1864 - von Hochstetter, Ferdinand. The Geology of New Zealand - EXPLANATION OF THE MAPS.

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EXPLANATION OF THE MAPS.
BY DR. FERDINAND V. HOCHSTETTER.

MAP I.

NEW ZEALAND.--GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

NEW ZEALAND consists of two large and several small Islands, which form a broad strip of land extending from the South-West to the North-East, and at its Northern end prolonged by a narrow Peninsula in a North-Westerly direction. The outlines are very similar to those of Italy in a reversed

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position. Its geographical position also harmonises with that of Italy, being situated between the parallel circles of 34 1/2 deg. and 47 1/2 deg. Southern width, and the meridians of 166 1/2 deg. and 178 3/4 deg. Eastern length of Greenwich. Its length is 800 sea miles, its central width from East to West is 120 sea miles (30 German miles), and the area of the whole group of Islands amounts to 99,969 English square miles. New Zealand is therefore nearly as large as Great Britain and Ireland.

Two Straits--Cook's Straits in the North, and Foveaux Straits in the South--separate New Zealand into three parts of different sizes--two larger Islands, which, in the absence of other names, have been termed the North and South Islands, and a small Isle called Stewart's Island. To these the first English Governor, Captain Hobson, officially gave the names of New Ulster, New Munster, and New Leinster (after the three Provinces of Ireland). These names sometimes figure on the maps, but are only remembered by the colonist as antiquated reminiscences. The original name of New Zealand is Te Ika a Maui--that is, the Fish of Maui (Cook wrote Ea heino Mauwe)--a name which has a mythical signification. Also Te Wahi Punamu, or land of the green-stone; and Ra Kiura. The former was applied only to the South Island, where the mineral Nephrite, which was so highly prized by the Maoris, was to be found.

The three Islands form a geological group, being parts of the same system, which forms one distinct line of elevation in the Pacific Ocean. And Nature, with her mighty forces of fire and water, has indelibly engraved the history of the Islands on their surface. In the South, wild alpine regions covered with ice and glaciers, and in the North, volcanoes reaching to the regions of eternal snow, are seen glimmering in the distance by the mariner on approaching the coast. The fertile, richly-watered alluvial flats are the virgin soil on which the settler forms his new home, and where, blessed with the most salubrious of all climates, he has to combat only the wilderness to ensure the reward of his labour.

The characteristic of New Zealand is a large longitudinal mountain chain, which, broken by Cook's Straits, runs through the principal Island in a South-Westerly and North-Easterly

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direction from the South Cape to the East Cape. This forms the backbone of the Islands, and reaches its grand and multifarious development in the Southern. Island, where it assumes, in numberless summits covered with snow and glaciers, the character of mountains, to which, with full justice, the name of the Southern Alps has been given. Majestically in the centre of these mountainous regions stands the summit of Mount Cook, with its neighbouring giant heights, elevated 13,000 feet above the level of the sea, or nearly the height of Mont Blanc. Mighty glaciers, streams, and magnificent mountain lakes, splendid cascades, passes, and dark clefts whose rocky walls re-echo the noisy torrents rushing through them, form the beauty of a wild solitary mountain scenery, seldom trodden by human feet. The brave explorers who have of late years had the courage to penetrate into these wild regions, 1 report that their grandeur if even equalled is not excelled by any in the world.

Towards the West, those Alpine mountains abruptly assume a very precipitous character, and form, on this the stormy side of the Island, a dreadfully rugged, weather-beaten, and rocky coast. On the East, at the feet of these mountains, lay wide-spreading plains and alluvial flats, well adapted for agriculture, and which are occupied by the European settlers as sheep runs; while on the North and South the gradations and slopes of the mountains are of a clay slate formation, in which are hidden those quartz veins that have of late years been developed into the rich gold-fields to which Nelson and Otago owe their prosperity.

In the North Island, past Cook's Straits, the Southern Alps have their continuation in the great mountain chain which

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stretches along the East Coast, from Cape Pallisser to the East Cape. Different peaks, which have names, such as Tararua, Ruahine, Kaimanawa, Te Waiti, are of pretty nearly equal height. The highest summits reach only from 5,000 to 6,000 feet, and are therefore much ]ess than the height of the Southern Alps. These mountains are an almost terra incognita, and doubtless contain treasures of many kinds. The Northern Island is also rich in Volcanic phenomena. The high plateau on the Western side of this mountain chain, sloping off towards the North and South, forms the remaining part of the Island, and is pierced to a great depth in more than a hundred places by Volcanic agencies.

High Trachytic Volcanoes, and a great number of small Basaltic eruption-cones, of quite a recent age, and a long chain of hot springs which, like the Geysers of Iceland, at intermittent periods, throw up masses of boiling water in steaming fountains, Fumaroles and Solfataras in a multitude of forms of the utmost conceivable grandeur, offer to the geologist a rich field for research, and to the traveller some of the most remarkable scenes of nature.

The extraordinarily diversified surface formation of New Zealand leads to the inference of a most varied geological conformation. The commencement of a geological examination of the North and South Islands has proved this to the fullest extent, during the last few years. The geologic detail maps of my own observations, and partly those of my friend Haast's, show manifold changes in strata and in minerals. They show that, throughout the whole chain, from the oldest metamorphic formation to the latest sediment layers, and also from the earliest plutonic rocks, up to the latest volcanic formation, all the principal genera are represented.

New Zealand is rich in minerals of all kinds, and all those which are now found--as gold, copper, iron, chrome, graphite and coal--can only be regarded as the first-fruits of future treasures to be brought to light in years to come.

The fossil fauna and flora of New Zealand, as far as at present known, differs entirely from that of Australia, and many geological facts prove that New Zealand, surrounded by the ocean, has been an island--though not in its present

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form--since the most remote ages, and entirely isolated from larger continents. In the later ages of the history of man, it has been inhabited near the coast and along the course of the larger rivers. It has thus maintained the peculiar and pristine origin of its fauna and flora. The European domestic animals which have only been introduced since the latter end of the last, and the commencement of the present century, are the only quadrupeds which existed in this country.

