Correspondence. 235 
THE COAL-BASIN OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 
To the Editor of the GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 
Sir,—By the Australian mail, just arrived, I have ‘received a 
letter from my friend, Mr. Joan Macxenziz, Examiner of Coal- 
fields to the Government of New South Wales, from which I ex- 
tract the following (Mr. Mackenzie is stationed at Wollongong) :— 
‘J have had a journey of upwards of 300 miles for the purpose of 
seeing whether the Hartley Coal-seams, in the County of Cork, belong 
to the same Coal-basin as that of Newcastle and Wollongong; and 
to see if I could find out with which known seams of coal on this 
side they were identical. I was able to recognise them. Another 
reason for my going was, that I had an idea that I could find eoal 
identical with the Fitzroy Coal at a distance of thirty miles from 
Sydney, the metropolis of New South Wales. I have satisfied myself 
that coal will be found there; but I must make another examination 
before I can tell whether there is a good seam of coal. I have found 
the lower coal, which is inferior ; and I cammot yet tell whether it will 
be near enough from the edge of the Coal-basin for the next excellent 
seam of coal to come in above it. The Coal-measures I find gra- 
dually increase in their thickness from the edge of the Coal-basin 
towards the centre; and the Sydney, or Clarke’s “‘ Hawkesbury,” Sand- 
stone rests on the Coal-measures near the edge of the basin ; whilst, 
near the centre of it, it is 900 feet from the top coal; sandstones and 
shales, different in nature from the Hawkesbury Sandstone, interven- 
ing in the 900 feet. It has been supposed by other geologists that it 
would always be from 900 to 1,000 feet from the Hawkesbury Sand- 
stone to the first coal; whilst | am certain that I can find it, only 
thirty miles from Sydney, at a depth of from 150 to 200 feet. But if 
I go to twenty-eight miles, and find the top coal coming in, it might 
be 400 feet.’ After giving an account of the great difficulties 
attending the exploration, Mr. Mackenzie continues: —‘I will 
first give you an outline of what I know from my own ex- 
ploration of this vast coal-field. I have explored the Counties 
of Canada, Cumberland, Cork, Hunter, Northumberland, and Dur- 
ham, and find that the New South Wales Coal-basin extends under 
the whole of them, and a portion or the whole of Gloucester (I have 
not explored the whole of it), as well as a portion of the counties of 
Brisbane (mot Brisbane in Queensland), Phillip, Roxburgh, West- 
moreland, and St. Vincent ; and that the south-easterly and easterly 
side of the coal-basin lies partly buried under the Pacific Ocean, and 
principally washed away. This makes the New South Wales coal- 
basin at least 200 miles in length, and probably the same in breadth: 
but the breadth can never be ascertained, owing tothe easterly side 
of the basin being in the Pacific Ocean.’ 
I have given the above in Mr. Mackenzie’s words: it is at your 
service. Mr. Mackenzie was the discoverer of a magnificent seam 
of coal (12 yds. or more) in New South Wales, not long since.*—I 
am, yours truly, EK. H. Brrxenueap, B.Se., F.G.S. 
Worstry Mzsnes, Wigan: Fed. 24, 1865. 
* See Gronogicat Magazine, No. V, p. 234. 
