﻿340 Transactions — Geology. 



or tlie head of the Baton without being struck by the freshness of all the indi- 

 cations of ice action existing there. At Lake Rotoiti also are extensive glacial 

 remains ; though these have been frequently described before, it may not be 

 out of place here to say a few words respecting them. The lake occupies an 

 old glacier bed, and is about 2,060 feet above the sea level ; the glacier 

 descended from Mount Travers, and is about twelve miles in length and two 

 miles wide, near the lower end. The terminal moraine now forms a series of 

 low hills encircling the northern end of the lake, and the bed of the E-otoiti 

 for several miles from the outlet of the lake is filled with ice borne rocks. 

 The Black Valley, which lies at the northern end of the St. Arnaud range, 

 was also filled with ice, and the road which leads from the Rundell to the lake 

 passes along on a lateral moraine for some distance ; large blocks of stone lie 

 about the surface, the sharpness of their angles and the absence of any signs of 

 water- wear clearly proving that their appearance tljere is due entirely to glacial 

 agency. 



Both the Spencer mountains and the St. Arnaud range must be very rich 

 in glacial remains, and have been but little explored in their higher parts, 

 being covered with dense bush, and lying back some distance from roads and 

 inhabited countiy ; their thorough exploration is a matter involving very con- 

 siderable time, labour, and expense, and can only be undertaken by those whose 

 duty leads them into such countiy, or those who have amjDle time and means 

 at their command. 



The examination of these phenomena clearly proving a wonderful alteration 

 of temperature within a very late period, naturally induces the mind to seek 

 an explana,tion of the change, and two hypotheses offer, I think, a reasonable 

 solution of the difficulty. 



1, That New Zealand has sunk during late periods, bringing the former 

 snow line much nearer sea level. 



2. That there formerly existed land to the southward^ perhaps forming part 

 of a southern continent, the proximity of which would naturally be attended 

 by a great increase of cold in New Zealand, and its disappearance would 

 be accompanied by a complete change in the climate of all neighbouring lands. 



Which of these solutions is the right one I cannot attempt to say, and only 

 oflfer them as suggestions, which must be taken for what they are worth. I 

 feel most inclined to favour the former. There is, I think, but little doubt 

 that these islands have been subjected to many, and very considerable altera- 

 tions of level during recent periods, and a siibsidence of a few hundred feet 

 would necessarily make a very marked difference in islands possessing the 

 physical configuration of New Zealand. But these speculations lead much 

 further than can be followed in this paper, the object of which is simply to 

 describe a few of the traces of the glacial period which exist in our immediate 



