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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 45

The West Coast Road

The West Coast Road.

The tourist will take the train to Malvern, a distance of 38 miles from Christchurch, and proceed thence by coach towards Hokitika. As only two coaches a week run at present on this line, care should be taken to secure, if possible, a box seat, and this can be accomplished by giving the driver timely notice. The country for the first few miles has a somewhat tame appearance, and it is only when page 42 the bold front of Mount Torlesse appears in view that it begins to get interesting. When Porter's Pass is reached, a grand panorama bursts on the traveller's gaze, and as the coach proceeds along the wild mountain road by the shores of Lake Lyndon, a magnificent landscape stretches far and wide before the eye. When the Cass River is reached the day's journey is completed, and comfortable quarters for the night await the tourist in the snug hotel there. Early next morning the journey is resumed along the banks of the Waimakariri to the Bealey Crossing. The scenery here is of a very grand character, and after crossing the river it continues to improve. The road leads through forest and glade, up hill and down dale, until the narrow defile leading to Arthur's Pass is reached. This romantic situation occupies an altitude of about 3,300 feet, and the view which the tourist obtains at this point is grand in the fullest acceptation of the term. The dark ranges of the West Coast, seamed with ice, and clothed from base to snow-line with magnificent forests,

"Shine out against the clear blue sky,"

and excite the admiration of the beholder. The descent from the Pass through the Otira Gorge to the Teremakau River, brings under notice some of the wildest and most romantic scenery on the road. Here the coach changes horses before proceeding onwards to its destination. A contributor to the Illustrated New Zealand Herald, in a recent number of that journal, gives the following graphic description of the