S62 GILPIN CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OF ST. GEORGE's BAY. 



ed. Here search should be made for coal, as the measures already 

 passed are evidently those of the horizon underlying the productive 

 strata. 



The next object of interest is the peninsula of Port a Port, 

 forming the north side of the bay. 



From Cape St. George to the Gravels the south shore presents 

 an almost unbroken vrall of limestone, dipping to the north at an 

 easy angle in a series of lateral undulations, varying in length from 

 a quarteriro two-thirds of a mile. The profile of the shore on the 

 south side is a perfect contrast to that of East and West Bays. 

 Long continued action of waves on rocks dipping inland does not 

 make a shelving beach, as the undermined cliff falls into the sea, 

 and the outline of the shore becomes straight. 



Crossing to East Bay we find the limestones still dipping to the 

 north, and the action of the sea against their pitch has made long 

 beaches cut into numberless small coves. Part of the limestone 

 has been worn away more slowly, and gives the shore a very 

 strange appearance. At first one w^ould imagine the massive ruins 

 of some colossal building had been piled along the beach. At 

 one point we see a number of detached pillars standing at intervals 

 of almost mathematical regularity ; sometimes capped with a round 

 ball of the same material, or squared as if they were the lower part 

 of some huge portal. Then come great rounded blocks piled one 

 above the other, forming a perforated mass through which a car- 

 riage could be driven. The solid background of the cliff" has been 

 cut into circular semi-detached columns, marking a future row of 

 these sculpturers of the sea. Such is the appearance of the shore 

 for miles, every change of position bringing out fresh and stranger 

 forms. 



In one place there are two large caves hollowed out just above 

 the level of low water. We explored the larger of the two. After 

 following a narrow low gallery of over two hundred feet, we found 

 ourselves in a spacious vault, worn perfectly smooth by the water, 

 and glistening in the light of our torches. Another gallery led 

 further into the cliff but could not be followed more than a few 

 yards, as the roof grew too low to allow our passage. The other 



