2 The Hodgkinson Goldfield, Northern Queensland. 



range is a level plain, one to three miles wide, covered with 

 an open forest of Wormia alata, Thespizia populnea, 

 Heritiera littoralis, Careya arborea, Acacia holoserica, 

 Pandanus pedunculata ; but the tree which prevails to the 

 greatest extent is Melaleuca leucodendron, or paper bark 

 tree, as it is called. As far as sections from rivers and creeks 

 will enable one to judge, the plain is composed of an alluvial 

 detritus from the main range, fringed by a bank of sand, 

 which is derived from coral banks and the disintegration of 

 the stone. There is a series of low coral islands about eight 

 miles from the shore, some wooded, and some mere sandy- 

 patches, almost submerged at low water. The outer Barrier 

 Reef is nearer to the coast here than further north and 

 south, and from the summit of the dividing range can be 

 seen plainly. 



Proceeding in a southerly direction from the peninsula, or 

 Island Point, as it is called, the mouth of the Mowbray River 

 is crossed at about three miles. The interval is occupied by 

 a hard, sandy beach, on which no rock shows. This beach 

 is fringed by a very dense vegetation, in which Wormia 

 alata, Ficus macrophylla, and Thespizia populnea hold the 

 principal place, bound together by the common climbing 

 cane, Flagellaria indica. At the back of the ridge, the man- 

 grove creek already referred to holds its way for a long distance. 

 In my track across the main range, I followed the course of 

 the Mowbray to the ford. It is a narrow, tidal stream, with 

 a fringing reef of coral, extending out to sea about four 

 miles on one side of its mouth. Its course from the range is 

 very short, and it can be seen coming over the divide in 

 many long falls of white foam As the east side of the 

 range is in general very precipitous, a large number of these 

 falls can be seen at every opening. Some of them are of 

 considerable extent, and in the rainy season, whenever the 

 weather is clear enough, the cascades form beautiful adorn- 

 ments to the scenery. 



On the east side of the divide the vegetation is very thick, 

 and it is only in one or two places that sections of the rock 

 are exposed. All that I saw were highly inclined chloritic 

 slates, rather similar in appearance to the strata on the 

 ranges near Glen Osmond, Adelaide, and which has been so 

 largely used for building purposes in that city. The road 

 ascends with great rapidity, the inclines being quite as steep 

 as any on the spurs of the divide near Sydney. The height 

 of the crossing-place of the road to the Hodgkinson is about 



