71 



melting of snow which occurs when the warm north-west winds prevail^ 

 storing the surplus to provide a steady flow during that portion of the 

 year when the rivers would otherwise be very much lower than they are* 

 In conclusion, he spoke of the Lake districts as containing within them- 

 selves all the elements of support for a large community— a delightful 

 climate, good agricultural and pastoral lands, valuable mineral resources, 

 and a complete system of internal water communication. 



Mr. R. Gillies said that he had been asked by Mr. M'Kerrow before 

 the meeting to compare what he had said with Di\ Hector's remarks on 

 the same subject. He had done so, and though not pretending to geo- 

 logical knowledge, he must confess that he saw some difficulties in the 

 way of accounting for all the phenomena of the Lake district, if the 

 theory of unequal subsidence was to be rejected. Dr. Hector's idea was 

 that the axis of the glaciated country and the western part of the region 

 had subsided moi-e rapidly and to a much gi-eater extent than the eastern 

 portion had. He recommended all members to peruse Dr. Hector's 

 lecture in the volume of Transactions just distributed, when they would 

 find this and other points of extreme interest discussed. 



Mi\ J. T. Thomson expressed his concurrence in Mr. M'Kerrow 's 

 views as to the sufficiency of glaciers — such as we must suppose existed 

 during what is termed the glacial period of the recent epoch — to scoop 

 out such valleys as that now occupied by Lake Wakatipu. He exhibited 

 a diagram showing where the points of greatest pressure would be in the 

 case of a glacier of some 3,000 feet in thickness occupying what is now 

 the position of that lake, and showed that it is by no means necessary to 

 suppose that the excavation which would result should pass clean through 

 to the sea ; if we admit that the Kingston end of the lake was at the 

 time on or about the sea level. 



Mr. A. H. Ross called attention to Dr. Hector's account of Milford 

 and other sounds, given in a report of the expedition to the West Coast, 

 and expressed his opinion that the meaning of the passage in Dr. Hector's 

 lecture before the New Zealand Institute — {Tratwactions, Yol. ii. 

 pp. 370-374) — had been misconceived by Mr. M'Kerrow. 



Mr. G. M. Barr, without expressing an opinion on the point of 

 difference between previous speakers and the theory laid down by Dr. 

 Hector, said he had carefully read the lecture which had been referred 

 to, and his impression was that it was somewhat wanting in clearness. 

 He did not feel sure that there was any substantial difference between 

 Dr. Hector and the local observers. He called attention to the very 

 interesting subject of the circulation of the water of the lake, as to which 



