Co;'Ki;ur>x-Hoor). — AV/r Zealand a Posf-ijlacial i'entre of ^^'rratiini. 17 



The " Glacial Epocli " ia Now Zealand is assumed by Dr. Haast, F.R.S., tj 

 have beeu syuchroiious with the alleged period of the general reign of frost 

 in northern regions, a id we are accustomed to hear of the " Pleistocene 

 Glaciers " as those which have done the most work in the land of the moa. 

 But there seem to be very good reasons for placing the age of their greatest 

 extension back in plioc3ne times, about the time man was learning 

 experience in Lemuria. 



When the Cordillera stood at an equally higher altitude as that t-laiuiod 

 by Professor Fiamsay for the Swiss Alps, we may be well satisfied with the 

 ability of the rain-bearing Aviuds coming round in their sweep back from 

 equatorial regions over the warm Australian Sea to breed glaciers of magni- 

 tude suflicient to do all the work claimed for them — to shape the sides of 

 the valleys and glens, scoop out the basins of the southern lakes, grind out 

 the fiords of the west coast, and break up and collect the materials for the 

 formation of the sub-alpine plains, to be spread out there by the torrential 

 rivers in after times, which, as the land has gradually risen again after 

 partial submergence since, have left the remarkable terraces, whose symme- 

 trical lines produce such a striking feature in the landscape— of magnitude 

 suflicient to carry off masses of rock 20,000 tons in weight, if required, 

 and deposit them as blocs perchrs below, with as much ease as those masses 

 of Mont Blanc granite were borne along and left on the sides of the Rhone 

 valley. Which operation probably they did perform, but the memorials 

 being of less durable material, have disappeared under the gradual wear 

 and tear of ages, or lie buried under the accumulations of gravel and sand 

 on the plains, or beneath the sea. 



In both of these mountain systems, as in the Himalaya, changes in the 

 dimensions of then" ice-streams, and debacles caused by the bursting of 

 glacier dams, from time to time occur, on an insignificant scale it is true, 

 when compared with what we may well believe went on in the days of their 

 greatest grandeur, from local causes apparently, but which causes owe their 

 origin to events going on in far distant regions. It is convenient sometimes 

 to compare small things with great, and the operations proceeding quietly 

 now, enable a judgment to be formed as to how the same causes, working 

 with mere activity, might readily be able to repeat the phenomena that 

 engage so much attention. 



The glaciers in the Swiss Alps, which had been retreating for thirty 

 years, are advancing again at present, those descending from the heights of 

 Monte Eosa are tearing up the green fields and overwhelming the gardens 

 and homes of the peasantry, and, as the alternate advance and retreat of 

 those of Mount Cook and adjacent mountains, present an evidence of the 

 effect of ocean currents upon regions apparently far removed from their 

 nfluence, b 



