214 



difficulty in reading the sections right along the coast from the 

 mouth of the GeUiVjrand to Curdie's Steps, on to the Sherbrook 

 River, and thence to Port Campbell, the most westerly point we 

 examined. 



As before said, the inclination of the beds is approximately 

 seaward, the general trend of this somewhat broken coast being 

 to the north-west. The strata, therefore, appear horizontal 

 whenever a cliff happens to be cut at right angles to the dip, and 

 seem to rise or fall according as the coast line changes in direction 

 slightly towards the north or west. There is certainly no 

 evidence of disturbance here any more than there is in similar 

 strata in more westerly areas, where the beds are practically 

 horizontal. In order to bring the same beds again into view at 

 Camperdown, Muddy Creek, etc., at comparatively low elevations, 

 we must adopt the reasonable theory that there are long undula- 

 tions, or rolls, in the strata, altogether unrecognisable in a single 

 outcrop. (See pi. 2.) 



The second or more eastward section mentioned is about half 

 a mile from the river mouth, and just opposite Bowker's Hotel, 

 in the village of Princetown. It is only about four feet thick, 

 and is raised above the beach from 30 to 40 feet, the underlying 

 portion being hidden by masses of recent dune-limestone fallen 

 from above. The strata consist of hard sandy rock, much im- 

 pregnated with iron. There is also a layer of ironstone pebbles 

 firmly cemented together, resembling in appearance the bog iron 

 ore on a swamp bottom. It is possible that the ironstone is 

 actually in situ, and has been formed by the percolation of water 

 containing iron in solution through the strata. 



By the Survey the section is called Miocene, and is supposed 

 to represent strata overlying the blue clays at Curdles Steps. 

 The evidence relied on to establish this sequence is, mainly, the 

 direction of the dip in the two sections, but the observations 

 made were, as we have shown, erroneous. 



Very few fossils can be extracted from such strata, but among 

 them we noticed Pecten semilaevis and other pectens, Spondylus 

 gaederopoides, Echinoderms, and Polyzoa characteristic forms of 

 the Eocene, but unrecognised, or very sparingly S3, in the 

 Miocene, and we conclude, therefore, that just as at Spring 

 Creek, the former group is the only one j^resent in the marine 

 tertiaries of the (^ellibrand. 



East of the river we found but few fossils, and none in tha 

 blue clays. About a mile and a half from the mouth, Mesozic 

 sandstones emerge from beneath the Eocene strata, but it is 

 doubtful whether they extend much further westward. What 

 formation underlies the coast tertiaries in that direction is 

 unknown, as, from Gellibrand to the border of the colony, and 