In respect of its insular position, its splendid oceanic climate, the fertility of its soil, and its entire formation, New Zealand is of all the Colonies of the British Crown, the most similar to the Home Country, and destined to become the mother of a new civilized race--a Great Britain of the South Sea.

MAP II.

THE GEOLOGICAL FORMATION OF THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND.

SINCE Dieffenbach's memorable travels in New Zealand in the year 1810, no naturalist has visited the southern part of the Province of Auckland, so justly celebrated for its grand volcanic phenomena.

The geological information which Dieffenbach gave in his work could not suffice; the interior was topographically almost unknown. A journey, therefore, to these parts, promised rich field for observation; and after a stay of nearly two months in Auckland and its neighbourhood, I started with a numerous suite, well provided for a long journey on foot, and for a campaign in that thinly inhabited country.

On the 6th of March, 1859, near Maungatautari, I reached the main stream of the Waikato, flowing from the heart of the Island.

I travelled along this river in the canoes of the natives, and observed near Kupa Kupa large brown coal seams, and entering the Waipa, visited the Mission Station, and took a tour to the West to visit the Harbours of Whaingaroa, Aotea, and Kawhia. All those localities are of geological importance on account of the numerous localities for petrefactions. At Kawhia, I found, besides Belemnites, the first Ammonites found in New Zealand.

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From Kawhia, I took a tour inland to the Mokau district. Penetrating through numerous primitive forests, and traversing large mountain chains, I passed the springs of the Wanganui River in the Tuhua district, and on the 14th of April, our party arrived at the majestic Lake Taupo, which is surrounded by the grandest volcanic scenery, and is situated 1250 feet above the level of the sea. Here I was in the heart of the country, at the foot of the steaming volcano, Tongariro, and its now silent neighbour Ruapahu, 9,200 feet high, covered with eternal snow. On the Southern side of the Lake is a Mission Station, where I received the kindest hospitality, and my Maori companions were entertained in Maori fashion in the neighbouring Pa Pukawa by the great chief Te Heuheu. After I had sketched the plan of the Lake, and examined the numerous hot springs on its borders, I started from the sources of the Waikato River flowing from that Lake, and followed the most interesting chain of boiling springs, Solfataras, and fumaroles, which are situated in a North-Easterly direction between the active crater of Tongariro and the island volcano of Whakari or White Island, on the East Coast. The Lake neighbourhood is situated in the line where the ngawhas and puias of New Zealand (that is, the boiling fountains and geysers, where silicious stalactites form terraces of basins) reach their most magnificent development near the Rotoiti and Rotomahana Lakes. I consider the hot springs in this district the most remarkable, and, next to Iceland, the largest in the world.

In the beginning of May, I reached the East Coast near Maketu, Tauranga Harbour. Hence I went inland to the Waiho valley, or the valley of the Thames of New Zealand, and arrived at Maungatautari again at the Waikato. I wandered through the fruitful fields of the Middle Waikato basin, by Rangiawhia, the centre of the Maori settlement, and paid a visit to the Maori King Potatau Te Wherowhero, at his residence Ngaruawahia, at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipa, and returned by the Waikato, to Maungatawhiri, at the end of May, on my way to Auckland.

The result of this expedition, extending over three months, was in every respect satisfactory; the favourable state of the weather lessened many of the difficulties which travelling through swampy rivers and the almost impassable New Zealand

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bush would otherwise have entailed, and luckily my journey happened to be during the harvest of potatoes, wheat, &c., &c., consequently I found no want in the commissariat department. We received the most hearty welcome at the various Mission Stations scattered over the country, and the native Chiefs everywhere received the Te Rata Hokiteta (my name in the Maori tongue,) and my companions, at their pas, with great honour and hospitality, were always willing to oblige, and with good-humoured zeal ready to assist with everything.

With the assistance of my friends Haast, Hay, Koch, and Hamel, who were my companions, the results proved in every way as satisfactory as could be expected. A rich collection of Geographical, Mineralogical, Botanical, and Geological observations came into my hands, and also for Ethnographical studies I had ample opportunity.

My principal aim was, however, the Geography and Geology of the country. To make geological sketches, I was obliged to work at the same time topographically, as the maps of the interior were based only on the reports of travelling missionaries and a-la-vue sketches.

The map which I took with me from Auckland, for my guidance, only gave a little information about the coast, and its value beyond a few miles from Auckland was not more than that of a piece of waste paper. I had, therefore, to adopt a triangulation system based on the nautical observations of Captain Drury, and carried out from the West to the East coast, with the energetic assistance of Major Drummond Hay. The natives, who otherwise always manifested their mistrust of the Government Surveyors, and placed every difficulty in their way, did not interrupt me. They knew that I was a foreigner who would remain only a short time in the country, and they assisted me in every possible manner, to enable me to relate in my distant land much of the beauties of their country. The chiefs themselves were my guides to the most interesting parts, and to the top of the mountains, where with the utmost readiness they gave me the names of the mountains, rivers, valleys, and lakes, and explained after their fashion the geography of the district. I carefully collected all the names they gave me, and trust that I have rescued from oblivion many beautiful Maori names. The terrain positions I

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sketched always on the spot, and in this manner I returned with materials from which I compiled in Auckland a map of the Southern part of that Province, on a large scale. 2

This map has been re-cast and revised with the assistance of my original sketches and surveys, by Dr. A. Petermann, and the map in this Atlas, in the reduced scale, is the product of his labour, and the result of my observations. It stands to reason, that a map which contains nearly 2,500 miles (10,000 square miles) and embraces more than the fourth part of the Northern Island, executed by the assistance of a compass alone, within the period of three months, can make no pretensions to a trigonometric exactness. It is, however, the first map which gives a correct view of the rivers and mountain systems, and of the lakes in the interior of the Northern Island, and will be useful until some better and more complete map takes its place. The Barometrical measures which I took served as corresponding observations to those of the Observatory of the Royal Engineers in Auckland, which were kindly placed at my services by Colonel Mould.

