(1856–1930).

Prime Minister.

A new biography of Ward, Joseph George appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Joseph Ward was born on 26 April 1856 at Emerald Hill, Melbourne, Victoria, and was the son of William Thomas Ward, a merchant, and of Hannah, née Dorney. For a brief time he attended a private school in Melbourne, but, after 1860, when his parents emigrated to New Zealand, he continued his education at the Campbelltown (Bluff) State School. In 1869 he joined the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department as a telegraph messenger, but resigned a few years later in order to enter a merchant's office. He joined the Railways Department in 1876, but left in the following year to enter business – in the grain trade – on his own account.

Ward began his long public career in February 1878 when he was elected to the first Campbelltown Borough Council. He was Mayor from November 1881 until 1886 and again in 1897–98. He was chairman of the Bluff Harbour Board from 1883 until 1888, again in 1893–94, and served on the Board, with one short interval, from 1889 until he became Prime Minister. Between these business and local body interests Ward found time for an active sporting life and captained the local cricket, football, and rowing teams. He also took part in the local defence organisations and rose to be a captain in the Volunteers.

Ward entered national politics as member for Awarua at the 1887 General Election. In Parliament he gravitated to the group known as the Young New Zealand Party, where he became a close associate of such figures as W. P. Reeves, John McKenzie, and James Mills. During his first Parliament Ward spoke often, generally on transport and communications questions, and quickly earned a reputation for his fluency as a speaker. In January 1891 Ballance brought him into the Liberal Ministry as Minister without portfolio; however, he was soon entrusted with the portfolios of Postmaster-General and Commissioner of Telegraphs. As one of his first acts as Minister, Ward introduced a classification system among the permanent staff of his Departments and also inaugurated the first staff-superannuation scheme. His speech in support of the 1892 Budget drew members' attention to his grasp of the intricacies of public finance and it thus occasioned little surprise when Seddon made him Colonial Treasurer in the following year.

In 1894 a commission sat to inquire into the affairs of the Bank of New Zealand. On 29 June of that year, when the commission presented its report, Ward introduced the urgent legislation by which the Government guaranteed £2 million to enable the bank to continue its immediate transactions. A few months later it was found that the Ward Farmers' Association was in serious financial difficulties. A parliamentary investigation found no reason to blame Ward personally for his firm's condition; nevertheless, the Colonial Treasurer resigned his portfolios. He returned to the ministry after the 1899 General Election when he resumed his Post and Telegraph portfolios and also that of Industries and Commerce. In 1901 he established penny postage in New Zealand and, shortly afterwards, reorganised the New Zealand Railways' accounting system and goods charges. Ward was acting Premier in 1902 during Seddon's absence in the Liberal Party, as Seddon's lieutenant. He was at a postal conference in London when his chief died and Hall-Jones assumed the Premiership pending his return to New Zealand.

Ward took office on 6 August 1906. His six years as Prime Minister were marked by several notable events in imperial affairs, but, on the whole, his Government's domestic policies were singularly uninspiring. While attending the Universal Postal Union Congress at Rome in 1906 he succeeded in obtaining a separate vote for New Zealand on that body. At the 1907 Imperial Conference he secured a confidential assurance from the Home authorities that New Zealand would be granted Dominion status should Parliament desire it. In 1909 he offered to provide Britain with a new battle cruiser (HMS New Zealand) in addition to New Zealand's normal naval defence commitments. At the Imperial Conference in 1911 Ward came to prominence as an advocate of greater Empire unity in defence and foreign affairs. His views did not gain acceptance, however, because the other Prime Ministers preferred the Secretary of State's assurance that the Dominions would be fully consulted upon these matters in the future. Notwithstanding the failure of his plea, Ward's views remained influential in New Zealand until the Second World War. In this period his two major contributions in New Zealand politics were the establishment of the National Provident Fund (1910) and the Defence Act of 1910. At the 1911 General Election Ward's Government was returned with a majority of one seat in the House of Representatives. Shortly afterwards the Prime Minister resigned in an effort to retrieve his party's fortunes but his successor, Thomas Mackenzie, failed to win the confidence of the House and Massey was called upon to form a ministry.

