FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION 323 
hinterland. The coast in the Greymouth region is open, and 
the waves attack it with great violence. Old beaches above the 
present one and some distance inland seem to suggest slow up- 
lift. Between them in places are sand dunes which are more or 
less established. From the end of the breakwater looking south- 
west we caught our first glimpse of the great snowelad peaks of 
the Southern Alps. The Mt. Cook group, nearly one hundred 
miles away, stood out majestically as the early morning sun 
was reflected from their snowy sides and summits. 
The coal-loading facilities at the docks both here and at West- 
port are well worthy of comment. Great steam cranes lift the 
loaded cars bodily off their trucks and swing them over the 
bunkers of waiting vessels where they are automatically dumped 
and then swung back into place, the whole process taking but 
a few moments. 
In connection with these notes on the coals of this region, 
brief attention should be called to the extensive iron deposits of 
the Golden Bay district near Nelson. Here is located the largest 
and most valuable iron deposit in Australasia. Indeed it is said 
to be the largest on the vast Pacific seaboard in either hemi- 
sphere. That this great deposit of limonite ore, as yet practic- 
ally untouched, should lie within a relatively short distance of 
the Westland coal mines is very significant in connection with 
the future manufacturing activities of the Dominion. 
Hokitika is a small town of two thousand inhabitants near 
the mouth of a small stream of the same name. It has no harbor 
at present since the cost of keeping the river mouth free of 
shifting sand is prohibitive. Lumbering is the chief industry 
although agricultural and dairy products are sent away by rail. 
In the spring of the year (September to November) enormous 
numbers of whitebait, a small delectable food-fish, enter the 
river. Several canneries do a brisk business during seasons 
when the runs are good. 
The town site is a low sandy tract barely above high tide. 
During great storms the place is often flooded. At the time of 
our stay the sea was relatively quiet, yet the thunder of the 
waves night and day on the unprotected shore was very dis- 
eonecerting. Hokitika of today is but the ghost of its former 
self. In the gold rush of 1864 when the rich gold-bearing 
deposits of gravel were discovered, the region became the mecea 
of gold hunters. During the boom, Hokitika’s population ran 
