mes ice aia Se a 
136 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
from Sawyer Bay to the township of Mansford, a distance of nearly two 
miles, and from the sea level to the top of the range at Lane Rock, a height 
of 500 fect. The width inland is not known ; but, were it only a crust on the 
mountain side a quarter of a mile thick, it could produce stones sufficient to 
make a Liverpool of Docks in Otago Harbour, with a Glasgow in each of 
the other provinces. The accessibility of the Port Chalmers stone is also 
worthy of notice. Two railways run through it at different levels, and the 
Harbour, with deep water at several places, skirts the foot of the rocks. 
Breccia, similar to that at Sawyers Bay, is found at Broad Bay, Castle 
Larnach, and several other localities in the Peninsula, with the exception 
of Castle Larnach, which is chiefly built of this material, the Peninsula 
stone has not been much utilised. 
A breccia, of much the same consistency, but of a beautiful brown 
colour, exists on the northern slope of Puka Tapau. It seems capable 
of taking a fine polish, and will probably be used for monumental purposes. 
Another stone of the same colour, but finer in texture—possibly trachyte— 
is found in small quantities at Kakanui mouth. 
The Trachytes proper, as a class, furnish softer and easier worked stones 
than the breccias ; they are, therefore, more suitable for the ordinary 
purposes of the builder. There is a large assortment of trachytes on the 
Peninsula, and in the vicinity of Port Chalmers; many of the deepest 
cuttings on the Northern Railway, between Carey and Deborah Bay, are 
composed entirely of this material. 
Tomahawk Valley produces a brown trachyte, with light orange spots ; 
it ig not much harder than some kinds of sandstone, and seems capable of 
being easily dressed ; although rather dark for the whole front of a building, 
it might be introduced into some portions with grea effect. 
The Port Chalmers trachytes are generally light in colour ; one sample 
in the museum is a delicate fawn of uniform tint and soft even texture. 
Those in the railway cuttings, of which there seems to be an enormous 
quantity, are white, with a pale blue or greenish tinge. I am not aware 
that either of the latter two has been utilised ; but there is no doubt this 
will be done on an extensive scale when better means of transit are provided. 
The white stone particularly should soon become popular in Dunedin, 
everything being so favourable to its use; it is easy of access, easily worked, 
and can be obtained in large blocks; it has, also, every appearance of 
durability. . 
There is a peculiar looking trachyte, or tuffa, at Harbour Cove on the 
Peninsula, which, so far as consistency is concerned, should be classed with - 
the freestones. Its colour is a light brown, with white spots, and the 
texture is much the same as Oamaru stone, but with less grit in it. The 