When Mackenzie resigned from Parliament a few months later Ward resumed the party's leadership. In 1915 he brought the Liberals into Massey's wartime coalition Ministry, he himself taking the portfolios of Finance, Post Office, and Telegraphs. During the war he accompanied Massey to several international conferences. In August 1919 the coalition broke up when Ward and his colleagues withdrew after differences of opinion about returned servicemen's claims. He was defeated at the ensuing General Election and failed to be returned at the Tauranga by-election in 1923. In 1925 he was returned for Invercargill and, two years later, accepted leadership of the newly formed United Party. At the 1928 General Election he went to the country with a proposal to borrow £70 million from abroad. Of this sum £60 million was to be used to revitalise the policies introduced in the early Liberal era – lands for settlement, advances to settlers, workers' homes, and so forth – while the remaining £10 million was to develop unfinished railway lines. On 10 December 1928 Ward became Prime Minister for the second time and assumed the portfolios of Finance, Stamp Duties, External Affairs, Post Office, and Telegraphs. Early in 1930 he suffered a severe breakdown in health and resigned on 28 May of that year. He was appointed Member of the Executive Council without portfolio in the succeeding Forbes Ministry. Ward died at the ministerial residence in Molesworth Street, Wellington, on 8 July 1930.

In the course of his long public life Ward received many honours. He was created K.C.M.G. in 1901 for his advocacy of penny postage; and in 1907 he became a Privy Councillor. At the Coronation in 1911 he was created Baronet – the second such title to be bestowed upon a New Zealander – and in the New Year Honours of 1930 he was promoted to G.C.M.G.

On 4 December 1883, at Bluff, Ward married Teresa Dorothea, daughter of Henry J. De Smidt, a Campbelltown hotelkeeper. She died on 7 February 1927. By her he had four sons and one daughter. On his own death, Sir Joseph was succeeded in the title by his eldest son, Sir Cyril Rupert Joseph Ward (1884–1940).

During his lifetime Sir Joseph Ward was principally known for his ability as a finance minister. In Seddon's Cabinet it was his task to find the money necessary to implement the Liberal policy measures. To achieve this Ward followed Sir Julius Vogel's precedent of the 1870s and floated many overseas loans to finance New Zealand development schemes. In this respect his proposals at the 1928 elections are a return to pre-Liberal “Vogelism”. Ward was a fluent and very quick speaker, inclined to dazzle his audiences with masses of figures. He was an able administrator and established in his Departments many procedures which have stood the tests of time. Unfortunately his constant preoccupation, over a long period, with the affairs of his few Departments tended to narrow his horizons when larger issues were concerned. In this connection his stand upon Imperial relations at the 1911 Imperial Conference showed him to be quite out of touch with the feelings of his colleagues from overseas.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• The Remarkable Life of Sir Joseph Ward, Loughnan, R. A. (1929)
• Otago Daily Times, 12 Nov 1928
• Southland Times, 9 Jul 1930 (Obit)
• New Zealand Tablet, 16 Jul 1930 (Obit).

The higher than average proportions of the Maori population in the total population is a particularly significant feature of the region and one which underlines the necessity of developing industry in the district. The largest proportion of the Maori population is resident either in Wanganui City itself or in adjacent areas. A smaller group is located in the settlements of the upper Wanganui River – Pipiriki, Jerusalem, and Ranana – whilst the remainder of the Maori population is distributed throughout the area and is associated with small settlements, such as Kai Iwi and Waitotara and the boroughs of the region. The total Maori population has increased by a quarter (25·77 per cent) in the last 10 years, a figure which suggests some, but no great, out migration. The rural population increased by only 218 persons and was concentrated in the Rangitikei County. The urban areas, Wanganui especially, have garnered the increase. Though the numbers involved are small, it is nevertheless of interest to see that the Maori population of Taihape rose from 91 to 217, and of Marton from 138 to 293. In this region the young Maori appears to be going to the towns rather than leaving the district.