The geological condition of the Southern part of the Province of Auckland may be sketched in the following order:--

PALAEOZOIC (PRIMARY) FORMATION.

Dark coloured claystone, old sandstone called grauwacke, silicious and jasparoid slate, form a complex system of layers,

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which on the Northern Island, where crystalline (metamorphic) slate rocks have not yet been discovered, appears to be the oldest formation, the geological age of which it is impossible to state with exactitude, as petrifactions have not yet been discovered. The gold quartz veins which are to be found in the peninsula of Cape Colville (Coromandel harbour), are imbedded in this old clay slate formation. Frequent outbursts and layers of dioritic rocks correspond to the Silurian age.

Distribution.--Upon the peninsula of Cape Colville, where it is covered to a great extent with recent volcanic conglomerate, containing rich gold quartz veins, which have given rise to mining enterprise since 1862 (Coromandel Gold Fields). The alluvial diggings arising from those veins are of little importance. Upon the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, where the Great Barrier and Kawau contain veins of copper ore (copper pyrites, black and some red copper ore). Upon Waiheki are immense strata of jaspar and petrosilex; as also in the mountain chains of the west side of the Firth of the Thames, and thence in a southerly direction into the chains of Taupiri and Kakarimata. Further on they are covered by tertiary and volcanic strata, and penetrate to the surface only in a few localities. The mountain chains which extend from the Wellington district to the Taupo Lake and the East Coast, consist most likely also of old palaeozoic rocks.

MESOZOIC (SECONDARY) FORMATION.
The Mesozoic formation has been ascertained by the discovery of Ammonites and Belemnites in the entrance to the Waikato river, and in the harbour of Kawhia, although the exact age of these strata cannot be fixed by the discovery of petrifactions up to this time, and which are enumerated as follows:--

1. A very large complex stratum of very regular and highly inclined beds of marl and sandstone, on the Waikato South Head, with

Belemnites Aucldandieus (v. llauer), Aucella pi i cat a (Zittel), Placunopsis striatula (Zittel), Terebratula spec.; Al the Kawhia Harbour, with

Belemnites Aucklandicus (v. Hauer),
Aucella plicata (Zittel),
Placunopsis striatula (Zittel),
Terebratula spec.;

At the Kawhia Harbour, with
Belemnites Aucklandicus (var. minor),

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Ammonites Novo-Seelandicus (v. Hauer),
Inoceramus Haasti (Hochst.).

2. Strata containing coal on the West Coast, south of the entrance of the Waikato--sandstone, marl, and slate clay, with thin, worthless seams of coal, and numerous portions of plants, amongst which are frequently to be found in good preservation:

Polypodium Hochstetteri (Unger),
Asplenium palaeoptcris (Unger);

while the Belemnites (belonging to the group of Canaliculati) indicate the Jurassic system. The largely folded Inoccramus and Ammonites have a greater similarity to those from the chalk formation.

CAINOZOIC (TERTIARY) FORMATION.
Tertiary formations are distributed over a large portion of the Province of Auckland, for the most part in a horizontal position.

1. Brown Coal Formation: sandstone and clay slate, with beds of useful coal.
(a.) The Hunua coal-field, near Drury and Papakura district, south of Auckland, discovered in the year 1858 by the Rev. Mr. Purchas, and worked since 1859 by the Waihoihoi Coal Company. The coal belongs to a class of brown coal--to the so-called glanz and pitch coal--and contains a fossil gum--Ambrit (Haidinger)--which has often been mistaken for kauri gum. The price of this coal in Auckland is 30s. to 32s. per ton. The argillaceous slate and sandstone accompanying this contains several bivalves and leaves of Dicotyledones:

Fagus Ninnisiana (Unger),
Lorantophyllum Griselinia (Unger),
Lorantophyllum Dubinin (Unger)
Myrtifolium lingua (Unger) &c.

(b.) The coal-fields of the Lower Waikato basin--a large brown coal basin--is situated at Kupakupa, on the northern declivity of Hakarimata chain, but is not yet worked.

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(c.) Brown coal strata on the west and southern brim of the central Waikato basin.

2. Marine argillaceous marl, sand, and limestone, with numerous petrifactions.
(a.) Waitemata beds: sandstone and marl, on the isthmus of Auckland, on the North Shore and Manukau, with stray pieces of wood transformed into brown coal.

On the Orakei Bay, near Auckland, strata rich in glauconite, many foraminiferae and bryozoae with small pectens--

Pecten Aucklandicus (Zittel),
Pecten Fischeri (Zittel)--

small forms similar to Bivalves and Belemnites, which are most probably the centres of Vaginella shells.

(b.) The limestone cliffs of Drury, near Auckland: flat limestone rich in foraminiferae, with Turbinolia, Schizaster, Terebratula, Pecten, &c.

(c.) Waikato Heads and southerly direction of the West Coast: granulated sandstone strata, resting irregularly on the above-mentioned Belemnite beds with coal layers, and containing Cidaris, Nucleolites, Schizaster, Fasciculipora, Retepora, Cellepora, Waldheima, Pecten, Sharks' teeth, &c.

(d.) Clay marl and flat sandstone on the borders of Whaingaroa, Aotea, and Kawhia, on the West Coast, with Pecten, Waldheimia, &c., and many Foraminiferes.

(e.) The flat coarse limestone in the Upper Waipa, Maungapu, and Mokau district, with many subterrestial rivulets, caves, and funnel-shaped holes.

POST-TERTIARY (OR QUATERNARY) FORMATION.
1. Plastic clay and sand, with Lignite in the Lower Waikato basin, and in the flats on the south and east side of the Manukau harbour.

2. The terrace formation in the Lower and Middle Waikato basin--the terraces the number and regularity of which causes astonishment to the observer, are the consequences of the continual erosions of the rivers during a slowly continuing rising of the lands in the quaternary period.

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The Taupo district is the source of the extensive masses of pumice which are distributed over the terraces.

3. Littoral formation along the coast.
(a.) Formation of downs mostly near the West Coast and on the Coast of the Bay of Plenty.

