EXPLANATION OP THE MAPS, 
the Whaingaroa harbour, with very few petrifactions. I only 
found one Inoceramus and a few pectens. Above this marl 
are large banks of calcareous sandstone, rich in petrifaction. It 
is the same formation as the tabular limestone of Whaingaroa, 
the strata varying, some being more sandy, and others more 
calcareous. At the Puketoa cliff, which stands at the edge of 
the water, I collected petrifactions belonging to the following 
genera: Pecten, Spondylus, Cuculaea, Terebratula, Hollicipes, 
Scalaria, and Schizaster. The marl and sandstone formations 
make hill land all round the Aotea harbour, which is indented 
by innumerable small bays. Near the Heads the sandbanks 
rise to a height of 300 to 400 feet, and traces of lignite may be 
discovered at high water mark. 
The Kawhia harbour is from 6 to 7 miles long, 3 to 4 miles 
broad, and is intersected by many navigable channels, between 
which are laid bare at low water shallow mud and sandbanks. 
The entrance to this harbour is narrowed to only half a mile by 
a far extending land tongue—Te Maika. At the entrance are 
bars, which confine the navigation of the harbour only to 
smaller craft. The coasting trade is partly carried on by 
Europeans and by Maoris. Six European families are settled 
on different localities of the harbour, and the number of natives 
were in the year 1859 from five to six thousand. 
The steep and abrupt coast wall of the south side of the 
harbour, in the neighbourhood of Takatahi, is built up of steep 
strata of sandstone and calcareous marl. It was here I had 
the pleasure of finding the first New Zealand ammonites and 
other petrifactions. (Ammonites now Ocelandicus, ‘Inocera¬ 
mus Haastii, &c.) In the south-westerly direction of Takatahi, 
also on the south side, is Ahuahu, a land-point on the Waiha- 
rakeke channel, in the neighbourhood of the Wesleyan Mission 
Station, where there is a rich mine of belemnites (Belemnites 
Aucklandicus var. minor). The cliffs are of clay, of a greenish 
brown colour, the steep strata of which alternate with hardened 
lime marl. At low water it is possible to collect the belemnites 
at the foot of the cliffs in great numbers. The natives call them 
Boke-kanae, which means the excrements of the fish kanae. 
The whole southern borders of the Kawhia Harbour consists 
of strata containing belemnites and ammonites belonging to 
the Jurasic system. The same tertiary argillaceous marl and 
