406 Proceedings. 



land-mark, rising several hundred feet higher than any other point along the 

 northern side of Cook Strait, and when brought in line with the great snowy 

 mountain, Ruapehu, shows the entrance to the Wanganui River. 



No one had succeeded in reaching the summit till last March, when the 

 writer and some otliers ascended the Wanganui River, and after some difficulty 

 gained the top of the mountain, whence very extensive views of the sur- 

 rounding country were obtained. The author states that " Dr. Hochstetter 

 was mistaken in assuming, from its appearance when viewed from, a distance, 

 that Tauakira is of volcanic origin. It is simply a culminating peak of the 

 recent white clay formation. Two large slips which have recently occurred on 

 its northern face have exposed the substratum, from the hill-top right down to 

 the Operiki gully, a depth of fully a thousand feet, and nothing but the white 

 clay is visible anywhere along it. The crest of the hill, like that of nearly all 

 the others of the same formation, is very narrow, and has its northern face 

 precipitous, while slojjing gently towards the south. 



" The party had with them no means of measuring the height of the hill, 

 but by vertical angle from the town of Wanganui it appears to be about 2,400 

 feet, and this agrees so nearly with the comparative heights, 1,883 feet and 

 1,890 feet, assigned to Taupiri, that there is little doubt as to its being almost 

 if not quite correct. The bearings from Tauakira confirmed the accuracy of 

 others which had been previously taken, and proved conclusively that Ranana, 

 which is always reckoned 60 miles from the town of Wanganui by the river, 

 is actually only 21^ miles in a straight line from the Wanganui Heads." 



Among the exhibits on the table was a collection of stone weapons found 

 on the south bank of the Teremakau by Judge Harvey. Besides green-stone 

 and horn-stone adzes, there was a large mass of chert for making cutting flakes. 



Some bones recently obtained by the Hon. Captain Fraser in the same 

 cave in Otago where the Moa's neck was obtained, were shown.* 



The President stated that some of these bones, which are very fresh, 

 belonged to the Cnemiornis, and with those is a humerus or wing bone of 

 large size, which differs from the wing bone of that bird, as described by 

 Professor Owen, in possessing a pneumatic foramen, which is generally con- 

 sidered to indicate a bird of flight. There are also the bones of a very large 

 weka, which must have been equal in size to the large kiwn, and the bones of 

 paradise ducks. Dr. Hector hoped that the remarkable deposit in this cave 

 would soon be carefully explored. 



A sample of sheeting made from New Zealand flax (FJwrmium) forwarded 

 by Dr. Featherston was exhibited. Also portions that had been tested for 

 strength and lasting power with soap and bleaching powder by Mr. Skey, and 

 found to wear well. 



* Vide ante, p. 102. 



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