(b.) Layers of titanic magnetic iron sand along the West Coast.

(c.) Mud with brackish sea animals in the estuaries of the East and West Coast.

4. Formation in the interior.
(a.) Extensive swamps and peat bogs along the East Coast, the Middle and Lower Waikato basin, and on the entrance of the Waikato.

(b.) Layers, with bones of the Moa (Dinornis), and Moa stones in swamps; alluvial deposits and caves in the Upper Waipa, Mokau, and Tuhua district, and on the East Coast.

(c.) Layers of kauri gum in the northern part of the Province of Auckland, where formerly kauri forest existed.

(d.) Alluvium containing gold in the neighbourhood of Coromandel harbour.

5. Accumulations by the hands of men, as shells, stones, bones, &c., over different districts.
(a.) Heaps of shells of edible varieties--Cardium, Ostrea, Mytilus, Patella, Venus, Haliotis, Mesodesma, Turbo, Monodonta, &c.--particularly in the places of former pas and villages, analogous to the Kjokken moddings in Denmark.

(b.) Stones of fire-places of the Maoris, charcoal, and ashes.

(c.) A variety of tools made from stone by the Maoris, anchors, axes, &c., prepared of Aphanite, Nephrite, flintstone, &c.

(d.) Human bones, bones of dogs, whales, fishes, and different birds--Penguin, Albatross, Weka (Ocydromus), Kiwi (Apterix), Moa bones, and egg shells, in the neighbourhood of the Maori fire-places. These bones are mostly burned, and bear the marks of stone weapons.

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VOLCANIC FORMATION.
1. The north side of the Manukau Harbour is formed of a rugged rocky coast wall composed of mighty layers of volcanic stone masses, consisting of angular fragments of the different volcanic basis of rocks--Trachy-Dolerite, Ande-site, &c., which are transformed landwards into different coloured conglomerate clays.

2. On the southern side of the Manukau Harbour, and on both sides of the Waikato, thence to the Aotea Harbour, extensive strata of basaltic conglomerate cover the tertiary layers, and with these conglomerates are immediately connected masses of eruptive basalt, without forming-distinct craters.

3. The volcanic zone which encloses the Middle Waikato basin, and is situated between this and the Lake Taupo, is principally formed by trachyte and pumice, with which are connected a very long line of volcanos, such as Karioi, Pirongia, Kakepuku, Maungatautari, Aroha, and many others. These mountains consist of trachytic, andesitic, and doleritic rocks; their summits are decayed and destroyed, and their craters scarcely recognisable.

4. The volcanic formation of the Taupo zone consists of a rhyolithic and trachytic lava. The volcanic eruption which commenced in the tertiary period continued, and gave to the Northern Island its present form only in the quaternary period. The eruptive masses of the Taupo zone consist of lava (the richest known) of silicious earth, also of rhyolithic rocks of all kinds, with obsidian and pumice. Near the centre of the Northern Island, on the southern border of the greal inland lake Taupo, the water of which fills a large sunken crater, there rises on a plateau of pumice of 2,000 feet above the level of the sea the two giant volcanoes of New Zealand, Tongariro and Ruapahu. The Tongariro volcano, which rises to an elevation of 6,500 feet, is yet active as a Solfatara, with two large and constantly steaming craters (Ngauruhoe and Ketetahi). Ruapahu, which is 9,000 feet high, is covered with everlasting snow, and its fires seem to be extinct. These two mountains are accompanied on their northern side by a number of smaller extinct volcanoes,

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which the natives have designated as the wives and children of the two giants. In a north-easterly direction, a few miles distant from the coast in the Bay of Plenty, is situated the second active volcano of New Zealand, Whakari (White Island), 863 feet high, from the crater of which ascends, uninterruptedly, large white clouds of vapour. The distance between these two large volcanos amounts to 120 miles, and between them the volcanic agency steams and boils in more than a thousand places from deep furrows and fissures, a sign of the continual subterraneous fire, while numerous lakes are formed by the sunken ground, and which represents the Lake District, so celebrated for its boiling springs, fumaroles, and Solfataras; or, as the natives call them, the ngawhas and puias, in the southern parts of the Province of Auckland (vide expl. Map 4).

5. The volcanic formation of Auckland zone is of basaltic lava (vide expl. Map 3).

RECORD OF THE HEIGHTS OF THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND.

+ Parts which have been adjusted by the marine survey ("New Zealand Pilot," and English charts).
b Barometric measures, by Hochstetter.
* Estimated.

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MAP III.

THE ISTHMUS OF AUCKLAND AND ITS EXTINCT VOLCANOS.

THE great southern part of the Northern Island of New Zealand is connected by a small isthmus with the northwestern peninsula, on the parallel circle of 37 deg. S. lat. The sea penetrates through the Hauraki Gulf on the Eastern Coast, forming many branching creeks, and washes in a southwesterly direction into the so-called Waitemata River upon the north side of the peninsula. On the West Coast--the stormy weather side of New Zealand--the ocean, penetrating through hard volcanic rocks in a narrow entrance, spreads out and forms the Manukau basin, the southern coast of this isthmus. The land between the two seas is only some five or six miles broad, and in two places where the Waitemata River forms small creeks in a southerly direction towards the Manukau basin it narrows to the width of one mile. These narrow strips have been used by the Maoris from ancient

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times to carry their canoes from one side of the island to the other, and this has given rise to the idea of forming a canal, and thus uniting the two seas. 3

While the Waitemata is the most central amongst the many harbours of the East Coast, the Manukau basin is, of all the harbours of the West Coast, the best, and the only one which is available, without danger, for large ships. The clear-sightedness of Captain Hobson, who, in 1840, recommended to the British Government, as the most suitable situation for the Capital of New Zealand, this isthmus, on both coasts of which navigation is so easy and safe, and which is so centrally and favourably situated for connecting both larger continents of the Northern Island, deserves all commendation. No other position in the Northern Island offers, by its central situation, the advantages of so easy and safe a water communication in all directions. Besides the numerous arms of the sea which penetrate in manifold directions deep into the land, there are numerous navigable rivers such as the Kaipara, Wairoa, Waikato, Piako, and Waiho, all of which are of easy access from this isthmus.

