THE GEOLOGY OF NELSON. 
81 
From a central point, which (near the boundary line of the 
two Provinces of Canterbury and Nelson) gives rise to the 
Hurunui and Waiau-ua Rivers, flowing to the eastward, and 
to the Grey and Enungahua, flowing to the westward, the 
Southern Alps send forth two arms through the Province of 
Nelson, the extremities of which are washed by the waters of 
Cook’s Straits. These arms are again subdivided by longitu¬ 
dinal valleys into numerous ranges, with peaks from five to six 
thousand feet high. I will distinguish between the two arms 
by giving the name of the “ Western Ranges” to those which, 
with a northerly strike, terminate in Massacre Bay, between 
Separation Point and Cape Earewell, and the name of the 
“ Eastern Ranges” to those which, running in a north-easterly 
direction, terminate in the Pelorous and Queen Charlotte 
Sound. 
In the acute angle between the two ranges are situated the 
Lakes Rotoitb and Rotorda, from which undulating hills, 
intersected by numerous streams, gradually slope from an 
altitude of 2,000 feet to the plains of the "YVaimea and the 
shores of Blind Bay. 
I can hardly remember a more beautiful and more striking 
scene than when I first looked, on a clear winter day, from a 
high point on the Richmond Hills over the fertile Waimea 
plains, lying like a map beneath my feet, studded with home¬ 
steads and covered with cultivations, towards that triangle of 
snow-capped ranges. 
It is, without doubt, in consequence of the peculiar configu¬ 
ration of the mountain ranges, that Blind Bay is favoured with 
an extraordinarily temperate climate. The western and the 
eastern ranges of Nelson, converging towards the south, form 
a regular wedge, which diverts on the one side the force of the 
south-westerly winds, and on the other side the force of the 
south-easterly winds. Those parts of the Province of Nelson 
which are not enclosed between the legs of the triangle, do not 
enjoy the same serenity of climate. In Golden Bay and in 
the AVairau country, which lie respectively to the west and to 
the east, in the line of the bounding ranges, gales of wind and 
bad weather generally are much more frequent than in Blind 
Bay. 
The “ spout wind,” blowing 
with considerable violence 
