168
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
the value of the coal would be made apparent and of Parianewanewa near the sources of the
to everybody, and the manufacture itself, if Waipa-the former haunts of the gigantic Moa.
properly conducted, cannot fail to be remunera- I went into those caves in the hope of meet-
tive. It may be interesting to you to know ing with a rich harvest of Moa skeletons, but I
that the far-famed "Bohemian Porcelain" is was sadly disappointed. Those who had been
burnt by means of brown-coal, from a seam of, before me in the days of Moa enthusiasm having
in some places of 90 feet thickness. While stat- carried off every vestige of a bone. Great,
ing the uses to which brown-coal may be ap- however, was my labour, and not little my
plied, I must warn you against thinking that satisfaction, in dragging out the head-less and
it is suitable for steamers having to make leg-less skeleton of a Moa from beneath the
long sea voyages. The bulky nature of the dust and filth of an old raupo hut!-The Maories,
"brown-coal" will always prevent such seeing the greediness with which the "pakehas"
steamers taking it on board when they can hunted after old Moa bones, have long since
procure "black-coal." (But, on the other carefully collected all they could find, and de-
hand, its qualities as a gas-producing coal, as posited them in some safe hiding-place-wait-
the above analyses show, will render it valu- ing for the opportunity of exchanging them for
able as an article of export.)
pieces of gold and silver, showing thus how well
I now come to another series of the older they have learnt the lesson taught them by the
Tertiary strata, examples of which are found example of the "pakeha."
occurring in great regularity on the West Coast The subterranean passages of the rivers in
from Waikato to Kawhia. The lowest are the Pehiope and Mairoa district are highly
argillaceous-the middle, calcareous-the upper, characteristic of the limestone formation. The
arenaceous.
limestone rocks, fissured and channeled, are

• The characteristics of the first clayey strata penetrated by the water, and the streams run
  are, a light grey colour, very few fossils, small below the limestone upon the surface of the
  crystals of iron pyrites and glauconitic grains, argillaceous strata, which I have before men-
  which give these clay marls a similarity to the tioned as underlying the limestone. This also
  Gault and Green sands of the Cretaceous for- explains the scarcity of water on the limestone
  mation in Europe. They are found on the plateau which divides the sources of the Waipa
  Eastern branches of Whaingaroa, Aotea, and and Mokau rivers. The plateau is covered
  Kawhia harbours.
  with a splendid growth of grass, and would
  Of greater interest and importance are the form an excellent cattle run but for the deep
  calcareous strata, consisting of tabular limestone, funnel-shaped holes which everywhere abound.
  sometimes of a conglomerate nature, some- The Natives call them "tomo." They are
  times more crystalline, the whole mass of which similar to the holes which occur in the lime-
  is formed of fragments of shells, corals, and stone downs in England, and on the Karst moun-
  foramini-feræ, interspersed with perfect speci- tain on the shore of the Adriatic Gulf, where
  mens of terebratulæ, oysters and pectens, and they are called "dolines."
  other shells. This limestone, when burnt, makes The third and uppermost stratum of the
  excellent lime, and may be wrought and polished older tertiary formation consists of beds of fine
  for architectural purposes.
  fossiliferous sandstone, in which quarries of
  The Beds of Limestone worked by Messrs. good building stone may be found. There are
  Smith and Cooper, in the Wairoa district, whole ranges parallel to the primary mountains
  belong to this formation, as do also the rich which seem to consist of this sandstone. I will
  fossiliferous strata from the Waikato Heads mention only the Tapui-wahine range, about
  towards Kawhia Harbour.
  2000 feet above the level of the sea, in which
  Picturesque columnar rocks of the same is the pass from the Mokau to the Whanga-
  nature, looking almost as if they were artificially nui country.
  built of tabular blocks, adorn the entrance to Without a map on a large scale, which I
  Whaingaroa Harbour; and the romantic lime- have had no time to prepare, it would be use-
  stone scenery, and the fine Caves of the Raka- less to enter more minutely now into a descrip-
  unui river-a branch of Kawhia Harbour-tion of the various localities in which the differ-
  are deservedly prized by the settlers of Kawhia ent formations occur. I may, however, men-
  Harbour.
  tion that limestone and brown-coal have been
  The Limestone Formation attains its greatest found in places to the North of Auckland, in
  thickness (from 400 to 500 feet) in the the districts from Cape Rodney to the North
  Upper Waipa and Mokau district, between the Cape.
  Rangitoto range and the West Coast. It has The horizontal beds of sandstone and marls
  in this country many remarkable features.
  which form the cliffs of the Waitemata, and
  No one can enter without admiration the extend in a Northerly direction towards Kawau,
  Stalactite Caves of Tana-uri-uri at Hangatiki,
  belong to a newer tertiary formation, and, in-
  Of these I would draw attention, to No. 1., 2 for stead of coal, have only thin layers of lignite.
  common pottery, No. I., 6 and 8, for finer stoneware, A characteristic feature of this Auckland
  No. I., 7. for fire bricks. The various coloured clays, tertiary formation is the existence of beds of
  No. II., 2 to 9, will be applicable to every kind of pot- volcanic ashes, which are here and there inter-
  tery. No. II., 8, may be used as a colour or pigment stratified with the ordinary tertiary layers.
  in the same way as ochre and umber are generally I must say no more on the tertiary sedimen-
  used.*)
  tary formations, in order that I may leave some