ESSAY 



ON THE 



GEOLOGY OF THE NORTH ISLAND 



OF 



NEW ZEALAND. 

 By the Hon. J. COUTTS CEAWFOED, F.a.S. 



[^Written for the Neio Zealand ^xJiibition, 1865.] 

 Up to the time when tlie first systematic eolordzation of I'^ew Zealand 

 commenced, but little appears to have been known of the geology of the 

 country. The prevailing idea concerning the North Island was, that it 

 was a region of volcanic rocks only ; and the greenstone weapons of the 

 aborigines, the material for the manufacture of vrhich was said to be pro- 

 cured from some mysterious lake in the South Island, proved that rocks of 

 nephrite were found there. 



In the year 1839, however, the directors of the New Zealand Company, 

 with intelligent foresight, selected a talented and experienced naturalist to 

 proceed to the colony with their first expedition in the ship " Tory," and to 

 the person so appointed to report on the natural history and geology of the 

 colony. Dr. Ernest Dieffenbach, we owe our first systematic information as to 

 the geology of the North Island. About the same time the late Mr. John 

 Bidwill, a man of excellent scientific attainments, and known to fame from the 

 Arcmcaria which he discovered at Moreton Bay, and which bears his name, 

 performed a journey through the North Island ; and, having succeeded in 

 effecting the ascent of Tongariro, or more probably of its lateral cone called 

 Ngauruhoe, gave interesting information concerning the volcanic system of 

 the interior, and other geological matters. I am glad to have this oppor- 

 tunity of bearing testimony to the merits of an old and valued friend. The 

 communications of Mr. Walter Mantell to the Greological Society also threw 

 much light on the palaeontology of New Zealand ; and his observations on the 

 deposits of moa bones, and subsequent deductions as to the existence, at the 

 same period, of man and the moa, are extremely curious and interesting. 



Contributions towards the knowledge of the rocks of the colony con- 

 tinued to be made from time to time by Mr. Charles Heaphy and Mr, 

 Theophilus Heale, of Auckland. 

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