"On the 29th we were able to resume the ascent of the crest of Mount Musgrave, along which we proceeded about two miles on this day and camped at an altitude of 7,180 feet. The temperature was 70° at noon, but at night fell below 60°.
"Mount Musgrave does not differ in formation from Mount Belford; but, somewhat to our surprise, we found it to be composed of slate and quartz right to the top. Our path was crossed at several places between 6,000 and 7,000 feet, by well-marked veins of white quartz.
"Finding that there was no prospect of meeting with any spur running towards Mount Victoria (the new name given to Mount Owen Stanley), we determined to descend on the north side of Mount Musgrave. My own party now consisted of Belford, two Polynesians and six Papuans. After a succession of steep cliffs and gorges, we, by ten o'clock, reached a clearing, and after great difficulty in descending the steep rocks at the foot of Mount Musgrave, we reached the Vanapa River at about noon, at the foot of Mount Knutsford. We had considerable difficulty in crossing the Vanapa, on account of the quantity of water and the rapidity of the current. Immediately on effecting the passage we were at the foot of Mount Knutsford, the first mountain we touched connected directly with the Owen Stanley range.
"We ascended about 500 feet, and then camped. On the 2nd of June we continued our ascent. A temperature of 69° F. was marked before sunrise. We camped for the night at an altitude of 6,500 feet, where the temperature at 6 p.m. was 67°.
"Next day, June 3rd, we started at 7.30 a.m., and by noon had travelled one mile, when we were completely enveloped in fog, temperature 64° F. On the 5th of June we first came into contact, at an altitude of 9,000 feet, with an undergrowth of bamboo. At 2 p.m. on 6th of June we reached the summit of Mount Knutsford, 11,100 feet high. Here Alpine flowers and plants are met with. The quartz and slate formation extends to the top. The temperature at night and early morning was as low as 45° to 40°.
"We were now left with six days' food, and there was no appearance of any more reaching us. It was not without some anxiety that a forward march was ordered on the morning of the 8th. We accomplished fully five miles in a northerly direction along the summit of Mount Knutsford, and camped on a small creek that divides it at its northern end from Mount Griffith. At 9 a.m. next day we crossed the Vanapa for the last time. The altitude of this crossing was 10,130 feet, the temperature 59°. On crossing we began the ascent of the central ridge of the Owen Stanley Range. Early in the afternoon we reached the top of the great ridge at the point named Winter Height, which has an altitude of 11,882 feet, and about 5 p.m. we camped on the lowest part of the great central ridge, forming the lowest part of the central portion of the Owen Stanley Range, to which has been given the name of Dickson Pass. Its height is 10,884 feet, and it divides Mount Douglas from Winter Height. In our camp at Dickson Pass, the morning temperature before sunrise was 44°, and at 8 a.m. 55°. The forest here is mainly composed of cypress. We passed over the top of Mount Douglas, 11,796 feet, and had an opportunity of picking strawberries there. They were small, excellent in flavour, but not quite ripe. At 5 p.m. we pitched camp, after a march of about five or six miles, some four hours' march from the top of Mount Victoria, the name I have given to the highest crest of the great Owen Stanley Range.
"At about 11 a.m. of the 11th of June, I reached the top of the north-west peak of Mount Victoria, and I may mention that a few hundred feet from the top of the highest crest I saw the largest vein of quartz I have seen in the 'Possession,' about 15 inches thick. There are no trees on this mountain within 1,500 feet of the top, and but few bushes.
"We were camped two nights on Mount Victoria, the 11th and 12th of June, at an altitude of 12,452 feet, that is, about 670 feet from the top of the highest peaks. The temperature rose in the middle of the day to 70°. In the morning the grass was quite white with frost until the rays of the sun reached it. Icicles were brought into the camp, the largest one being over an inch in diameter, and seven or eight inches long. Mount Victoria is, during this season at least, emphatically a dry mountain. The crest of Mount Victoria runs from south-east to north-west, and may be described as composed of six different peaks, but they might be divided differently by different observers. The north-west one and the south-east one are a few feet higher than any of the others. The distance between the two is from a mile to a mile and a quarter in a straight line. I ascended to the top of all the peaks, the central ones being most difficult of access, which I climbed only after tremendous exertion. Mount Victoria is far from being the isolated block it has been customary to represent it. It is simply the eastern end of the Owen Stanley Range, which runs without a break, as one continuous whole, from the south-east end of Mount Victoria until the range meets Mount Griffith and Mount Scratchley; the length of this part of the range is about 20 to 25 miles.
"Mr. Cameron's calculations and my observations make the height of Mount Victoria 13,121 feet, an estimate that comes very near to that given on maps and charts, 13,205.
"The north coast was for several hours in the forenoon plainly distinct from the top of Mount Victoria. This mountain is some 15 to 20 miles nearer to the south than to the north coast. The country lying between it and the north coast is far less mountainous than that between it and the south coast.