THE Rev. Richard Taylor, in his able treatise on the "Geology of New Zealand," states, that from the peculiar formation of the country, coal, copper, gold and the precious metals, will probably be found in abundance; whilst his late Excellency Captain Fitzroy, second governor of New Zealand, in one of his despatches to the then colonial minister, Lord Stanley, says :"Beneath the productive surface of these teeming islands are mineral stores as yet hardly known. If from merely

scratching some projecting corners of the land, some twenty valuable minerals have been discovered, (coal, iron, silver, lead, copper, tin, nickel, manganese, alum, sulphur, cerium, bismuth, cobalt, and asphaltum,) what may not be anticipated after a few years of research in the interior ?"

It is certainly true that various ores and mineral substances have already been discovered in New Zealand; and quite probable that others will be discovered as the country becomes more opened up by settlement. The slight search hitherto made has been confined to three or four spots; and most assuredly in regard to what her mineral Kingdom may give forth, New Zealand, even yet, is little more than the "terra incognita" of Tasman and Cook. Indeed, accidental discovery, rather than settled search, seems ever to have revealed the world's precious ores and metals; and they have sometimes lain, almost under our very eyes, undetected for years. It has been so in America, in Africa, in Australia. After twenty

years' occupation of the country, the upsetting of a dray revealed the copper lodes, and created Adelaide's "Burraburra." Hundreds of shepherds roamed the plains of Victoria for a quarter of a century little dreaming that they walked on gold; and though no country has less need of mineral wealth

than New Zealand, a few years may prove her to be as rich below the surface as she is above and on it.

With the exception of gold and a little coal and copper, however, none of the discovered New Zealand minerals have been worked -nor can I regard this as a matter for regret. It seems to me that with millions of arable acres equal, under good farming, to the production of forty bushels of wheat per acre, and with millions of pastoral acres equal to the support of millions of fine wool sheep, all lying waste and wild, New Zealand's true pursuits in these her early days, are the Plough and the Golden-fleece; and that when the waste has become the farm, when hill and valley are dotted with merino and short horn, it will be time enough to take the "pick" and leave the certain surface to adventure with possible Dousterswivels into the dark and dangerous pits and traps of mines and mining.*

COAL.-Coal (required in New Zealand for the development of a steam marine, rather than for fuel, the forests being sufficient to supply fuel for generations to come) has been found in the north, south, and middle of the country. The small quantity hitherto required for the forges and the few coasting steamers, has been obtained mainly from the Pakawau coal-field in Golden Bay, Nelson; but quite recently a Company has been formed in Auckland for working the "brown coal" of that district. Indeed, the whole of the mountainous peninsula forming the north-west corner of the Nelson Province would appear to be stored with coal if not with gold. A gold party lately prospecting in a new part of this district reports, that—“ vast quantities of coal were passed in very large seams, and a twohundred-weight piece was broken off by us from one of the out-cropping seams."

The Austrian frigate "Novara," which has recently made a scientific voyage round the world, visited New Zealand last year, and at the request of the Colonial Government the courteous Commander of the vessel handsomely allowed Dr.

*Lord Bacon, in his Essay on Plantations, in advising the pioneer Settlers in a new country what to do, says-" but moil not too much under ground, for the hope of mines is very uncertain, and useth to make the Planters lazy in other things."-Good, my Lord!

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Ferdinand Hochstetter, the geologist attached to the expedition, to remain in New Zealand for a time, in order that he might report on the geological formation and the mineral indications of certain districts. He examined the country around Auckland and afterwards proceeded to Nelson, and the following are the semi-official reports he made of the coal and gold fields:

*

"The Brown-Coal Formation is of very considerable extent, both in the Northern and Middle Islands of New Zealand, and is of similar character everywhere.

"Some months ago I furnished a Report on the Coal-field in the neighbourhood of Auckland, in the Drury and Hunua districts, of which I will repeat here the principal points. The Drury coal belongs to a very good sort of brown coal-to the so-called Glanzkohle, with conchoidal fracture. I was not able to convince myself of the existence of different series of seams, one above the other, on different levels. I am much rather of opinion that the same seam, disturbed in its level, occurs at the different localities in the Drury and Hunua district, where coal is found. The average thickness of that coal-seam may be estimated to amount to six feet. The section of the seam at Mr. Fallwell's farm can be taken as a fair average.

