THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 165 



This simple geological formation thus endows King Island 

 with a magnificent supply of good water within easy reach. In 

 some wells, however, brackish water is found, but as these may 

 be quite close to fresh and pure water they seem to prove that 

 there are pockets in which the saline material from the soil is 

 concentrated. If pumped out they ultimately give good water. 



In the south of King Island the geology is more varied. Two of 

 the rivulets have eaten their way down and exposed what is 

 taken to be Silurian sandstone, while the highest hill, Mount 

 Stanley, 700 feet, is said to be capped with a thin layer of 

 basaltic rock ; but I had not the opportunity of examining these 

 formations. 



Over the surface of the island the dune sand deposit, which 

 must have been of much greater thickness, is carved down by 

 the action of streams and of the wind itself which originally 

 built it up, and in the sides of the valleys is found hard limestone 

 chemically formed by the action of percolating water collecting 

 the lime from the comminuted shell so abundant in the sand, 

 and depositing it lower down in the formation. At a place 

 called " Dripping Wells," in the south-west, the limestone is found 

 at the seashore in an outcrop 20 or 30 feet high and 150 yards 

 long. Water has so eaten out the base that caves are formed 

 in which pretty stalactitic and stalagmitic deposits of lime are 

 seen. 



The sand dunes near the coast, which reach to 200 feet in 

 height, being higher (and younger) than those further inland, 

 give good protection from the prevalent strong winds, and allow 

 of vegetation thriving. But especially in exposed positions is the 

 loose material still liable to be moved by the wind ; sand-blows 

 are started, and if not attended to and pegged down with brush- 

 wood whole hills might gradually dribble away. That movement 

 such as this has been frequent in past times is sufficiently proved 

 by finding buried land surfaces in the sections by the roadside, 

 and on the other hand by tubes of limy secretion which were 

 deposited round tree roots, now rotted out, standing white and 

 gaunt above some of the present sand blows. This movement, 

 too, has been undoubtedly responsible for the holding up of 

 water in places where trees formerly grew, and as a result acres of 

 gum-tree butts are, at two places notably, in the north and in the 

 centre, now standing dead in several feet of water. 



In the pastures of King Island two introduced plants thrive 

 amazingly — a grass, Bromus sterilis, and a trefoil, Melilolus 

 parvijiora. So well do they grow that they can be cut for hay 

 or ensilage with as much ease as sown crops or cereals on 

 ploughed land. The secret of the good growth lies in the fact 

 that the loose soil, rich in lime and plant foods, is kept 

 ever at the service of the plants by the grand supply 



