Report on the Murihiku Block by Mr. Mantell, 31st March, 1852.

I commence my description of the country at the south-west boundary of the Otago Purchase, the country within that boundary having already been described by those who have had better opportunities of examining it than were enjoyed by me. For convenience in description, I shall divide the country into four districts—

1	From Molyneux to Mataura.
2	From Mataura to Aparima.
3	From Aparima to Waikoau.
4	From Waikoau to the N. W. Angle.

1.—Molyneux to Mataura.

The first district is generally hilly; the hills in the interior portion of it low and regular ranges, presenting in their terminal aspect the appearance of cones of very similar forms. In many instances sandstone crops out on the ridges in a bare line of rocks. The general direction of the ranges and valleys is from East to West.

The valleys vary from a quarter of a mile to a mile in width, the hills sweeping gently down on either side. Swamp of the usual kind is not prevalent, but mosses are found in most of the valleys. These promise to be of great value, in a district so deficient in timber. From a distance they look like small scrubs, or, if fire has killed the shrubs, like recently-burned patches, black in the midst of the surrounding pasture. The first which we observed were in the upper valley of the Waiwero (seen from Hawkesnest Range); in this case we mistook them for recent burnings, but discovered their real nature the next day, when we examined a similar one on the south of Koakakaeaea. Their vegetation—mosses, lichens, sundews, grasses, shrubs—is peculiar to themselves, and differs entirely from that of the surrounding plain. Those whose growth has been stopped by fire present a curious appearance, being covered with the bleached branches of the Nei, or grass tree, which forms so constant a part of their vegetation that they are called "Nei" by the Natives. Some parts are sound and good walking, others the reverse, especially where the white sphagnum moss is found in knee-deep tufts. Their depth we could not ascertain; we found no bottom with our tent-poles (eight feet), but as (from those which we observed in an incipient state) they appear to begin on ground below the usual level, and when fully developed form mounds considerably above it, I estimated that some of them must be from twenty to thirty feet thick. In extent they vary from the mere tuft of moss to forty or fifty page 278acres. Below the surface they consist of a light, homogeneous, rich brown earth, composed entirely of decayed vegetable matter. I cannot but hope that they will be found rich treasuries, not only of fuel, but also of the remains of extinct birds.

From Molyneux to Tuturau wood is very scarce; a few woods are scattered along the northern foot of the Molyneux Ranges, and a few clumps here and there in the glens on their southern slope. With the exception of these, Oteraia Wood on the Kahuwera, seems the only one. Messrs. Nairn and Pharazyn, who wandered about here for nine days north and south, of the road to Tuturau, saw no other wood excepting the coast forests, which are said to extend from Tokata Point to Toitoi Bay, at the mouth of the Mataura.

On the western slopes of the Tuturau Range wood abounds, commencing at Tuturau, and increasing towards the sea. Here woods of various size, from detached groves to continuous forests, are scattered over the undulating ground; in that at Tuturau there is much fine kaikatea, matai, and kohai.

The grass in this district is excellent. The rivers are small, most of them, including, perhaps, the Kahuwera, flowing into the Molyneux, their courses alternately following valleys and cutting through ranges till they reach the great valley. I do not speak of the coast rivers, as I have not seen them. Along the seaboard are several boat harbours and one ship harbour, Waikawa, which the Natives inform me has been surveyed by H.M.S. "Acheron."

2.— Mataura to Aparima.

Commencing at Hokanui, thirty miles from the sea; table-land, with undulating surface, narrows gradually to the Leaning Table, distant (according to Mr. Hamilton's survey) about twenty-three miles in a direct line from the mouth of the Oreti Estuary, but not more than sixteen from the sea at Waimatuku. From the Leaning Table the high land trends north-west, till it is lost in the distance.

