46 



Were another clerk provided to his office, at a salary of £200 per annum, 

 for a pei'iod of three years, the necessary preliminary work could be 

 accomplished in that time to secure the coveted prize ; and if an effort 

 could be made to secure that, he thought it very likely that, when once 

 the instruments were erected by the Home Government, they might be 

 left to this jilace by the observers, when once tlie transit was past. 



After considerable discussion, it was resolved, on the motion of 

 Archdeacon Williams, seconded by Dr. Stratford, — 



"That this meeting approves of the appointment of a Committee of 

 the Council, to consider the utilization of the present site of the Museum, 

 and requests that the report be laid before the Institute at an early date." 



1. " On the Botany of certain parts of the Waikato District, 

 especially with regard to the occiirrence of Littoral Plants in the 

 Upper Waikato," by T. Kirk. (See Transactions.) The result of a 

 series of observations made on a visit to the Waikato district a short 

 time ago, undertaken for the Geological Survey Department. He described 

 the plants peculiar to Waikawau, and at Port Waikato, where he 

 found a peculiar kind of grass, known in the district by the name of 

 " Chilian gi-ass," but which was indigenous to 'Sqw Zealand, although 

 not generally found. The cattle were very fond of it, and cropped it 

 closely, notwithstanding its rough appearance. It formed a close and 

 thick sward, and was deserving of the attention of agriculturists. He 

 then visited Tuakau, Koheke, and Whangape lake, and the other lakes 

 in the same district. Between Pangiriri and Taupiri he was particularly 

 struck with the great niimber and vigour of the littoral plants found in 

 that district, and looked upon their existence in such numbers as a strong 

 argument in favour of the position advanced first by Dr. Hochstetter, 

 although it has since been disputed — that the lower and middle portions 

 of the Waikato have been until lately an arm of the sea. He thought 

 from the configuration of the country, that not many years ago the tide 

 had flowed up the Firth of the Thames, and over the lowlands towards 

 Middle Waikato, and thence down the Waikato valley to the west coast. 

 This supposition would account for the great abundance of salt-loving 

 plants foinid in the Middle Waikato district. 



The President pointed out that the views propounded by Mr. Kirk 

 supported the theory originally advanced by Dr. Hochstetter, as to the 

 Waikato district having formed, at no distant date, a shallow estuary of 

 the sea, — the truth of which had been disputed chiefly on the grounds 

 aflbrded by the formation of the river banks at Tuakau and elsewhere in 



