Cbawpoed. — Geology of tJw JSforih Island of New Zealand. 315 



*' Tlie limestone attains its greatest thickness (from 400 to 500 feet) in 

 the Upper "Waipa and Mokau District, between the Eangitoto range and 

 the west coast. 



" The third and uppermost stratum of the older tertiary strata consists 

 of beds of fine fossiliferous sandstone, in which quarries of good building 

 stone may be found. There are whole ranges parallel to the primary moun- 

 tains which seem to consist of this sandstone. I will mention only the 

 Tapuiwahine range, about 2,000 feet above the level of the sea, in which is 

 the pass from Mokau to the Whanganui country. 



" The horizontal beds of limestone and marl, which form the cliffs of the 

 Waitemata, and extend in a northerly direction towards Kawau, belong to a 

 newer tertiary formation, and, instead of coal, have only thin layers of 

 lignite. A characteristic feature of this Auclcland tertiary formation is the 

 existence of beds of volcanic ashes, which are here and there interstratified 

 with the ordinary tertiary layers. 



" Sandstone and brown coal have been found in places to the north of 

 Auckland, in the districts from Cape Eodney to the North Cape." 



I have now, with Hochstetter's assistance, taken a glance at the tertiary 

 rocks which occupy so much of the surface of the island, but as yet little 

 has been said of the brown coal which is found in large quantities, and 

 which, for inland navigation and other economical purposes, promises to 

 prove of great value. 



A description of the brown coals of the Auckland Province, with several 

 analyses, will be found in Hochstetter's work.* 



Besides the localities in the Waikato Valley in which the brown coal is 

 found, it has also been discovered in the direction of the Bay of Islands. In 

 the Wellington Province these coal measures are found cropping out in the 

 upper part of the Whanganui Eiver, and some of its tributaries, particularly 

 in the Tangarakau, which takes its rise towards the head waters of the 

 Waitara. 



As the Tangarakau seams are found in or near the boundary of Taranaki, 

 it is probable that that province also may contain much brown coal. 



To the eastward of the main range, a seam about 9 inches thick has been 

 observed in the Plawke Bay Province, and it is not unlikely that good seams 

 of brown coal may yet be discovered on that side of the island. 



We may perhaps now consider the circumstances under which these 

 tertiaries have been deposited. 



"We find a flooring of palaeozoic rocks generally, perhaps invariably, 

 inclined at high angles, and on this flooring we flnd the brown coal, with 



Fischer's Ti'anslation, commencing at page 18. 