During the last decade the total population of the region has grown by 16·2 per cent, a rate below the national level of 24·5 per cent. Most of the growth has been concentrated in the urban areas, especially Wanganui and Marton, and the rural population has grown by only 7 per cent. Furthermore, in the period April 1953 to April 1961, the total civilian labour force has grown by only 8·16 per cent, whilst the labour force engaged in manufacturing has grown by 18·75 per cent, both rates being markedly below the equivalent national rates. With 21·50 per cent of the total civilian labour force engaged in manufacturing, the Wanganui Employment District has one of the lowest figures for the whole of the North Island. The pastoral industry contributes the major part of the region's economic wealth and, if past trends are to continue, it would seem that the lowland areas must carry the greatest burden of pastoral development.

by Samuel Harvey Franklin, B.COM.GEOG., M.A.(BIRMINGHAM), Senior Lecturer, Geography Department, Victoria University of Wellington.

Wanganui remains the important regional centre for commerce and retailing, and the city council has sought to attract industry to the area. As an overseas port Wanganui is no longer significant, although the inwards coastal traffic in 1964 amounted to 90,407 tons (cement, manure, coal, and cereal products predominating). The coastal outward trade was only one-tenth of the inward figure. Marton, at the junction of the Main Trunk and the Taranaki line, has a number of factories, but it is largely a centre for the rural population, as is Bulls, which, in addition, gains some trade from the large volume of the passing motor traffic. The other settlements of the coastal areas are little more than villages – Fordell, Turakina, Kai Iwi, Waitotara, and Waverley. At Ratana Pa there is a Maori settlement composed of the adherents to the Ratana movements.

The coastal lowlands stretch from Patea to Bulls and extend inland for 5 to 10 miles. Between the mouths of the Rangitikei and Turakina Rivers and the Kai Iwi and Waitotara Streams especially, sanddune encroachment is marked, and in some areas tree-planting schemes have been utilised tofix them, notably in the vicinity of Lake Alice. To the west of Bulls, however, very prosperous farms have been established upon the sand-dune country. For the most part the coastal lowlands are underlain by Quaternary sediments dissected into broad, flat interfluves and wide, flat-bottomed valleys, shelving gently towards the coast where they form cliffs. Between Turakina, Marton, and Bulls the lowlands become more extensive and merge with the anticlinal “downland” areas of the Manawatu. These coastal lowlands are unquestionably one of the richest farming areas of the southern part of the North Island, a fact attested to by the large number of very fine homesteads, by the high quality of the stock, and the renown of some of the stud flocks. Their productiveness and the sharp contrast in farming conditions between the coastal zone and the hill country are borne out by the statistics for the increase in sheep and lambs shorn in the period 1951–52 to 1959–60. For the region as a whole there was a 12·52-per-cent increase in sheep shorn (well below the national level of 29·81 per cent). The number of lambs shorn increased by 76·08 per cent, which was approximately 10 per cent higher than the national rate of increase. For Rangitikei County alone the increase was 102·83 per cent compared with Waimarino County's figure of 42·24 per cent.

The Rangitikei Valley is the principal route for the majority of travellers between Auckland and Wellington, and along the route all the major features of the hill country are to be seen. The area is underlain by sedimentary rocks composed of shales, sandstones, and clays gently dipping towards the south-west. The summits of the hills are all approximately of the same altitude and the characteristic and recurrent relief of the area has been created by the down-cutting of rivers and streams on soft and relatively uniform materials which have undergone uplift. From these summits, which appear as fairly narrow, slightly serrated ridges, the land falls away to a series of higher and lower, sometimes extensive, terraces, which are utilised wherever possible by the road between Marton and Taihape and which provide the best farming land in the area. Spectacular descents occur near Porewa and Mangaweka, where the road is forced to drop from a higher to a lower terrace. In the upper reaches of the Oroua, around Apiti and Rangawahia, the dissection is more intense and the real difficulties of road construction in an area where slips so easily occur are most apparent. The hill country was originally bush covered, which made it most inaccessible, and settlements, like Taihape and the smaller villages of Hunterville, Mangaweka, and Ohingaiti, owe their origins largely to the construction of the Main Trunk railway. The area is given over principally to store sheep and cattle raising, although dairying is carried out around Rata and, surprisingly, in the vicinity of Rangawahia.

