Page:The Kea, a New Zealand problem (1909).pdf/103

Rh the northern half of the South Island, at an altitude of from 4,000 feet to 6,000 feet above sea-level.

Dr. L. Cockayne makes the following comment upon them: “The rocks of the alpine summits weathering away, and the rain not being sufficient to bear all the debris down into the valleys, an enormous quantity of angular stones collects on the mountain sides in many places, which may form steep slopes for thousands of feet. As the climber wearily ascends



these shingle slips, as they are called, progress is slow; the tones continually slip beneath his feet, and slide down the slope. No place could seem more unlikely to support vegetable life. It is in truth a veritable alpine desert. . . . . On these shingle slips the wonderful vegetable sheep are encountered. These grow, not on the shingle, but on the rocks which the stones have nearly buried. Large examples form great hummocks six feet long by three feet across, or