Hokanui, the eastern end of these ranges, is a fine mountain (about 2,000 feet), partly wooded and partly grassed. Passing west by Wakarua (Ship Cone of Hamilton) and Taipupuru, the grasses on the mountains gradually cease, and they appear to be densely and uniformly wooded. The table land on its seaboard is said to be one continuous forest; but in the line between Tuturau and Oterewa the wood is broken into groves and forest with grass land of various quality between. I am inclined to attribute this varying quality of the grass not so much to a defective soil in those places where the present growth is inferior, as to the herbage there having grown for years untouched by fire, exhausting the soil, and rendering a longer period necessary for it to recover its fertility after the fires which have lately destroyed the grass, and with it probably the seed which should have replaced the burnt tufts. (The burnt tufts which remain show that the growth has been very heavy, and the intense heat from it when burning has to a certain extent calcined the surface of it.)

Inland of this line, and beyond the woods which border it, I am informed that a grass plain, destitute of timber, stretches from Hokanui to Aparima. A Native track once traversed this, by which Tuturau could be reached in one day from Aparima; the path turned inland at Waimatuku; the distance would be about forty miles.

The woods contain fine timber of all kinds, including a few trees of rata, which here first begins to reappear. This rata does not seem identical with that to the north; the leaf is longer and narrower, and the tree when large generally prostrate. The totara, which resembles a kind found in the Wainuiomata, and which Mr. Swainson was inclined to rank as a different species, is abundant, but destroyed in considerable quantities every year by the Natives, who strip the bark, not only for their houses, but also for an outer covering to the kelp bags, in which they preserve the titi or mutton-bird. In travelling, also, they always endeavour to procure it for a shelter. When we joined Kihau and his party at Taurakitewaru, I found they had for this purpose destroyed about twelve large totara trees. Wild cattle were formerly numerous here; we saw their tracks, but none very recent; a few head were seen by Kaikai as we were returning, near Southwood; a bull once found his way here from the Molyneux, and was shot during a cattle hunt.

On the path between Tuturau and Oreti there is but one clear stream the Waihopai, one source of which is within four miles of the Mataura, at Oteraumaka Wood. Another stream falls into it further northward, near Southwood. Water may be procured by digging in any of the narrow swampy runs; in winter these would all be full.

The coast country between Oue and Aparima consists of sandhills, with lagoons or swamps dividing them from the arable land. The eastern point of the Bluff and part of the reserves at Oue and Aparima are all sandhills, partly wooded, timber growing and, except where stunted by the westerly gales, flourishing in these places, a sufficient proof of the absence of drought.

The track at Waimatuku above mentioned is the only one known between Oue and Aparima, by which the inland country can be reached from the beach; the latter is of fine firm sand, almost equal to the Kaputi beach.

The pasturage which I saw at Aparima is not generally equal to that of the northern country; in some parts fern exceeds grass in quantity. The inland, however, from Mr. Nairn's journal, appears to have at least one district of first-rate pasture. He compares it to the Kakaunui country; and the calcareous formation being identical, I have no doubt that it deserves the praise he bestows on it, and will be found one of the finest tracts of natural pasture in the Island.

3.—Aparima to Waikoau.

In the third district, from Aparima to Waikoau, grass is the exception, occurring only in isolated patches of a few square miles. Along the western bank of the Poroporokene there are many such patches, but those which I saw were either very wet or ferny.

Oraka Bay ("Colack's Bay" of whalers) commences a few miles from the entrance of Aparima, has a sandy beach of about four miles, and perhaps 300 acres of open land. Hinetui Point, which divides it from Kawakaputaputa ("Wockapatoo" of whalers), has some excellent soil upon it, but the land between it and Uruwera (Lake George), about one mile in width, is stony and worthless, but with good timber.

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Immediately behind Lake George lies the range of gentle wooded downs, which, commencing at Aparima, extends to the east bank of Waiau, at an average distance of six miles from the sea, and then follows the Waiau course inland to Mount Hamilton, Takorowakaika. These hills, though perhaps upwards of 700 feet high, lose much of the appearance of height from their gently rounded contour. Behind them, according to Te Au (a Nature residing at Waiau), is the grass country travelled over by Messrs. Nairn and Stephens on their journey to Te Anau.

