920 Transactions.—Miscellaneous. 
Observatories of Sydney and Melbourne there is a known error of 8:27 
seconds between the two observatories. While then it would seem that the 
longitude for Wellington Observatory is in error, it would be better perhaps 
to adhere to the value now used, which only differs from the mean of the 
above values by 4°746 seconds—a difference too slight to be a cause of any 
danger to vessels arriving from long sea voyages, while for coastal naviga- 
tion it is obviously desirable to maintain a local time in accordance with 
the longitude on the charts. 
Art. XIX.— Notes on some Ancient Aboriginal Caches near Wanganui. 
By H. C. Fern. 
[Read before Wellington Philosophical Society, 9th December, 1876.] 
I mave compiled the following notes on an examination of some ancient 
aboriginal caches near Wanganui, not only because I believe they may be 
of interest to the Wellington Philosophical Society, but because I think it 
well that the result of any such investigation should be placed on record 
for the guidance of other explorers, and to facilitate the comparison of 
similar observations in different localities. 
The coast between the mouths of the Wanganui and Kai Iwi rivers is 
formed throughout the greater part of its length of cliffs from 120 feet to 150 
feet high, against the base of which the sea beats for so great a portion of every 
tide that it is only for an hour or two at dead low water that any one can pass 
below them. This of course necessitated the opening of tracks parallel with 
the coast line, and at some little distance from it, and such tracks have 
evidently been used from a very early period. The ground on the top of 
the cliffs is covered with sand dunes, extending to an average distance of a 
quarter of a mile inland. These dunes are, however, for the most part 
disposed in high ridges, extending diagonally inland at an angle of from 
80? to 40? from the coast line. The cliffs are of the marine tertiary forma- 
lion, and wear away very rapidly (at an average rate—so far as I can judge 
by nearly 26 years knowledge of them—of about six feet per annum), and 
the sand dunes are continually ereeping inland, and covering soil previously 
occupied by vegetation, fern, flax, toi-toi, and grass. The actual ridges of 
sand often extend for a distance of half a mile, or more, inland ; but 
between them the vegetation, on the other hand, often extends to within 
one or two hundred yards of the actual cliff. It is noticeable that as the 
sand covers up the vegetation, it seems actually to desiccate and destroy 
not only it, but also the soil on which it grows, so that when any surface 
afterwards becomes exposed by the saud being blown from off it, on the 
