TEANSACTIONS OF SECTION C. 645 



of one inch in the barometer is equivalent to the removal of a load of nearly 90,000 

 tons over every square mile of surface, the effect produced on a district where steam 

 issues whenever a walking-stick is thrust into the ground must he enormous. 

 "What is especially needed, however, by vulcanologists is a carefully tabulated 

 series of records, in the place of the general statements which have hitherto been 

 published on this most important question. 



The photographs exhibited illustrate the following localities : — 



A. Mount Tarawera, the scene of the great volcanic outburst, with the siteii of 

 the new craters and the great fissure. 



B. Rotomahana (the Warm Lake) and the w^onders on its shores now entirely 

 destroyed. 



1. A number of views of the geyser Te Terata (the White Terrace) in eruption, 

 and of the sinter- terraces leading down to the lake. Also of the deposits formed 

 by the overllow of its waters charged with silica. 



2. The Pink Terrace (Otukapuarangi). 



3. The steam vents known as the Great Ngahapu, the Steamer, and the Great 

 Blow Hole. 



4. The Geyser-tube of Koingo. 



5. The e.xtinct Geyser called 'the Green Lake.' 



6. The old terrace-mound of Ruakiwi. 



7. The broken and decomposed terrace of Waikanapanapa. 



8. The mud volcanoes of Waikanapanapa. 



9. The Valley of Desolation. 



9. On the Geology of the neiohj discovered Goldjields in Kimherley, Western 

 Australia. By Edward T. Hardman, F.B.G.S.I. 



During the past few months attention has been drawn to Western Australia 

 by announcements in the public press, both British and colonial, of the discovery 

 of a payable goldfield in that colony. 



The first paragraph was a telegram from Perth, AV.A., to the Colonial Office, 

 stating that 400 ounces had been brought dowu ; shortly after 620 ounces were 

 reported, as well as a nugget of 19 ounces, and also one of 29 ounces. Great 

 excitement was caused in Australia by these announcements, and a ' rush ' greater 

 than that of 1851 was predicted. Later accounts show that this ' rush ' is taking 

 place. Miners are flocking to the new El Dorado in numbers from South Australia, 

 Victoria, New South Wales, from the great mining colony of Queensland, and even 

 from New Zealand — two men fi-om which obtained 1,100 and 300 ounces of gold 

 respectively, as stated in a private letter dated July 5, 1886.^ According to a letter 

 from the Surveyor-General there must be now nearly 3,000 men on the fields. 

 The goldfield is therefore an accomplished fact. It had long been a disappoint- 

 ment and reproach to Western Australia that it was not gold-producing, and this 

 idea was almost confirmed when Mr. E. Hammond llargraves visited a portion of 

 it and reported adversely ; and it came to be believed that further search was 

 almost hopeless. In 1883, however, a large surveying expedition was sent up to 

 the Kimherley district, and to this party Mr. Hardman was attached as geologist. 

 During the first year the author saw many indications pointing to the existence of 

 gold, but was unable to test it practically, owing to adverse circumstances. In the 

 next year he was more fortunate, and discovered gold along the rivers Slargaret, 

 Elvire, and Ord for 140 miles. The announcement telegraphed to Perth was 

 received with gi-eat enthusiasm, and several parties of prospectors went up to the 

 country, the results of their labours verifying the author's prediction as to the 

 capabilities of the gold-field, and justifying the rush now taking place. 



The importance of the discovery could hardly be exaggerated. It supplied a 

 want long ielt in Western Australia — namely, an attraction for emigrants, which 

 the most glowing accounts of the really fine pasture, abundance of water, and 

 healthy climate had failed to produce. The author was confident it would have a 



> To Mr. W. H. Baily, Geological Survey, Ireland. 



