128 FEET.

Old Moraine, by which Lake Tekapo is surrounded, highest sloping terrace 8½ miles upward from its outlets on eastern side of lake...

3468 Mount Dobson
6271

LAKE PUKAKI SYSTEM.
Great Tasman Glacier, terminal face...
2774 Murchison glacier
3540 Junction of Hochstetter glacier with Tasman glacier...
4850 Müller glacier...
2851 Hooker glacier...
2960 Junction of River Hooker with River Tasman...
2588 Junction of River Jollie with River Tasman...
2242
1746 Lake Pukaki...

LAKE OHOU SYSTEM.
Richardson glacier, source of River Hopkins...
4231 Selwyn glacier, forming River Dobson
4811 Hourglass ditto...
3816 Junction of River Dobson with River Hopkins...
2086
1927 *Lake Ohou
Fraser’s Pass, between Lake Pukaki and head of Lake Ohou...
3992 Highest sloping terrace on eastern side of Ben Ohou, near Fraser’s Pass...
3510 Pass, eastern side of Lakes...
Burke’s Pass, leading through the ranges, bounding the Canterbury Plains towards Lake Tekapo...
2462

MALVERN HILLS AND WAIMAKARIRI.
Coal measures (Hart’s mine) Selwyn River...
1066 Mount Misery...
2487 Abner’s Head...
2231 Saddle between River Selwyn and River Hawkins, near Mr. W. Russell’s station...
1687 *Kowai coal measures (entrance of Haast’s drive)...
1315 Junction of Kowai with McFarlane’s stream...
1587 Main seam of lignite beds at the head of McFarlane’s stream...
2891 † Big Ben, highest summit of Thirteen Mile Bush Range...
5224 Saddle between Kowai and Lake Linden (Porter’s Pass)...
3212 Lake Linden...
2868 † Mount Torlesse, south-eastern summit...
6136 Saddle between Rubicon and source of Kowai...
3705 Russell’s Hills, highest point behind Kowai...
Kowai coal measures, north of Bishop’s Gully...
2752

GENERAL OBJECTS.
Line of perpetual snow, southern side of Mount Cook range...
7800 Altitude where Fagus forest (the black birch of the settlers) ceases to grow, ascending the rivers, followed by alpine vegetation...
In River Hopkins...
3180 "Dobson"
3220 Highest point where I observed plants on the Mount Cook range which began to be very scarce at 6500 ft.
7200

It is evident that at the base of so huge a mountain system as the Southern Alps of New Zealand (in which, during geologically recent times, great oscillations have taken place) large deposits of boulders, sand, clay, &c. must occur, formed from the detritus of its component rocks when acted upon by ice, snow, rain and other atmospheric influences.

The Canterbury plains, formed by these deposits, are 112 miles long, and on an average about 24 miles broad and consist, for some miles inland along the coast line of alluvium, brought down by the rivers which intersect these plains, and which, for about ten miles from their months, flow above the general level of the plains, resembling in this respect the Adige and Po.

Other parts of the lower plains are formed by littoral deposits. The general fall of the rivers is about 30 feet in the mile, although to the eye the plains present an apparently dead level. In order to show how the river beds, in the lower parts of their courses, are shifting, filling up and changing their channels I would refer to No. 9 section taken on the southern railway line from the 28th to the 55th mile peg by Mr. H. Whitcombe, which instructive section I owe to the courtesy of our Provincial Engineer. No more beautiful illustration of the phenomena to which I have alluded could be met with.

About eight to ten miles from the mouths of the rivers a change occurs, and although the beds of the glacial streams are still broad, they begin to cut into the loose deposits of the plains. Terraces are formed, which on the eastern side of the plains, near the base of the mountains, are often 300 feet above the level of the rivers, and consist of from four to six distinct and perfect terraces rising one above the other. At sudden curves in the rivers (which shift their channels with almost every heavy fresh), these terraces are often destroyed and beautiful vertical sections are exposed, showing clearly the nature of the deposits by which they have been formed.

There is in the first place generally a capping of well stratified shingle and sand sloping insensibly towards the sea; below this we find different beds of boulders, for the greater part rounded, but sometimes angular, inter-stratified with sand, loam and clay, exactly resembling the boulder clays of Europe. These beds are generally quite horizontal, but are sometimes irregularly disturbed as if tilted up by the stranding of an iceberg. In the blueish clays, which sometimes thin out in a distance of fifty or sixty yards from three to four feet to a few inches, I observed the remains of some exuviae and bivalve shells, but so rotten that it was not only impossible to remove them, but even to ascertain the species; although I believed one of them to resemble the Venus intermedia of our seas.

Amongst these boulder clays I observed several angular blocks, surrounded by clay, but very few of them were of sufficient dimensions to deserve the name of erratic blocks.

† After correction of Index error.