Near Utiku the main road swings away from the valley of the Rangitikei and follows the Hautapu, but before following its course the traveller has a superb view across the upper Rangitikei towards the Ruahines, which form the eastern boundary of the region. The settlement of this upper part of the Rangitikei was earlier than that of the middle part, because the land was unforested, and the graziers of Hawke's Bay spread on to the low tussock lands around Moawhango as early as the 1870s. The wool was exported at that time through Napier.

Beyond Taihape the road commences a steady climb towards the southern limit of the Central Plateau and ash deposits and volcanic boulders become more frequent in the road cuttings. The great interest of this area lies in the recency of its settlement, about 1900, so that remnants of the original bush are still to be seen at the extreme limits of some farms. In the winter months the climate is quite harsh and snowfalls are common, though the snow never lies for long. Nevertheless, skilful pasture management and the selection of suitable grass mixtures have encouraged profitable farming.

At Waiouru the main highway forks and the westward route curves around the southern slopes of Ruapehu to Ohakune and Raetihi. These are the only towns of any size in the northern part of the region. They act as servicing centres for the surrounding farming and timber-milling population, and Raetihi is fortunate in possessing a group of volcanic soils which makes it an important centre for vegetable growing. In 1960, 741 acres of market gardens were reported for Waimarino County, that is, the Raetihi-Ohakune district. Although these towns are not very old settlements, of all those at the 1956 census they had the highest percentage of people under 15 years of age (Ohakune, 42 per cent; Raetihi, 38 per cent), and their slow rates of growth in the period 1951–61 (Raetihi, 16·56 per cent; Ohakune, minus 4·84 per cent) reveal the limited economic potentialities of this isolated northern sector. Furthermore, the very high figure for average area of holding in Waimarino County, 1,142 acres, a size exceeded only in four other North Island counties, gives one some idea of the rough character of the land and the extensive type of farming pursued.

Raetihi is connected to Wanganui by a second and important route, the Parapara road, a very fine sealed road traversed by a daily bus service. The route of the Wanganui River is no longer important, except for some tourist trips and recreational purposes. The Parapara road passes through sheep-farming country and the slight but real distinctions of landscape between this area and that of the Rangitikei Valley almost defy description. Two things, however, stand out. First, terracing is far less conspicuous, though not absent, along the course of the Mangawhero River; the Raukawa Falls are quite impressive. Secondly, in contrast to the Rangitikei route, the road occasionally climbs to and, for a while, stays on the summits so that their general accordance is immediately apparent. The country consists of a large number of steep-sided ridges, displaying, in the more distant parts, virgin bush, considerable reversion, and second growth. The river valleys are deep, narrow, and winding. The lasting impression is of a terrain inhibiting to movement. It is possible to reach Raetihi and Ohakune by following country roads which take the line of the rivers Whangaehu and Turakina, but these are poor and unsealed roads used mostly by the local farming or timber-felling population. As a whole the hill country is a lightly populated district held in extensive sheep farms and, until the past decade, it has been a very inaccessible area; thus inch to the mile topographical maps (1:63360) for the area are as yet unpublished.

