394 Geology of 



same time their partial destruction lias offered the means for their 

 further protection by depositing at their base large masses of rocks, 

 extending into the sea for a considerable distance, and against which 

 the waves break violently but ineffectually ; whilst the softer beds 

 between them not having this protecting talus, are, if not constantly, 

 at least during the frequent gales along this coast, quite unprotected 

 from the fury of the waves, and are much less able to withstand their 

 destructive power. The observer passing along this Bluff must come 

 to the conclusion that a great portion of it has already been washed 

 away, as for a considerable distance erratic blocks lie in the sea. 

 Some of them are of enormous size, of which a remarkable instance is 

 seen in the view of the "Wanganui Bluff. A section of this portion of 

 the coast Xo. 3 on Plate 8, shows the somewhat complicated character 

 of these deposits. Beginning in the north we have first a true lateral 

 moraine, consisting of the usual detrital matter, blocks of all sizes 

 imbedded in sand and silt, the whole having a rough anticlinal arrange- 

 ment. All these rocks are derived from, or at least from near, the 

 summit of the central chain, and belong to the Waihao and Mount 

 Torlesse formations. The southern slopes of this moraine disappear 

 below an alluvial bed, forming a vertical wall of about 30 feet altitude. 

 The latter consists of a well stratified bed of subangular boulders and 

 gravel deposited here by a large river — after the retreat of the glacier — 

 towards the sea. Although generally consisting of the same kind of 

 rocks as those enclosed in the moraines, the presence of true meta- 

 morphic and igneous rocks proves the retreat of the glacier to such a 

 high position, that the lower slopes of the Alps were exposed to 

 glacier and fluviatile action. After one mile and a half a new moraine, 

 having the same rough arrangement as the former, rises again below 

 the fluviatile deposits. It represents doubtless the central moraine, 

 belonging to the same glacier as the former. A new river bed of 

 similar length follows, and then a third moraine, the southern lateral 

 moraine of the same glacier, makes its appearance. Thus, with the 

 facts before us, we can conclude that the northern branch, forming the 

 trunk glacier, was here about five miles broad, consisting of two 

 principal branches higher up, and being covered with comparatively 

 scanty morainic matter only. 



A small creek (Camp Creek) separates the last-mentioned beds 

 from far larger morainic accumulations, rising several hundred feet 

 above the seashore. They have been brought down by a glacier of 

 nearly the same breadth as the former, but it appears that it has been 



