THE PHYSICAL HISTORY OF THE FJORDS OF NEW ZEALAND. 163 



Mr. Rouse. — Then in that case it seems to me that they stand 

 on the same footing as the Norwegian fjords, except for this drift, 

 which may itself lie on the top of a moraine. There is nothing here 

 to militate against it — in fact, one would rather infer that it was 

 so from the immense contrast there is between some of the depths 

 at the mouths and the greatest depths recorded. 



If no other gentleman would like to take part in the discussion, 

 I will call on Mr. Maclaren to reply. I have only to express our 

 hearty thanks to Mr. Maclaren for his exceedingly interesting 

 paper and his most exquisite photographic views of the New 

 Zealand fjords. 



Mr. Maclaren. — I would only like to say with reference to the 

 remarks of Dr. Jack and the Chairman that we have very little 

 data to go upon, and I have put at your disposal all that we have. 

 You. must remember that in the West Coast Sounds region 

 there are only a few people living, and it is reached only in the 

 summer time by excursion steamers, and no scientific investigation 

 has been made of the isobathic contours of the fjords. All 

 I have to go upon are the few soundings that have been made b}^ 

 the Admiralty. 



With reference to Dr. Jack's remark about the possibility of 

 the shallowing of the mouth being due to moraine matter, I quite 

 admit that ; but it seems to me that the evidence is in favou.r of 

 a coast-drift as I suggest. With regard to the character of the 

 fjord walls ; those precipices, no doubt, may owe their steepness 

 to the action of glaciei-s, just, as Dr. Jack remarked, is the case 

 with the glacier valleys in the Southern Alps, to which he referred. 

 As I have already said, the fjords were undoubtedly occupied for 

 a time by glaciers, which must have had some effect on the sides 

 of the valleys. 



The Meeting then adjourned. 



Postscript. 



A letter was received from the Secretary, Professor Hull, 

 stating his great regret that, owing to illness, he was unable to 

 be present to hear Mr. Maclaren's paper on a subject in which he 

 Avas much interested, and he desired to join in thanking the 

 author for this communication. 



M 2 



