434 Transactions. — Geology. 



being Gin. in diameter, whilst the largest up to this time were 

 wells of a 3in. bore; so that the sectional areas are as 36 to 9, 

 or 4 to 1. The mode of putting down these wells w^as entirely 

 different from that formerly adopted in this district. I have 

 been particular to locate these wells, as they are of special 

 importance, for they show in the clearest manner the 

 troughing of the water-bearing beds in the direction indi- 

 cated by me three years ago. The first well — that is, the one 

 nearest the hills — was sunk to the depth of 156ft. before the 

 water-bearing basin was reached. The beds passed through in 

 this well were as follows : Shingle, 58^ft. ; fine white lime- 

 stone, 1ft. ; pale-blue shingle, interbedded with 2ft. of hard 

 brown clay, 18ft.; blue clay, with shells, 22ft.; fine blue sand, 

 with thin clay-bands, 9ft. ; blue clays, with sand-and-shell 

 band, 6ft. ; fine blue sand, with shells, 3ft. ; rather coarse 

 blue sands, in places full of shells, 30fb. ; clay, with thin sand- 

 bands containing bits of water-logged wood, 8ft. ; shingle, the 

 water-bearing bed. When water was struck the artesian 

 well at the railway works, some distance away, diminished 

 the height of its flow about 20ft. ; but this was only tempo- 

 rary, as the pressure again returned, and I understand that 

 the flow at the railway well now shows no appreciable dimi- 

 nution. The characters of the beds passed through were very 

 similar, except that in the first well, after passing through 

 58^ft. of shingle, 1ft. of fine white-limestone sand was met 

 with. This was followed by 16ft. of blue shingle, about the 

 middle of which was a hard pumiceous clay-band, nearly a 

 foot in thickness. In the second well (see sectioTi, Plate 

 XXXI., fig. 1) no limestone -sand band appeared, nor was 

 there any pumiceous clay ; but some of the pebbles brought 

 up were of limestone similar to the Napier limestone. Below 

 the shingle w'ere alternate beds of blue clays and blue sands. 

 When passing through the blue sands in each well fresh water 

 appeared, and at times it rose in the pipe to within a few feet 

 of the surface. Fresh water in these beds may be the result 

 of percolation from the true water-bearing basin, as the beds 

 run out towards the Sciude Island limestones. It has been 

 explained that the first well put down in Munro Street was 

 156ft. in depth; the second well, which is 14 chains further 

 from the hills, is just 40ft. deeper, or 196ft. ; whilst the well 

 at the junction of Munro and Hastings Streets, to which 

 reference has already been made, is 230ft. in depth : so that 

 the evidence is complete for the following statements : — - 



1. That the artesian beds die out towards the Napier hills 

 just as they do towards the hills at the Greemneadows. 



2. That the beds dip apparently to the south-east at the 

 rate of between 2ft. and 3ft. to the chain, which corresponds 

 to a dip of little more than 2°. 



