GEOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND. 201 



is evident. In Nelson it has been shown to rest indifferently on 

 the Aorere and the Mt. Arthur Series*, the Baton-river Series 

 being absent (fig. 2, d). In Westland, Mr. Cox describes these 

 rocks as quite unconformable to the schists f ; and at Eeefton they 

 have been shown to be unconformable to the Baton-river Series 

 (= Reefton Series) by Dr. Hector, Mr. Cox, and Mr. M^'Kay. At 

 the Tapanui Mts. in Otago, the system rests partly on the Wanaka, 

 and partly on the Kakanui Series, while in the West-coast Sounds 

 it appears to rest upon the Manapouri System. But notwithstanding 

 this unconformity, it is by no means easy to draw the line between 

 this and the Takaka System in Otago ; for the metamorphic action 

 has passed upwards through both, assimilating to some extent along 

 the boundary the rocks of each system. 



In consequence of the rocks being generally unfossiliferous, it has 

 not yet been found possible to break up this system into distinct series. 

 According to Dr. Hector, the following fossils occur in limestone at 

 the Dun Mountain, near the base of the system : — Sjpirifera hisul- 

 cata, Spirifera glabra, Froductus hracliythoirus. Cyatliophyllum and 

 Cyathocrinus. In the upper part of the system the only fossils 

 known are the tubes of two or more species of Tubicolous Annelides, 

 perhaps Cornulites J. 



The BimiitdJca Series of the Korth Island no doubt belongs to the 

 Maitai System. The Te Anau Series of Dr. Hector is now con- 

 sidered by the Geological Survey as forming the base of the Maitai 

 System, but formerly it was placed at the base of the Hokaniii 

 System §. It is said to consist of "an enormous thickness of 

 greenstone breccias, aphanite slates, and diorite sandstones, with 

 great contemporaneous floes and dykes of diorite, serpentine, syenites, 

 and felsite "|| ; and it appears to me to be merely the igneous rocks 

 belonging to the system, and not to represent any particular 

 horizon. I say this, however, with much hesitation, because Mr. 

 S. H. Cox, to whose opinion I attach great weight, differs from me 

 on this point and agrees with Dr. Hector. 



Eemarkable beds of manganese ore, generally associated with 

 red jasperoid slates, are found in several places in the Auckland 

 Province and also near Wellington. In many respects these rocks 

 remind one of the deposits now being formed in the deeper parts of 

 the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the absence of fossils strengthens 

 the impresssion. 



This system is the same as my "Kaikoura formation." The 

 " Westland formation," and the lower part of the " Mount Torlesse 

 formation " of Dr. von Haast also belong to it. The rocks called 

 " Maitai slates " by Dr. von Hochstetter are seen in the neighbour- 

 hood of Nelson to overlie rocks containing Monotis belonging to the 

 Wairoa Series ; and in addition to this. Dr. Hector collected from 



* Cox, Reports Geological Survey, 1881, p. 47. Up. Devonian, a. 

 t Reports Geological Survey, 1874-76, p. 68, and sections, 

 t See M<=Kay, Rep. Geol. Surv. 1879-80, p. 90. 

 § Reports of Geological Survey, 1876-7, p. v. 

 II ' Handbook of New Zealand,' 1883, p. 36. 



