16 



Cornelian Bay, have been derived from the waste of the 

 older gravel drifts which overly the basalt. 



Mr. Wintle inferred that the pebbly beds with the over- 

 lying surface layer of comminuted shells, and the underlying 

 basalt, were upheaved at a recent period from the bed of the 

 existing estuarine sea. That the shelly accumulations are in 

 reality indications of a " raised sea beach." 



The comminuted shells which ar? all of existing littoral 

 species, (viz. Ostrea edulis, Mytllus latus, Venus aplirodinoides^ 

 Rupellaria diemenensis, Bisella melanostoma, Littorina nnifas- 

 ciata Trochocochlea constricta, etc., etc.), favour this very 

 natural conception. 



My acquaintance with the undoubted raised sea beaches 

 of the islands in Bass' Straits, and along our northern coasts, 

 predisposed me to concur with Mr. Wintle's view of the 

 cjuestion prior to my discovery of the true relation of the 

 basalts with the tertiary leaf beds at the various points 

 already described in this paper. But a careful examination 

 of the shell beds themselves from Blackman's Bay to 

 Rosetta Crossing on the western side, and from Geilston 

 to Frederick Henry Bay on the eastern shore, has convinced 

 me that the views of the late Mr. Grunn, the most illustrious 

 among Tasmanian naturalists, are most in accord with all 

 the facts which are now known to me. You are all aware of 

 the close observing powers possessed by the late Mr. Gunn, 

 and the many opportunities which he had of making obser- 

 vations as regards the life and habits of the aboriginal tribes 

 which frequented the coasts, especially the sheltered coves 

 and beautiful headlands of the Derwent and Tamar. I 

 cannot do better than give a description of their shell feasts 

 in his own words : — 



In a paper contained in vol. 2 of the Tasmanian Journal of 

 Science, 1845, to which my attention was first specially directed 

 by Mr. Calder, after preliminary remarks regarding the shell 

 heaps, Mr. Gunn goes on to say : — " I was led to infer, at first, 

 that they had been artificially and recently applied as manure. 

 It was not until long after when I had an opportunity of 

 observing some lately formed heaps of shells on the West 

 Coast of the island that I ascertained the truth. As some 

 persons otherwise well informed still believe that changes in 

 the relative levels of land and sea may have led to the 

 appearance of the shells in their present places, I have 

 thought it best to record my observations on the subject. 

 The aborigines of Tasmania appear at all times to have 

 derived a considerable portion of their food from the sea, 

 and* as they seem to have no effectual means of catching 



* Mr, Calder states, that iu their wild state they did not eat scale fish. 



