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DESCRIPTIVE NARRATIVE OE .TOURNEY. 31 
opinion in reference to their age, although from the character of 
the coal itself, the few impressions I there found of the fossil 
flora, and the lithological character of the rocks (which resembled 
very much the rocks of the carboniferous period), I was satisfied 
that I had here to do with coal measures much older than any 
other hitherto seen or expected to be found in blew Zealand. 
Towards evening we left the gorge behind us, and passed the 
Kotukuwakao stream, the outlet of the lake of the same name, 
commonly called Lake Brunner. 
The valley of the G-rey, bounded on its western side by the 
continuous range of the Paparoha chain, which stretched to the 
north as far as the eye could reach, and in which the rounded 
tops of the high granitic mountains contrasted strongly with the 
serrated, castle-like, and needle-shaped points of the gneiss and 
metamorphic schists behind them, widened very much, consisting 
partly of magnificent forest, containing different species of the 
pine, and partly of grass land. A large opening towards the 
north was visible, in which only low hills appeared here and 
there. 
Towards the west and south-west the high rocky chains through 
which the Buller, the Inangahua, the Grey, and the Ahaura 
break, before entering the plains, gratified the eye by their varied 
forms. The river bed itself became very wide, the water being 
often divided into several channels, separated by extensive shingle 
beds, which are only covered during heavy freshes, and were the 
repository of large trees left behind by subsiding floods. So we 
proceeded for three days, toiling hard to propel the canoe, the 
drift trees frequently offering serious obstacles to our progress. 
On the evening of the 30th of March, the rain set in again, 
and so heavily, that, as we were encamped on the low ground 
near the river, we feared it would rise so as to compel us to take 
to the trees. Fortunately, towards morning, notwithstanding it 
still continued to rain, it fell less heavily. As we were unable to 
proceed with the canoe, I struck a little inland, partly for the 
purpose of collecting botanical specimens, and partly to examine 
the nature of the soil. 
On the 1st of April the river had fallen so much that we could 
pursue our journey, and during the day I had an opportunity of 
examining the first tributary of any size which flowed from the 
Paparoha chain, the boulders of which satisfied me, as indeed I 
had expected, that the coal formation extended at least so far 
towards the north. 
¥e arrived next day at our old camp in the Ohine-taki-taki 
grass plains. During the whole of this time we had seen signs of 
Mr. Bochfort’s progress in his surveys, frequently coming upon 
his ranging rods and the marks of his chain in the sand. He 
■ had also camped here, and evidently only started the same morn¬ 
ing, his camp fire still burning. 
