50 



Prof. Hutton does not make it clear to my comprehension that 

 the Pleistocene deposits so rich in bird remains were coeval 

 with the glaciation of the southern hemisphere. One circum- 

 stance which seems to very much invalidate Prof. Hutton' s 

 arguments is that jSTew Zealand has been the scene of great 

 oscillation of level during Tertiary times ; " the Oligocene and 

 Miocene systems attain an elevation of 4,000 feet in the North 

 Island;" "the marine beds of the Pliocene system attain an 

 -elevation of more than 2,000 feet near Napier ;" and in the 

 Pleistocene period "I believe that the sea stood much higher 

 than 800 feet in Canterbury," op. eit. 



[F.S. — August 15. More recently Prof. Hutton has modified 

 his opinion, as I gather from the following abstract of a 

 paper read before the Lin. Soc. N.S.W., July 29, 1885 :— '' The 

 iiuthor discusses the phenomena which have been adduced as 

 •evidence for the former existence of a glacial epoch in Aus- 

 tralia, and shows that they are susceptible of a different inter- 

 pretation. He distinguishes between a glacier epoch, such as 

 lias occurred in New Zealand, in which, owing to various local, 

 but only local, causes, icefields prevailed over much larger dis- 

 tricts than at present, and a glacial epoch, such as has been 

 demonstrated in the northern hemisphere, which is the result, 

 not of variations caused and limited by local circumstances, but 

 of alterations universal or cosmical in character. The glacier 

 epoch in New Zealand is regarded as anterior to the glacial 

 epoch of the north."] 



Dr. Lendenfeld* characterises my observationsf as very 

 vague, and Mr. Griffith's J evidence as of a still more vague 

 character. Did I not know that Dr. Lendenfeld has had a 

 large practical alpine experience, 1 should have been disposed 

 to regard his statements as indicative of incompetency to ap- 

 preciate at their proper value glacier signs irrespective of their 

 position. It seems to me that his main objection to the accept- 

 ance of the observations of myself and others is that we began 

 at the wrong end. He writes : — " G-lacial traces must be 

 looked for in the mountains first," and then when found " the 

 investigation can be extended down to the low lands to ascer- 

 tain how far the glaciers reached." Indeed, I cannot refrain 

 from remarking upon the obvious under current of self -lauda- 

 tion running through his paper — as it were to say, I will ignore 

 all these evidences as I wish to have credit for the discovery of 

 glacial remains ; of course up the mountains I will go. And 

 he found them on the high plateau of Mount Kosciusco, but 

 not below 5,800 feet, and concludes that " at the time of the 



* Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., vol. X., p. 2. 



t Trans. Eoy. Soc. S. Aust., vol. II., page Ixv., 1879. 



X Trans. Key. Soc. Vict., 1882. 



