69 



easily be realised on inspecting the sample of wood which 

 accompanies this note. It will be observed that the wood is 

 almost black, like the Irish " bog oak," and exactly re- 

 sembles in texture a solid piece of ebony. When cutting 

 it with the saw, the dust was exceedingly fine, somewhat 

 like that obtained when sawing through a piece of bone. 

 Judging from the appearance of the outer surface of the 

 portions of the log examined by me, the wood is probably 

 that of one of the Eucalypti, and if so, it throws an 

 interesting light on the antiquity of this genus of trees, as 

 this example must have been buried many thousands of 

 years. At the spot where the log was met with, the first three 

 or four feet consisted of chocolate soil, which merged into a 

 yellowish clay loam, darkening again at the depth of about 

 10 feet into a peaty substance. Further up the dyke, how- 

 ever, a thick bed of shingle, intermingled with stones of 

 rounded form about as large as a man's head took the 

 place of this clay; this was probably the bed 

 of the stream, while the bottom of it, where the log 

 became embedded, was no doubt muddy. Higher up, towards 

 the lagoon, and where the depression caused by the old 

 watercourse deepens, and the dyke is consequently shallower, 

 the material excavated is dark peaty soil, which is continued 

 to the edge of the morass. From the whole appearance of 

 the surrounding land the alluvial deposit in question is one 

 of great age, and renders the discovery of this timber at 

 such a depth, and in such a hardened form, of great interest, 

 not only on account of its antiquity, but in connection with 

 the capability of the particular species of tree to withstand 

 decay throughout such a lengthened period. 



_ I append an ideal section of the land lying 

 hill called the "Lookout" and the shore of 

 showing the position of the dyke, and likewise 

 the dyke itself. 



between the 

 Oyster Bay, 

 section of 



