28 ar Physical Geography. 
Stewart Island and its outlying islands are composed mostly of granites 
and diorite gneiss, but the central range is built out of a schist similar to that 
of Central Otago. 
Well preserved dunes in the inland valleys of Paterson Inlet show that 
the land-surface has at one time been depressed, at which period there would 
be probably four islands. 
3. Physical Features of the Outlying Islands. 
a. The Kermadec Islands. 
The Kermadec Islands are four in number. They extend from 29° 15’ 
S. lat. and 177° 59’ W. long. to 31° 24’ S. lat. and 178° 51’ W.long., and are 
distant about 1000 km from New Zealand. The group is volcanic, but it stands 
on a submerged plateau, part of a ridge connecting New Zealand with Tonga. 
QOutside the plateau the ocean is 2700 m deep. 
Sunday Island, the largest of the group, 10.3 km long and 29.25 sq. km 
- in area, reaches a height of 524 m. It is composed chiefly of pumiceous and 
other tuffs (OLIVER ıg10: ı23); lava streams are few. The surface is hilly 
with many narrow spurs separating deep gullies. These spurs, truncated at 
the coast, drop as sheer precipices to the water for 200—300 m. The greater 
part of the island is a crater, its rim 55 m above sea-level in the N., else- 
where averaging over 300 m. There are three small crater lakes near one of 
which (CHEESEMAN 1888: 153) steam issues. There is a small sandy beach 
in the N., and at Denham Bay, where there is a little level ground, one of 
eravel 
Macauley Island, distant 109 km from Sunday Island, is 2 km long, 3 sq. km 
in area, and its highest point 237 m above sea-level. Cliffs everywhere fall 
to the sea. 
Curtis Islands, 35 km from the last-named are two rocky islets with an 
area of 6sq. km and the highest point room. The eraterAloor contains hot 
en been hen je and Kg 
b. The WER Islands. 
The Chathams consist of four islands and several detached islets din 
% . rocks. lying between the parallels Re 35’ and 44° 25 S. lat. and the me- 
ridians of 176° and 1705 55’ W. long, and are distant from © Palliser, Cook 
 Strait, zızkm. u 
an The main island, Chun Bund ne Ts some hät, u 
u shape ofa horseshoe. Generally the land is low but undulating. Much of 
7 ANE interior is occupied by the Te Whanga lagoon which, roughly triangular, x 
i extends from the N. coast southwards for 25 km and, at its greatest breadth 
nearly ı5 km wide. On the E. it is separated en 
 narrow. strip of land broken through at one point. South of the lagoon 
is ind isa BB four-sided black; a more: rison with the remain; 
