126 Lecture on the Geology of [No. 9, new series. 



the true back bone of the Northern Island — with peaks from 6000 

 to 7000 feet, is entirely unknown. (*In this range the Plutonic 

 and Metamorphic rocks, yet unknown in the Northern Island, may 

 perhaps be found *) 



Nearly all the primary ranges are covered with dense virgin for- 

 ests, which render them extremely difficult of access. It must be 

 left to the labour and enterprise of future years to discover and 

 develop the mineral riches, the existence of which appears to be 

 probable, not only from the geological characteristics of the coun- 

 try, but also from some few specimens of Lead and Copper ore that 

 have from time to time been picked up by the Natives. 



It is remarkable that, while one of the oldest members of the 

 Frimary formation is found so extensively in New Zealand, the 

 later strata, as the Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian system, 

 appear to be altogether wanting ; — while on the other hand in the 

 neighbouring Continent of Australia these members of the Pri- 

 mary period, together with plutonic and metamorphic rocks, con- 

 stitute, so far as we know, almost the principal part of the conti- 

 nent. 



II. — Secondary Formation. 



A very wide interval occurs between the primary rocks of the 

 Northern Island and the next sedimentary strata that I met with. 

 Not only the upper members of the primary series are absent, but 

 also nearly the whole of the secondary formations. The only in- 

 stance of secondary strata that I have met with, consist of very re- 

 gular and highly inclined beds of marl alternating with micaceous 

 sandstone, extending to a thickness of more than 1000 feet — 

 which I first saw on the South head of the Waikato, and after- 

 wards met with on the Western shore of Kawhia harbour. 



These rocks possess great interest from the fact that they con- 

 tain remarkable specimens of marine fossils, which belong exclu- 

 sively to the secondary period, especially Cephalopods of the 

 genera Ammonite and Belemnite, several species of Belemnite, all 

 belonging to the family of the Canaticulati. These are the first 

 specimens of those genera which have been discovered in the re- 

 gions of Australasia. Both fossils have been known for centuries 

 by our ancestors in the Old World — the Ammonite as the horn of 



