1826.] Geological Society. 141 



the north of this part of the coast are composed of reddish 

 quartzose sandstone. 



One of the most remarkable inlets on the north-west of Aus- 

 traha is Cambridge Gulf, about longitude 121° and latitude 

 [5°: it has been traced to more than 60 miles from the 

 sea, between hills from 150 to 400 feet in height, which have 

 in general ilat summits, and are composed of sandstone of a 

 reddish hue, and of the same characters with that already men- 

 tioned. The specimens from Lacrosse Island, at the entrance 

 of this gulf, are not to be distinguished from the slaty strata 

 of the old red-sandstone, which occur in the banks of the Avon 

 between Clifton and the Severn. 



The outhne of the north-west coast is remarkably broken,and the 

 adjacent sea is studded with very numerous islands ; the forms 

 of which, as well as of the hills on the main land, are remarkable 

 for their flat summits. In two detached points about 70 miles 

 apart, Port Warrender and Careening Bay, epidote has been 

 found in considerable quantity, both crystallized in vems, and 

 in a compact form as a component in a rock of a conglomerated 

 and amygdaloidal structure. Prince Regent's river, the chief 

 inlet of the north-western shore, has nearly a rectilinear course, 

 from north-west to south-east, for more than 60 miles; and 

 its banks of sandstone are in some places between 300 and 400 

 feet high. The coast to the south-west of this inlet has not yet 

 been completely surveyed; but several openings have been 

 observed there, of such width as to render the existence of 

 rivers not improbable. 



The shore on the western coast is in several places covered 

 with extensive dunes of sand, with which are associated in 

 many instances beds and masses of a very recent arenaceous 

 breccia, abounding in shells concreted by carbonate of lime. 

 This formation, which is particularly remarkable in the islands 

 and on the shores adjacent to Shark's Bay, about latitude 26°, 

 is analogous to that which occurs very extensively in Sicily, at 

 Nice, and several other places on the shores of the Mediterra- 

 nean, and of the West India Islands, and on many parts of the 

 coasts within the Tropics. In New Holland it generally consists 

 of sand cemented by stalagmitic or tufaceous carbonate of lime, 

 containing angular fragments of a compound of the same nature, 

 but previously consohdated and broken, along with numerous 

 shells and fragments of shells, very nearly resembling those of 

 the adjacent seas. Its date appears to be more recent than that 

 of the beds which constitute the Paris and London basins ; but 

 anterior to the accumulation of the diluvial gravel. 



The calcareous concretions of New Holland have in some 

 instances a tubular and stem-like appearance; and have thence 

 been mistaken for corals, and petrified branches of trees. 



