DISCUSSION ON THE SHELL-MOUNDS AT SEAFOED. 93 



long period of time, and this is a fact that should not be lost 

 sight of when efforts are being made to trace their history 

 and origin. It now only remains for me to mention that we 

 are about to turn these interesting shell-mounds into a valu- 

 able article of commerce, and should anything of interest be 

 discovered during their removal, it will give me great pleasure 

 to make the Fellows of this Society acquainted with the 

 fact. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. E. M. Johnston said he was very pleased to find Mr. 

 Taylor had taken so much trouble in obtaining such valuable 

 information dealing with the Aborigines of Tasmania. The 

 paper read by Mr. Taylor was extremely interesting from an 

 ethnological point of view. He, Mr. Johnston, had made a 

 close study of these native " kitchen middens " for many 

 years, and in his work on " The Geology of Tasmania " he 

 had devoted a considerable space to the description of these 

 interesting deposits so common along the borders of our 

 estuaries and coasts. The particular shell deposit at Little 

 Devonport, referred to by Mr. Taylor, had been investigated 

 by him about two years ago, and his observations then 

 made, in company with Mr. Morton and other members 

 of the Fishery Board, left no doubt in his mind 

 that the deposit was simply one of the many kitchen 

 middens of the Tasmaniau Aborigines abounding every- 

 where along our coast lines in similar situations. 

 The lenticular layers of ashes and charred wood, inter- 

 calated with the shells, were then observed by him, and 

 pointed out to those who were with him as proof of their 

 accumulation by human agency. He could therefore confirm 

 the accuracy of Mr. Taylor's descriptions and conclusions. 

 Anyone who has had the slightest experience in observing 

 these interesting deposits, now fast disappearing or being 

 obliterated by the agriculturist's plough and other agencies, 

 would never confound them with the raised beaches so 

 common in Bass Strait Islands and along portions of the 

 northern coast. 



Mr. Johnston then drew attention to the numerous kitchen 

 middens existing all along the borders of the estuary of the 

 Derwent, and especially along the Domain, New Town Bay, 

 mouth of the Jordan, One Tree Point, and Blackman's Bay. 

 These are generally formed on little knolls or headlands, 

 commanding a good outlook on every side. One interesting 

 mound exists high up on the Domain, near the New Cricket 

 Ground. From all of these he had collected the chipped 



