742 KEPOET — 1881. 



2. On the 'Hot-Jake District and the Glacier Scenery and Fjords of New 

 Zealand. By "Wii. Lant Carpenter, B.A., B.Sc, F.G.8. 



The author had visited New Zealand in December 1880, and through the kindness 

 of prominent men there had been able to see and learn a great deal, and had brought 

 home a series of excellent photographs of places but rarely visited. These were 

 exhibited. The lines of volcanic action in the North Island were first explained, 

 and the general characteristics of the centre of the island were pointed out. The 

 sm-face was composed either of acid volcanic or post-tertiary sedimentary rocks. 

 The water-supply of the Hot-lake District was Lake Taupo, with an area of 248 

 square miles, 1,250 feet above the sea, with a depth considerably greater than that, 

 through which ran the river Waikato, and from which subterranean channels led. 

 Aroimd its shores were many hot sprmgs — geysers 100 feet high — mud volcanoes, 

 fumaroles, &c. In the river valley'76 hot springs were visible from one station. 

 The Hot-lake District proper was" 40 miles N.N.E. of Taupo, about 240 square 

 miles in extent, containing 16 lakes. Two were described — Rotorua, the largest, 

 and Rotomahana, celebrated for its marvellous and unique terraces of nearly pure 

 silica, deposited from intermittent hot springs that burst out about 100 feet above 

 the lake, the basin of one of which was larger than that of the Great Geyser in 

 Iceland. These were described in some detail, and the composition of the springs, 

 as well as of the deposit (analysed by the writer), was remarked upon. A 

 remarkable ravine, whose bottom was hot mud, with blocks of siliceous sinter 

 floating therein, was noticed, and also the ' steaming ranges,' — and this part con- 

 cluded with a short description of White Island, where was a lake whose water 

 contained more than 10,000 grains of hydrochloric acid in a gallon (!) with large 

 deposits of sidphur and sulphate of lime in the neighbourhood. 



The Southern Alps were then generally described, running the whole length of 

 the South Island, the highest peaks of which ranged from 10,000 to nearly 14,000 

 feet, with a snow line at about 8,000 feet. The enormous snow-fields and huge 

 glaciers lying between 43° and 44° S. and 170° and 171° E. were noticed, as well 

 as the evidences of past glacial action on a much grander scale, given by the 

 glacier-formed lakes and fjords on the SW. coast, as well as by the huge moraines. 

 The backbone of the whole was granitic, but on the side-slopes lay the older 

 palaeozoic rocks. Some of the existing glaciers were upwards of 18 miles long. 

 In lat. 43° 35' S., corresponding to that of Marseilles or Leghorn, a glacier de- 

 scended to within 705 feet of the sea. The characteristics of the river-system that 

 flowed from these were described, and instances given of theh* liability to sudden 

 flood, and to rapid and great changes of bed, rendering it impossible to bridge them. 

 The paper concluded Avith a notice of the rarely visited ' Sound ' scenery of the 

 S.W. coast, which in general appearance resembled that of Norse fjords, but the 

 Sounds were not so long, although the clifl" and mountain scenery was in many in- 

 stances finer, sheer precipices of 2,000 to 3,000 feet, or upwards, rising from the 

 sea, with mountains of 8,000 to 9,000 feet. The whole of this district was granitic, 

 and the water at the head of the Sounds was deeper than at their entrances, indi- 

 cating glacial excavation. 



On Oceanic or Maritime Discovery, Exploration, and Research, 

 By Captain Sir P. J. Evans, B.N., K.G.B., F.R.8. 



4. On the River Gamlia. By R. E. Cole. 



