349 



intervened between the two, but the gravel is by no means largely developed 

 in this district. 



This sandstone consists of a series of soft fine-grained sandstones, fossili- 

 ferous, and alternated with fossil beds approaching limestone, and is sometimes 

 of great thickness in this district, seldom less than 500 feet, and in some places 

 I think it must measure 1000 feet. 



Some of its fossils are Turritella, Venus, Dentalium, Pecten, Struthiolaria. 

 I have no doubt that it is of the same age and character as the upper sandstone 

 of the Whanganui river. 



This formation, where found undisturbed, seems to lie nearly horizontal ; 

 but numerous hill sides have slipped into the valleys, there giving the strata 

 the appearance to the casual observer, of dipping in various directions and at 

 high angles. 



From the vertical nature of the sections in which this series is found 

 exposed, it has been impossible for me to make any but a partial investigation 

 of its different beds, and the same difficulty is felt in the examination of the 

 cliffs of the Whanganui and other western rivers, — they are so vertical as to 

 be inaccessible. 



The blue clay throughout this district does not show much of its thickness 

 above the river levels. 



Crossing the Manuka range, the road drops down to the Valley of the 

 Taueru, and thence on to the Taueru station. 



Here I visited a very beautiful waterfall, formed by the waters of the 

 Mangarei, a tributary of the Taueru. The stream falls over a ledge of the 

 tertiary sandstone to a depth of about fifty feet, into a large circular pool. 

 Hard fossilifei'ous beds of this sandstone form the rocks at the fall, the softer 

 overlying beds, which are found in an adjacent cliff, having been denuded. 



I may here state that there is a remarkable parallelism between the effects 

 produced in this district and in that of the country inland on the Whanganui 

 and Rangitikei rivers, inclusive. In both districts are the tertiary sandstones 

 largely developed, and in both have these nearly horizontal strata been broken 

 up by denudation, into very rugged surfaces. 



Many of the beds of the tertiary sandstone ai*e extremely soft, and there- 

 fore liable to be rapidly worn away ; some of them, indeed, on being struck 

 by a hammer, instead of breaking into fragments, crumble and run down into 

 pure sand. 



Proceeding up the valley of that river, the Forty-mile Bush lay about 

 three or four miles on my left, covering a very broken country. 



Ascending the ridge on the eastern side of that river, one looks clown on 

 the valley of the Whareama, with its level flats and swamps, while to the 

 northward may be seen the country drained by the Matai kuna, the Oahanga, 

 perhaps also the Akiteo, and here I could see plainly enough that all within 

 view was of tertiary age, the blue ridges of Tararua in the far distance excepted. 



Crossing to the Puketoi range, which has an extreme altitude of only 2500 

 feet, I found the blue clay, and on the ridges above, tertiary sandstone beds, 

 with the usual fossil shells. 



Retracing my route to the East Coast, I crossed the Whareama river, passed 

 over a hill and descended upon the Tinui station, situated upon the flats of 

 that stream, a tributary of the Whareama. 



Immediately above the station is one of those remarkable hills called 

 "Taipo." These hills have an extremely fantastic, picturesque, and rugged 

 outline, and at first give the impression of volcanic peaks, but on examination 

 prove to be tertiary sandstones, tilted at an angle of about 70°, and here 

 dipping to the westward ; the harder parts of the strata sticking out in peaks, 

 while the softer parts have been worn away. 



