The tourist on reaching the jetty will have only a few yards to travel before he reaches Eichardt's Hotel, in which he will find accommodation not surpassed by any other establishment in the Colonies. In the visitors' register at this house, he will find the names of many distinguished tourists, and here he can obtain every information concerning the sights worth seeing, the scenes worth visiting, and the best mode of travelling to the various places of interest in the district. The tourist should certainly make it a point to visit the head of the lake; a steamer can always be chartered at Queenstown for the trip, at a moderate expense. In the summer season no difficulty is experienced in making up small excursion parties, as there are always a goodly number of visitors in the locality in the warm months, and when a few tourists club together the sail to Kinloch at the head of the lake and back costs a mere bagatelle. Apart from the chartered boats, a steamer is dispatched once a week in summer. For those who can spare time to remain for a day or two in this magnificent portion of the Wakatipu district, comfortable accommodation is page 21 obtainable at Bryant's Hotel. A week might be profitably spent at Kinloch. And here, in order to depict the grandeur of the Wakatipu country, and to bring it faithfully before the "mind's eye" of the reader, we feel we cannot do better than allow a recent visitor to describe the place himself. Compilers of guides are supposed to have an interest in making the scenes described by them as attractive as possible in order to induce travelling, and they are generally thought to be the possessors of well-developed organs of ideality. Therefore the opinion of one who visited the Lakes for pleasure alone will doubtless be more convincing to intending tourists than any description given by us would be. The following is from the pen of our highly respected fellow-colonist, Judge Bathgate:—

"We started at 9.15, and all around us the panorama was most striking. Away to the left were the Remarkables, with their summits clad with snow, marking beautifully the serrated peaks and the rugged points of the upturned strata; while immediately before us, on the other side of the lake, towered Cecil Peak, with Walter Peak behind it, also snow-clad on their summits, with silver threads of water running down their precipitous sides. The skipper said it was unusual to see so much snow at midsummer, and that it had been an exceptional season, but as it added an Alpine beauty to the rugged ranges, we did not complain of it. The morning was breezy and pleasant, with flying clouds overhead; and as the shadows chased each other along the mountain sides, sometimes darkening the snowy patches, and then revealing them in dazzling brightness, I felt I was in wonderland. Along the edge of the lake, on our right, which we hugged closely, masses of veronica were in full flower, and here and there were brilliant spots of crimson from the profuse blossoms of the iron tree. We left behind us Cecil and Afton Peaks, 6,000 feet high, and passed on our right a mass of sandstone and limestone lying at a highly inclined angle. Both are worked, and the sandstone is very hard, excellent for steps, or for monumental purposes, as it stands the weather well. We ran past Bob's Cove, where there was a snug settlement, with some cultivation. Indeed, page 22 every available site having an acre of level ground was occupied, and I could not help thinking that before I had time to make my pile, the very steep hillsides, clothed to the water's edge with beautiful foliage, will be taken up, and that our Dunedin men will seek the banks of this lovely lake for health and recreation, just as the Manchester merchants delight in villas on the shores of Windermere. Right ahead of the steamer, on the other side of the lake, was the valley of the Von River, so named after its first occupier, Von Tunzelman. The situation of his house appeared to be beautiful. It is said of him that he paid more attention to his fine garden, stocked with all sorts of fruit trees, than to his run. We had been sailing almost due west, but coming opposite the Von, our head was turned towards the north, in which direction the lake now trended, framed in an aggregation of as magnificent mountains as it was possible for an inexperienced traveller to imagine. In the distance the Humboldt range came in view, a huge pyramidal mass, capped with snow, with its highest peak, Mount Bompland, towering to an altitude of 8,100 feet above the level of the sea. On this side of it the Greenstone Valley opened up, and on the nearer rugged hill face there were fires blazing in two or three places, the signals of the shepherds engaged in the arduous duty of mustering the sheep on these almost inaccessible slopes. On our right hand Mount Crichton reared its head (6,185 ft.) while further on, beyond the little valley of Simson Creek, Mount Larkin surmounted its compeers as the crowning point, with its white covering (7,432 ft.) brought into striking contrast by the green sides of Manor Peak, a lower hill in front of it. Stone Peak came next in height to Mount Larkin. On we sped, the scenery increasing in beautiful grandeur every mile. Some of the details were very noticeable. On the side of the Crichton a stream of water tumbled 100 feet over a lofty precipice, so that it became, before reaching the bottom, totally dissipated into spray, marked with the prismatic colours of the rainbow. Along the flank of the mountain, towards Queenstown, a devious horse-track pursued its way, along which, a passenger told us, he was once driving 25 head of cattle, when the leader missed its footing, and rolled into the lake, followed by all the rest. I would have page 23 looked upon this as another version of the disaster at the Devil's Staircase, but for the narrator being the party concerned. As we sailed on, passing One Tree Island and Pig Island, we approached Pigeon Island, and here the view was indescribeably grand. Blocking up the head of the lake, Mount Alfred stood like a sentinel, a butress separating the valley of the Dart from that of the Rees River, while, away to the right, rose in wondrous beauty against the blue sky, the glacier summits of Mount Earnslaw—the glory of the landscape, 9,000 feet high. The glistening mass of snow of dazzling whiteness in the sunshine, had such an irresistible attraction to the spectator, that one never tired gazing at it. A light column of mist played on the top of the mountain, sometimes hiding the peaked summit, and then, as the cloud drifted away, it was revealed in exquisite loveliness, never to be forgotten. Cosmos Peak (8,000 ft.) was seen in the far background of the Forbes mountains, the advanced guard of unexplored territory. The steamer got so close in shore that it was made fast, and a plank laid as a gangway, rather steep, but we all got upon Pigeon Island without mishap. A pleasant corner, surrounded with flowering veronica and lawyer bushes, festooned with white convolvulus, and carpeted with fern, was selected as our dining-room. The ladies laid the cloth, the hampers were unpacked, and we were all speedily engaged discussing the merits of host Eichardt's cold fowls and lamb, the relish of the latter heightened by mint sauce. Tea for some, and malt and sherry for others, wound up our repast, and we envied none living. Our hunger satisfied, the sketchers scattered, each selecting his own favourite point of view, and pleasing records of the scene were rapidly transferred to paper. By and bye the young folks resolved to explore the island, and embarked in the steamer's boat for that purpose."