Auckland, the present capital of New Zealand, and the principal town of the Province of Auckland, is the seat of the Colonial and Provincial Governments, and was established in the year 1840. It is situated on the northern side of the isthmus, on the banks of the Waitemata. Of rapid growth, and extending itself from year to year, in 1861 this city numbered 8,000 inhabitants. More than this number occupy the vicinity of the town and the country of the district of Auckland.

A beautiful macadamised road leads from Auckland to Onehunga, or the Manukau Harbour. Onehunga--originally a settlement of pensioners, who each received from the Government a cottage and an acre of land--has rapidly progressed, and is now a considerable town, and on account of its pleasant position it is the favourite retreat of many of the wealthier class of Auckland. Between Auckland and One-

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hunga are numerous country seats, villas, and farms. Along the road, villages are rapidly forming, such as Newmarket, Mount St. John, and Epsom. Every sign of the former wildness of the isthmus has vanished. The old New Zealand vegetation has given way to European plants. Scoria walls and green hawthorn hedges divide the various estates; green meadows, gardens, and fields charm the eye. Everywhere herds of fine cattle are seen grazing in the holds. Omnibuses are constantly passing on the roads, and the whole forms a picture of a fresh and happy life.

The isthmus of Auckland is also one of the most interesting volcanic districts of the globe. It owes its distinguishing feature to a great number of extinct volcanos, with more or less distinctly preserved craters and lava streams which form extensive scoria fields at the foot of the hills, or with tuff-craters which encircle the scoria cones like an artificial wall, and are irregularly distributed over the isthmus and the neighbouring banks of the Waitemata and Manukau. The volcanic activity at each new eruption seems to have taken a different course from the former, and divided itself into numerous small cones. My map of the isthmus, which extends over a district of 20 miles in length, by 12 in width, shows not less than 63 independent points of eruption.

These are volcanos on the smallest scale, forming cones of an elevation of from 300 to 600 feet above the level of the sea. The highest amongst them is Rangitoto, which rises at the entrance of the harbour of Auckland to the height of 900 feet. But they are perfect models of volcanic cones and crater formation, and offer a large field of geognostic observation, refuting entirely the theory of elevation craters by Leopold von Buch. 4

These mountains rise on a base consisting of tertiary sandstone and argillaceous marl, the horizontal and only locally disturbed strata of which are easily recognisable on the steep banks of the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours. The examination of these isolated points of eruption gives proof

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of repeated and different volcanic outbursts in one and the same locality.

The first eruptions--probably sub-marine, at the bottom of a well-sheltered bay--consisted of loose masses, and of ruins of the fundamental basis, scoria and ashes. These eruptions took place in many shocks, following each other; the masses thrown out formed layers above each other and around the place of outbreak, causing a flat rising cone, with more or less circular or basin-like crater in the centre--tuft-cone and tuft-crater. The Pupuki Lake on the North Shore, the Orakei Bay, east of Auckland; Geddes' Basin, near Onehunga; the basin Waimagoia, near Panmure; and Kohuora Hills south of Otahuhu, are amongst other distinguished examples of such tuff-craters. Like the Maren in the Eifel, these crater basins are very deep and are filled with water. The sweet water lake, Pupuki, has a depth of 28 fathoms, or 108 feet. 5 They are sometimes flat, dry, or swampy. When they are situated near the sea it has generally forced an entrance, and ebbs and flows in and out of the crater basin. In consequence of their rich and fertile volcanic soil these tuff-cones hold an important position in the Province of Auckland--almost everyone of them is occupied by the homestead of a settler. The practical shrewdness of these men has led them, without geological knowledge, to settle at the basis or side of these craters--their flourishing meadows and clover fields contrasting strongly with the fern and manuka scrub (Leptospermum) of the clay soil.

With the beginning of the volcanic activity seems to have commenced, although very gradually, a rise of the whole isthmus; so that the later eruptions took place above the sea. In this second period, the volcanic activity increased to the emissions of red hot masses of scoria and streams of lava. At that time the Auckland volcanos were fire-spitting mountains in the true sense of the word; their steep cones at a slope of 30 deg. to 35 deg. were formed of scoria, volcanic bombs, and lapilles (Mount Eden, Three Kings, Mount Smart, Mount Wellington, and many others), with deep, funnel-shaped craters, and where

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repeated eruptions followed each other out of one and the same crater, cones of lava were formed again, like Rangitoto. Where these new eruptions followed the former course, new scoria cones grew up within the ring of the tuff-crater, and according to the number of the eruptions, or the sinkings which followed the extinct volcanic activity, larger or smaller islets were formed within, where water or swamp filled the tuff-craters. The lava of all the Auckland volcanoes is petrographically identical. It consists of porous basalt lava, rich in olivin, which makes a good building stone for the substantial erections in Auckland, while the scoria cones afford an excellent material for the roads of the isthmus.

The name of Rangitoto, which signifies "Sky of Blood," would lead to the supposition that the Natives have given this name in consequence of the reflection of the burning streams of lava in the nightly sky, and that therefore the Auckland volcanos have been in activity in very recent historical times; but this is improbable. That their activity belongs to the most recent geological period of the earth, and to the geological chronology of the present time, is proved by the fact that the volcanic ashes cover the surface directly, and that the lava streams have run by no means at one and the same time into the neighbouring valleys. These have therefore existed at the time of the emission of lava, and the surface of the district has since that time undergone no material change.

Transformed through the diligence and enterprise of the European settler into fertile cultivated districts, the Auckland volcanos are but monuments of a remarkable history of the Maori race. Only a few generations have passed since the Auckland isthmus was the seat of a mighty Maori tribe--the Ngatiwatuas--consisting of 20,000 to 30,000 men. These extinct fire mountains, with their commanding situations and wide prospects, occupied at that time, the position of hill forts, like the feudal castles of Germany. On their summits were the fortified pas of the chiefs, while at the foot of the hills were distributed the huts and kumera cultivations of the slaves. The slopes of the hills were formed into regular terraces, and fortified with palisades. The huts and houses are now destroyed; the palisades have disappeared; the Maori feudal castles have decayed; the terraces and holes are the only remaining monu-

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ments of a brave people which were annihilated in the bloody, cannibal wars of Hongi, the "Napoleon of New Zealand," in the years 1820 to 1830, and whose deeds live only in song and tradition.

