82 Proceedings of tlic Royal Society of Victoi'ia. 



This flow has been denuded, and the old river course is shown 

 l)y a chain of isolated flat-topped hills, known as the Loddon 

 outliers. 



Mount Franklin, twenty miles south of Castlemaine, is a well 

 preserved cone of very recent date. The notes on the quarter- 

 sheet (15 S.E.) state ainongst other facts, that "The basaltic 

 lava-streams of the country surrounding Mount Franklin and 



Franklinford are of two different ages Tlie more recent 



streams have poured into the present valleys, and in their gradual 

 descent from the highest points of eruption have covered the post- 

 pliocene as well as the older and newer pliocene drift. Only where 

 they have acted as natural bars to, or lie in the line of drainage from 

 higher levels, they are, in their turn covered by recent alluvium. 

 The termination of the Jim Crow Creek flow is characterised by 

 a very rugged surface and rocky escarpments, resembling the 

 recent lava flows from the craters in the Western District." 

 Thus we have then to the north of the Divide a very recent 

 volcano, a fact which tends to weaken the generalisation of 

 Professor David* that the most recent volcanoes occur near 

 the sea coast, and the older further inland: — "The zone of 

 volcanic activity in that country {i.e. Victoria) appears to have 

 followed the southern shore-line which was constantly retreating 

 southwards." To my mind Mount Franklm is quite as young 

 as any of the volcanoes of the AVestern District which I have 

 seen, the crater being beautifully perfect. 



A dyke of grey quartz-felsite occurs in the Beehive Mine, 

 Maldon, and several dykes are marked on the quarter-sheet. 

 They are probably connected with the main granite mass. 



In conclusion, I have to thank several of my friends in 

 Castlemaine, including many of the mining managers of the 

 surrounding district, for information, especially in regard to the 

 past history of the goldfield — which has been of great service to 

 me. My thanks are also due to Mr. A. W. Howitt, Secretaiy 

 for Mines, for copies of the geological maps of the district, which 

 have been of great use in the flnal preparation of my paper. 



» Proe. A.A.A.S., 1892, p. 73. 