The sandy beach in Kawakaputaputa Bay is about three miles in length; the open land about 500 acres, of fair pasture.

Throughout the reserve and its neighbourhood the soil is excellent.

The best open land begins at Awaroa, and winds between Harinui Wood and the inland forest to Okui Bay; it is heavily clothed with scented grass and other grasses proper to wet soil. There is fine land round it, and the simplest cultivation would serve the soil of the open ground, as it lies high and slopes considerably towards the Okui, a narrow stream which runs through it.

The next tract of clear country is at Aropaki, in Waewae Bay. There is here much fern, but the soil is good. In extent it is about six square miles. There is said to bean ahiaue (burning place) on this pakihi, consisting, like those of the Pomahaka, whence is derived the fossil resin which floats down the Molyneux, of burning lignite. A hundred acres or so on each side of the Waiau complete the list of the open land on the coast. At Waiau commences the grand southern forest, which extends from Foveaux Strait to Cook Strait.

Waikoau is a stream about twelve miles from Waiau, at the west end of the beach of Waewae Bay. The cliffs, of similar height (about fifty feet) to these from Aropaki to Waiau, extend that distance, and the land, though wooded, appears available for agriculture.

The Waiau River flows through a wooded valley about six miles wide, the bounding slopes of which are also, in the Natives' opinion, very good land. At a distance of about twenty miles north, Takitimu stands across the valley, the river flowing round its western spurs (see Mr. Nairn's journal). This mountain is, by the Natives' tradition, a canoe in which their ancestors came from Hawaiki. To the right of its eastern spurs a pale grass-topped hill is visible; this is Takarowakaika, Mount Hamilton, the farthest point reached by Mr. Hamilton on his journey inland. The river is about 200 yards wide, and very rapid; its upper course is said to be embarrassed with rocks and rapids, as its lower is with snags. Formerly it was frequently descended by the Natives on mokis, but the voyage was considered perilous. At high water, in moderate weather, and the absence of freshets, a ferry boat might cross at the mouth; in this respect it has the advantage of its twin river the Waitaki Like the latter it rises in a group of lakes in the interior. The present method of crossing in mokis is very unsafe—about three times as dangerous as the passage of the Waitaki at Te Punaomaru.

4.—Waikoau to N.W. Angle.

Not having yet visited the mountain country west of Waiau, I have only to record a few detached facts concerning it obtained from the Natives. As the "Acheron" is said to have surveyed its harbours, we shall, it is hoped, soon be in possession of authentic information concerning them. In one of them (Charles Harbour) a hot spring has lately been discovered.

Another, Blythe Bay, is the sea-side haunt of the once powerful Hawea tribes; one of their mats, of kakapo (Strigops) skins was found there not long since. As these bush Natives are dreaded by the coast tribes, who either run away from or kill them whenever, as rarely happen, they meet, I have been unable to glean any intelligence as to their present number, but it is doubtless much reduced from its strength at the time of their attack on Ouetota, then a strong and populous pa, or they would have long since avenged the injuries inflicted on them by the last generation.

Beyond Hakapureirei Point (as noted on the diagram accompanying my journal) is the mouth of the Wairaurahiri, the outlet of Hauroka, a large lake winding among the mountain masses of Maukaropa. This lake is only two days' journey from Waiau, the path following the beach to Waikoau, and then running between Haukore and the north end of Okaka range to the lake.

Haukore, shown in the diagram above referred to, is the Maori barometer, a cap of mist on, it being a sure sign of an approaching storm from the west or south-west.

I regret that I am unable at present to accompany these papers with an explanatory map, without which assistance I fear I shall be unable to render intelligible the following sketch of the geology of the country. Until the return of the Government Surveyor I cannot attempt the compilation of one, as the bearings which I took only served to show me the untrustworthiness of the present maps of the country, without furnishing sufficient material for a more correct one.

