in the Hawera series, and probably a large part of the sands, owe their origin to the material brought down by rivers from Mount Egmont. A cessation of cliff-recession followed, either from elevation or because the supply of waste became sufficient to produce a prograded coast similar to that of Marlborough, and a low-lying coastal strip in which lagoons and ponds could form gave rise to the ferruginous cement in the upper layers of the series. Finally deposition was brought to an end by elevation of considerable amount. My own observations do not permit me to state how far inland the Hawera series extends from the present coast-line, but between Wanganui and Hawera Park's map does not show it more than six miles inland. From the top of the large sand-dunes seaward of the railway-station at Okehu one sees in a north-east direction two distinct terraces, one with cliffs facing the present beach, the other with cliffs parallel to the former series and facing the lower terrace. These latter cliffs cross the Okehu and Kai Iwi Streams transversely, and thus have no immediate relationship to the present drainage. They must be either fault-scarps or old sea-cliffs, and their general parallelism to the present sea-cliffs makes it probable that the latter explanation is correct, and that they mark the limit of inland extension of the Hawera series. The lower terraces will in that case be typical coastal plains. Farther inland towards the headwaters of the Okehu and the Waitotara there is a still higher terrace, much more dissected, and with wooded tops. It is possible that there are a number of older Notopleistocene series, similar in mode of occurrence and formation to the Hawera series, resting on the inland terraces. The fossils obtained from the Hawera series at Hawera comprise the following species: Pecten triphooki (derived fossil), Ancilla australis, Anomia walteri, Area decussata, Calyptraea maculata, Calliostoma punctulatum, Cardita calyculata, Chamostrea albida, Chione crassa, Chione stutchburyi, Corbula zelandica, Crepidula costata, Diplodonta globularis, Dosinia subrosea, Euthria linea, Glycymeris modesta, Glycymeris laticostata, Leptomya lintea, Mactra scalpellum, Mesodesma subtriangulatum, Mesodesma australe, Modiolus australis, Mytilus magellanicus, Natica zelandica, Nucula hartvigiana, Ostrea angasi, Pecten zelandiae, Siphonalia nodosa, Subemarginula intermedia, Trochus chathamensis, Trochus viridis, Trochus tiaratus, Trivia zealandica, Turritella rosea, Venerupis reflexa, Venericardia difficilis, Hemithyris nigricans, Terebratella rubicunda, Terebratella sanguinea, Evechinus chloroticus. All these fossils, with the exception of the rounded, worn, and obviously derived fragments of Pecten triphooki, belong to Recent species. It does not seem probable that the raised beaches of different heights which are known in various parts of New Zealand will ever be correlated or distinguished satisfactorily by their marine faunas, but where vegetable fossils are found in the Notopleistocene rocks it is quite possible that owing to climatic changes a succession of floras may be distinguished on which an age classification may be established. The study of such Notopleistocene deposits as the Hawera series is exceedingly important from an economic point of view, for most of the richer soils of the Dominion lie on such deposits. The famous dairy-farming land around Hawera is floored by the Hawera series, and not directly by the Wanganuian papas. This paper does not profess to treat of the subject exhaustively, but it is hoped that it will cause this series to receive more attention than it has attracted during the last thirty years. My thanks are due to Miss M. Mestayer for assistance with the determinations of the fossils.