Norman Taylor — The Cudgegong Diamond Field. 403 



been isolated by extensive denudation. No point of eruption, to my 

 knowledge, exists in the district, but the source of the basalt flow 

 must be to the eastward on the summit of the Great Dividing Range, 

 where it may possibly have been erupted along a line of fault. Its 

 remnants can be followed for, at least, 17 miles down the river, 

 sometimes showing a thickness of over 70 feet, proving the igneous 

 outburst to have been of considerable magnitude, sufficiently so to 

 materially alter the physical aspect of the river valley ; we may 

 also infer, conversely, the enormous extent of the subsequent denu- 

 dation. There is the clearest local evidence that the course of the 

 river has been much altered since the older drift formed a portion of 

 its channel. 



Enumerating, in descending order, the outliers of the older drift 

 which affords the diamond, the first area occurs near the junction of 

 the Eeedy Creek with the Cudgegong River, and a short distance up 

 the former. At this point were situated the works of the Australian 

 Diamond Mines Company, and the village of Reedy Creek. Through 

 the Company's lease a small fringe of basalt runs about north-east 

 and south-west, and under this, near the edge of the flat, and below 

 the present river-level, the most productive diamond drift was 

 discovered. On the hill to the north of the Company's ground is a 

 lead, trending, from the north, southerly, and possibly the bed of 

 the old Reedy Creek, here uniting with the old river-bed. At 

 the south-west end of the basalt fringe, and at the foot of the rise, 

 numerous shafts have been sunk. They were originally worked on 

 a false bottom, at a depth of 29 feet, where the best gold was 

 obtained ; but were afterwards worked by the Company on the 

 true bottom at a depth of 35 feet. The basalt was only from 4 to 8 

 feet thick, and the remainder a similar drift to that at Hassall's 

 Hill (described hereafter), but without the usual fine sand. A short 

 distance to the north-east, near the extremity of this basalt fringe, 

 the sinking was through 30 feet of basalt, and the ground was very 

 wet. The Reedy Creek lead, from 20 to 25 feet in depth, on a dry 

 slate bottom, appears to be higher than the red drift in the above 

 wet ground, the first being the oldest. 



The whole of the lead in the Company's ground, though heavily 

 timbered below, settled down, owing to continued wet weather. 

 On the main bottom, in the Company's lease, there occur high hard 

 bars of slate and quartzite, all running in the usual strike of the 

 country. No gold was obtained in the drift between the bars, and 

 the drift itself was semi-angular, and similar to that in the present 

 Reedy Creek bed. At first the ground yielded at the rate of 4 to 5 

 diamonds and 4 dwts. of gold to the load, but afterwards fell off 

 to one diamond in two loads ; and there is no doubt but that 

 numbers of diamonds were thrown out of the machines (Hunt's 

 patent), by careless manipulation, into the tailings, over 1000 tons 

 of which were swept away by the disastrous floods of the 22nd 

 and 23rd April, 1870. While at the works myself, I burned and 

 crushed five bags of cement (which occurs as a bed running in the 

 same direction as the basalt, and in places from 6 to 8 feet thick), 



