97

beneath, or deposited there by the operation
of some causes which science is unable to
explain. The green and blue silicates of
copper are surface minerals, which are only
of value by showing the direction of the fissure
in which the real ore may be looked for at a
greater depth: at a certain distance below
the surface, they disappear entirely, and it is
only by the broken and softened character of
the serpentine that the miner is enabled to
follow the fissure from one deposit of metal to
the other. The occurrence of the best indica-
tions of copper ore on the surface over a con-
tinuous line of about two miles, affords good
ground for supposing that considerable quan-
tities of ore are contained in the mountain;
but, on the other hand, owing to the manner
in which the ores occur in isolated bunches,
mining operations in such a region are always
attended by less certain profits than where the
metal is deposited in a regular lode; and I
may be allowed to express a hope that the
Dun Mountain may prove to be all that the
Nelson people could wish.

In Croixelles and in Current Basin, where
copper-mining operations have been carried on,
the indications were very obscure, and the
result has proved that there is no reasonable
ground to expect a profitable copper mine
there. More promising specimens of copper
ore have been obtained from D\'Urville\'s Island.
The character of the ores met with there is
quite the same as in the Dun Mountain.

I will add a few words about chromate of
iron. This mineral is an ordinary accompani-
ment of serpentine rock, and occurs in the
Dun Mountain in great force. Of its com-
mercial value I do not feel myself qualified to
speak; but, should its value be considerable,
the abundance of it is so great that it must
prove a source of much wealth to the mine.

Having described the central parts of the
western ranges, and the serpentine which flanks
it, there still remains to me to describe a zone
of old sedimentary rock, which lies between
the serpentine on the east, and Blind Bay and
the Waimea plain on the west. The best sec-
tion of this zone is obtained by following up
the course of the Maitai to the Dun Moun-
tain. Immediately to the west of the serpent-
ine we meet with a belt of calcareous schists,
which attains its highest elevation on the
summit known as the Wooded Peak, and
continues on its strike parallel with the ser-
pentine dyke. Proceeding to the westward,
we pass over a band of greenish and reddish
coloured slates, of a thickness of about five
English miles. The same description of slates
continues all along the ranges, as far as the
Big Bush road to the Wairau. The absence
of any fossil remains in the calcareous schists
and in the slates prevents me from assigning
to them with confidence their geological age.
I give them, therefore, a local name, and call
them the Green and Red Maitai Slates. In
places these slates are broken through and
altered by eruptive rocks, as, for instance, in
Brook-street-valley by diabase, and near Wa-
kapuaka by syenite.

3.—SECONDARY FORMATIONS.

Between Nelson and Wakapuaka, black slates
and shales are found close to the edge of the
water. In these we find the first indications
of organic remains. Of the nature of these
organic remains I have not been able per-
fectly to satisfy myself; they appear, however,
to belong to the vegetable kingdom, and have
more resemblance to seaweeds than anything
else.

In the same line, further south, the Rich-
mond sandstones form the boundary of the
western ranges. No less interest attaches to
these sandstones, which contain many and
perfect fossil molluscs, and are, so far as I
know, the oldest fossiliferous strata in the
province. The fossils belong to the genera
Mytilus, Monotis, Avicula, Spirifer, Tere-
bratula, which seem to indicate a secondary
age for the formations. If I were to trace
any analogy between these strata and any
European formation, I should say that they
occupied in New Zealand the place filled by
the muschelkalk in Europe.

I have described now the formations of the
higher ranges of the province. Before leaving
them, I will observe that they possess an extra-
ordinary interest for the botanist. Dr. Monro
and Dr. Sinclair have brought from those
regions specimens of the greatest interest, and
new to science. And a large field is still open
for those who will follow in their steps.

Zoologists may be surprised to hear that on
the top of limestone ranges between 3,000 and
4,000 feet high, at the Pikikerunga and the
Maunga-tapu, a large land snail, or helix, is
found, as large as the Helix Busbyi of the
Northern Island. Mr. Skeet found a live
specimen on the Anatoki mountains; and to
Mr. W. Askew, at Riwaka, I am indebted
for a perfect specimen of that new and rare
shell.

PAKAWAU COAL FIELD.

I come now to speak about the Pakawau
coal-field, as probably belonging to the secon-
dary period. The Pakawau coal-field overlies
the mica and clay-slate formations of the
western ranges. The Pakawau stream exposes
various strata of the coal-field, its conglomerate,
sandstone, shales, and seams of coal.
There have been workings on the ex-
posed seams on both sides of the stream. A
quantity of coal extracted from a seam of four