island, which has an extent of about two or three square miles, is undulating, and rises to an elevation of 850 feet towards its northern extremity. After entering Preservation Inlet we sailed close under the bold cliffs of Coal Island, which are also composed of a newer sedimentary formation, consisting of sandstones, conglomerates, and shales dipping to the westward at a low angle, excepting at one place where they have been “faulted up” at an angle of 50°. We anchored close to its north extremity under Steepto Island, hauling up and making fast the stem of the craft to the rocks, the water being very deep close in shore.

There has once been an extensive whaling station here, where a small patch of bush has been cleared, as we found the beach strewn with whale bones, broken iron pots, fire bricks, and other relics of a temporary try-work.

Steepto Island and the west end of Coal Island are composed of the blue clay slate and silicious slates. The former are cleared in the north and south direction, and some of the beds being fissile enough for quarrying as roofing slate. The passage between the two islands is very shallow, a very unusual circumstance in these Sounds. At low tide there is here only from six to eight feet over a gravelly bottom, which is a favorite feeding ground for the large cray fish (Palinuris), so that, on a subsequent occasion, with a slender pole sharpened at one end and used as a spear, we captured a large number with great ease.

Steepto Island is the place where the Maoris generally encamp with the boats when in Preservation Inlet, as there are several fine caves in the slate rocks which afford a comfortable shelter.

Many of these caves are of considerable size, and have evidently been formed by the erosion of the sea; and as the entrance to them is often elevated 10 to 20 feet above the tide-mark, they would seem to indicate that the land is on the rise, and to contradict what I observed at the head of the Chalky Inlet, unless we assume an unequal motion of the earth’s crust, in the short distance of from 15 to 20 miles, and the central and loftier portions of a mountain range to be sinking while its flanks are rising. Stormy weather commenced on the 28th, and finding that the yacht lay in too exposed a place, we sailed across the Sound on the morning of the 29th, and anchored in Cattle Cove, in seven fathoms water, well sheltered, and with plenty of room to swing.

This is the only good anchorage ground in Preservation Inlet, and although excellent, it is by no means equal to Southport.

The schooner was at anchor for 16 days, until the 14th July, of which a few days were lost, owing to bad weather. There is a well sheltered shingle beach, and abundance of firewood and water here; and it has evidently been at one time a favorite place with whalers. We found some recent cuttings in the woods here, that were probably not more than a few months old. The view up the Sound from Cuttle Cove is very beautiful, sharp snowy peaks being visible over a succession of forest ranges, with groups of rocky and wooded islets in the foreground. These islands are composed of the slates and silicious felstones which are sometimes traversed by felstone dykes and quartz veins. The main shore also presents the same formation; and at Cavern Head, which lies opposite to Cove Island, so named from being pierced by a tunnel-like cave, the like clay slate is traversed by large veins of quartz that generally travel north and south. Although I frequently made the attempt, I never succeeded in landing on this headland, on which there is always a heavy surf breaking, and it is quite inaccessible from the shore; but from fragments of the rock cast upon the beach to the westward, I found these quartz veins to be the white opaque and ferruginous variety that is generally considered to be auriferous, but I observed no trace of gold.

The 28th June was spent in examining the bay to the west of Cavern Head, and the Cording Islands in the centre of the inlet. To land in this bay, which has a sandy shore, we required to beach the boat in a heavy surf, which was by no means an easy or safe undertaking. I found that the slates here were procured by a wide dyke of light grey porphyry or granite, the casing of which contained calcined and altered fragments of the contiguous rocks.

The blue slates are less perfectly cleared near this dyke than elsewhere, and the original lines of stratification more distinct. They are mottled with iron stains, and contain streaks and blotches of iron pyrites, among which I searched narrowly, but in vain, for traces of organic remains.

The Cording Islands consist of the same silicious slates, that, so far as I have yet ascertained, immediately overlie the clay slates, as I shall hereafter show when describing more particularly the geology of this district.

The Islands are of small size, but there are several good boat harbours among them. The shores are covered in places with immense erratic boulders of granite, of a variety that is only to be found further up the Inlet.

The weather at this time was very fine, the 30th being quite equal to a summer day, clear, bright, and almost too warm. It was spent on Coal Island.

This Island, which has an extent of 4 square miles, is bounded by cliffs 200 to 300 feet in height on all sides. There are, however, several landing-places from which there is no