414 Geology of 



The entrance of the care, about forty feet from the crown of the 

 Sumner road, which has here an altitude of 18'59 feet above high- water 

 mark, is situated nearly five feet lower, or 13"6J< feet above high water, 

 taking the level of the surface for our line. An opening, about 30 

 feet broad by eight feet high, being, however, much narrowed by a 

 huge rock, leads into the cave, of which I found the floor slightly 

 sloping down. The cave itself consists of three compartments, of 

 which the first one possesses by far the greatest dimensions, running 

 nearly due north and south, and being 102 feet long, 72 feet broad 

 towards the middle, and about 2-i feet high. From its termination, by 

 a small passage, a second cave is reached, which is IS feet long, 1-ifeet 

 wide, and about 11 feet high ; its direction being north by west to 

 south by east ; at its southern end a small passage, three feet high, by 

 about 2 "50 feet broad, leads into a third or inner chamber, which is 22 

 feet long, with an average width of 16 feet, and about 20 feet high, 

 running again like the principal cave, due north and south ; its floor 

 being about eight feet above high-water mark. An examination of the 

 surface beds showed that the floor of the main cave was, in some localities, 

 covered with the remains of European occupation, in many others by 

 the excrements of goats and cattle, introduced into Canterbury by the 

 Europeans in 1S39 ; but that everywhere below them, when visible, 

 portions of shells of mollusks were occurring, the same species as still 

 inhabit the Estuary close by, and had served as food to the Xatives of 

 the islands visiting the cave in former times. Towards the end of the 

 main cave these beds gradually thinned out and were mixed with each 

 other, till at the entrance to the second cave, marine sands, the former 

 floor of the cave, reached the surface. 



The excavations undertaken under my direction in this cave, during 

 the latter part of the year lb72, and of which the details were given 

 in my communication to the Philosophical Institution of Canterbury, 

 " Eesearches and Excavations carried on in and near the Moa-bone 

 Point Cave, Sumner Road, printed in Vol. TIL of the Transactions of 

 the New Zealand Institute, page 51 and sequ." have made us acquainted 

 with the following general facts : — 



A nearly level floor of marine sands existed, resting upon the rocky 

 bottom of the cave, these sands being 4^ feet above high-water mark at 

 the entrance of the cave, and gradually rising to 8 feet near its termina- 

 tion. There is no evidence from which could be concluded when the 

 big block at the entrance of the cave fell down from the roof to narrow 

 the former so considerably, but I have no doubt that this took place 



