Park. — On the Discovery of Permo-carhoniferous Rocks. 447 



Art. XXXIV. — On the Discovery of Pervio-carhoniferous 

 Bocks at Moicnt Mary, North Otago. 



By Professor James Paek, F.G.S., Director Obago Uni- 

 versity School of Mines. 

 [Read before the Otago Institute, 13th October, 1903.] 

 Plates XXXV. and XXXVI. 

 In connection with my examination of the Lower Mesozoic 

 rocks of New Zealand I deemed it of the highest importance 

 to discover, if it were possible, the source of certain fossiliferous 

 boulders found in the terrace drifts on the south side of the 

 Waitaki Eiver by Mr. A. McKay in the course of his geologi- 

 cal survey of Waitaki County in the summer of 1880."-^' 



Mr. McKay made a collection of fossils from the boulders. 

 The fossils, he considered, indicated a Lower Trias or Per- 

 mian age. He traced the boulders up the course of the Awa- 

 hokomo to the foot of the Kurow Mountains, which he found 

 were composed at that place of phyllites and altered sand- 

 stone, at that time believed to belong to the Kakanui or 

 Walter and Cecil Peak series of supposed Devonian age. 



On reaching the " Kurow schists" Mr. McKay desisted in 

 the search, conceiving that the fossiliferous boulders could 

 not have been derived from that formation, and subsequently, 

 wrhen discussing the probable source of the fossiliferous 

 boulders, hazarded the opinion that they had been trans- 

 ported from some part of South Canterbury by the agency of 

 glacier-ice. f 



Thus the matter stood from 1880 till the present year. 

 Early in March of this year I visited the Waitaki Valley, 

 making my headquarters at Kurow. I searched the river- 

 terraces between Kurow and Awahokomo, and also the lower 

 courses of the Big and Little Awakino. 



I found, as reported by Mr. McKay, that the greatest 

 number of fossiliferous boulders occurred in the bed of the 

 Awahokomo, and subsequently I confined my search to the 

 course of the stream. Boulders containing fossils were fairly 

 abundant in the first three miles — that is, up to the point where 

 the stream cuts into the schistose rocks. Beyond that point, 

 as found by Mr. McKay, fossiliferous boulders seemed to be 

 absent, and for a time I was uncertain which course to pursue. 

 After a time I decided to continue up the bed of the stream. 

 Por some distance I met with no success, but after proceed- 

 ing less than half a mile I began to again find traces of fos- 

 siliferous boulders, but only at wide intervals. The traces 



• Reps. Geol. ExpL, 1881, p. 77. 

 tL.c, p. 77. 



