New Zealand is of volcanic origin. Mount Egmont, which rises
to an altitude of nine thousand feet above the level of the sea, and
many of the small mountains and conical hills of the northern dis-
tricts are extinct craters. Some feeble volcanic action makes itself,
from time to time, perceptible, by columns of smoke, and even by a
low smouldering flame on Sulphur Island, Mount Erebus, Tongariro,
and one of the Kaikora peaks. In the North Island a chain of hot
springs or geysers, bubbling mud-pools and solfataras furnish no less con-
clusive evidence of the original eruptive character of its submarine basis.
The primary and metamorphic rocks are granite, crystallised quartz,
flint, agates, chalcedony, argillaceous talc, green jade and a yellowish
sandstone. Basalt, obsidian and pumice stone, and frequently lava
mixed with scoria, are sometimes met with. The tertiary rocks
abound in characteristic fossils. The general face of the country is
undulating, and there is a gradual ascent from inconsiderable emi-
nences to gently sloping hills and lofty mountains, by which it is
traversed from north to south ; and Mount Cook, which is the highest
peak of the range, is about thirteen thousand feet above the level of
the sea. Precipitous ravines and impassable gorges give to the face
of nature a dismal and rugged appearance.
