Canterbury and Westland. 393 



in the landscape, rising as Bold Head, a remarkable headland, from 

 the coastline. It was doubtless the frontal moraine of a huge glacier 

 descending so far towards or into the sea, and its structure can well 

 be studied by passing along it. Eising in the centre to about 250 

 feet it consists principally of till, with numberless blocks of all sizes 

 and shapes, mostly angular, imbedded in it. These blocks are derived 

 from the Mount Torlesse and Waihao formations, typical metamorphic 

 or igneous rocks being of rare occurrence. Some of the imbedded rocks 

 are of enormous size, often larger than the celebrated Pierre-a-bot in 

 the Jura. One of the most striking examples is the large block lying 

 in front of the centre of this Bold Head moraine, to which the latter 

 owes, without doubt, in some degree its preservation. This block, 

 consisting of contorted clay-slate with layers of quartz, is from 30 to 

 40 feet in diameter, and covered on its summit with a luxuriant 

 vegetation. In the upper portion of the confused mass of morainic 

 accumulations are two large deposits of fine glacier silt, in which 

 also angular blocks of various sizes are imbedded. However, what 

 gives an additional interest to Bold Head, is the existence of an alluvial 

 deposit 30 to 40 feet thick, having a considerable slope to the south, 

 and separating the morainic beds into two distinct portions. It 

 contains a quantity of subangular shingle and gravel, its greatest 

 portion being derived from the metamorphic and igneous rocks at the 

 western base of the Southern Alps, a clear proof that at least one 

 great oscillation during the Grlacier period took place, when these oldest 

 rocks became exposed in their turn to fluviatile action. Bold Head has 

 also a considerable slope towards the East, It then joins a ridge 

 forming its eastern continuation, and rises again, gradually and 

 steadily, till it abuts against the western foot of the Alps. 



Having passed along a long sandy beach of several miles in length, 

 we come to the morainic accumulations of the Wanganui glacier, 

 reaching for a distance of more than ten miles from the Pukuaro 

 cliff north, to the northern banks of the Puerua River south. These 

 deposits consist of the united moraines of the Wanganui and Puerua 

 channels, both draining a considerable portion of the Southern Alps. 

 It is a wild piece of coastline, of which the photo-lithographic view of 

 the Wanganui Bluff, with Mount One-One in the distance, gives a 

 faithful representation. It is evident that, owing to the resistance 

 offered, all the headlands consist of those portions of the moraines in 

 which the greatest number of large blocks are enclosed ; in fact, they 

 correspond generally with the central and lateral moraines. At the 