"The seam consists there of three portions: the upper part a laminated coal of inferior quality, one foot; then a band of shale, two inches; the middle part coal of a good quality, oneand-a-half feet; then a band of bituminous shale, six inches; the lowest part coal of the best quality I have seen, two-and ahalf feet. Thus the whole thickness of the coal itself may be considered to amount to about five feet. The bituminous shale accompanying the coal contains fossil plants, principally leaves of Dicotyledones. It is remarkable that no fossil ferns are found in connection with the Drury coal-beds: it is the more so, as at the other locality which I must mention on the West Coast, seven miles from Waikato Heads,-only fossil ferns, in a most beautiful state of preservation, are imbedded in gray argillaceous strata, alternating with sandstone and small coal-seams, of, pro

The "Novara" appears to have regarded New Zealand as being by far the most interesting country she visited in the course of her long voyage

round the world.

bably, the same geological age as the Drury coal. A considerable number of specimens from both localities will, by a future examination, furnish the opportunity for determining the principal features of the Flora of the Brown-Coal Period in New Zealand.

"The fossil gum found in the coal is a kind of 'Retinite,' derived from a coniferous tree, perhaps related to the Kauri, but it is by no means identical with the Kauri Gum, which is only found in the surface-soil in those localities where there have been kauri forests. The fossil gum and kauri gum are very different in their qualities, as the most simple experiments in their ignition will show.

"The thickness of the forest and the inaccessibility of the country prevent our now ascertaining, in an exact manner, the extent of the Drury coal-field. Still the existing openings show an extent of the coal-field quite large enough to encourage any Company to work the coal in an extensive manner.

"I am glad to hear that a Company, under the name of 'The Waihoihoi Mining and Coal Company,' is formed, to begin the working of this coal.

"The same kind of coal I saw again on the northern slope of Taupiri and Hakarimata range. At Kupakupa, on the left bank of the Waikato, I examined a beautiful seam about 150 feet above the level of the river. The thickness of the seam then exposed was about 15 feet; how much greater the thickness may be it is impossible to say, as the floor has never been uncovered.

"This is the seam to which the attention of the inhabitants of Auckland was directed several years ago by my friend the Rev. A. G. Purchas. I believe several tons were at that time brought to Auckland; but, owing to various circumstances-the chief of which was the Native ownership, the hope of obtaining a supply from thence for Auckland was abandoned. No better position could, however, be found for mining purposes; and the day cannot be far distant when it will be worked to supply fuel for the steam navigation of the Waikato-the main artery of the Province of Auckland.

"I have reason to believe that a coal-field of considerable extent exists on the borders of the wide plains on both sides of the Waikato, between Taupiri and Mangatawhiri-for which

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district, shut in on all sides by ranges, I propose the general geographical name of The Lower Waikato Basin.'

"A third coal-field exists on the western and southern boundaries of the very fertile alluvial plains above the junction of the Waipa and Waikato, which may be distinguished as The Middle Waikato Basin'-the future granary of the northern portion of this Island.

"The localities in which coal has been discovered are the following:-in the Hohinipanga range, west of Karakariki on the Waipa, near Mohoanui and Waitaiheke; in the Hauturu range, on the upper branches of the Waipa; and again in the Whawharua and Parepare ranges, on the northern side of the Rangitote mountains.

"I subjoin comparative average analyses of the three principal kinds of fuel, from which it may be seen that the Drury coal is precisely similar to the European brown coals in the proportion. of its three principal constituents:

"I embrace here the opportunity of saying a few words on the commercial value and applicability of the New Zealand Brown Coal.

"Although of entirely different character, and, generally speaking, of inferior value, to the older coals of the primary formations, I cannot see any reason why this kind of coal should not be used in New Zealand for the same purposes as a similar brown coal is extensively applied to in various parts of Europe, and particularly in Germany, where it supplies the fuel for manufactures of all kinds, for locomotives and steamers, and for domestic purposes. I am perfectly familiar with this kind of coal, and can assure the people of Auckland, that the brown coal of this country is quite as good as that which is used in Germany for the purposes I have just mentioned. I would strongly recommend that any Company which may be formed for the purpose of working the coal should also at the same time establish Potteries for the manufacture of earthenware.

H