The Nature Column.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 34, 5 November 1920, Page 6

The Nature Column.

(By "Student.")

("Student" will be pleased to receive notes on any braach of Natural History. Observations on birds, insects, plants, etc., will be equally weleome. If using a pen-name, will correspondents please enclose real natme and address.) Glad to see your letter, Norland. I agree with you that it is difficult to ac- , count for the quartz having travelled down the Mataura. On looking over the matter again carefully another aspect of the matter has cropped up. J*he watertight clay overlying the white quartz gravel looks uncommonly like Papa rock. Now Papa occurs at the base of the Oamaruian formation under the limestone. Professor Park figures this in his geology, and the strata can be so seen at the Orawia and in the b,ed of the Waiau. If the water-tight strata should prove to be Papa then the water-bearing gravels are much more ancient than has hitherto been suppo&ed. Some millions of years at the least. Owing to the enormous amount of denudation which has taken place since tertiary times it is harder than ever to point to the source of this gravel. A knowledge of Southland's artesian water supply is highly desirable from a . commercial as well as scientific standpoint, and notes on deep wells sunk in various parts of the district would be weleome. Many farmers in this district, have sunk deep wells and if the knowledge possessed by these individuals were brought together, it would prove both interesting and profitable. ' I spent the Labour Day week-end with kindred spirits in a ^little run north to see the famous Ca^tle Rock limestone. On the way up we inspected the limestone at Limehills. This stuff is full of fossils which are easily procured. We devoted a few hours to the Otapiri Gorge, which is no gorge at all being but- a rather deep valley. The valley is interesting but we did not manage to strike a good bed of fossils. Whatu we saw were Jurassic. In the bed of the Otapiri, however, there wer,e many pebbles which were very like the Matai gravels. While here we were kept under close watch by the Acclimatisa. tion Society' s ranger who regarded our presence as suspicious. The -high road over the Hokonuis into the Oreti valley is interesting, with many perilous loops and hairpin bends. The mysterious charm of the place has gone, the bush is down, and of illicit distillers we saw no trace. The hills are cultivated -to a considerable height. On Labour Day we proceeded over the Taringatura hills into a beautiful little valley. The rocks passed on the way were conglomerate with many fossils similar to those in the Otapiri, and would thus appear to be Jurassic. The Castle Rock is typical of many of We limestone formations seen in the old world, the towering castellated lormation providing as wild a bit oi scenery as one could wish to see. It is surrounded by rolling peaceful looking hills which enchance the effect. The strata are tilted at high angles and the hui ends in a precipice some hundreds of feet high. Straggling vines and creepers clothe the faces in places, and the ubiquit. ous cabbage tree grows in almost lmpossible spots. Great obelisks tower perpendicularly or overhang in a way wffich makes cold shivers run down the back of the mortal creeping round their bases. Snails were found in great ab'undance. We did not see a single bloom of the clematis, and the only flowering plant which made any show was the straggly shrub, Corokia cotoneaster, whose little starlike yellow flowers enlivened the scene. At the end of the hill are caves in a deep , cleft in the rock. These caves are famous for the amount of avian remains found in them. The cleft surroqnded by bushes made a trap which for untold years engulphed large numbers of birds, particularly those which were flightless. Moas, notornis, and several good bones of the exinct eagle harpagornis were found together with those of birds of all sorts which are still in existence. The explorers dug through about eight feet of bird remains. The finds were of great value. A full account will be found in volumes 25 and 26 of the Transaetions to be seen in the Athenaeum. Librarian Farnall is always pleased to see people making use of his carefully arranged reference library and will go to all sorts of trouble to find the ibook you wan t. The country above Wallacetown and up the Kingston line is having a mild drought, and though it rained in Invercargill we had nothing more than a slight drizzle. The Messrs Lindsay brothers of Glenkenich station who were our pilots to the Rock, have started to take rainfall records. Good luck to them. To other young farmers in this district with a mind above tnrnips and grass, I would say, "Go thou and do likewise,"