chap. v. Small Basaltic Craters. 115 



could be clearly followed in portions of the compact 

 tuff of these dikes. 



At the distance of a few miles from these two 

 craters, stands the Kicker Rock, or islet, remarkable 

 from its singular form. It is unstratified, and is com- 

 posed of compact tuff, in parts having the resin-like 

 fracture. It is probable that this amorphous mass, 

 like that similar mass in the case first described, once 

 filled up the central hollow of a crater, and that its 

 flanks, or sloping walls, have since been worn quite 

 away by the sea, in which it stands exposed. 



Small basaltic craters. — A bare, undulating tract, 

 at the eastern end of Chatham Island, is remarkable 

 from the number, proximity, and form of the small 

 basaltic craters with which it is studded. They consist, 

 either of a mere conical pile, or, but less commonly, of 

 a circle, of black and red, glossy scoriae, partially ce- 

 mented together. They vary in diameter from 30 to 

 150 yards, and rise from about 50 to 100 feet above 

 the level of the surrounding plain. From one small 

 eminence, I counted sixty of these craters, all of which 

 were within a third of a mile from each other, and 

 many were much closer. I measured the distance 

 between two very small craters, and found that it was 

 only thirty yards from the summit-rim of one to the 

 rim of the other. Small streams of black, basaltic lava, 

 containing olivine and much glassy feldspar, have flowed 

 from many, but not from all of these craters. The 

 surfaces of the more recent streams were exceedingly 

 rugged, and were crossed by great fissures; the older 

 streams were only a little less rugged ; and they were 

 all blended and mingled together in complete confusion. 

 The different growth, however, of the trees on the 

 streams, often plainly marked their different ages. 

 Had it not been for this latter character, the streams 