In the middle part of the last century the idea of a Wanganui-Rangitikei region would have been more acceptable to geographers. For at that period Wanganui was the most important town and port for the whole of the south-western portion of the North Island. By its rail connections to the west and to the east it linked to the remainder of the colony and to the outside world a large proportion of the coastal lowlands, the lower Rangitikei, and part of the Manawatu. Furthermore, the Wanganui River provided access to the interior. The early settlement of the region was favoured by the relative ease with which the coastal scrub lands were brought into pastoral use, but extensive forests to the north delayed settlement, so that only at the turn of the century was the upper part of the Rangitikei and the Ohakune-Raetihi district finally settled, after the Main Trunk railway had been completed in 1908. Given this early start, Wanganui by 1878 was the eighth city of New Zealand. At the census of 1896, with a population of 5,936, it ranked seventh. By that time Palmerston North with 5,910 inhabitants had appeared as a strong competitor and the region of the lower Rangitikei and the northern part of the Manawatu, which had once been oriented towards Wanganui, now increasingly looked towards Palmerston North. Today the two cities are only an hour's drive apart, a factor which exerts a considerable influence on the future of Wanganui's development.

The growing influence of Palmerston North tends to enlarge the area included within the boundaries of the Manawatu; in creating regional boundaries economic influences override any similarities in physical geography. On this account the area drained by the upper reaches of the Pohangina, Oroua, Kiwitea, and the tributaries of the Rangitikei now look towards Palmerston North. In terms of physical geography, however, these areas have close affinities with the belt of hill country between the Rangitikei and Wanganui Rivers and for present purposes they have been included within the region. Contrasting with the hill country and forming the second major physical unit of the region are the broad sweep of coastal lowlands extending between Patea and Bulls. The small area around Raetihi and Ohakune requires special mention.

The Wanganui-Rangitikei region is a triangularshaped piece of territory located in the south-west part of the North Island. The base of the triangle extends from the Patea River in the west to the Rangitikei River in the east, a distance of approximately 55 miles; the apex of the triangle is located near Ohakune, the distance between base and apex being approximately 40 miles. This area corresponds roughly in extent with the four counties, Waimarino, Waitotara, Wanganui, and Rangitikei, which, together with their interior boroughs and cities, constitute the basis for the collection of statistics. Wanganui (urban area population, 1961: 35,694) is the principal centre for the region which, in 1961, had a total population of 67,235 (2·78 per cent of the national total) of which 9·66 per cent were Maoris.

The Wanganui River drains an area of rugged, mountainous country west and south-west of Lake Taupo. Its catchment area is 2,850 sq. miles, extending from 18 miles further north than the northern end of Lake Taupo to within 25 miles of Stratford; it drains the western slopes of Mounts Ngauruhoe, Tongariro, and Ruapehu. Through the greater part of its length the river is deeply entrenched in a steep-walled gorge cut in soft, upper Tertiary sandstones and mudstones. Only in its lowest 10 miles, from Makirikiri, has any valley plain been developed, and even at Wanganui this is only 2½ miles wide.

The largest tributaries of the Wanganui are the Ongarue River, rising in a mountain ridge to the east of Ongarue town, and the Ohura River, which runs parallel and to the west of the Ongarue. The Wanganui itself flows through the important town of Taumarunui.

The river is not normally fast flowing, and although there are several well-defined rapids on it, it is navigable by small boats for a distance of 140 miles. Although handicapped by the development of a sandbar, the port of Castlecliff in the mouth of the river serves coastal ships. The river was, and still is, an important centre of Maori culture.

The road from Makirikiri to Pipiriki in the gorge of the Wanganui River is a well-known scenic drive, and tourist trips on river boats are increasingly popular.

Wanganui means, literally, “big harbour” and possibly refers to the lower reaches and mouth of the river. The actual meaning is obscure.

by Thomas Ludovic Grant-Taylor, M.SC., New Zealand Geological Survey, Lower Hutt.

