236 
THE GEOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND. 
altered ; the sea had so entirely retired from the cove, that it 
was dry land. Beyond Cascade Point the whole coast pre¬ 
sented a most shattered appearance, so much so that its former 
state could scarcely he recognized. Large masses of the 
mountains had fallen, and in many places the trees might be 
seen under the water. 
From these circumstances, it is evident that the Middle 
Island is rapidly rising, and of this fact there are other proofs 
to be adduced. The climate has undergone a great change, 
which can only be accounted for by the increased elevation 
of the land. Coal measures appear at Massacre Bay and 
Molyneux River, intermingled with abundance of Kauri 
resin. This noble pine is not now found growing within ten 
degrees of latitude north of Molyneux River. In no single 
spot within that wide range is a Kauri tree to be met with. 
Hence we conclude that the climate has considerably 
altered, since that carboniferous deposit was made; but it 
is not necessary to go back to the probably remote period 
of its formation. The Kauri resin is still found on the surface 
of the land, with every appearance of its having had quite 
as recent an origin as that picked up in the north. It is most 
probable, therefore, that the tree has grown in these latitudes 
at a comparatively recent period. This beautiful pine does 
not appear to require heat, so much as shelter and humidity. 
If, then, as we suppose, the land was formerly low in that 
latitude, the climate would necessarily be humid and mild, the 
cold being tempered by the sea, and not increased by the 
propinquity of snowy mountains; thus the Kauri might have 
flourished there, as well as other trees which now belong to 
a warmer climate.* 
* Extract of Lieut.-Governor Eyre’s letter, describing his ascent of the Kai 
Koura, a mountain of the Middle Island, 9,114 feet high:— 
Government House, 26th Nov. 1849. 
My Dear Sir,—I write a line to inform you, that I have returned from the 
Middle Island, after only a fortnight’s absence, in consequence of the melan¬ 
choly loss of one of my party (a native), who, slipping on a snow slide at the 
hill Tapuaenuko, fell about 1500 feet, and was killed. Two others also of the 
party had very providential escapes more than once, viz., myself and another 
