W. Travers. 



of New Zealand. 413 



the channel of the glaciers. These torrents now began to raise rapidly their 

 beds, and filled, by the continuous shifting of their regular and flood channels, 

 all the inequalities of the surface of the lower regions exposed by the 

 emergence of the sea. From that moment the formation of the Canterbury 

 plains began. 



(13.) " Moreover, a momentum of high importance must not be lost sight 

 of, namely, that all the rivers which traverse the Canterbury plains have their 

 sources in formations which consist principally of shingle and sand-making 

 rocks, thus affording all the necessary elements for effecting this purpose. 



(14.) " Ascending the Canterbury plains we can easily trace their 

 continuation up the valleys, the angle of the dip of the loose deposits rising 

 the more we approach the terminal moraines of these pleistocene glaciers. 

 Amongst those which form our plains, I have traced all the principal ones, 

 and I shall give in the sequel the length and the position of their terminal 

 face. • . ■ • 



(15.) " It will be seen by that list that at least two of those glaciers (not yet 

 having examined the upper valley of the Waimakariri) were so large that 

 they sent side branches into the valley of the Ashburton, so as to form in that 

 valley one of the largest ice streams of the whole system, which thus gives the 

 key to some peculiarities of the Canterbury plains, and which, without the 

 knowledge of this important fact, would be very difficult to explain." 



The foregoing paragraphs contain all that is to be found in the report in 

 question, or, indeed, so far as I am aware, in any of Dr. Haast's writings, as 

 to the cause of the alleged pleistocene glaciation of New Zealand, although its 

 existence and extent, as stated in this report, have been constantly referred to 



- and assumed as proved, in his subsequent papers upon the geology and physical 

 geography of the South Island. I therefore thought it proper to quote these 

 passages at full length, in order not only to prevent any suggestion of misin- 

 terpretation, but also to ensure a more complete understanding of the criticisms 

 which I propose to apply to the propositions deducible from them. At first 

 blush, indeed, it seems difficult to believe that Dr. Haast really intended his 

 readers to accept the statements contained in these passages in their plain 

 literal sense, inasmuch as the geological and other physical changes which he has 



• crowded into the pleistocene period are of astonishing magnitude, more 

 especially when we bear in mind that New Zealand is separated from the 

 nearest continental land, from which it could draw any portion of its present 

 organic features, by not less than 1200 miles of ocean. But the language is 

 too clear to permit of any other than the literal sense, and, therefore, I have 

 been compelled to adopt that sense in dealing with the questions under 

 discussion. Now, upon a careful consideration of the above quoted passages, 

 we find that certain propositions, in the nature of postulates, are laid down 





