PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION C. 455 
Nature of the Conglomerate. 
Almost every species of rock older than the conglomerate itself 
is represented, granites in great variety, gneiss, schist, quartz 
rock, sandstones, lydianite, agate, porphyry, amygdaloid, shales, 
&c., are met with in great variety, vein quartz and jasper are also 
present. As the great mass of the conglomerate consists of 
material derived from schistose and other ancient rocks, there 
appears no good reason why gold should not also be found, though 
it may be unprofitable to work. 
In size the material of the conglomerate ranges from the finest 
silt up to great blocks several feet across, and weighing in some 
cases probably 20 to 30 tons. 
From the well-rounded, almost polished, pebble or boulder to 
the rough angular fragment of rock that has been torn from its 
parent mass, and not subsequently abraded, all are represented in 
these conglomerates. 
Generally the colour of the ground mass is dark grey, but there 
are local variations, such as might be anticipated from the 
manner in which the conglomerates have been deposited. Near 
the Springs and El Dorado, coarse agates of large size are not 
uncommon, and here it may be observed that the beautiful 
pebbles of jasper, agate, lydianite, &c., that were so commonly 
found when the alluvial gold was being won at the Woolshed, 
were all derived from the glacial conglomerate, of which so large 
an outlier remains in the Wooragee valley. Great numbers of 
well-rounded, large, hard granite boulders, having pink coloured 
felspar are found at Wooragee, but here, as elsewhere, the most. 
numerous are pebbles of a very fine grained argillaceous rock 
that is free of laminations. It is of brownish colour, and soft, 
and on these most commonly are found the groovings, scorings, 
striations and fine scratches that stamp the conglomerate as of 
glacial origin. Not only are the pebbles, &c., scored and 
scratched, but great numbers are rubbed on one or more sides 
(facetted). Though rounded, many of the boulders, &c., indicate 
from their peculiar form that water alone was not the agent. 
Frequently the stones show broken edges, as though caused by 
one stone impinging with great force on another. 
The contour of the country occupied by these conglomerates is 
rounded in places, the surface is dotted with the larger blocks and 
boulders. Some of these are of such a size as to deserve the 
term erratic-block, as, for instance, on Wild Duck Creek, where 
the railway from Heathcote to Sandhurst crosses it. One huge 
mass of granite, scored on the upper surface, can be seen from 
the train ; it is on the west side of the creek on a slope, and on 
the south side of the railway. At this locality the glacial 
conglomerate can be studied to more advantage than at any other 
I have visited. 
