322 



About eighty feet to the west of the cave above described, is the 

 mouth of another cavity of a different description, first examined by 

 Mr. Rankin. At this place the surface itself consists of a breccia 

 full of fragments of bones ; and a similar compound confusedly mixed 

 with large rude blocks of limestone, forms the sides of the cavity, 

 which is a nearly vertical, wide, and irregular sort of well, accessible 

 only by the aid of ladders and ropes. This breccia consists of an 

 earthy red calcareous stone having small fragments of the grey lime- 

 stone of the valley dispersed through it, and in some parts possesses 

 considerable hardness. Near the lower part of the fissure (the whole 

 extent of which was not explored) were three layers of stalagmitic 

 concretion about two inches in thickness and three inches apart, the 

 spaces being occupied with a red ochreous matter, with bones in 

 abundance imbedded both in stalagmite and between the layers of it. 



The bones found in the fissure just described, of which specimens 

 have been sent to England, belong with only two exceptions, to ani- 

 mals at present known to exist in the adjacent country ; and their 

 dimensions also are very nearly the same with those of the existing 

 quadrupeds. The species, from the report of Mr. Clift, to whose exa- 

 mination the bones were submitted, appear to be as follows: Kangaroo, 

 Wombat, Dasyurus, Koala, Phalangista, — the most abundant being 

 those of the Kangaroo. Along with the remains just mentioned were 

 found two bones, not agreeing with those of any of the animals at 

 present known to exist in New South Wales. The first and larger 

 (of which a figure only accompanies this paper, the bone itself having 

 been sent to Edinburgh) is supposed to belong to the Elephant : the 

 second bone is also obscure and imperfect, but seems to be a part of 

 one of the superior maxillary bones of an animal resembling the 

 Dugong ; it contains a portion of a straight tusk pointing directly 

 forward. 



A pit was dug, by Major Mitchell's direction, in the surface of the 

 ground about twenty-five feet from the mouth of the fissure, at a 

 place where no rocks projected ; and the hill was there found to be 

 composed of a hard and compact breccia, such as that described above, 

 and abounding likewise in organic remains. 



Other caverns containing a similar breccia occur in the limestone 

 on the north bank of the Macquarrie, eight miles north-east of- those 

 at Wellington ; and about fifty miles to the south-east, at Buree, are 

 several caves like the first described above, which communicate with 

 fissures partially occupied with breccia containing bones. At Molong, 

 thirty-six miles to the east of Wellington, a small quantity of con- 

 creted matter has been found, containing numerous bones, of which 

 no specimens have been sent to Europe ; but the author remarks that, 

 from their size, they would appear to have belonged to species larger 

 than those which at present occupy the country. 



In conclusion, the author states that he can offer no explanation 

 of the facts he has mentioned ; and he points to the great resemblance 

 between the bony breccia of New South Wales, and that of the shores 

 of the Mediterranean described by Major Imrie, in the Transactions 

 of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 



