INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 11 



in Australia ; and tliougli it has subsequently been shown tliat 

 all of Sturt's identifications were wrong, yet, as most of the species 

 are near allies to those to which he referred them, it is not sur- 

 prising that after all Sturt was right in his correlation. Sturt 

 refers also to a compact limestone, containing corals, occurring in 

 a range sixteen miles due north of Bathurst, of an unassigned age ; 

 also independently observed by P. Cunningham at about the same 

 time. 



Mitchell, Major (afterwards Sir Thomas)^'.— In 1832 he pene- 

 trated north and reached the River Darling, in lat. 29° ; his western 

 limit, in 1838, was the jvmction of the Rivers Bogan and Darling ; 

 and the southern, in 1836, was Portland Bay. He corroborated 

 all the geographical features and positions previously ascertained 

 by Oxley and Stm-t, and determined many new discoveries, 

 especially that of Australia Felix or the mid and western portions 

 of Victoria. 



The chief geological observations recorded by Mitchell are : — 



1. That the higher grovmd about the sources of the tributaries 



of the Murrumbidgee is composed of granite, on the flanks 

 of which rests a fossiliferous limestone " much resembling 

 the Carboniferous of Eiu'ope," and that there is another 

 limestone about Limestone Plains containing corals, belong- 

 ing to the genus Favosites, and crinoids. 



2. That in Victoria, north of the Dividing Range, granites and 



syenites are to be found, and clay slate on the River Cam- 

 pas pe. 



3. That the lower part of the Glenelg River and the country 



stretching to Portland Bay is occupied with a fossilii^erous 



Tertiary formation, which is frequently interrupted by trap 



and vesicular lava ; hills of lava often occur, and one, at 



least. Mount Napier, is described as still exhibiting a perfect 



circular crater. 



The palseontological collections which were made during 



Mitchell's three expeditions were deposited in the British 



Museum, and reported on by specialists. The results appended 



to Mitchell's work demonstrated the presence of representatives of 



the following life epochs : — 



Carboniferous — Various species of moUusca, from the valley of 

 the Hunter River, were described and figured by J. D. C. Sowerby, 

 but no conclusions as to age or stratigraphical position were 

 attempted by him. Mitchell records spiiifers in the sandstone at 



* Three Expeditions into the Interior of East Australia. 1838. 