MAP IV.

ROTO-MAHANA (OR THE WARM LAKE) AND ITS HOT SPRINGS.

THE Lake District, so called on account of its numerous lakes, is situated about two days' journey from the Bay of Plenty. It is almost exclusively inhabited by the natives, who have selected the beautiful and fertile banks of Rotorua and Tarawera as their settlements. The Mission Station at Temu (the Rev. Mr. Spencer's residence) is at present the only European habitation, and is the resort of many travellers and naturalists, who visit the neighbourhood during the summer months. The principal point of attraction of this region is Roto-mahana, or the Hot Lake, with its wonders, a visit to which well repays the fatigues of a few days' travelling through New Zealand rush and swamps. 6

It is one of the smallest lakes of the district, scarcely exceeding in length three-quarters of a mile from north to south, and in width a quarter of a mile. I hardly believe that this small, dull-green lake, with its swampy borders, and the surrounding barren and miserable-looking hills, which are destitute of trees, and only covered with fern, would come up to the expectation of the traveller, who has heard so much of its wonders. That which makes it the most remarkable of all the lakes of New Zealand, nay even the most remarkable of all spots of the earth, lies mostly hidden from the view of the new arrival--except the immense clouds of steam which rise everywhere--which leads to the supposition that in reality nothing is to be seen.

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The name of "Warm Lake" (Roto--lake; mahana--warm) may in the full sense of the word be given to it. The masses of boiling hot water which spring up along the banks and from the bottom of the lake, are really collossal. Of course the whole lake is warmed by them, but the temperature of the water differs considerably in various places, as they are nearer or further from the springs. At many points, even in the centre of the lake, the thermometer rises from 30 deg. to 40 deg. c., (86 deg. to 104 deg. F.) while near its stream I found it only 26 deg. c. (78.8 deg. F.) The water is thick and swampy, and neither fish nor shell-fish can live in it. Otherwise the lake is a favourite resort of innumerable aquatic birds, who build their nests on its warm banks, while they find their food in the waters and swamps of the cold lake Roto-makariri. The natives shoot them at certain seasons, but at other times they do not permit either Europeans or themselves the pleasure of sport. The birds of Roto-mahana are at this period strictly "tapu."

Visitors who intend to stay a few days at the lake are recommended by the natives to select as their quarters the small island Puai. This is a rock, 12 feet high, 250 feet long, and nearly 100 feet wide. Small huts are there erected, in which we made ourselves as comfortable as possible. But I believe that any one who did not know that persons have lived here for several weeks, would only with great difficulty be persuaded to remain here even for one night. The continual roaring, rushing, singing, buzzing, boiling sound, and the intense heat of the ground, impresses a feeling of terror, and during the first night of my stay I awoke suddenly, as the ground under me became so hot that I could not possibly bear it. In examining the temperature, I made a hole in the soft ground, and placed the thermometer in it. It rose immediately to boiling-point, and when I took it out, a stream of hot steam instantly ascended; so that I hastened to cover it again as fast as I could. Indeed, the whole island is nothing but a torn and fractured rock, decomposed and softened by steam and gases, which, almost boiled to softness, may at any moment tumble to pieces, and vanish in the hot water of the lake. Hot water bubbles up everywhere, either below the surface of the lake or above it; and wherever a hole is made in the ground, or the crust removed which is formed over the

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fissures of the rock, hot steam bursts forth, which we used for cooking our potatoes and meat, spreading them on ferns, according to native custom.

The centre of attraction and of interest is the eastern bank, where are the most important of the springs, which indeed the lake has to thank for its renown, and which are the most magnificent and grand of all hot springs at present known.

Te Tarata is situated at the north-eastern end of the lake. It lies 80 feet above the level of the lake, within a crater which is open towards the side of the lake, and forms the principal basis of this mighty bubbling spring. It is 80 feet long by 60 feet broad, and filled up to the brim with clear boiling water, which issues in the centre several feet higher, looking beautifully blue in its snow-white incrusted basin. Enormous clouds of steam, rising upwards, are reflected in the blue mirror of the basin. The temperature of the water, which probably reaches to boiling-point in the centre, was 84 deg. c. (183.2 deg. F.) near the rim of the basin. The water is neither alkaline nor acid; it has a slightly salt taste, and possesses in a high degree the property of petrifaction, or rather of incrustration. The sediment consists, as in the hot springs of Iceland, of silica, and the overflow has formed on the slope of the hill a system of crystal terraces, which, appearing almost as white as marble, present a sight which it is impossible to describe. It is as if a cascade, rushing over steps, had been suddenly arrested, and transformed into stone. Each of these steps has a small elevated rim, from which hang delicate stalactites; and here and there, on the smaller and broader steps, are formed water basins. These blue basins, filled with crystal water, form natural baths, which could not be surpassed by those constructed by the most refined luxury. One can select his bathing-place either deep or shallow, small or large, and of every temperature according to his taste, as the basins situated on the heights near the source contain warmer water than those of the lower steps. Some of the basins are so large that a person can swim in them with comfort. Such is a description of the celebrated Te Tarata spring. The natives assert that the whole water in the principal basin is sometimes ejected suddenly with vast force, and that it is possible to look into the empty basin, thirty feet deep, which fills again speedily.

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A path leads from the foot of the Te Terata spring through the bush to the great Ngahapu spring. The basin of this spring is 40 feet long and 30 feet broad. The water within it is in constant and dreadful agitation. It is only for a few moments that the water is quiet in the cauldron, when it again bubbles up, and is thrown eight to ten feet high; and a foaming surf of boiling hot waves stream over the walls of the basin; so that the observer is obliged timidly to retreat. The thermometer rises in these springs to 98 deg. c. (208.4 deg. F.) Further south, close to the banks, is situated the Te Takapo spring--a boiling water basin of 10 feet in diameter, the geyser eruption of which rises to a height of 30 to 40 feet.

