THE HEOLOHY OF ATJCKLAKB. 
19 
shale, two inches; the middle part coal of a good quality, one 
and a half feet; then a hand of bituminous shale, six inches ; 
the lowest part coal of the best quality X have seen, two and a 
half feet. Thus the whole thickness of the coal itself may be 
considered to amount to about five feet. The bituminous shale 
accompanying the coal contains fossil plants, principally leaves 
of Dicotyledones. It is remarkable that no fossil ferns are found 
in connection with the Drury coal-beds ; it is the more so, as at 
the other locality which I must mention—on the West Coast, 
seven miles from Waikato Heads— only fossil ferns, in a most 
beautiful state of preservation, are imbedded in gray argillaceous 
strata, alternating with sandstone and small coal seams of 
probably the same geological age as the Drury coal. A consi¬ 
derable number of specimens from both localities will, by a 
future examination, furnish the opportunity for determining the 
principal features of the flora of the Brown Coal Beriod in New 
Zealand . 
The fossil gum found in the coal is a kind of “ Definite, ;; 
derived from a coniferous tree, perhaps related to the Kauri. ; 
but it is by no means identical with the Kauri Gum, which 
is only found in the surface soil in those localities where 
there have been kauri forests. The fossil gum and kauri 
gum are very different in their qualities, as the most sim 
experiments in their ignition will show. 
The thickness of the forest and the inaccessability of the 
country prevent our now ascertaining, in an exact manner, the 
extent of the Drury coal-field. Still, the existing openings show 
an extent of the coal-field quite large enough to encourage any 
Company to work the coal in an extensive manner. 
I am glad to hear that a Company, under the name of u The 
Waihoihoi Mining and Coal Company” is formed, to begin the 
working of this coal. 
The same kind of coal I saw again on the northern slope of 
Taupiri and Naharimata range. At Kupaleupa , on the left 
bank of the Waikato, X examined a beautiful seam about 150 
feet above the level of the river. The thickness of the seam 
then exposed was about 15 feet; how much greater the thick¬ 
ness may be it is impossible to say, as the floor has never been 
uncovered. 
o 
