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Bay is about two miles in length, a line of sand hills running all the way. 

 Though composed of such loose material as dry sand, these hills maintain a 

 character of permanence which is wonderful. For instance, when people were 

 working at the wreck of the " Victory," steamer, about seven years ago^ a sort 

 of telegraph was erected on the top of one of the hills, which retains its contoiir 

 and elevation very much the same to this day ; and anyone looking at the long 

 line of hills which mai'k the ocean beach near Dunedin, must have remarked 

 how permanent they are, very little, if any, change having occurred in their 

 general appearance for many years. 



At the north end of Wickliffe Bay there is a high perpendicular precipice, 

 and the coast continues rock-bound for a considerable distance, there being 

 only two small bays with sandy beaches all the way to Taiaroa Head, at the 

 entrance to Otago Harbour. Neither of these bays presents any peculiar 

 feature, so we will at once proceed to the great accumulation at the Maori 

 Kaik. This sand bank is by far the largest in the district, extending in a 

 north-easterly direction from the rock at Korako's house for about two miles, 

 while its breadth from tide mark is more than one mile . All the characteristic 

 features of sub-aerial formation are here to be met with — long parallel ridges, 

 smooth flats, high hummocks, and gently si oiling surfaces. Even that rare 

 phenomenon, musical sand, is occasionally present. In dry calm weather,, at 

 cei'tain spots, when crossing the sand, a peculiar sound is occasioned by the 

 feet in walking, a sort of " weef, weef," as if the sand were being struck by 

 something sharp. In general, however, the sand only emits the usual crunching 

 sound. Some portions of the surface of this bank are quite hard, and easily 

 walked over ; but, as a rule, the sand is very soft, and walking over it is a 

 very fatiguing matter. From about high- water mark the sand slopes upwards, 

 at first rather steeply, and then at a more gentle grade for a long way, the 

 only break to the i;niformity being that hei'e and there stands a small hillock, 

 on the sides of which grow a few straggling plants of a coarse hard grass, the 

 roots of which serve to maintain the form of the hillock, in spite of the efibrts 

 of the wind to carry it away. The tendency of the sand here is upward, and 

 to the noi'th and east. At times, during a strong southei'ly storm, the writer 

 has seen the sand raised in thick clouds, and cairied onward in tons, and 

 spread over the grass and among the trees at the upper edge, where it lies, 

 never to go back, bvit to be covered over by another layer by the next storm. In 

 this way the bank has attained its present huge dimensions, and will, sooner 

 or later, reach across the hill and over the declivity to the outer beach. The 

 rate at which this is going on is surprising. On one occasion, after one of 

 these gales, a long stretch of grass, some 70 or 80 yards wide, by 250 or 300 

 long, was covered by the sand, just as snow would have done, but with this 

 difference, that whereas the snow would have disappeared with the next day's 

 sun, the sand remains, and the land is rendered totally barren. 



