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position, form, and situation. Most of those that 

 are placed near the water's edge were formed of 

 sand and shells, without a vestige of any other 

 material ; but in some of them soil and decaying 

 wood were found : when constructed of this loose 

 material they are very irregular in outline, and 

 often resemble a bank thrown up by a constant 

 heavy surf. One remarkable specimen of this 

 description, situated on the southern side of 

 Knocker's Bay, has the appearance of a bank 

 from twenty-five to thirty feet in length, with an 

 average height of five feet. Another, even more 

 singular, is situated at the head of the harbour, 

 and is composed entirely of pebbly iron-stone, 

 resembling a confused heap of sifted gravel. This 

 mound is very extensive, and covers a space of at 

 least a hundred and fifty feet in circumference. 

 These remarkable instances would, however, seem 

 to be exceptions ; as by far the greatest number 

 are formed entirely of light black vegetable soil, 

 are of a conical form, and are situated in the 

 densest thickets. Occasionally the mounds are 

 met with in barren, rocky and sandy situations, 

 where not a particle of soil similar to that of which 

 they are composed occurs for miles around : how 





