Hill. — On the Buapcha District. 423 



the Tutaekuri in its lowest and middle course, the Ngaruroro 

 in its middle and upper course, the Eangitikei in its upper 

 course, and the "Whangaehu also in its upper course. 



Between Napier and Woodthorpe, situated fifteen miles up 

 the Tutaekuri River, all the hills are composed of limestones and 

 marls corresponding to the upper division of the Napier series. 

 The river-terraces which are met with between Puketapu and 

 Woodthorpe correspond to the Kidnapper pumice and con- 

 glomerate beds. At the latter place the Kidnapper beds have 

 large exposures, and they occupy the hills to a height of more 

 than 400ft., and in all cases blue clays and marls are seen to 

 underlie the terrace-beds. From Woodthorpe the road passes 

 for some distance through the bed of the Tutaekuri River, the 

 banks of which are very high, and are composed of blue clays 

 and marls on either hand. Overlying the marls are shingle- 

 deposits of various thicknesses, mixed in places with thin 

 bands of pumice-sands and clays, whilst the chai'ticter of the 

 surface of the old plain of denudation, at the top of the clay- 

 marls, is clearly seen throughout the whole of the valley. In 

 two instances the exposures show pumice-bands, which form 

 such a characteristic feature of certain of the blue clay-marls 

 over a great extent of country along the east coast. In places 

 the blue clays are crowded with fossils, whilst in others they 

 are few and very brittle, which makes it difficult to collect 

 good specimens. The following were among the more com- 

 mon of those seen in this portion of the district : Dentalium 

 giganteuin, Natica ('?), Ostrea edulis, PectuncuLus laticostatus , 

 Anomia Q),Waldhcimia Icnticularis. For some distance after the 

 road leaves the bed of the river the uph-ing lands and river- 

 terraces, through which pass several deep transverse creeks,, 

 show exposures of the same clays and shingle-deposits, whilst 

 here and there traces of limestone are met with, and lime- 

 stone is also seen to top all the highest hills which form the 

 watershed of the smaller tributaries on the right and left banks 

 of the river. As far as Waikonini the country presents little 

 or no change in \\\q rocks from what may be seen a hundred 

 times exposed in the river and streams near Woodthorpe ; but 

 from this point new physical aspects present themselves, as the 

 plateau which is now reached, and which is known as the 

 Matapiro and Aorangi Plain, shows limestone outliers in the 

 small hillocks which now and again appear by the roadside. 

 The surface-soil appears to be composed mainly of grit, 

 pumice, and scoria, which between here and Karioi, situated 

 to the south of the great Ruapehu, takes the place of the fine 

 porous pumice which is found over the country further to the 

 eastward. 



This plateau appears to have been formed by the breaking- 

 up of the limestones when the elevating forces caused the 



