Places

Date: 1850 - 1851

From: Fox, William 1812-1893 :Four illustrative views of the Canterbury settlement with descriptions; I. Port Lyttelton. II. Landing of the passengers from the "Cressy". III. Part of the great plain. IV. The Rivers Courtenay and Hinds. / From drawings made on the spot, by Miss Mary Townsend and William Fox Esq. London, John W Parker & Son ... 1851

By: Fox, William, 1812-1893; Allom, Thomas, 1804-1872

Reference: PUBL-0001-4

Description: View looking down onto a braided riverbed, with a party of men walking and on horseback, crossing its rivulets. The Hinds River joins from the far left, and Mt Torlesse can be seen in the right distance. The Waimakariri River was formerly called the Courtenay River. The Hinds River, so-called today, is not a tributary of the Waimakariri. The major tributary is the Kowai River, probably the one depicted here. The accompanying descriptive text reads: The main river is the Courtenay, which enters the sea near the middle of the Forty-miles Beach, delineated in the preceding Sketch. The junction of the Hinds with the Courtenay is at a short distance below the spot where this view was taken, more than thirty miles from Lyttelton. The time was the height of summer, when the bed of the Courtenay, a mile wide at this place, is a dry shingle, intersected by a network of streams. These streams are maintained in the driest weather by the melting of snow on Mount Torlesse, but are fordable at some places except at the time of heavy rains. The woods here delineated are of evergreen trees of great size; and they exhibit the general character of the natural forest in New Zealand. Indeed, the present combination of mountain, grassy plain, bright flowing water, and evergreen forest, is highly characteristic of the scenery of the Middle Island. Other Titles - Harewood Forest Quantity: 1 b&w art print(s). Physical Description: Tinted etching, black and white, 164 x 355 mm