Story: European exploration

Haast River area

Having worked with the surveyors G. J. Roberts and Gerhard Mueller, Charlie Douglas became an excellent map maker. He spent a winter working on two huge maps of South Westland, from Hokitika to Big Bay – one of them was over 5 metres wide. This section of the southern map centres on the junction of the Clarke and Landsborough rivers where they join the Haast River. At the top are the Paringa and Ōtoko rivers, near the intriguingly named Valley of Darkness. The red markings indicate places which Douglas felt had economic potential. The maps were shown at the 1906–7 Christchurch Exhibition.

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How to cite this page:

Jock Phillips, 'European exploration - The end of exploration', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/zoomify/11282/haast-river-area (accessed 19 April 2024)

Story by Jock Phillips, published 24 Sep 2007