “esprit
de corps” into the department. Only really competent surveyors
could find employment in Otago, and those that did took a
delight in reducing their margins of error below the maximum
allowed by regulations. They took a pride in their work, and
appreciated the need for rigid standards. Thus although a
stickler for accuracy, McKerrow was popular with the members
of his sta , and when he left for Wellington they presented him
with a handsome gold watch.
The value of the work accomplished in Otago by Thomson
and McKerrow has been universally recognized. “Otago was
fortunate in its choice of surveyors”, writes W.G.McClymont, “and

McKerrow no less than Thomson was a man of marked ability”
(39) J.H. Baker, a prominent surveyor in early times, maintained that,
“Mr. Thomson was one of the pioneers of scientific survey in New
Zealand, and the colony owes more to him and his assistant Mr.
McKerrow than is I think generally recognized”.(40)
McKerrow’s qualities of character attracted all classes
of people, and when he moved from Otago, he left behind
hundreds of friends and acquaintances in both town and
country. He was invariably obliging and cour teous on both
social and o cial occasions. “I had an interview with Mr.
McKerrow”, wrote Hon. George McLean the Conservator of
State Forests, and the latter, who was just leaving for Wellington,
kindly gave me all the information in his power during the
short time at his disposal, and sketched out a route which
served as a general guide during my stay in the province.”(41)

“We traveled . . . with Mr. McKerrow whose genial nature and
wide and comprehensive knowledge of New Zealand made
him a most attractive and interesting companion”, writes C.S.
Ross
. Friendships cemented in remote districts of Otago were
(42) not forgotten, and at his residence in Wellington McKerrow
entertained a constant stream of his old Otago friends.

Notes
1. Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol. X, 5th Sept. 1866, P. 173. Thomson’s report
2. App. V & P Otago Prov. Council, Session XIX, 1864, Select Committee
Reports, Pp. 89-90
3. Otago Prov. Gaz. Vol. XI, 28th Aug. 1867, Pp. 226-7.
4. Ibid
5. V & P Otago Prov. Council, Session XXVII, 1870, Departmental
Reports, P. 33.
6. V & P Otago Prov. Council, Session XXIII, 1867, Departmental
Reports, P 2.
7. Connell, J.S. On New Zealand Surveys, App. Trans. N.Z. Inst. Vol.
VIII, 1875, Pp XXVII-XXXVIII.
8. Thomson, J.T. Exposition of Processes and Results, P. 15.
9. Connell, op cit. P. XXXVI.
10. V & P Otago Prov. Council Session XXVII, 1870. Departmental
Reports, Pp. 30-33.
11. Otago Witness 26th Feb. 1870, Article
12. Otago Witness, 26th Feb. 1870, McKerrow’s Report
13. Otago Witness April 16 and 23, 1870. The Martin’s Bay Expedition
14. Otago Witness 26th Feb. 1870, Article.
15. V & P Otago Prov. Council, Session XIX, 1871. Departmental Reports,
Pp. 34-5.
16. Eccles, A., The Life of Donald Reid Pp. 179-211 gives a good account
of land conditions and tenure, 1856-76.
17. Between the Mataura and the Waikaka districts.
18. App. H of R 1873, Cl, Pp 18-19, Mao Flat is near Heriot, Central
Otago
19. App. V & P Otago Prov. Council, Session XXX, 1872. P. 64 Survey
Report
20. App. H. of R. 1872, H1
21. App. V & P, Otago Prov. Council Session XXXII, 1872, Pp. 117-121.
Waipahi is 84 miles south-west of Dunedin
22. App. V & P, Otago Prov. Council Session XXXII, 1873, Pp. 14-29.
Maerewhenua is about 30 miles north west of Oamaru, and on the
south side of the Waitaki River.
23. App. V & P Otago Prov. Cuncil, Session XXII, 1873, Pp. 14-29
24. Ibid P. 12. Survey Report
25. Baker J.H., op. cit. P. 134
26. Otago Prov. Gaz. 26th Nov., 1873, P. 437
27. Baker, op cit P. 134
28. Field Book No. 330, Dunedin Survey O ce
29. App. V & P Otago Prov. Council, Session XXX, 1874, Pp. 106-08.
30. In the Clinton district – about 80 miles south-west of Dunedin.
31. App. V & P. Otago Prov. Council Session XXXIII 1874, P. 67
32. Trans. N.Z. Inst. Vol. V, 1872, P. 343. Hutton, F.W., On the Last
Glacier Period in New Zealand.
33. Trans. N.Z. Inst. Vol. VII, 1874. Pp. 550-53
34. App. H. of R. 1873. H1.
35. Palmer, Major, State of Surveys in New Zealand. App. V & P.H. of R.
H1. 1875
36. Ibid
37. App. V & P. Otago Prov. Council, session XXXIV, 1876. Departmental
Reports No. 5
38. Baker, J.H. A Surveyor in New Zealand, P. 140
39. McClymont, W.G. Op. cit. P. 132.
40. Baker, J.H. P. 116
41. App. H. of R. 03, 1877, P. 7. Report of Conservator of State Forests
42. Ross, C.S. Early Otago, P. 182.

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.

Who is Miss McKerrow in this article ?

John Douglas Ritchie


I recently discovered this article about the daughter of James McKerrow, who married John Douglas Ritchie. I found it in The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District] Department Of Agriculture

Mr. John Douglas Ritchie, Secretary for Agriculture and Chief Inspector of Stock, was born in Perthshire, Scotland. Educated partly at Perth and partly at Cargill, Mr. Ritchie entered and was for some time in the employ of his uncle's firm, Messrs. Douglas Watt and Co., of Dundee, who were in the Baltic and Calcutta trade. In 1877 he decided to seek his fortune in New Zealand, and embarked for the Colony per ship “Halcione.” In the rearing and management of stock and farming generally, Mr. Ritchie has had an extended experience, having been brought up on a farm in the Old Country, and for fourteen years he held the position of manager of the Mount Royal Station at Palmerston South, the property of his uncle, Mr. John Douglas. Mr. Ritchie joined the Government Service in 1891 as Chief Inspector of Stock, and a year later he was appointed Secretary for Agriculture. The departments which he supervises are most important, and it is satisfactory that the Government has appointed qualified experts to foster and encourage the staple industry of the Colony. In 1892 ha married Miss McKerrow, daughter of Mr. James McKerrow, late Chief Commissioner of Railways.

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