C—9
52
lowest of the Thames-Tokatea group. Following down the Mountain Hotel Creek till passing the Pigmy Mine, rocks of the older series are met with, till suddenly, standing at high angles and dipping westward the lowest beds of the Kapanga group are met with. These run through and constitute Murphy's Hill, opposite the Kapanga Mine; and on the southern side of this, at quite low levels in the valley, the slates appear, and from this onwards to the south the Kapanga rocks rise but an inconsiderable height on to the range. In the section next succeeding to the south, which is taken from the west side of Kevin's Point near Coromandel Wharf, east across the intervening hills to Kapanga Flat, and follows generally the line of the new road to the Success Mine, and is thence continued east into the mountainous country on the east side of the range, the Thames-Tokatea rocks occupy the whole of the Success Range above the 580 ft. level. Below that height, as shown in the section, are represented slates and sandstones belonging to the Maitai series exposed in the roadcuttings from the 400 ft. to the 580 ft. level. Below the 400 ft. level the slates are overlain by rocks of the Kapanga group. At the upper level the slates are succeeded by gritty soft sandstones and shaly clays, with which are associated a thin seam of coal. This lies at the base of the Thames-Tokatea group, and is the lowest of a great series of fragmental rocks that dipping to the eastward occupies the middle slope of the range to 900 ft. above the sea. These rocks, as lying at the base of the Thames-Tokatea group, have but a limited development farther to the north, and in the Tokatea Section are represented by the ash and fine-grained breccia beds that have been mentioned as showing within the bounds of Harbour View Claim and below the lower level of the Peveril Mine. The coal and associated beds in the section seen on the road to the Success Mine lie uncomformably on the slates, but the material forming the lowest beds is not volcanic, but derived from the waste of the older sedimentary series. The coal is of good quality, but the seam at the outcrop is thin, and there is little hope of its being found of workable thickness. As the section is followed upwards into higher beds volcanic material makes its appearance, and is very pronounced towards the end of the long side-cutting of the road above the coal outcrop. Beyond this, in the sharp bend of the road before reaching the saddle overlooking the Success battery, sedimentary lacustrine beds again appear, above which lie the characteristic rocks of the group, as seen in the higher part of the range, and farther to the north. Veins of quartz now begin to appear in the grey sandstone rock of the miner, but the principal developments of these lie further to the east, and higher on the range at and in the vicinity of the Success Mine. Bands of grey or dark-coloured rock begin to be abundant, and these continue to the crest of the range, and constitute on the eastern side of the range the broken, hilly, or submountainous country that lies round the sources of the Waikoromiko and Waitekauri Streams. More to the east, bands of ash and breccia beds appear, that resemble the rocks of the younger Kapanga group, to which they may possibly belong; but it has not been possible to dintinguish these so as to separate them from the elder group, and more to the south it is seen that similar rocks undoubtedly belong to the Thames-Tokatea group. The general dip of the Thames-Tokatea group in this line of section is to the eastward, and its total thickness must approach 2,000 ft., or considerably greater than in the line of section carried across the Tokatea Hill. With respect to the lower beds, carrying coal, these cannot be compared with the coal-bearing series in the neighbourhood of Cabbage Bay. The shales overlying the coal on the Success Road yield fragments of two species of ferns, and a number of jointed stems of a reed-like plant, but it was in vain that search was made for plant-remains of a higher order. No trace of dicotyledons was found. In the next section, which towards the west begins in Preece's Point peninsula, and thence is carried east-north-east to the main water-divide of the Peninsula, the Thames-Tokatea rocks have a development similar to that seen along the preceding section, the principal difference being that the slates rise to a higher level on the west slope of the range, and the lower beds (coal beds, and succeeding sandstones and breccias) of the Thames-Tokatea group are absent, or but feebly represented. The more typical rocks of the group begin at about the same level in each of the sections (this, and the last), and it appears as though the lower beds of the group on the Success Hill had accumulated in a basin-like area, of which the northern limit was near where now is Tokatea Hill and the southern not far from this line of section. Being parallel to and not distant from the line of section next to the north, no particular description of the Thames-Tokatea rocks on this line need be given. Mining is being carried on near the junction of the Thames-Tokatea group with the slates on Aitken's freehold, and in that neighbourhood. Although the outcrop of the reefs appear in the the volcanic rocks, it seems evident that all deep mining must be carried on in the slates, which lower down the spur have intruded into them broad dykes of igneous rock that should be referred to the period of the Beeson's Island group. Proceeding south, the next section is taken from the mouth of the Waiau River, falling into Coromandel Harbour, north-east, to the north-west side of Whangapoua Harbour, and in this the rocks of the Thames-Tokatea group appear on the higher part of the Tiki Spur, and forms the whole of the country eastward to the sea. Slates form the Tiki Spur from the low grounds of the creek to the Golden Belt, about 800 ft. above the sea, beyond which the lowest beds of the volcanic series appears as stratified ash and tufa beds, associated with moderately coarse breccias, followed by a considerable thickness of the grey or brownish-grey tufaceous sandstone of the miner, all the beds dipping at moderately low angles to the eastward. Traces of coal appear in the lower beds in near contact with the slates, and it is evident that here we have to deal with deposits similar to those described as the lowest beds of the group in the Success Section, an extension of which as a similar or independent area lies to the south of it. Masses of solid andesite are met with on the higher part of the range, but generally along the track that from the Tiki crosses to the east side of the range the rocks are tufaceous sandstones, or, if originally lava streams, they have decomposed to