Crawford. — On the great Cook Strait River. 449 



when the land stood at a higher level. We find the series of sounds and inlets 

 on the south side of the strait, Queen Charlotte Sound, Pelorus Sound,* etc., 

 with a depth of from ten to thirty fathoms. These sounds must have been 

 originally excavated by fresh water, and what are now arms of the sea must 

 have been river valleys. A rise in the level of 200 feet would again convert 

 them into valleys. 



The deepest sounding in Cook Strait that I can find on the chart is 

 178 fathoms. Therefore a rise in the land of 1100 feet would shut out the 

 sea, and lay the strait dry. Let us consider what the effect of this would be, 

 supposing the rise to be uniform over the whole plateau. The highest point of 

 the newly-reclaimed land would be between Cape Farewell and Taranaki, 

 where the soundings vary from thirty-three to fifty fathoms. The run of 

 water would therefore be from there towards the south-east, reaching the 

 present sixty fathoms off D'Urville Island, and eighty- four fathoms off Kapiti. 

 In the narrow part of the strait the depth is greater than on either side. This 

 may be caused either by a convulsion of nature, or, by what is just as probable, 

 the scour of the narrow channel being deposited outside, probably to the east- 

 ward. In the narrows there appears to be an irregular bottom from 100 to 

 178 fathoms, while between Cape Campbell and Cape Palliser there is a depth 

 of ninety-nine fathoms. It is clear that, on the before named supposition, the 

 great Cook Strait River must have run to the eastward. If we consider the 

 extent of its tributaries, we must suppose a very large river. 



Say on the north we commence with the Patea river. We have next the 

 Waitotara, the Whanganui, the Wangaehu, the Turakina, the Rangitikei, 

 the Manawatu, the Otaki, the Hutt, the Ruamahunga. On the south we 

 should have all the streams flowing from Massacre Bay, Tasman Gulf, the 

 sounds of Pelorus and Queen Charlotte, and the Wairau river. 



Suppose we carry the argument still further, and imagine a general rise of 

 the New Zealand plateau to the point of emergence, so that we should join on 

 the Chatham and Campbell Islands. What rise might be required I do not 

 know, for I am not aware that soundings have been taken. In that case we 

 may imagine our great river flowing to the eastward to be joined by the 

 Canterbury and Marlborough rivers, from the Waitaki to the Clarence, pro- 

 bably all converging into one. 



The two systems combined would form a river worthy of a large continent. 



I would suggest that there are other means of causing a rise or fall of the 

 sea level than the movement up or down of the solid. 



. At the time when a large part of Europe emerged from the ocean, a corres- 

 ponding quantity of water must have been displaced. It is by no means 



* Pelorus Sound is called a river. It has more of tlie characteristics of a sound, and 

 is difficult to classify, being neither properly river, nor sound, nor frith. 



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