To the westward of Hayward's Point there are three beaches, divided 

 from each other by precipitous bluffs jutting into the sea, viz., Kaikai, 

 Murdering, and Long, all of which were formerly occupied by a numerous 

 Maori population, now quite extinct. Beyond Long Beach, the coast at 

 Purakanui is very bold, continuing so till Blueskin is reached, whei'e there is 

 a sandy beach and spit of considerable extent. Northwards, for a great many 

 miles, the coast is again rock-bound ; and it is not until Waikouaiti Bay is 

 reached that much sand is foimd. Northward of this bay the beaches are 

 mostly composed of a hai'd shingle or gravel, more or less fine. 



I have thus, in a very brief way I must admit, gone over and described 

 the leading features of all these beaches. Two questions now occur for con- 

 sideration, viz. : — Where has all the sand come from 1 and, How long has it 

 taken to accumulate 1 In reply to the first, the writer ventiires to propose 

 the following hypothesis : — -Away down the coast two large rivers run into the 

 sea — the Clutha and the Taieri — both conveying large qiiantities of sand and 

 other detritus to the ocean. Now, some of this, no doubt, is deposited close 

 to the mouths of these streams, but a considerable poi'tion must be carried oif 

 far enough to be taken up by the constant northward current which sets up the 

 coast, and deposited gradually as it goes on, getting again driven up on the 

 beaches by the tides and the surf. There is also, as a contributory cause, a 

 long line of soft sandstone cliffs between Green Island and the Forbury, the 

 material of which is very easily weathered and very rapidly acted on by the 

 surf, which cai-ries off large quantities every storm. On looking down on the 

 sea from the toj) of the cliff, the discoloured water can be seen quite distinctly 

 travelling northward. Now, at Lawyer's Head, the water is all clear again, 

 or at least it is all one shade, so that some of the sand must have been 

 deposited to form the dunes on the Ocean Beach and on the Tomahawk. A large 

 portion is no doubt carried on, some to be brought nj) by Cape Siiunders and 

 deposited about the Sandfly and its vicinity- — some to be carried past and 

 dropped a,bout Wickliffe Bay ; but a large portion will still be in suspension 

 and be carried into the various inlets, including Otago Harbour, with the tide, 

 and then, whenever slack- water occurs, it will fall to the bottom, to be worked 

 up to the beach, and eventually blown ashore to form those large accumula- 

 tions which are now to be seen all round. Still, it is hard to believe, taking 

 the big bank at the Heads for an example, that this huge quantity of sand 

 can have been blown off such a narrow strip of beach as there is there, 

 nowhere more than three hundred yards wide. And yet off that beach it 

 comes, as may be seen almost any fine day when there is a little wind blowing. 

 Very shortly after the tide has left the flats, the wind begins to lift forward 

 small quantities of the sand, and they blow on and on until they reach the 

 bank, there to remain. 



The time these formations have taken to assume their present dimensions 



