GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 481 
Patterson, about 150. miles from Melbourne, on the south-east coast. A good 
workable coal field would be of the greatest importance to Victoria for the 
operations of its railways, factories, and steam-vessels. In South Australia the 
geological formation at Mount Gambia holds out the promise that coal might be 
found in abundance in that district by means of the needful appliances, properly 
directed. Coal is reported to exist in considerable quantities at King George's 
Sound, Western Australia ; it is said to cover a space of 30 miles, and to com- 
mence at Doubtful Island Bay, close to the sea shore. There is also a good coal 
Stratum on the Preston, near that colony. A fine field exists in the north at 
28°57 south latitude, and 113°30’ east longitude. The mine is 45 miles from 
Champion Bay, 42 miles from the mouth of the Irwin, and about 200 miles 
north of Perth. 
The whole island of Tasmania is interspersed with coal formations, either 
bituminous or anthracitic, and labor alone is required to secure good and cheap 
fuel. Mining operations have been carried on in the island on a small scale. 
Tt requires something more than a mere acquaintance with the mechanical pro- 
cesses of mining in pits that have long been worked, to open new seams, and 
direct the necessary operations for extracting the mineral without waste or 
injury, so as to send it to a profitable market. The demand for coal that now 
exists in Australia, and is likely to grow every year, is far in excess of the 
requirements of the colonies prior to that accession of population and expansion 
of commerce in all its branches which was occasioned by the gold discoveries. 
The timber supply hitherto depended on for fuel in all the great centres of popula- 
tion is partially exhausted, and we have already shown the extensive use that has 
sprung up of steam-power in machinery and locomotion both on land and sea. 
“No reasonable doubt can be entertained,” writes Dr. Milligan in his very 
elaborate Report on the Coal Fields of the East Coast of Tasmania, “that for 
all practical purposes of the present day, an inexhaustible supply of good coal 
exists at Mount Nicholas and Fingal. Whether it may be profitable to send it 
to market, or practicable to ‘consume it productively on the spot, is for capital- 
ists and speculators to consider, and probably for unforeseen circumstances to 
decide.” These words were written in the year 1848. At that time Melbourne 
was a small village, and the River Yarro and Hobson’s Bay frequented only by 
afew ships, taking home their annual cargoes of tallow and wool, the early, 
and for many years the only, staples of the district of Port Phillip, now become 
the important colony of Victoria. The gold fields were undreamt of; the in- 
terior of the country unoccupied, except by sheep runs; and the River Murray 
and its tributaries unexplored, while they are now traversed by steam-boats. 
At that time railroads were unknown in Australia; steam-machinery had no 
place, save in the shape of an occasional flour-mill, and none of the great ocean 
steamers, which now serve the uses of a developed commerce, had visited the 
Australian waters. 
It seems, therefore, an opportune time to call attention more prominently at 
home to the vast deposits of coal that are lying unused in many of the southern 
colonies, to stimulate further examination and to throw together a few notes 
‘with respect to existing information and enquiry on the subject. Dr. Milligan, 
