112 
EXPLANATION OT THE MAT. 
altitude of 2,000 feet above the sea. Here are situated the 
picturesque mountain lakes Botoiti and Botoroa, at the points 
where the two ranges coalesce to form the Spencer Mountain, 
by which they are continued in a south-westerly direction: 
Near Nelson, the commencement of the highland is known as 
Moutere Hill, where it is intersected by innumerable ravines. 
This highland is composed of irregular layers of grit sand and 
yellow clay, resting on a tertiary formation containing brown 
coal, and filling up the contracting valley between the tv, o 
mountain systems. These strata are of quaternary age, and 
being part of the generally diffused drift formation which fills up 
the principal valleys, and covers the flats amongst the moun¬ 
tains, afford evidence that only in the most recent geologic age 
they were covered by the sea. There is no doubt that the 
admirable climate of the shores of Blind Bay is due to the 
above described configuration. Even when there is a storm 
in Cook’s Straits, it is calm and still in Blind Bay, being shel¬ 
tered from the break of the sea by Separation Point and Cape 
D’Urville, while the strong southerly winds are broken by the 
mountain ranges which converge in that direction. Snips find 
in Blind Bay shelter from the dreaded storms that rage in 
Cook’s Straits. The town of Nelson, situated at the south¬ 
eastern border of the Bay, and at. the base ot the eastein 
mountain, enjoys, unlike the other ports of New Zealand, an 
agreeable absence of wind, and which, combined with a clear 
and rarely clouded skv, renders its climate the most agieeable 
and beautiful in New Zealand. With justice it may he called 
“The Harden of New Zealand.” 
The town of Nelson was established in 1842, and was 
the second settlement formed by the New Zealand Com¬ 
pany in Cook’s Straits. In spite of the grievous trials with 
which this young colony has had to contend, it has steadily 
gained ground. Thus, in 1843 it lost a great number of its 
best men in the bloody conflict with the natives when 
Bauparaha and Bangihaeata opposed the colonisation of the 
Wairau. However, through the exploration of the country, 
resulting in the discovery of coal, copper, chrome, graphite, 
and gold, Nelson has become the principal mineral-producing 
Province of New Zealand. Its population at this date amounts 
to 10,000 inhabitants, 5,000 of whom reside in the town and 
