the data then available, many wells have been sunk in various parts of the plain, and, as far as I am aware, they all tend to show the truth of the inferences drawn by me as to the formation of the artesian basin in the district under notice. But among the numerous sinkings which have been carried on to supply the growing wants of population and settlement there are four wells, or, rather, four sinkings, to which I wish to direct particular attention, as they provide information of much geological interest and importance in connection with the formation of the plain, and its relation to the other rocks in the district. Of the four wells referred to, two of them were put down within the Borough of Napier, one in the immediate vicinity of Napier, at a spot locally known as the Western Spit, and the fourth one was sunk at the Greenmeadows, situated a mile or so on the Napier side of the Township of Taradale. (See topographical map of plain, “Trans.,” vol. xx., p. 284.) The two Napier wells were successful ones, each having an excellent flow; whilst the other two—viz., the one at the Spit and the one at the Greenmeadows—were failures. In certain places water is found in the vicinity of the Greenmeadows; but the spot selected for the sinking referred to here is within a few chains of the hills, which are composed of marl and limestones, and which hereabouts have had the more sloping portions fronting the plain slowly ground down by the back-wash at a time, not so long ago, when the sea covered this portion of the district. The sinking for water in this place has proved conclusively—so it seems to me—the limit of the artesian basin in this direction, as no trace of water was met with, and the characters of the beds passed through differ greatly from those that are found within the true artesian basin. During the process of sinking I visited this well, and from the workman in charge gleaned that after the first 24ft. had been passed, of which 10ft. were made up of shingle, there were 96ft. of a yellowish clay—pumiceous clay or loess—similar to that covering most of the Napier hills and district at the present time. This has evidently been washed from the surrounding hills as the plain was in process of formation. Following this clay was a succession of blue-clay beds, which continued as far as the sinking was carried—viz., 273ft.—except that at the depths of 140ft. and 181ft. 6in. respectively a bed of fine pumice-sand about 18in. in thickness was passed through. The appearance of these two pumice-bands is a very interesting geological find, as they give a clue to the relationship between the Kidnapper beds at the point and those which abut on the artesian basin to the north-west of the plain. Clay-marl beds containing one, two, and sometimes three pumice-bands are traceable over a large extent of coast and inland country (see. “Trans.,” vol. xx., p. 273), and