Not far from this spring the traveller arrives at a hollow called Waikanapanapa(Variable Water),the approach to which is covered with bush, and somewhat difficult, as one has to pass several suspicious-looking places, where there is danger of sinking in the boiling mud. The cavity itself appears like the crater of a volcano; the walls, bare of vegetation, are rent and torn; pieces and tongues of rock of white, red, and blue fumarolic clay rising upwards like spectres, threaten to fall every moment. The bottom is formed of fine mud, and silicious stalactites, broken into every form and variety, lie about like pieces of ice after the breaking up of a frozen stream. Here is a deep pool filled with bubbling mud--there a cauldron full of boiling water--near it a dreadful hole which, with a hissing noise, ejects a column of steam; and further on small mud hills (fumaroles), from two to five feet in height--mud volcanos, if the name may be applied to them--which, with a dull noise, throw out of their craters boiling mud, and represent, on a small scale, the effects of large volcanos. In the back-ground is situated a green lake named Roto-punamu, an extinct spring.

Coming out of the north side of the cave is seen lying picturesquely amongst rocks and bush the spring Rua Kiwi (Kiwi Hole). It is an oblong basin of sixteen feet in length, filled with clear simmering water. The banks of the lake assume here a steep and rocky character; hot springs bubble out of them below the surface of the water, while on the slope are situated, near the Ngawhana spring, the vacated huts of a Maori settlement of the same name, and not far off

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is the intermittent spring Koingo (the Sighing), the emission of water from which only takes place from three to four times a day, and alternates with the neighbouring Whatapaho.

The above-mentioned springs are the principal ones; on the slope of a hill, rising about 200 feet above the level of the lake, there are more than 100 places that eject steam. South of this steaming hill the banks are lower; on the south-east side of the lake is situated the spring Khakaehu, with which are connected a whole chain of boiling springs, ejecting partly clear and partly muddy water from the swampy ground. In the flats are several small cold-water lakes, and in the back-ground rises a mountain--Te Rangi Pakaru (Broken Heavens)--on the west side of which, from a crater-like hole, there steams a mighty solfatara producing much sulphur.

On the western bank, the great terrace spring--Otuka Puarangi (Cloudy Atmosphere), forms the counterpart of Te Tarata spring. The stalactic steps reach to the lake, and one ascends as on artificially formed marble steps, which are decorated on both sides with green shrubs. These terraces are not so grand as those of Te Tarata, but are more delicate and of a beautiful pink hue, which adds a peculiar charm to this wonderful formation. The basin of this spring is 40 to 50 feet in diameter, and appears as a calm, blue, glimmering, steaming, but not boiling mirror of water. On the northern side, at the foot of the terraces, is the solfatara Whaka-taratara--a sulphur pool in the true sense of the word, from which a hot muddy stream runs into the lake.

There are about twenty-five large hot springs--or ngawhas, as the natives call them--at Roto-mahana. I dare not venture to estimate the number of the smaller ones. And Roto-mahana is only one point of a rent above 150 miles long, and 17 wide, between the active crater of Tongariro and that of the White Island in the Bay of Plenty, throughout which hot water and steam are ejected from the earth at innumerable points.

These grand thermal springs have proved most efficient in curing diseases of the skin and rheumatism, so far as the experience of the natives goes; and it is not improbable that in a few years Roto-mahana will be one of the most frequented bathing-places for Australian and Indian invalids. The map is the first that has been compiled of the lakes and springs,

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and may serve as a guide to the tourist in this interesting district.

Professor Dr. v. Fehling, of Stuttgart, has had the kindness to analyse the waters of the lake and the stalactites. On account of the small quantity of the water, a quantitative analysis could not be made.

A.--Analysis of the Water.

1. Te Tarata Spring, by Mr. Melchior.
2. Rua Kiwi Spring, by Mr. Melchior.
3. Roto Punamu, by Dr. Kielmaier.

In 1000 parts of water was contained:

B.--Silicious Stalactite or Deposit of the different Hot Springs on the banks on the Roto-mahana.

1. Deposit of Te Tarata Spring: (a.) soft, (b.) hard.
2. " " " " of the Ngahapu Fountain,
3. " " " " of the Whatapoho Fountain,
4. " " " " of the Otuka Puarangi Spring.

The analysis executed by Mr. Mayer gives:

MAP V.

WHAINGAROA, AOTEA, AND KAWHIA--THREE HARBOURS ON WEST COAST OF THE PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND.

THE contrast between a weather shore and lee shore coast formation is nowhere so striking as between the west coast and the north-east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. While, from the North Cape to the East Cape, the coast,

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sheltered from the prevailing winds, presents a most irregular outline, forming deep in the land many indented harbours, navigable by the largest ships--for example, the Bay of Islands and the Waitemata or Auckland harbour--with numerous islands and capes; the West Coast, which is exposed to the westerly wind, is, on the other hand, from Cape Maria Van Diemen to Cape Egmont, an almost regular outline, slightly curved towards the east, and is formed by a nearly uninterrupted chain of sandbanks. These sandbanks in many places, and particularly where there is no steep or higher rocky coast in the background, reach a height of 500 to 600 feet, and when seen from the sea, appear like a chain of mountains. The bays and creeks of the West Coast are, in consequence of these sandbanks, locked up from the sea, and are merely estuaries, navigable only through narrow entrances, in which the sea ebbs and flows. At high water these estuaries appear like large lakes, but at low water immense mud flats, intersected by narrow channels, are laid bare.

On the West Coast are six of these estuaries, three north of the Waikato--the Manukau, Kaipara, and Hokianga harbours; and three south--the Whaingaroa, Aotea, and Kawhia harbours. All these estuaries have this in common--that the sandbanks which are situated before their entrances, are continually shifting their situation and form. This is most prejudicial to navigation, and in consequence all these harbours, with the exception of the Manukau, which alone is navigable by larger vessels, are only available for small coasters.

