23o The American Geologist. iNovember, looi. 
larger virgin area open for Alpine tourists. Many of these 
peaks and ice plains await the tread of explorers. Mt. Septon 
is the Matterliorn of the Southern ali)s, rising from the valley 
to fully as great a hight as does its prototpye from the village 
of Zermatt and at a steeper angle. At the Hermitage there is 
a constant series of avalanches, startling one by their deafening 
roar, and being plainly visible. 
3. There are peculiarities in the various phenomena. Lat- 
eral and terminal moraines constitute the bulk of the deposits, 
containing very few scratched stones. There is no ground-mo- 
raine, or boulder clay containing glaciated pebbles. Silts are 
not uncommon. Eskers and drumlins have not been observed. 
Loess is recognized at several localities, always of aqueous ori- 
gin. Embossed rocks and smoothed surfaces are less conspic- 
uous than in New England, and it is claimed that their ob- 
scurity is due to their great age. Glacial striae are scarce and 
none are found upon the tops of ridges. The scarcitv may be 
due in part to the absence of protecting till. 
4. To an American the glacial fans are the most conspic- 
uous and characteristic features of the New Zealand ice work. 
All the rivers proceeding from the existing glaciers are very 
turbid, and of large volume in the summer season. In this 
respect they strongly contrast with the streams coming from 
highlands without ice, which shrink to small dimensions or 
dry up. The first may be styled siioii' riz'crs. and the second 
rain rivers. 
5. The opinion prevails at the antipodes that the greatest 
extension of the glaciers occurred in the Pliocene period. Capt. 
F. W. Hutton in a table of the sedimentarv formations in New 
Zealand, assigns the older glacial deposits to the older Pliocene* 
at the base of the Wanganui system, whch is the equivalent 
of the Pliocene. He concludes that the "former great extension 
of our glaciers was caused by greater elevation of the land dur- 
ing the interval between Paseora [Miocene] and the marine 
beds of the Wanganui system."* 
Sir James Hector, director of the Geological Survey, says 
that the Pliocene was characterized by the "greatest activity of 
the volcanic forces" ; and in the south island "the great area 
of land above the shore line intensified the erosive action of 
*Quar.Jovr. Geol. Soc, vol xli. pp. 194-211. 
