Taitetimu / Caswell Sound is a

fiord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the no ...

of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

of New Zealand. It is one of the fiords that form the coast of

Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...

Geography

The fiord is located between Te Houhou / George Sound and

Taiporoporo / Charles Sound Charles Sound (; officially Taiporoporo / Charles Sound) is a fiord of the South Island of New Zealand. It is one of the fiords that form the coast of Fiordland. Geography Extending south from Milford Sound / Piopiotahi, Charles Sound is the s ...

,NZ Topographic Map: Caswell Sound
/ref> on the central Fiordland coast. It is 16 kilometres in length, and extends in a roughly west-northwestern direction. The fiord is relatively straight except near its mouth, when it turns northward, and has no major arms or indentations. A small island, Styles Island, sits close to the southern shore at the fiord's entrance to the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

. A straight ridge of peaks lies parallel with the fiord's south shore, between it and the valley of the Juno River. The highest point of these peaks, at , lies just to the west of the small mountain lake, Lake Shirley, which flows into the fiord over the Shirley Falls. Mountains also stand against the northern shore of the fiord, several of them rising above . Several small rivers enter the fiord along its southern and northern shores, but the main river feeding the fiord is the Stillwater River, which flows into the fiord's eastern end. Shortly before entering the fiord it flows into the northeastern edge of Lake Marchant, exiting to the fiord at the lake's northwest. Lake Marchant is also fed by the Large Burn, which enters the lake's southern end.

Name

A. W. Reed lists four plausible origins for the fiord's name in his seminal ''Place Names of New Zealand'' (1975). The most favoured of these possibilities is that it was named for Jim Caswell, a half-caste

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

Australian Aborigine Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 years ...

guide to an early 19th-century sealing party. Reed does, however, also detail correspondence he had received that suggested that

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Commander William Caswell was in charge of a survey of the sounds during the 1830s and that other place names in the area make his a likely origin of the name. Confusing things further is the presence of two other naval officers with the surname Caswell (George and Thomas) who had visited the area. In October 2019, the name of the fiord was officially altered to Taitetimu / Caswell Sound.

References

Sounds of Fiordland Fiordland National Park {{Fiordland