460 I'ransactioiiH. 



The Township of Kound Hill is between 250 ft. and 300 ft. above sea- 

 level, the claim itself, occurring as it does along the eastern bank of the 

 river, being about 200 ft. to 230 ft. above sea-level. 



From the bottom end of the claim the land is almost quite flat on all 

 sides, and it is on this flat plain at the base of the spurs that Lake George 

 is situated. 



The whole district is densely wooded ; even Kound Hill, though a trig, 

 station, is covered with trees of unusual height. In the course of our in- 

 vestigation, realizing the importance of Eound Hill as an observatory, 

 we made an excursion to the top. 



The Ourawera, we could see, has now reached its base-level of corrosion 

 in that portion which extends from the base of the ridges to the coast. Its 

 action now is one of erosion — i.e., that gradual eating-away of its banks 

 to form ultimately a more or less flat plain. The deposits, therefore, now 

 being formed from the river are those got from the denundation of the 

 rocks and soil in the neighbourhood. 



The bank on the west side is gradually sloping at once from the bed 

 of the river, but on the east side there is a rather steep cliff from the 

 bed, about 20 ft. to 30 ft. high, and extending almost the whole length of 

 the claim. This has been formed probably from the sluicing, which has 

 been going on for a considerable number of years. 



Of the coast-line, all that need be said is that it has characters exactly 

 similar to the bed of the river from the east side. The land ends in a cliff 

 of about 10 ft. to 30 ft. high, and is flat from there inland. The beach is 

 very flat. 



General Physiography of the Neighbourhood of Orepuki. 



If we look at a detail map of the Province of Otago, and especially of 

 the southern portion of it, we cannot but be struck with the almost un- 

 interrupted growth of bush which prevails as we go westwards from luver- 

 cargill to Orepuki. Almost from Invercargill itself to the water's edge on 

 the west coast there extends a continuous stretch of forest of the very 

 densest description. Not only does this occur near the coast, but for miles 

 and miles inland until the Waiau Kiver is reached, and if a clearing is met 

 one finds it due only to the indefatigable labours of some prospectors on 

 the look-out for gold. 



It is at once seen, therefore, that any examination of such a district 

 is fraught with more than ordinary difficulty. Even at the present time, 

 in spite of the fact that the railway-line to Te Tumutu has been open for 

 more than twenty years, in spite of the fact that there is still a large in- 

 ducement in the Dominion for the extension of the sawmilliug industry, 

 and in spite of the fact that the district has proved to be more than ordi- 

 narily auriferous, the means of locomotion are restricted to l)ridle -tracks, 

 bush-tracks, water-races, and sawmill tram-lines. Decent roads are quite 

 unknown in the district until we get as far north almost as Nightcaps. One 

 cannot wonder, then, that the information in regard to this district is very 

 meagre ; nor can one wonder that what information there is, geological or 

 otherwise, is more or less of a contradictory character Even in my own 

 case, though I had the advantage of tracks, water-races, and tram-lines,, 

 not to speak of a guide or two possessing a fair knowledge of the country, 

 my path was far from easy. When I consider, therefore, that Dr. Hector 

 and Captain Hutton made a survey of the country, the former in 1864 and 



