512 Transactions. 



and other fossils, is met with. On the south side of Tolago Bay, 

 as also in Cook's Cove adjoining, limestones appear, and are 

 connected with the small islands that are seen on the north of 

 the entrance to the bay. The hill that is crossed when going 

 south from Tolago Bay towards Pakarae is made up of banded 

 sandstone interbedded with a bluish sandy clay. It is fossil- 

 iferous, and belongs to the Miocene series. At Gable End Fore- 

 land the upper beds of the Cretaceo-tertiaries, with the charac- 

 teristic greensands, again appear, and at Whangara. an island 

 peninsula, the greensand tops blue clays interbedded with 

 sandstone bands, but the black and brown shales are not exposed. 

 They are seen, however, a little further along the coast, where 

 there is the only other exposure of the Cretaceo-tertiaries until 

 nearing Tua Motu Island, on the north side of Poverty Bay, 

 where the sandstones again are met Avith and numerous gas- 

 springs make their appearance. At Whareongaonga, south of 

 Poverty Bay, celebrated as the landin-gplace of Te Kooti on his 

 escape from the Chathams in the " Rifleman," the Cretaceo- 

 tertiaries again appear, and there is a large development of 

 sandstone between the Mahia and Nuhaka, where both hot 

 springs and gas-springs abound, and limestones again are met with 

 corresponding to the limestones at Tolago Bay. Inside Hawke's 

 Bay the rocks are younger Tertiaries, and there is an absence 

 of the older rocks ; but proceeding along the coast to the south 

 of the Kidnappers the rocks between Waimarama and Pourere 

 are Cretaceo-tertiaries, and the green sandstone is very largely 

 developed between Porangahau and Wainui, and gas-springs are 

 fairly abundant there. All the exposures to which reference has 

 been made show that the general strike of the beds is to the 

 south-west, and the various roads inland from the coast pass 

 across the strike of the beds ; and the exposures show that 

 the Cretaceo-tertiaries have a fairly wide distribution. 



Similar characteristics are found in all the places named — 

 that is, there are springs giving traces of oil or gas or salt. The 

 well that has caused so much hope in Taranaki has reached a 

 depth of 2,240 ft. This is nearly 1,000 ft. deeper than the 

 deepest bore hitherto put down in the Poverty Bay district, as 

 in the case of the Wairongamea well, and it may be worth while 

 to continue the sinking further, as there are abundant traces 

 of brackish water and gas and oil at the depth where work ceased. 



The foregoing portion of my paper was written on Monday 

 night, and on Wednesday last I received a letter from Akiteo 

 dated the 1st September, as follows : — 



" Dear Sir, — Hearing from Mr. Somerville, Postmaster, 

 Herbertville, that you are fond of geology and follow it up, I 

 am sending you a piece of stone which when taken from the 



