Thomson. — Geology of Middle Clarence and Vie Y(dl<'iis. 291 



Run, of 114,300 acres. In early days a large number of small freeholds 

 were alienated, and the maps show road-lines throughout the valley, but 

 it is obvious from an inspection of the ground that both freeholds and 

 road-lines were laid down in the office without regard to topogra])hv. At 

 one time homesteads existed at the Bluff River and at Coverham, but they 

 have fallen into decay, and the former was at the time of my visit unoccu- 

 pied, while the latter is used as a musterers' hut. The only permanent 

 settlement at present existing is that at Quail Flat, which serves as an 

 out-station of the Reserve Station and is continuously inhabited tliroughout 

 the year. In addition to the above there are a small niunber of musterers' 

 huts, that at the Dee River lying on the main pack-track through the 

 valley. A traverse from Kekerangu to Reserve Station by pack-horse 

 occupies four to five days, the stops being at Coverham, Dee, Bluff, and 

 Quail Flat (optional). 



Although the Middle Clarence Valley differs considerably in form and 

 rainfall from the shouldered and flat-bottomed valleys of Switzerland, 

 such as the Upper Rhone, one cannot help predicting that by the utiliza- 

 tion of the tributary rivers for electric power and irrigation it will, like 

 them, one day become the scene of a fairly close settlement. That day, 

 however, lies in the distant future, unless the discovery of mineral resources 

 should hasten it. 



Before the actual geological exploration of the valley von Haast (1861) 

 had visited the lower Awatere Valley in 1859 and had gained a near view 

 of the Kaikoura Mountains. From the nature of the boulders in the gravel 

 of the river he inferred that the range consisted of eruptive and volcanic 

 rocks, unlike the Spenser Mountains and the Looker-on Range, which he 

 considered to be composed of sedimentary rocks. He further expressed 

 the opinion that to this volcanic action was due the upheaval of the two 

 latter ranges. 



Similarly, in the summer of 1866-67, J. Buchanan gained a view of 

 the Middle Clarence Valley from the summit of the Looker-on Range, and 

 observed the long strip of white limestone forming a series of foothills at 

 the ba,se of the Kaikoura Mountains as far south-east as the Bluff River. 



A. McKay was the first geologist to enter and explore the Middle Clarence, 

 which he traversed from Kekerangu to Hanmer in 1884-85, also crossing 

 from Reserve Station to Quail Flat. In 1888-89 he similarly explored the 

 Awatere Valley, and the four long reports (1886-1892) in which he recorded 

 his observations long remained the only source of information as to the 

 geology of these areas. They will be more fully noticed in tlie sequel, and 

 need not be discussed in detail now. 



With the exception of Sir James Hector, who accompanied McKay to 

 Coverham in 1885, the Middle Clarence was not revisited by any geologist 

 until 1912, when Dr. Cotton and myself twice went in from Kekerangu as 

 far as the Dee River. In 1916 I again visited the same ground, and made 

 the ascent of Mount Tapuaenuku from the Dee in company with Messrs. 

 B. C. Aston, A. F. O'Donoghue, and H. Hamilton. Later in the same year 

 I crossed the saddle from Reserve Station to Quail Flat and proceeded 

 down the valley as far as the Bluff River. On three separate occasions 

 also I have visited the middle part of the Ure Valley in company with 

 various companions, including on separate occasions Dr. C. A. Cotton and 

 Mr. H. T. Ferrar. 



Following on these visits, Dr. Cotton published in 1913 an account of 

 the physiography of the Middle Clarence Valley, and in 1914 a description 

 10* 