Wanganui is situated mainly on the right bank of the Wanganui River, 3 miles upstream from its mouth. The city lies on the coastal plain, but to the north-west and south-east this is reduced to a narrow strip by the hills of the dissected interior. Durie Hill and St. Johns Hill are residential suburbs, while Aramoho, Castlecliff, Gonville, and Wanganui East are partly zoned for industry. At Aramoho (3 miles north) a branch railway line from the city joins the New Plymouth – Wellington main line. By road Wanganui is 47 miles northwest of Palmerston North (63 miles by rail), 102 miles south-east of New Plymouth (107 miles by rail), and 59 miles south-east of Raetihi. There is a rail link to the port of Castlecliff, 3 miles down stream, at the mouth of the river. Together with the city wharf it accommodates small coastal vessels (larger vessels use the roadstead) and serves mainly as a distribution centre for the central North Island. Tonnage handled in 1964 was 95,152 tons, the major imports being cement, coal, and manure. Hides and wool are exported. An airport 3 miles south-west of the city is used not only by freight and regular passenger aircraft but is also the centre for an extensive aerial-topdressing industry.

Although there is some dairying and poultry farming, the predominant rural activity of the district is sheep farming, together with an increasing number of beef cattle. Wanganui is a trade and distributing centre, but has also developed secondary industries, the largest of which is the food industry. This includes a large meat-refrigerating works at Gonville, a meat-packing works at Castlecliff, a number of dairy factories, flourmills, bread bakeries, cake and pastry works, and biscuit factories. Among the textile industries are woolgrading stores at Gonville, Castlecliff, and Wanganui, woollen mills at Aramoho, and several clothing factories. Wood manufacture (sawmilling, plywoods, and furniture), printing and publishing, transport (mainly motor-vehicle repairs), and a fertiliser works at Aramoho are of significance. The remaining industries are small, with the exception of a chemical works, a footwear factory, the manufacture of concrete products, engineering works, and the New Zealand Railway workshops (at Wanganui East). Castlecliff has cement silos and a cool store for fruit.

Wanganui is noted for its educational and cultural institutions, many of which are attractively situated. In Queen's Park are the Sarjeant Art Gallery and the Alexander Museum. Adjacent to these is the very modern War Memorial Hall.

The beginnings of settlement were unfortunate. When the New Zealand Company was unable to provide land at Wellington for their constantly arriving settlers, an obvious choice for a new town was on the river where, for centuries, had grown up one of the chief areas of Maori settlement, and from which traders were already bringing steady supplies of food to Wellington. Moreover, the river was sufficiently deep and wide to allow its use as a harbour. Petre (named by the company as a compliment to Lord Petre, one of its directors) was established in 1840 and settlers immediately arrived, only to find that the “purchase” had been extremely haphazardly and hurriedly negotiated and was being vigorously repudiated by the Maoris. For seven frustrating years strife and tension continued and increased, and it is to the credit of these settlers that, though urged by Governor FitzRoy to abandon the town, they determined to remain. They also insisted on the retention of the Maori name of Wanganui (meaning “big water” or “big harbour”) in preference to Petre. In its infancy Wanganui was a garrison town, as many as 800 being garrisoned at one period. The first function of the town, however, was to provide the settlement at Wellington with pigs, pork, and potatoes, so that Wanganui was initially a trading post. By 1848 the total population of the town was only 156.

Now began a period of consolidation and expansion. Lands were cleared, cultivation was extended, stock increased, and communications slowly took shape. In 1871 the long-awaited bridge over the river was opened to carry all traffic between Wanganui and the northern districts, and the railway bridge further up stream was completed six years later. Railway construction was slow, however, and it was not until 1885 that Wanganui was linked with New Plymouth. Finally, in November 1886, when the Manawatu Railway Company's line was opened from Thorndon (Wellington) to Longburn, rail transport was thus available from Wanganui to Wellington. From 1882 to 1891, however, the growth of population was very slow. The expansion that did take place was largely due to the growth of dairying, not only locally but also in Taranaki, for the lack of suitable ports in the northern district was a gain to Wanganui. A smallgauge railway was laid between the borough and its outport of Castlecliff in order to facilitate this coastal trade. Wanganui emerged as a market town because of its early establishment and lack of any other towns of appreciable size between New Plymouth and Wellington. A town board of eight wardens was established on 19 June 1862, and the town was constituted a borough on 1 February 1872. It became a city on 1 July 1924.

