278
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

found that, according to the depth so was age, and of the same description, as the
the size of the remains, thus proving that
the greater the antiquity the larger the
species. The bones of Dinornis grassus and
ingens (a bird standing the height of nine
feet) were always found at a lower level than
the bones of Dinornis didiformis (Owen), of
only four feet high.

I have the pleasure of showing you, here,
a leg of Dinornis grassus.*

I have since had my collection of bones
increased by various contributions from
Messrs. Wells, Haycock, and Ogg, and a
nearly perfect skeleton of Dinornis ingens
presented by the Nelson Museum to the
Imperial Geological Institution of Vienna.

These gigantic birds belong to an era
prior to the human race, to a post-tertiary
period. And it is a remarkable incompre-
hensible fact of the creation, that whilst at
the very same period in the old world,
elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotami; in
South America, gigantic sloths and arma-
dillos; in Australia, gigantic kangaroos,
wombats, and dasyures were living; the
colossal forms of animal life were repre-
sented in New Zealand by gigantic birds,
who walked the shores then untrod by the
foot of any quadruped.

A characteristic of the tertiary formation
of the Takaka Valley is large masses of
fossiliferous limestone, beginning at the
Tata Islands, and extending far up the
valley. Under the limestone lies the Motu-
pipi brown coal formation, which can be
traced up the valley as far as Mr. Skeet's.
I am indebted to Mr. James Burnett for
carefully drawn and instructive plans and
sections of the Motupipi working, which at
once placed before me the character of the
coal-field and the succession of the strata.†
I need not here repeat what I have so
recently said at Auckland with regard to
the quality and economical uses of this coal.
The Motupipi coal is of the same geological

Drury coal at Auckland. It is to be
regretted that works commenced with so
much judgment and regularity, and which
might easily be continued, should be no
longer carried on, in consequence of the high
price of the fuel, and the difficulty of putting
it on board the ship. To obviate the last
difficulty, Mr. Burnett proposes a coal depot
at the Tata Islands, where vessels could
easily take it in.

TERTIARY FORMATION OF BLIND BAY.

That the waters of Blind Bay at one time
extended much further to the south, and
covered a larger area, than they do now, is
proved by the fact of a tertiary formation
filling up the space inclosed between the
eastern and western ranges from the lake
country to the shores of the Waimea; but
for the most part this formation is again
covered by a more recent deposit of rolled
stones, gravels, and diluvium, which at some
places attains a thickness of from 1,200 to
1,500 feet. So that the tertiary formation
comes to the surface only just at the foot of
the ranges, or where the rivers have cut
through the diluvium and exposed the
tertiary marls beneath.

I have before mentioned the fossiliferous
marls, sandstones, and the coal seams of the
Wangapeka district; in the hills between
the Buller river and the Rotorua lake the
same fossiliferous marls are met with. On
the eastern side, near Nelson, the marine

Dip to the east
in 17.

• Coal, with a great deal of water, sunk
  2 ft. 7 in., and bored 2 ft. more to the
  bottom of this seam: 4 7
• Bored 1 ft. further in shale: 1 0
• Subtotal/Intermediate: 27
• Total: 28 1

† SECTION OF STRATA AT MOTUPIPI, MASSACRE BAY.
No. 1 SHAFT.

• Surface Clay: ft. in. 1 9
• Coal: 2 0
• Shale: ft. in.
• Coal: 2 4
• Band of Shale 0 5 Working seam: 5 1
• Coal: 2 4
• Shale of a sandy nature: 3 5
• Coal: 1 3
• Soft sandstone, composed of very rough
  sand, like crushed quartz, with thin
  beds of shale; this stone falls away
  to loose sand under the pick, but
  stands very well in the shaft: 7 0
• Shale (pretty good roof): 2 0

Full dip,
increased depth; and about S. 75° E.,
Dip decreases with
at bottom not more
than 1 in 7.

1. in 5.

SECTION OF STRATA AT MOTUPIPI, MASSACRE BAY.
No. 2 SHAFT.

• Sea sand: ft. in. 4 6
• Clay: 1 0
• Soft sandstone: 10 8
• Sandstone (very hard): 1 0
• Shale (good roof): 4 7
• Coal (hard and good, but at this
  place mixed with a little hard slaty
  shale, which decreases towards the
  south-west, and almost disappears
  at a distance of 7 feet from the
  shaft): 4 4
• Soft sandstone: 5 0
• Dark shale (almost black): 1 0
• Soft sandstone: 8 6
• Sandstone (very hard): 0 6
• Sandy shale: 2 8
• Dark shale: 1 4
• Slaty shale, mixed with coal: 1 2
• Bored through soft sandstone: 3 6
  Total: 49 9

This shaft was abandoned on account of the large
quantity of water; had this not taken place, it was
intended to sink to a seam known to exist about
low-water mark.

JAMES BURNETT