J20 " *' .10UNST0X MKMOniAL LECTIRE. 



1916, pp. 48-50, pi. 5). The flake is formed of chalcedony, 

 which, after being struck off by a single blow, has been 

 dressed on one side and retouched later on the same side so 

 as to give a number of small saw-like teeth to the cutting 

 edge, which was evidently u.^ed for smoothing down or 

 sharpening spears. Mr. W. H. Twelvetrees submitted the 

 flake, just after its discovery, to the late Mr. R. ]\I. Johnston, 

 who had an exceptionally wide experience in the matter of 

 Tasmanian stone implements. Mr. Johnston was absolutely 

 convinced at once, as indeed anyone must be with any know- 

 ledge of the subject, that the flake was of human workman- 

 ship. This flake is illustrated' on Plate VIII. 



It was found at the old Doone Mine, about three miles 

 north-westerly from Gladstone, and under an overburden 

 of about 10 feet of very firmly compacted drift. This drift 

 was formed of granite sand, with a certain amount of 

 interstitial clayey peat. Mr. Twelvetrees was of opinion 

 that the whole deposit was of marine origin. In view of 

 later sections and discoveries, the writer cannot entertain 

 this view, and holds, as the result of a personal examination 

 of the scene of the discovery, and of similar deposits in other 

 parts of Tasmania, that the deposit is to be correlated, as 

 regards origin, though younger in time, with the "out -wash 

 "apron" deposits of Strahan, on the west coast of Tasmania. 

 These consist of gravel with peaty sands, peaty clays, and 

 peat, and lie on the seaward side of the great terminal 

 moraine between Eden and the Henty River, which marks 

 the maximum advance of the old Pleistocene ice-sheet in 

 Tasmania as far as present evidence goes. Certainly tht 

 deposit at Gladstone is very wide spread, and at the Pioneer 

 Mine, a few miles to the south, it is over 80 feet in thick- 

 ness. Obviously, since the deposit was laid down, the 

 Ringarooma River had deepened its channel by at least 60 

 leet, as shown on the section, PI. IX. The river did not occupy 

 its present channel, in Mr. Twelvetrees' opinion (in which 

 the writer concurs), at the time when the drift was de- 

 posited at the Doone Mine. 



The flake was found by Messrs, Richards and Murray 

 at the time when Mr. Richards was using the hydraulic 

 nozzle to wash away the overburden from above the tin 

 gravel. The latter is there about 2i to 4 feet thick. Mr. 

 Richards had been requested by Mr. Twelvetrees, a day or 

 two before, to be on the look out for possible traces of sea 

 shells in the deposit. Richards's attention was attra<;ted 

 suddenly by the unusual object of this chipped flake, which 



