Fox. — The Wait cm of a Series. 4S3 



have not observed any outcrop, so that I cannot say with 

 certainty that the beds are identical. I think, however, we 

 lr.ay fairly assume that they are. The lithological characters 

 are the same, and peculiar to these beds ; both are somewhat 

 gritty greensands with small red patches of volcanic frag- 

 ments. The fossils at the Tamaki Head bed are Pecten zittelli, 

 Pecten fischeri, and most of the Orakei Bryozoa named by 

 Hochstetter in the " Voyage of the ' Novara.' ' The bed can 

 be seen at intervals along the cliffs of the Tamaki Gulf, till 

 towards Panmure we reach pumice sands unconformable to 

 the Waitemata series. In these outcrops I have only found 

 Bryozoa, but they are much more numerous than at Orakei 

 even, though the same species. 



I have given a somewhat full description of this bed — First, 

 because it is, so to speak, a central line in the Waitemata 

 beds from which other horizons may be worked out ; and, 

 secondly, because, though it is undoubtedly best described as 

 a sandstone, it yet contains volcanic fragments, and is there- 

 fore connected with the volcanic beds of the Waitemata series. 



At Tamaki West Head occurs one of the most interesting 

 sections in the vicinity of Auckland. It is interesting from 

 several points of view. In the first place, it supplies a sec- 

 tion in which the Parnell grit and the Orakei greensand both 

 occur, and is the only section I know of in which they do. It 

 is also the spot whence Major Heaphy's section was taken, 

 a section which has since appeared in most text-books on 

 volcanoes. Moreover, it is in this locality that the volcanic 

 neck(?) occurs, with large blocks of Maitai slates and quartzites. 



Mr. Park has given a section of this most interesting 

 locality.* Here, again, however, I am not able to agree 

 with him regarding the dip of the beds at the west head. 

 A photograph kindly taken for me by Mr. W. Satenby will 

 exemplify my views. Mr. Park, moreover, omits from this 

 part of his section the most prominent bed, the Parnell grit, 

 and also the Orakei greensand. On the western part of his 

 section, he omits the high sandstone cliffs, and therefore, of 

 course, the Parnell grit. He also writes that the beds are 

 •'undulating gently"; but, in my opinion, this is one of the 

 most contorted spots on the whole isthmus. 



In Plate XXXVI1L, fig. 5, A on the section is the Tamak 

 West Head, B a bluff not far from St. Helier's Bay. At C there 

 is distortion and small anticlines, not shown in the section 

 because they are on a small scale though very perfect. 1 is 

 the Parnell grit, 2 the Orakei greensand, 3 sandstones and 

 shales (but the beds are more numerous in the actual section), 

 and 4 a recent tuff crater. This section is an extremely 



* Geological Eeports, already cited. 



