THE tradition of Cook had not ended with him. In the late forties Captain Stokes in the Acheron made his historic survey of the West Coast and Southland. The journal of the expedition in the Hocken Library, Dunedin, contains an excellent description of Milford Haven:

Here, in remarkable contrast to the general character of New Zealand scenery, the vast pre­cipices enclosing the outer basin are treeless; indeed, nearly bare of verdure of any kind. As the Acheron steamed slowly to her anchorage beneath those cliffs, towering on either hand several thousand feet perpendicularly, her masts seemed to dwindle to nothing, and from her insignificance, we were able more fully to com­prehend the vast elevation of their snow-capped summits. The haven, which sometimes expands into a broad sheet of water, sometimes contrasts so as to confine the prospect to but. a short distance ahead, has two considerable falls of water, precipitating themselves into the sea like the descent of successive wreaths of snow. . . . Next day, the ship was moved into the further­most anchorage where she lies landlocked — owing to the rivers and cascades here discharg­ing themselves, the water is nearly fresh along­side—a pointed mountain of naked rock 5,000 feet high enclosed us on one hand—a still more elevated mountain 6,700 feet—clothed with rich verdure below but equally bare on its summit, seems impending over the vessel on the N.E. and a savage-looking gorge down which a brawling torrent rushes, and flows over the shingly beach into the sea, are the chief features of this, the most remarkable harbour yet visited by the Acheron in New Zealand. ...

Yesterday Dr. Lyall and party set out to ascend the snow covered mountain in sight—they brought back a number of ducks, kakapos and one kiwi—fancied they caught sight of a mys­terious bird.

Stokes’s map shows Mount Cook (12,349 feet) as 13,200 feet high, and names Mount Tasman the ‘ Dome.’ His running sketch of the coastline stood for many years. His chart is still in use, though it is now being corrected by the naval survey ship H.M.S. Endeavour.