Hill. — On Distribution of Pumice. 301 



Terrace plains, as the youngest of the Pliocene series. Accord- 

 ing to this classification, the pumice deposits of what I have 

 termed the second period of deposition, as described above, 

 are considered as being older — indeed, much older — than the 

 Napier limestones and marls. The official classification has 

 evidently been based upon the report furnished by Mr. McKay, 

 the Assistant Geologist, who, in his report on the "Geology 

 of the District between Napier and Waipukurau,"* says : 

 "Lying in the low grounds to the west of Shrimpton's, and 

 forming the strata underneath the river-gravels of the Ngaru- 

 roro Plains, is a great development of sands and gravels with 

 beds of clear white pumice sand. All these strata dip in an 

 easterly direction, and apparently pass underneath the marly 

 strata and Scinde Island beds forming the hills to the east." 

 For my part, I do not see my way to accept the classification of 

 the Geological Department in relation to the pumice beds and 

 the Scinde Island limestones ; in fact, the evidence to me is 

 overwhelming in favour of the following classification : — 



Pliocene formation, in descending order, — 

 (a.) Dispersed gravels ; 



(b.) Pumice, conglomerates, blue clays, and lignites ; 

 (c.) Kereru Flotella crags and fossiliferous sands ; 

 (d.) Scinde Island lower limestones, the upper limestones 

 being the equivalents of the Kereru crags. 



So as to test the question fairly, every section for many miles 

 round about Napier has been gone over by me, and I have 

 followed the pumice beds of the Kidnapper section past Havelock, 

 Pakipaki, Maraekakaho, thence south-west up the Maraekakaho 

 Stream, and down the Manga-o-nuku Stream as far as the 

 Waipawa-Hampden Bridge ; and in no single instance is limestone 

 of any kind to be found overlying pumice beds, but there are 

 many examples of pumice and conglomerates overlying lime- 

 stones. I have also traced the Kidnapper pumice beds in a 

 N.N.W. direction as far as Pohui, thence N.E. through a large 

 portion of the Cook County ; and in no single instance in this 

 direction have I seen pumice, or any of the beds representing 

 the Kidnapper pumice section, underlying limestone. Every- 

 where the evidence shows pumice, shingle, clays, etc., overlying 

 limestones — as for example, at Napier, at the Black Beef in the 

 Kidnapper section, at Petane, Tongoio, Boy's Hill, Pakipaki, 

 Maraekakaho, Te Beinga, Poverty Bay, and many other places. 

 In one of the Geological Beports issued by the Department, it is 

 stated that pumice is to be found inter-bedded with the Scinde 

 Island limestones, and that pumice is met with at Puketapu 

 underlying the limestones. I have not yet been able to find 

 either of the beds referred to, or even traces of them. 



* " Geological Beports," 1879. 



