NOTES AND QUERIES. 



189 



These comparative analyses will show that the Drury coal is similar to the 

 Eiu'opean brown coals in its three principal constituents : 



Aucldand Black Coal 



Wood. Lignite. Brown Coal. and Anthracite. 







62-6 



55-0 to 



57-0 



55-0 to 



76-0 



73-0 to 



96-51 



Oxygen 



43-0 



42-0 



15-0 



67-0 



26-0 



19-0 



23-0 



3-0 



Hydrogen 



60 



5-5 



4-0 



13-0 



4-3 



25 



5-5 



0.5 



Although of entirely different character, and, generally speaking, of inferior 

 value to the older coals of the Primary formations, there is no reason why this 

 kind of coal should not be used in New Zealand for the same pui'poses as a 

 similar brown coal in various parts of Europe, particularly in Germany, where 

 it supplies the fuel for manufactures of all kinds, for locomotives and steamers, 

 and for domestic purposes. Dr. Hochstetter strongly recommends that any 

 company formed for the purpose of working the coal should also establish pot- 

 teries for the manufacture of earthenware. Remarkably suitable clays of every 

 necessary variety exist in the immediate neighbourhood of the coal-fields. By 

 the establishment of such works, the value of the coal would be made appa- 

 rent to everybody, and the manufactm-e itself, if properly conducted, could not 

 fail to be remunerative. It may be interesting to know that the far-famed 

 " Bohemian porcelain" is burnt by means of brown coal, from a seam of, in 

 some places, ninety feet thickness. While stating the uses to which brown 

 coal may be applied, it is necessary to warn against the idea that it is suitable 

 for steamers having to make long sea voyages. The bulky nature of the 

 brown-coal wiU always prevent such steamers taking it on board when they can 

 procure black coal. But, on the other hand, its qualities as a gas-producing 

 coal will render it valuable as an article of export. 



Of the older Tertiary strata examples are found occurring in great regularity 

 on the west coast from Waikato to Kawhi. The lowest are argillaceous, the 

 middle calcareous, the upper arenaceous. 



The characteristics of the first clayey strata are a light grey colour, very 

 few fossils, small crystals of iron pyrites and glauconitic grains, which give 

 these clay-marls a similarity to the gault and green-sands of the Cretaceous 

 formation in Europe. They are found on the eastern branches of Whain- 

 garoa, Aotea, and Kawhia harbours. 



Of greater interest and importance are the calcareous strata, consisting of 

 tabular limestone, sometimes of a conglomerate nature, sometimes more crys- 

 talline, the whole mass of which is formed of fragments of shells, corals, and 

 foraminifera, interspersed with perfect specimens of terebratulse, oysters and 

 pectens, and other sheUs. This limestone, when burnt, makes excellent lime, 

 and may be wrought and polished for architectural purposes. 



The beds of limestone worked by Messrs. Smith and Cooper, in the Wairoa 

 district, belong to this formation, as do also the rich fossiliferous strata from 

 the Waikato Heads towards Kawhia harbour. 



Picturesque columnar rocks of the same nature, looking almost as if they 

 were artificially built of tabular blocks, adorn the entrance to Whaingaroa 

 harbour ; and the romantic (limestone) scenery, and the fine caves of the 

 Bakaunui river, a branch of Kawhia harbour, are deservedly prized by the 

 settlers of Kawhia Harbour. 



The limestone formation attains its greatest thickness (from four hundred to 

 five hundred feet) in the Upper Waipa and Mokau district, between the Ban- 

 gitoto range and the west coast. It has in this country many remarkable 

 features. 



No one can enter without admiration the stalactite caves of Tana-uri-uri, at 

 Hangatlki, and of Parianewanewa, near the soui'ces of the Waipa, the former 

 haunts of the gigantic Moa. 



Dr. Hochstetter says : " I went into those caves in the hope of meeting 



