1863: Francis Joseph Glacier

January 12, 2021

By AHNZ

Francis Joseph Glacier was discovered on 14 June, 1865 by Julius von Haast and his expedition to West Canterbury. The glacier was later re-named the Franz Josef¹ Glacier, de-Anglicising it. And, having succeeded from Canterbury in 1868, Westland or just ‘The West Coast’ is now the name of the place where this glacier may be found.

Dr von Haast is the same man who gave us the Canterbury Museum and discovered the Haast Eagle. Recent revisionist and Politically Correct historians try to strip von Haast of his achievement, writing that he didn’t discover the glacier at all, no more than Tasman discovered New Zealand or Cook discovered White Island. The basis for this, I suppose, is that some anonymous pre-historic Maoris knew of the glacier prior. However, the Maoris on von Haast’s expedition knew nothing of it and had never even seen ice before². Besides, it was for the West that the discovery was made not some previously observing civilisation or people.

Retreat

There were many preachy information panels around the Franz Josef Glacier on my visit this year. The Government (DOC) wanted me to know that the glacier had receded a long way back into the mountains and that I had something to do with this!

This message seemed partly apologetic as to why nobody was allowed to get within 2km of the glacier (which was very anticlimactic.) And, it was partly, I guess, an excuse why someone would want to pay extra to be able to access a closer look. They take something away that’s ours and then sell it back to us. I also think many people of the current year like to be lectured on how bad they are and make pilgrimages to the scene of their so-called crimes.

The 2-3km loss in ice is apparently the fault of Anthropogenic Climate Change. Humans, by failing to recycle their paper, plastic, and glass have unleashed CO2 that is accelerating us out of the Little Ice Age that our global climate was already exiting anyway. In particular, the use of heavy industry and the motor car and deforestation are why we humans are to blame for our actions and these results of the past few decades.

However, if you can make it to the furtherest end of a side-track to view the glacier there’s a bit of information at the end that contradicts it all. Here is is pointed out the same information as follows…

“Near the end of the last ice age about 18,000 years ago it extended to the present-day coastline or even beyond.”- Wiki

So, about 2km and 100 years of retreat are the fault of the humans and their machines.

Who is responsible for 17km of glacial loss over those 17,900 years?

We do that too?

“Don’t forget to recycle.” Yeah right’o.

—
1 Emperor of Austria Franz Josef was a friend to the Waikato Maoris, he once gave them a printing press and the training to use it. It’s the same one they proceeded to print their King’s newspaper with, Te Hokioi; Ref. 1863: The Sparrow and the Eagle

2 Ref. DR. HAAST’S LECTURE ON THE WEST COAST; Lyttleton Times (1865); Papers Past

Image ref. Glacier, AHNZ Archive (2021)

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