348 



found an inspection of the valleys highly suggestive as to the direction in which 

 a search for gold should be prosecuted. 



There is nothing new in the mineral character of the rocks in the 

 Terawiti district — they seem to consist of a slaty rock, laminated with veins of 

 quartz ; of the usual hard green crystalline sandstone, veined with thin threads 

 of quartz, and some hornscone or chert, and some serpentinous rocks. All the 

 above named rocks are repeated at various points of the Eimutaka and Tararua 

 ranges, and, therefore, if gold be found at one point, the inference is that it 

 may be expected in others. The same rocks, or some of them, may be seen 

 near the Printer's Flat in Makara ; at various points on the Karori Road ; 

 between Ngahauranga and Pitone ; on the Rimutaka Road ; and elsewhere. 



It is evident that the slate range, which here constitutes the main range 

 of the Island, does contain some gold. Gold is found in it at Terawiti, and in 

 various other quarters, and therefore, after all, it may be an auriferous range 

 — discovery also may soon show that it answers Sir Roderick Murchison's 

 description of gold constants, viz., silurian rocks broken up by granites, por- 

 phyries or greenstones, inasmuch as I have found the eruptive rocks in the 

 East Coast country, and I hope before long to find them in the main range 

 itself ; added to this we find serpentine in many parts of the range, and 

 although few, if any, well-defined quartz reefs or lodes are found, yet irregular 

 veins of quartz, large and small, are very common. On the other hand the 

 quantities of gold yet found are small. 



In considering the geological aspect of the district one enquires where is 

 the most likely place to look for gold in quantity, and one naturally turns to 

 the enormous development of gravel on both sides of the range, and in some of 

 the valleys within it. It is found in small and irregular quantities in the 

 different narrow valleys, including those of Waiariki, and the Karori stream, 

 but denuded in places by the action of the streams. The Upper Hutt and 

 Pakuratahi valleys have their deposits of drift, and probably in the Lower 

 Hutt it will be found below the alluvium of the river ; and in the Wairarapa 

 this deposit is of great extent and uncertain depth. 



PORIRUA. 



On the shores of the Porirua harbour, between the Peninsula of Tutae 

 Manu and Duck Creek, I discovered, in 1863, a series of strata, standing 

 nearly vertical, and containing impressions of plants and carbonized substances. 

 It was hoped that the finding of these fossil plants might have led to some 

 scientific resrdts, in establishing the age of the rocks ; but the organisms have 

 proved too indistinct and obscure to give any definite information. Taking 

 the line of strike, I looked for, and found, similar organic substances at Oriental 

 Bay, within the limits of the City of Wellington. 



2. — Wairarapa and East Coast. 



(Summary of Report.) 



After returning from the exploration of the valleys of the Akatarewa 

 and the Waikanae rivers, I again started with the view of gaining an insight 

 into the geology of the N.E. part of the Province, more particularly in the 

 direction of the Puketoe range, and the country generally, lying between the 

 Tararua range and the East Coast. 



Leaving the gravel of the Wairarapa behind me at Masterton, I found on 

 rising the hills towards the Taueru station, that I had entered upon the tertiary 

 sandstone. This rock I found extending over the whole of the interior of the 

 North-Eastern district, resting upon the blue clay except where some gravel 



