THE GEOLOGY OP NEW ZEALAND. 
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stones ; its lakes,, likewise, are numerous, and, of consider- 
able size, but unlike those of tbe other isle, which are mainly 
owing to volcanic subsidence, these are basins in the moun- 
tain ranges generally long and narrow ; the rock which 
confers its native name on the island — Pounamu, green jade, 
is abundant and highly prized by the New Zealanders, who 
manufacture their ornaments and the much-valued Meres 
from it ; portions of it are so transparent and lustrous as to 
render it worthy a place amongst precious stones, and in 
their admiration of it they resemble the Chinese. 
HINE MOA, REMARKABLE BASALTIC COLUMNS NEAR ROTORUA, ON THE KAINGAROA ROAD. 
The flood which occurred in the Wangaehu River on the 
13th of December 1859, and carried away the bridge which 
had only been recently erected, was of an extraordinary kind, 
and deserves a short notice. This river takes its rise from 
the crater of the Ruapehu, a snowy mountain, which forms 
the most conspicuous object of our landscape ; rushing from 
thence along a snowy plain, it falls over a perpendicular cliff 
some two thousand feet into a deep chasm ; the upper part 
of this huge wall is a mass of ice, and even there this river 
appears to be a strong stream of a milk white color, being in 
fact diluted sulphuric acid. 
To account for this unexpected flood, which occurred in 
fine dry warm weather, it is most likely that a long con- 
tinuance of heat detached a portion of this great cliff sufficient 
to arrest the course of the river and form a temporary lake. 
