140 
the south coast of Victoria, and only about 25 miles apart, but 
nevertheless showing a most marked difference in their respective 
faunas. Out of 265 species of mollusca from the Gellibrand, 216, 
or 80 per cent., occur also at Muddy Creek, while of the 123 
species recorded for Cape Otway, 44, or only 36 per cent., are 
Muddy Creek shells. On the other hand, 40 of the Cape Otway 
species, or one-third of the whole, are represented in the distant 
Aldinga section, while 18 of them are restricted to these two sets 
of beds. Though so close together, the outcrops of the Gellibrand 
and Cape Otway contain only 30 species in common! It may be 
added that lithologically they are alike, the strata in each locality 
consisting of mound-like masses of black mud, while both are 
similarly overlain by a Pleistocene rock. The Otway Eocenes are 
certainly underlain by mesozoic strata, but at the Gellibrand 
these suddenly disappear close to Pebbly Point, and are not met 
with again to the west on either the Victorian or South Aust- 
ralian coast. The proportion of recent species in the two deposits 
is practically identical, but owing to the comparatively small 
number of mollusca collected at Cape Otway, no special signifi- 
cance is attached to this circumstance. In Part II, when refer- 
ring to the discordant facts of distribution disclosed in these 
sections, we said that the most reasonable explanation was that 
the beds were on different horizons. Corroborative stratigraphical 
evidence certainly cannot be adduced, but then the coastline 
between the two localities has not been closely examined. <As 
will be seen, however, in the succeeding observations there are 
good grounds for deeming our previous conclusion correct. 
From the great similarity between the Gellibrand and Muddy 
Creek fossils, we may infer a coastal connexion between the 
localities during the era of deposition. As was shewn in Part J, 
the beds are in reality continuous between the two areas. 
Farther west, between Portland and Muddy Creek a similar 
continuity of the Eocenes beneath a covering of basalt was pointed 
out some years ago.* Outcrops of the same strata are visible also 
on the banks of the Glenelg River for fully 100 miles from its 
mouth, while in the County of Follett, from the sea coast as far 
as Apsley, aud in the adjoining South Australian territory, from 
Mt. Gambier to Narracoorte and Border Town, the existence of 
Eocene deposits containing a similar type of fauna is abundantly 
revealed by numerous fossiliferous caves, as well as by the fossils 
obtained wherever wells have been sunk. That this whole region 
was thus one of practically contemporaneous deposition during the 
Eocene period will hardly be questioned. The resemblance of the 
fauna of the Murray River in South Australia, and of Shelford, 
Geelong, &c., in Victoria, to that of the same area has bean 
already alluded to. 
* Notes on the Muddy Creek beds, &c. Trans. Roy. Soc., S.A., 1888. 
