BY THE REV. J. MILNE CURRAN. 231 



xi. Other Points of Interest. 



About eighteen miles to the north of Bathurst some very 

 interesting geological country is easily accessible, particularly 

 about the Limekilns and the Ben Glen caves, where good collec- 

 tions of Silurian fossils can be made. 



At Blayney a finely typical example of the interesting rock 

 diabase occurs. It will be found in a small quarry near the R.C. 

 Church. To the naked eye it might pass for a diorite, but on 

 slicing the rock it is seen to consist entirely of felspar, magnetite, 

 and a monoclinic pyroxene, augite. The augites are porphyritic, 

 and many of them beautifully zoned. 



At King's Plains, near B^ney, rich and extensive patches of 

 gold bearing drift are known to occur, which have not been worked 

 chiefly on account of the great body of water that has to be con- 

 tended with. Gold also occurs here in a steatitic slate, which 

 once contained large quantities of pyrites. The pv rites has 

 altogether disappeared, but the rock is full of cubical cavities 

 pointing to its former existence. 



I have in my own collection a monster twin pseudomorph of 

 pyrites found here, in which the faces of the cube measure two 

 and a half inches. 



About Carcoar some highly interesting gabbros are extensively 

 developed. These are holo-crystalline rocks of coarse texture, 

 consisting of pyroxene and felspar. In calling these rocks gabbro 

 I follow Professor Jucld's classification in his paper on the gabbros 

 of Scotland and Ireland.* 



At the Three Brothers Hills, between Bathurst and Blayney, 

 an interesting basalt is found with a flaggy structure. I have not 

 examined the locality, but I have seen slabs of basalt brought in 

 from there varying in thickness from two inches to four. 



Steatite is found in a slaty condition about Rockley and 

 Locksley. 



* Q.J.G.S., Vol. xlii., p. 61. 



