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Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19150, 5 November 1927, Page 18

Describing the early formation of Auckland in the course of a lecture before the Auckland Institute, Professor J. A. Bartrum said they were living in a district that was unique in nearly every respect in regard to its volcanic cones. Every visitor to the district, with no intention of flattery, stated that the people of the province did not realise the value of the "collection." He referred to the time when the district was*in a state of "volcanic childbirth," when over sixty cones were "born," .. and added that the people were not treating the cones very decently by allowing them to be removed from their midst. "There is a great deaL in the volcanic cones which is only apparent by dissection," he explained, "so it is rather six or one and half-a-dozen of the other so. far as v I am ocncerned." Takapiina was a " particularly interesting region, for, on the beach were to be seen the stumps of kauri, evidently burned off by lava flows, and curious strata in the rock, which indicated a certain amount of erosion. Lava platforms revealed in an examination of the coast line showed evidence of oscillation of the sea level. For instance, the old beaches in places were five feet above the present level.