430 AITSTEALASIA. 



the surface rise tlie rocky walls of the encircling hills, through whose fissures are 

 precipitated several sparkling waterfalls. 



All the New Zealand fiords offer a general resemblance in the length, narrow- 

 ness, and great depth of their troughs, which present as a rule but few ramifica- 

 tions. Nevertheless several are connected by lateral branches, which thus form 

 islands of regular outline along the seaboard. In the central parts these inlets have 

 an average depth of over 700 feet, while Milford Sound, deepest of all, averages 

 1,180 feet. All without exception have a sill or bar at the entrance, like the "sea- 

 bridges " of the Norwegian fiords, and the seaboard is everywhere washed by 

 relatively shallow waters. Depths equal to those of the sounds are not met in the 

 open sea vvithin 60 miles of the coast. 



Is this phenomenon due to the vast quantities of refuse formerly brought down 

 by the glaciers from the uplands ? Or are the submarine banks the remnants of 

 mountain ranges first destroyed and then redistributed in regular layers ? Or are 

 they to be referred to geological agencies more potent than the glaciers ? The 

 general form of the coast, disposed in regular convex curves between the fiord 

 estuaries, seems to point at the action of a powerful current, by which the old 

 beach was eroded and the débris deposited far seawards. On the east side, on the 

 contrary, the land has encroached on the marine waters, the rivers with their 

 sedimentary matter developing vast alluvial plains protected at two points from 

 erosion by volcanic promontories. One of these is Cape Saunders, under the shelter 

 of which Otago harbour has been opened ; the other is the much bolder Banks 

 Peninsula, a superb and completely isolated Tnountain mass indented with several 

 deep-water creeks and bays, such as Akaroa Harbour, Pigeon Bay, Port Lew, and 

 Port Cooper. The south side of Banks Peninsula is connected with the mainland 

 by a strip of marine sands enclosing an extensive muddy lagoon. The whole 

 formation presents a surprising resemblance to Monte Argentaro on the Italian 

 coast. Excluding the minor indentations and windings of the seaboard, Thomson 

 estimates the whole New Zealand coast-line at over 3,000 miles. 



Physical Features of North Island. 



Despite the deep gap caused by Cook Strait, the eastern ridges of South Island 

 are continued on the opposite side by low parallel crests disposed in the same 

 normal direction from south-west to north-east. But while in the south the Alpine 

 system skirts the west coast, in North Island the ranges are developed along the 

 east side, or at least within 50 miles of the shore. The foundation on which they 

 rest forms almost a separate region, a long quadrilateral terminating in the south- 

 west and north-east in massive peninsulas, and attached to the rest of the mainland 

 by extensive plains and rocky ridges, which south of Lake Taupo rise to a height of 

 about 3,000 feet. In this eastern region the culminating point is Mount Hikurang 

 (5,550 feet), which is situated not far from East Cape. The short Kaimawana 

 chain, whose wooded slopes are often snow-clad to the summit, belongs to the same 

 orographic system in its general disposition and the character of its old rocks, 

 schists, sandstones, and quartz interspersed with veins of diorite. The crests of 