The geological features of the country which came under my observation are very simple. A large development of carboniferous strata extends from Molyneux to Mataura, dipping to the southward at an angle commencing at 45° and gradually lessening as it approaches the latter river, when the lignite appears and the strata undulate.

The table-land beginning at Oteraumaka consists of the same rocks, and the gravels and clays of the Aparima table-land, which contains a turbary deposit, may possibly prove to be an upper member of the same series. The formation reappears in Waewae Bay at Aropaki, whence it reaches to Waiau, and apparently to the end of the table-land at the western end of the bay. Lignite of a superior quality is known to exist at Preservation Harbour, at the south-west angle of the Island. (See Dr. Forbes, R.N., Report on New Zealand Lignite, in Government Gazette, 21st February, 1851.)

These beds, ancient and modern, would appear then to extend with little interruption from Saddle Hill, in Otage, across the Island.

The series from Molyneux to Mataura comprises grits, sandstones, the strata mentioned in journal as indurated shale, and, at the Mataura and the Pomahaka seams, and beds of lignite. I regret that the specimens of fossils from the shale which I collected on my return are lost. Those collected on the journey down will not arrive till the end of May; I. cannot, therefore, describe them with accuracy. There were specimens of at least four species decidedly extinct. In some examples mere casts remained, in others the shell was replaced by pyrites. The rock was dark-brown and homogeneous, divided by cleavage into rhomboidal masses which broke easily with an earthy conchoidal fracture, leaving a page 280compact rounded nodule. In the sandstone were fragments of fossil wood and imperfect remains of smaller plants. In the Mataura lignite, wood was easily discoverable. The same specimen would sometimes show it at one end almost recent in appearance, in the middle carbonized, and at the other end silicified. Leaves resembling those of the broad-leaf (kapuka), beautifully preserved, occurred in the thin seams of lignite at Haunui Fall, and in the pale blue micaceous clay, which overlies the main seam on the west bank. In this the upper shale were remains of ostrea, modiolus, turritella, and many other genera, complete, but in a very friable state; some species, a large turritella seven inches long, forms I have not met with among the recent shells of New Zealand.

At Iwikatea, and again at Tuturau, I remarked erratic blocks of granular quartz rock lying on the surface. I did not observe any fossils in the more recent beds, as the Yellow Bluff, Aparima. The turbary deposit there contains flax and wood, little altered. I found on the river bank, a few bones of the dinornis, which had apparently come from that deposit, but I did not detect any in situ.

The-lignite of Waewae Bay is evidently more ancient than that at Aparima, but not coeval with the Mataura bed. It rests on a soft, pale-yellow sandstone, without fossils, and is overlaid by the drift. To the south-west it runs out and disappears; a slight northerly dip also brings it below the beach before reaching Waiau, but I believe it reappears near Waikoau associated with shale or clay, described by the Natives as full of shells.

Igneous rocks not extensively developed east of Waiau. They are represented by the greenstone of the Bluff and Omaui, showing again at "the rock" at Oraka (see journal), at Matara Crags, in the Kawakaputaputa Reserve, again in the islet opposite Arakaka, at Aropaki. These beds dip to the N.E. at about 40° presenting them as the points of Kawakaputaputa and Oraka, and probably of other prominent headlands in the same line; lower, beds of leptynite and yellow granite, with black mica, crop out. An amygdaloid occurs in situ at Poroporokene, and pebbles of it and various porphyries are brought down by the Waiau.

We found a few masses of scoriaceous lava in the bed of the Mataura, and of a brick-red schistoze rock, apparently shale, altered by contact with igneous rocks.

As I shall have hereafter to return to the subject, I defer for the present any remark on the limestone of Otautau and the tertiary fossiliferous sandstone of Pukekonui, described and collected by Mr. Nairn, closing here this slight sketch, until I shall be enabled to transmit a map in illustration of the observations I have recorded.