56 Shingle on the East Coasts of New Zealand. 



marked "Very shallow and brackish." The bed of this lake, 

 and the bank in front of it, represent the shingle accumula- 

 tion since the present beach began to be formed. The 

 author was informed that a series of ridges are to be seen 

 where probably the beach has been in successive periods, and 

 at the extreme end the shingle has been thrown up against 

 a cliff to a height of 30 feet above sea-level. 



11. The advance of shingle beyond this point is prevented 

 by the trend of the coast-line changing suddenly to east- 

 south-east, so that shingle could not be carried on unless by 

 a sea coming from the west-south-west, or a more westerly 

 point, which would be directly along the shore or off-shore. 

 Waves of any size could not therefore be formed; and 

 should any small quantity of shingle be carried forward by 

 these waves, it would be carried back by a change to the 

 south-east, the prevailing direction. 



12. The shingle beach in Hawke's Bay extends from 

 eleven miles south of Napier to ten miles north of that 

 place, where a projecting cliff arrests the steady advance of 

 the shingle. Beyond this cliff is a beach, partly of sand and 

 partly of shingle, for a further length of over thirty miles, 

 the general direction being north-easterly. The chief 

 source of supply of the shingle is the River Tuki Tuki ; and 

 the prevailing direction of the seas on this coast, as on the 

 Ninety-mile Beach, is south-easterly, but north-east seas at 

 times cause great changes in the shingle. The general 

 movement of the shingle, from the mouth of the River Tuki 

 Tuki as far as Napier, is due to seas coming from any 

 direction south of east. For some distance south of Napier 

 there is merely a narrow belt of shingle, forming the only 

 connection between the mainland and the town, the high 

 part of which was formerly known as Scinde Island. It is, 

 indeed, asserted that Captain Cook sailed round this island. 

 If this be correct, the shingle accumulated in the neighbour- 

 hood is but of recent growth. Beyond the Bluff, at Napier, 

 the south-east seas have very little effect, and the chief 

 movement is due to seas coming north of east.* From the 

 exposed position of the Bluff, the beach below it is liable to 

 change very much. It would, doubtless, often be entirely 

 denuded of shingle but for the protection afforded by large 

 blocks of stone which have fallen into the sea from the cliff. 



* The difference, at times, between the direction of the wind and that of 

 the waves must not be overlooked. (See App. b, p. 81.) 