POPULATION: 1951 census, 29,717; 1956 census, 32,100; 1961 census, 35,694.

by Susan Bailey, B.A., Research Officer, Department of Industries and Commerce, Wellington.

Lake Wanaka lies in a glacial lake basin oriented approximately north and south and situated 20 miles east of the main divide at Mount Aspiring and 20 miles south-south-west of Haast Pass. The township of Wanaka at its southern end is 35 miles north by road from Cromwell and 54 miles south by road from Haast Pass. The name Wanaka is a corruption of Oanaka, which means “place of Anaka”, Anaka being the name of an early Maori chief of this district. The lake is 27 miles long and though its northern part is walled in by ranges up to 6,000 ft high, the southern end spreads out into more subdued country, where the shore line is deeply indented by bays, the most prominent being Glendhu Bay on the west and Stevensons Arm on the east. The lake stands 928 ft above sea level and is probably more than 1,000 ft deep.

Both Lake Wanaka and its close neighbour, Hawea, occupy basins excavated by successive advances of great glacial systems that rose on the main divide between Mount Aspiring and the head of the Hunter River. The ice occupying the two lake basins was connected over a low pass now called the Neck, and the lake basins had a similar glacial history. Ice extended over the Wanaka area south-east down the Clutha River, at least as far as the Lindis River Junction, in later Pleistocene time. Ice submerged Mount Barker and Mount Iron, sculpturing Mount Iron into a typical “roche moutonnée” shape. A prominent loop of terminal moraine encircles the lower end of the lake, encloses Wanaka township, and marks the limits of the last of the great Pleistocene ice advances. The early Lake Wanaka was formed during the retreat of the ice terminal northwards from this loop about 10,000 years ago. It stood at first at a much higher level than at present. The outlet became entrenched in the glacial silts forming part of this moraine, and water level sunk in post-glacial time to its present 928 ft above sea level.

The first European to reach the lake was Nathaniel Chalmers, who in 1853, accompanied by two Maoris, walked from Tuturau in Southland to Wanaka via the Kawarau River and returned by raft down the Clutha River. The Otago Provincial Surveyor, J. T. Thomson, sighted Lake Wanaka in 1857 from the summit at Mount Grandview, which he reached on foot from the Mackenzie basin. The environs were mapped by surveyors Jollie and Young, who visited Lake Wanaka in 1859. They went up the Matukituki Valley to the west branch, explored the Motatapu Valley, and climbed Mount Motatapu. The head of the lake was first explored by H. S. Thompson and G. M. Hassing at about the same time, and they discovered a ruined Maori village in the Makarora Valley remaining from a Maori raid of 1836. By 1861 there were several newly established sheep stations on the south end of the lake, when James McKerrow first arrived to carry out survey work. In 1862 McKerrow surveyed the lake in a whaleboat.

A number of large sheep stations lie around the lake shores, including Glendhu Bay, West Wanaka, Minarets, Mount Albert, and Makarora Stations. Access to Minarets Station is mainly by boat. Mount Albert Station can be reached only by fording the Makarora River; access to other stations is by road. The only parts of the lake shores that can be reached easily from public roads are at the south end of the lake and on the north-east end from the Neck to the head of the lake.

For many years the southern end of the lake has been a popular tourist and holiday area, and its importance has now increased by the recent opening of the Haast Pass Road and because of improved hotel facilities at Wanaka township. The lake forms one of the most important sources of water for the Roxburgh Hydro-electric Station but, unlike Lakes Hawea and Wakatipu, its level is not artificially controlled.

by lan Charles McKellar, M.SC., Geologist, New Zealand Geological Survey, Dunedin.