MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES, 229 
showed that the hard dioritic bands which had been generally con- 
sidered as dykes, were really interstratified beds. Alluding to this 
stratification, he illustrated by means of a section the different 
belts of country in which the various mines occur, the Queen of 
Beauty. belt being the lowest, and a sequence of auriferous belts 
occurring above this including the Waiotaohi, Caledonian, and 
Moanatairai belts, a thickness ot 4000 feet of strata being thus 
shown to be auriferous. He showed how auriferous leads were 
frequently cut off by the dioritic belts, and alluded to the action 
of the slides in also cutting off and heaving the gold. He stated 
that the strike of the auriferous reefs varied from N. 1odeg. E. to 
N. 80deg. E., but that the greater number approached a N.E. 
strike, and showed that the average strike ot the reefs had no 
influence on the quantity of gold, but that the successive strikes 
in a reef which followed a sinuous course were of the greatest im- 
portance, and where this strike most nearly approached N.E. the 
reef was the richest. The mean dip of the reets, again, was of no 
use in determining the value of a reef, as they ranged from vertical 
to nearly horizontal, but that in each reef the successive inclina- 
tions had to be studied, as the steeper parts were generally the 
richest. In conclusion he expressed the opinion that the Thames 
was by no means worked out, as some had asserted, but that he 
fully expected to hear of as rich deposits being found in the future 
at deep levels as have yet been got near the surface, and stated 
that the diamond drill would afford valuable assistance in pros- 
pecting. The paper was listened to with great interest, and the 
President pointed out the importance of having accurate scientific 
information bearing on our gold-mines recorded. It assisted in the 
search for gold, and saved unnecessary expense in prospecting. 
Our alluvial diggings were being worked out, but reet-mining 
would become a great and highly remunerative industry. 
Mr. J. W. A. Marchant then gave the following account (illus- 
trated by drawings) of the waterspout which occurred in the 
neighbourhood of Cook Straits on the 15th instant:—The water- 
spout was first seen from Lyell Bay about 1.30 p.m., and continued 
in sight about quarter of an hour. A squall, accompanied by - 
heavy rain, was passing from the westward through Cook Straits 
towards Cape Palliser. It was whilst engaged watching the pro- 
gress of the storm from the western shore of the bay that I observed 
the waterspout clear of the south head, bearing about S.E., and 
distant, perhaps, two miles on the northern verge of the storm 
area. It presented the appearance of a cylinder of blue-grey 
colour, several hundred feet in height, and of uniform diameter. 
It conveyed the impression that it was suspended from a mass of 
lowering clouds, the extremity near thesea being distinctly pointed 
like a crayon, resting upon a zone of elevated water in an intense 
state ot agitation, but the gyratory motion was not perceptible in 
the upper part. The column was slightly curved, being bent over 
towards the west, and it travelled in the opposite direction 
towards Fitzroy Bay, and as the movement was quickest at the 
base, the inclination from the perpendicular increased ; the clouds 
seemed to descend and assume the form usual in such cases, that 
of an inverted cone, whilst the vapours over the sea were drawn 
upward, when the waterspout appeared to fade away, the last 
_ ppearance of the column being that of a light-grey streak, con- 