The most southern of these harbours--Aotea and Kawhia--are represented on this map.

The Whaingaroa harbour is a small sea inlet, six to seven miles long, branching off in many directions, and divided into two parts by a long peninsula. Into the northern bay flows the Whaingaroa river, and into the southern the Waitetuna. The harbour is only navigable for vessels of from 60 to 80 tons, which generally anchor near the outlet; but by boats it is possible to keep up a communication with the most remote branches. At low water the harbour is almost empty; large mud flats are exposed, the narrow channels only retaining water. The Maori population of the neighbourhood amounts

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to about 400, and that of the European settlers to 122, there being amongst the latter some twenty farmers with their families. About a mile inland from the heads is the township of Raglan. In 1859 it consisted of from six to eight houses, amongst which was, of course, a public-house and a store. Not far from Raglan, also on the south side, is the Wesleyan Mission Station. Opposite, on the north side, is the Maori village Horea, and an old pa.

The borders of the Waitetuna consist of a sandy clay marl, of a tertiary age, containing some, but very few fossils: species of Turritella, Isocardium, and Natica, also a Turbinolia, and some beautiful foraminiferoe. The hills on the south side of the harbour consist of many summits of basalt. Raglan is situated on a soft ferruginous sandstone, which is nothing but hardened sea sand. Opposite to Raglan, on the north side of the harbour, and along the borders, is a most picturesque limestone formation, consisting of tabular masses built up in horizontal strata. Washed and eroded by the sea, these masses assume the most singular shapes: towers sixty to seventy feet high, high walls, columns, &c.

On the south side of the harbour is the Karioi mountain, an extinct volcano of trachydolerite, with a broad and numerously branched summit, which, penetrating far into the sea, forms a very prominent object.

The Aotea harbour is an estuary which, behind its narrow entrance, spreading out into a shallow bay of a width of two to three miles, and a length of six miles, and which, with the exception of a few very small channels, is at low water almost dry. On the west coast is situated the Maori village Rauraukauera, and a Wesleyan Mission School--Beechamdale. Four European families and 270 natives were the whole population in 1859. Dieffenbach reckoned the number of natives, in 1840, at 1200.

The geological conditions are simple and instructive, as the formations seen apart in the Whaingaroa are here placed super-imposed. They can best be observed in a high cliff, situated on the south-east side, and visible from a great distance, called by the Maoris Oratangi, which means that stones fall here with much noise. At the bottom lies a stratum of 40 feet of the same grey clay marl as that of

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the Whaingaroa harbour, with very few petrifactions. I only found one Inoceramus and a few pectens. Above this marl are large banks of calcareous sandstone, rich in petrifaction. It is the same formation as the tabular limestone of Whaingaroa, the strata varying, some being more sandy, and others more calcareous. At the Puketoa cliff, which stands at the edge of the water, I collected petrifactions belonging to the following genera: Pecten, Spondylus, Cuculaea, Terebratula, Hollicipes, Scalaria, and Schizaster. The marl and sandstone formations make hill land all round the Aotea harbour, which is indented by innumerable small bays. Near the Heads the sandbanks rise to a height of 300 to 400 feet, and traces of lignite may be discovered at high water mark.

The Kawhia harbour is from 6 to 7 miles long, 3 to 4 miles broad, and is intersected by many navigable channels, between which are laid bare at low water shallow mud and sandbanks. The entrance to this harbour is narrowed to only half a mile by a far extending land tongue--Te Maika. At the entrance are bars, which confine the navigation of the harbour only to smaller craft. The coasting trade is partly carried on by Europeans and by Maoris. Six European families are settled on different localities of the harbour, and the number of natives were in the year 1859 from five to six thousand.

The steep and abrupt coast wall of the south side of the harbour, in the neighbourhood of Takatahi, is built up of steep strata of sandstone and calcareous marl. It was here I had the pleasure of finding the first New Zealand ammonites and other petrifactions. (Ammonites now Ocelandicus, Inoceramus Haastii, &c.) In the south-westerly direction of Takatahi, also on the south side, is Ahuahu, a land-point on the Waiharakeke channel, in the neighbourhood of the Wesleyan Mission Station, where there is a rich mine of belemnites (Belemnites Aucklandicus var. minor). The cliffs are of clay, of a greenish brown colour, the steep strata of which alternate with hardened lime marl. At low water it is possible to collect the belemnites at the foot of the cliffs in great numbers. The natives call them Roke-kanae, which means the excrements of the fish kanae.

The whole southern borders of the Kawhia Harbour consists of strata containing belemnites and ammonites belonging to the Jurasic system. The same tertiary argillaceous marl and

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limestone which appear at the Aotea and Whaingaroa Harbours appear also at the northern bank of the Waiharakeke River, forming the border walls and distributed in almost horizontal strata over the whole south-eastern side to the Awaroa River. At the Rakaunui River these chalk banks reach to the water's edge, and form along the coast the most picturesque rocks in the shape of towers and ruins, in consequence of which this part of the Kawhia Harbour has been designated the New Zealand Switzerland. The romantic and various shapes assumed by the torn and worn masses of rocks surprises the eye everywhere, while in the valleys, where lie the villages of the natives, the rich fields of corn and maize delight the beholder. I consider this as one of the most beautiful and fertile districts of New Zealand which I have seen. The character of the landscape remains the same far up into the mountains, and 1000 feet above the harbour white masses of rock penetrate through the verdure of the forest and bush. Hence the name of Castle Hills for these mountains, which the natives call Whenuapu. This neighbourhood also possesses numerous caves. This limestone formation appears also on the north side of the Kawhia Harbour, in the Towara Bay, and on the Puti River; it is rich in large oysters and terebratulae.

The east side of the harbour consists partly of scattered volcanic tufa and conglomerate, which are connected with the trachy-dolerite chain of Pirongia. Over these mountains, paths thickly covered with bush lead inwards to the Waipa valley.