The Country round Lyell the Coal-Field 



We determined to call the thick seam the " Hermit 

 Mine," and if it covered any considerable area it 

 promised to play an important part in the history of 

 the country. 



From fossil evidence it was clear that we were here 

 dealing with a portion of the Coal Measures, altogether 

 higher in the series than any of the beds exposed near 

 Coal Hill, and we therefore determined to follow the 

 stream still higher. Within the next two miles we 

 discovered the outcrops of three other seams, with an 

 aggregate thickness of 15 feet and, so far as we could 

 tell from a field examination, of excellent quality. 



Beyond the outcrop of the highest seam the water 

 shallowed rapidly, and our onward progress was arrested 

 as the undergrowth was so dense as to render further 

 advance impossible except by cutting a passage with 

 axes, and as we had not come prepared for this kind of 

 work, we had perforce to retreat. We had, however, 

 discovered what promised to be a very rich coal-field, 

 and could safely leave its further exploration to the 

 officials of the Government. 



Before leaving the district we ascended the tributary 

 in order if possible to locate another point on the line of 

 the great fault, so as to be able to plot its direction on 

 our map with a greater degree of accuracy than is 

 possible from an observation in a single locality. 



The valley of the tributary was not so deeply cut as 

 that of the main stream, and consequently there were 

 fewer clear sections of the strata. We were able, 

 nevertheless, to locate our line by a sudden change 

 in the elevation of the country, due to the presence of 

 the hard sandstone, and on joining the point where the 



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