278 Geology of 



8 feet 2 inches greenish sandstone 



dark clay-slate, running out 12 feet above river 



greyish sandstone 



dark clay- slate 

 , greyish sandstone 



dark clay -slate 



greenish sandstone 



dark clay-slate 



greyish sandstone 



dark clay-slate running gradually out 



greyish sandstone 



dark clay- slate 

 , greyish sandstone 

 , dark clay-slate 



Above the latter bed, repose bluish greywacke sandstones full of 

 small quartz veins, about 470 feet thick, after which another alter- 

 nation of sandstones and slates, similar to the one given above, 

 follows, succeeded by a series of shales of great thickness, overlaid 

 again by bluish graywacke sandstone. 





j> 



3 





?> 



4 





5) 



2 





J5 



3 





5J 



4 



1 



>J 



10 



1 



5J 







3 









4 



6 



3J 



2 





53 



9 



4 



3J 

 5» 



3 

 4 



Extent. 



This formation, as before observed, covers more than half of the 

 Province of Canterbury ; near the Hurunui, as well as at the AVaimate, 

 some of its outliers reach almost to the sea coast and from the 

 northern boundary, it stretches to several miles west of the junction 

 of the Otira with the Taramakau. From the Hurunui it recedes in a 

 south-west direction inland, and forms all the higher ranges skirting 

 the Canterbury plains and their southern continuation as far as 

 the AVaitaki. Rocks belonging to this series form, from the banks 

 of the Taramakau for a considerable distance, the summits, and for 

 several thousand feet the western slopes, of the Southern Alps, till we 

 reach the northern sources of the Eakaia, where they retreat several 

 miles to the east of the main divide. More to the south they again 

 build up several of the highest peaks of the Southern Alps, as, for 

 instance, Mount Haidinger and Mount Cook, of which we obtain 

 clear evidence from the moraines covering the glaciers descending 

 on both sides. From the gigantic ancient moraines along the AVest 

 Coast, we can collect, in most localities, numbers of blocks derived 

 on this formation, which is an indication of its presence in many in- 



