Hill. — The Artesian Well System of Hawke's Bay. 285 



am well aware that water percolating through rocks of greater 

 or of less porosity may take a long time to reach what is termed 

 an impervious bed, from which, by means of fissures, it may 

 again be forced to the surface as natural springs. The best 

 spring-water in England is considered by those who are supposed 

 to be capable of giving an opinion on the matter to percolate 

 through rocks for many years, and the " more aged " the water 

 the better in quality it is supposed to be — after the manner of 

 old wine. We have it on high authority that the water used for 

 the supply of the Town of Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire, 

 England, is obtained from the chalk rocks of the Chiltern Hills, 

 and that it takes two centuries for the rain to percolate through 

 the chalk into the wells from which the Aylesbury town 

 authorities obtain their supplies. Thus it may happen that the 

 rain which fell a century or so ago upon the Napier Hills, and 

 upon the hills surrounding the Heretaunga Plain, and extending 

 from the Kidnappers, past Havelock and Pakipaki, thence 

 rounding to the north-west to Maraekakaho, then north-east 

 and north towards Taradale, is just reaching the impervious 

 beds underneath the plain, and is now coming to the surface by 

 means of artesian wells to supply the requirements of Napier 

 and the surrounding district. 



Let us see what light geology throws upon this interesting 

 subject. 



Most of those who have resided in this district for any length 

 of time are aware what great modifications have taken place in 

 the surface of what is commonly known as the Napier Swamp, 

 in consequence of the heavy floods which have occurred from 

 time to time. 



Only a few years ago the Township of Meanee was inun- 

 dated, and the land thereabouts was raised in height varying 

 from 2 to 5 feet. One can hardly realise that, within the 

 memory of many now living here, the tide used to rise 2 feet 

 inches in the swamp midway between Awatoto and Waitangi, 

 or that a respected Napier citizen used to ply a 5-ton boat 

 between Napier and Pakowhai ; and yet such are the facts. 

 The flooding of the plain has been going on at intervals for 

 many centuries, and it is chiefly by this means that the waters 

 of the bay came to be divided from the land. The whole plain 

 is an alluvial deposit of comparatively recent formation ; indeed, 

 as the Napier Swamp now testifies, it is an unfinished work, 

 which the physical agencies, air, water, and climate, were doing 

 so well when civilized man entered upon the scene to hurry on 

 the work, and to adapt the land for the supply of his needs. 

 And here I would digress for a moment to say how much I hope 

 that our President will succeed in obliterating, by means of his 

 proposed reclamation scheme, the last remnant of the swamp 

 plain, which, though interesting from a geological standpoint, 



