1850.] MANTELL ON THE GEOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND. 321 



Extracts from Mr. Walter MantelV s Notes, — "Banks' Peninsula, 

 in the centre of the east coast of the Middle Island of New Zealand, 

 is chiefly composed of a group of mountains of igneous origin, appa- 

 rently the result of submarine eruptions. The two principal har- 

 bours, namely Port Cooper (now called Port Victoria), and Port 

 Levi (now Port Albert), are separated by a lofty range almost desti- 

 tute of wood ; along the crest of this range metamorphic rocks crop 

 out, dipping eastward, whilst on the opposite side of Port Cooper 

 they incline at a considerable angle to the west. 



" From the summit of a hill at the south-west angle of this Penin- 

 sula, a magnificent view is commanded of those extensive plains which 

 stretch from the Double Corner, a headland north of Port Cooper, 

 to Te Timaru, a distance of 130 miles. Below is seen the dreary 

 * Ninety-mile Beach,' which is a continuous line of shingle without 

 bay or headland. Within the northern part of this shingle-bank is 

 the lake Waihora, which is eighteen miles in length. In the middle 

 distance, plains of vast extent stretch out, and are bounded by 

 that part of the snowy mountains, now called the Wakefield range. 

 The level country consists of a substratum of slightly coherent gravel, 

 principally composed of pebbles of schist, jasper, and white, yellow, 

 pink, and green quartz, covered by a layer of rich loam, which varies 

 in thickness from a few inches to ten feet. These magnificent plains 

 extend uninterruptedly from thirty miles north of Port Cooper to 

 100 miles south of it, having an average breadth of thirty-five miles. 

 From the sea-shore to the ridge of high mountains covered with 

 perpetual snow, a gentle rise only is perceptible ; but it is probable 

 that near the foot of the mountains the elevation of the plain above 

 the level is not less than from 350 to 400 feet : there is likewise a 

 slight rise to the south, for at Te Taumutu the land is but eight or 

 ten feet above the sea-level, while at Hakatere it is at least from thirty 

 to forty feet. 



" Along the junction of the plain with the Peninsula there are many 

 isolated sand-hills ; and farther north, the river Waimakariri near its 

 mouth cuts through a bed of finely laminated sand, under which, at a 

 depth of about ten feet, there is a deposit of various kinds of wood, 

 that appears to have been drifted down when the mouth of the stream 

 was some miles inland of its present position, and the Peninsula an 

 island, and the plain covered by forests, of which a few vestiges only 

 remain. A similar deposit of wood is said to exist near where the Wai- 

 kirikiri discharges itself into the Waihora. Should future examination 

 prove that these vegetable accumulations have been drifted to their 

 present sites, and not have resulted from forests that grew on the 

 spot, it may be inferred that Banks' Peninsula has but recently been 

 united to the main land, and that the western shore of the lake Wai- 

 hora formed, at no very distant period, part of a bay of the sea. 



" The wood from the above localities is so little changed, as to serve 

 for fuel to the natives of the neighbouring district. It has the usual 

 appearance of the drifted trunks and branches that are stranded on 

 the beach, and burns in the same mouldering manner*. 



* " The natives informed me, that at a day and a half's journey inland of Tau- 



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