494 Transactions. — Geology. 



Art. XLVII. — On the Geology of Te Moehau. 



By J. M. Maclaren, B.Sc. 



[Read before the Auckland Institute, 10th October, 189S.] 



Te Moehau is the highest point in the northern portion of 

 the Cape Colville Peninsula. From the cape the range rises 

 somewhat abruptly, culminating in two castellated peaks 

 2,900 ft. above sea-level. To the south, however, a gentle 

 fall terminates in a low saddle, about 800 ft. high, between 

 Cabbage Bay and Waikawau. Though thus apparently an 

 isolated mountain, it is certainly a part of the main axial 

 elevation of the Hauraki Peninsula, an elevation that has its 

 northern termination in the Great Barrier Island. 



Prom the superstitious dread of the higher parts of the 

 mountain entertained by the natives, and from there being 

 no inducement for settlers and others to ascend it, the summit 

 has been but rarely visited. The Maoris, who were formerly 

 very numerous in this district, averred that on the higher 

 slopes of the mountain there exists a race of men, small in 

 stature and ruddy in appearance. These men they called 

 " Turehu," and on foggy days — which, indeed, are neither few 

 nor far between on Moehau — then' voices and those of women 

 and chil(iren may be heard piercing the misty silence. The 

 origin of this legend, unique m Maori folk-lore so far as I 

 know, at any rate in its present setting, is unknown, and the 

 most feasible explanation that has so far been advanced to 

 account for it is that the legend arises out of the enmity that 

 ever exists between coastal and inland tribes. My own theory, 

 however, traces the legend to a much more insignificant 

 source. Remembering that the Coromandel district is prac- 

 tically the sole habitat of the rare little New Zealand frog 

 (Liopelma hochstetteri), and Moehau its only certain place of 

 abode, I think that we have here the basis of the legend. It 

 is extremely improbable that this animal was more common 

 during the occupation of the peninsula by the Maoris than it 

 now is, and the rarity of the animal, its similarity to a lizard 

 — always an object of dread to the Maori — its singular mode 

 of progression, its colour, and finally its many attitudes, so 

 grotesquely human, must have appealed strongly to the Maori 

 mind, already prone, as we know from their carvings, to a 

 belief in distorted humanity. 



The first ascent of Te Moehau was made by Mr. James 

 Adams, B.A., of the Thames High School, in January, 1890, 



