566 Transactions.—Geology. 
The upper part of this formation is the lowest and oldest shown on the 
sections. It crops out on the shores of Lake Waikaremoana, forming low 
white cliffs, and partaking of the same dip as the superincumbent sandstones 
and gritstones. In its lithological characters it somewhat resembles the Papa 
Rocks, to be described further on, but is much harder and whiter, and 
contains in places peculiarly-shaped cement stones or septaria, which, 
owing to the weathering of the clay in which they are embedded, often 
stand out in grotesque forms. 
I only saw fossils in one spot, and regret that I was unable to procure 
any of them. 
i Waikaremoana Sandstones. 
Lying conformably on these clayey strata are a series of very hard sand- 
stones and gritstones, having a probable thickness of over 2,000 feet. 
These sandstones form the Panikiri and Matakuhia ranges, most prominent 
features, rising in one long slope of 20° from the east, to a maximum height 
` of 8,905 feet above the sea, and then suddenly descending on the western 
face 1,900 feet, nearly perpendicularly, to the shores of the Lake. The pre- 
vailing colour is greyish-white where exposed to the action of the weather, 
but when in the form of boulders, as seen in the river beds, it is a rich dark 
brown. The stratification is well marked, the beds dipping to the south- 
east at angle of 20°. The hardness and sharpness of these sandstones is 
such, that they will probably be used at some future date as grindstones 
and sharpening-stones, and also for the purpose of flagging, for which they 
are well adapted, as slabs may be obtained often of ten feet square and from 
six to eight inches in thickness. 
They form most picturesque groups on the shores of the Lake, where 
broken by joints and fissures, which are generally filled with a rank growth 
of vegetation, conspicuous amongst which is the graceful Beech tree ( Fagus), 
which in the higher parts of the mountains forms large open forests. In 
the month of February on these trees is often^to be seen a very handsome 
Scarlet Mistletoe, which I have seen nowhere else. 
The western line of outerop of the sandstones may be traced for many 
miles to the north-east of Waikaremoana in a succession of bold precipitous 
bluffs facing the north-west. 
The Lake itself lies at the foot of these mountains, and is about eleven 
miles long, with an average width of two miles, its greatest breadth being 
opposite the Constabulary Station of Onepoto, where it is four miles across. 
It is acknowledged by all who have seen it to be by far the most beautiful 
of all the Lakes of the North Island. The grandeur of the bluffs of the 
eastern side, rising as they do at Ohiringi 1,100 feet perpendicularly out of 
the water, is unsurpassed by any cliff scenery I am acquainted with; whilst 
