290 Transactions. — Geolorni . 



4 miles from the Napier beach. Hastings may be put 

 down as being 40 feet above sea-level, and artesian water is 

 obtained at depths varying from 130 feet to 1G0 feet, or say 

 100 feet below the sea, and 266 feet below the highest point 

 on the plain. This depth corresponds to the depth of tho 

 ocean about 9 miles to the south-east from the Napier beach. 

 Pakowhai is 18*47 feet above the sea, and artesian water is 

 reached at depths varying from 140 feet to 170 feet, or say 137 

 feet below sea-level, and 303 feet below the highest point on the 

 plain. This depth corresponds to the depth of the ocean between 

 11 and 12 miles out in the bay. Awatoto is 9*32 feet above 

 sea-level, and water is reached at depths varying from 170 to 

 200 feet below the sea-level, and 340 feet below the highest 

 point on the plain. This depth corresponds to the depth of the 

 ocean about 15 miles out in the bay. At Napier, artesian water 

 is found at depths varying from 180 feet to 240 feet, according to 

 the proximity of the wells to the hills. This would give a mean 

 of 210 feet below the sea-level, or 381 feet below the highest 

 point on the plain. The flow at Napier in the best wells reaches 

 a height of 30 feet or more. As we proceed from Napier or from 

 Awatoto in the direction of Taradale, from Pakowhai in the direc- 

 tion of Redcliffe, from West Clive in the direction of the Grange 

 and the Big Bush, and from Hastings in the direction of Omahu, 

 the depth of the wells diminishes with the greatest regularity. 

 Thus at Meanee the wells are 160 feet deep ; at Roseneath, mid- 

 way between Meanee and Taradale, they are 100 feet deep ; whilst 

 about Taradale they vary from 60 feet to 90 feet. At the Farn- 

 don Hotel the artesian well is 135 feet deep, at West Clive 

 water is reached at 130 feet ; at East Clive 90 feet ; and at the 

 Grange, and in the vicinity of the Big Bush, at depths varying 

 from 60 to 85 feet. The variation at all these places exactly 

 corresponds to what might have been expected from the trough- 

 ing of the beds in these directions, as already pointed out. It 

 will be observed that the increase in the depth of the beds from 

 which the artesian water supply is obtained, as we proceed from 

 Pakipaki to the sea in a north-east direction, corresponds in a 

 striking manner to the slope of the plain between Roy's Hill and 

 Awatoto, the slope of the plain being 166 - 4 feet, and the increase 

 in the depth of the wells between Pakipaki and Awatoto being 

 about 160 feet. To me this gradual deepening of the wells, as 

 we proceed along the plain from Pakipaki in a north-north- 

 east direction, is sui'lieient to prove that the whole of the artesian 

 supply is obtained from the same shingle river-bed which 

 passes underneath the plain, and gradually discharges its sur- 

 plus waters on the floor of the ocean sonic 16 to 18 miles 

 to the east of the Napier beach. But there is another im- 

 portant fact connected with the artesian supply which 

 goes to support the theory that there is only a single 



