1920.] Speight— Two New Fossil Localities in Maitai Rocks. 105 
TWO NEW FOSSIL LOCALITIES IN MAITAI ROCKS. 
By R. Speight, M.A., M.Sc., F.G.S., F.N.Z.Inst., Curator of the 
Canterbury Museum. 
The rocks usually classified as “ Maitai ” form such an important element 
in the geological fabric of New Zealand, and are at the same time so remark¬ 
ably deficient in fossils over wide areas, that the discovery of additional 
fossil localities is a matter of some scientific interest. I therefore give the 
following brief account of two such localities which it was my fortune to 
come across during the month of January of this year. 
The first to be recorded occurs in the basin of the Hawdon River, 
a tributary of the Waimakariri, some ten miles in length, which rises in 
the main divide about eight miles east of Arthur’s Pass, follows a course 
generally parallel to that of the Bealey River, and enters the Waimakariri 
in the vicinity of Cass. The main stream of the Hawdon is formed by two 
subequal branches, the western rising near Walker’s Pass. They join at a 
point about six miles above the junction of the Hawdon with the Waimaka¬ 
riri. While camped up the river in company with Dr. Evans and Professor 
Wall, of Canterbury College, the latter brought me a specimen of Monotis 
salinaria which he had picked up on a shingle-slip on the western side of the 
valley of the eastern branch, about a mile and a half above the fork of the 
stream. On examining the locality myself I found two other specimens of 
the same shell, one in a tough greywacke and the other in a slaty shale. 
No specimens were obtained from the rocks in position, but rocks similar 
to the matrix containing the shell were found in close proximity to the 
fragments. Complete examination was a matter of difficulty, as the shingle- 
slip was of a somewhat unpleasant kind to move about on, and the spot 
where the shells were found was about 1,000 ft. above the floor of the valley. 
Nevertheless, as complete an examination of the locality was made as the 
conditions permitted. 
The rocks in the immediate vicinity of the spot consist of alternating 
bands of greywacke and dark slaty shale, with occasional coarse grits, 
striking north-west and dipping south-west from 45° to 50°. At the top 
of the slip the stratification is much disturbed by faulting and slumping. 
In the bed of the creek, lower down, the same beds were observed with 
a north-north-east strike and a westerly dip at high angles, but no fossils 
were discovered. 
In addition to the moiluscan remains just referred to, portions of crushed 
and carbonized stems of trees were observed in the grits near the top of the 
exposure. These are exactly the same in appearance as specimens dis¬ 
covered by me last year in the Pudding Hill Stream, and it is noteworthy 
that they occur in both places near beds which contain traces of annelid 
remains. In the Hawdon locality these show no calcareous matter, are 
small in size, being less than J in. in diameter, and do not resemble the 
Mount Torlesse annelid ( Torlessia mackayi). Similar forms were found in 
the Pudding Hill Stream (see Cox in Rep. Geol. Explor., 1883-84, p. 25). 
The occurrence up the Hawdon is, however, insufficient to determine the 
true relation of the annelid-beds of the Maitai series to the beds containing 
Upper Trias fossils. 
It is interesting to note in this connection that McKay (Rep. Geol. Explor., 
1879-80, p. 88) records a similar series of rocks with an imperfect fossil 
