338 Transactions. — Geology. 



Wanganui District. 



The beds near the mouth of the Wanganui Kiver were, I 

 believe, first described by the Hon. W. Mantell in the " Quarterly 

 Journal of the Geological Society of London," 1 but, unfortunately, 

 I am unable to refer to his papers. In 1867, Mr. J. Buchanan 

 examined the district for the Geological Survey of New Zealand. 

 The results of his researches, together with a section of Shake- 

 speare Cliff, were published in 1869 in the " Transactions of the 

 N.Z. Institute." 2 He divided the rocks into "an upper sandy 

 and lower clay stratum, and separated by a deposit of sand 

 of varying thickness, being at least 12 feet at Shakespeare 

 Cliff, at Wanganui, the whole covered by a heavy deposit of 

 sands and gravels containing a cemented gravel bed, also of 

 variable thickness, the material from which is in common use 

 for the construction of roads throughout the district." 



In 1874, Mr. C. W. Purnell read a paper to the Wellington 

 Philosophical Society "On the Wanganui Tertiaries." s He 

 divides the beds into three groups. " The oldest fossiliferous 

 stratum within a radius of four or five miles from the town 

 of Wanganui is the tuff [with pumice] in the cliffs on the east 

 bank of the river [at Kaimatera] ; the next oldest, tbe blue clay, 

 at Shakespeare Cliff ; and the youngest, the beds overlying 

 the blue clay and those at the Landguard Bluff." Mr. Purnell, 

 however, mistook ordinary clay for " volcanic mud," and he 

 considered the recent alluvial deposits of the river, containing 

 pumice, to pass under the blue clay at Shakespeare Cliff. 



In 1875, Mr. Kirk made a collection of fossils from Wanganui 

 for the Wellington Museum. 4 



In 1882, I received from Mr. S. H. Drew, of Wanganui, a 

 collection of fossils made in the neighbourhood, with the request 

 that I would name them for him. It contained several new 

 species, which I described in the " Trans. N.Z. Inst.," vol. xv., 

 p. 410. In 1883, I again received another and much larger 

 collection, which also contained some new forms, and I came to 

 the conclusion that it would be advisable to publish a new list 

 of all the mollusca which had been recorded from this interest- 

 ing locality. However, before doing so, I wished to examine the 

 district myself. Accordingly, in January, 1884, I paid a visit 

 to Wanganui, and, under Mr. Drew's guidance, spent tbree days 

 in examining the sections near the town, and one day at Patea, 

 with the following results. 



The base of Shakespeare Cliff, which stands on the left 

 bank of the river, opposite to the town of Wanganui, is formed 



1 " Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc," vol. iv., p. 239, and vol. vi., p. 332. 



2 "Transactions," vol. ii., p. 163. 



» " Trans. N.Z. Inst.," vol. vii., p. 453. 



* " Rep. Geol. Expl.," 1881, p. 123, Nos. 206-208. 



