Art. I. — The Hodgkin&on Goldfield, Northern Queensland. 



By the Rev. J. E. Tenison- Woods, F.G.S., F.L.S.; Hon. 

 Mem. Roy. Soc, N.S.W., Tasmania; Cor. Mem. Roy. 

 Soc., Vict.; Pres. Linn^ean Soc, N.S.W., &cl, &c. 



[Read April 15th, 1880.] 



The portions of the colony of Northern Queensland dealt 

 with in this paper are the goldfields of the Hodgkinson, 

 Walsh, and Mitchell Rivers, all of which streams drain into 

 the Gulf of Carpentaria, on its eastern side. I give, also, a 

 sketch of the country between these fields and the east coast, 

 following the bridle track between Port Douglas and the 

 diggings. Port Douglas is an anchorage at the mouth of a 

 small mangrove creek, between the mouths of the Mossman 

 and Mowbray Rivers. It is sheltered by a small peninsula, 

 called Island Point. This is about a mile in length, and 

 rises rather abruptly to a height of 200 feet above the sea. 

 Its greatest length lies parallel with the coast, and it is 

 scarcely a quarter of a mile wide, being, in fact, a mere ridge. 

 It is composed of a metamorphic rock. The almost vertical 

 dip of the strata can still be seen, as well as the almost north 

 and south strike. In some places it is a coarse felspathic 

 rock, like porphyry, with large crystals of hornblende and 

 felspar. In addition to this, there are long streaks or 

 irregular bands of black hornblendic rock, which pass 

 through the line of stratification. The appearance is like 

 streaks of pitch, ana it is very vesicular ; but whether that 

 was its original state or due to the weathering action of the 

 sea, where the rock is exposed, cannot be well made out. I 

 should be inclined to describe it as a trap breccia, and the 

 dark masses as more augitic than hornblendic. It may be 

 one of those numerous ash beds or trap conglomerates which 

 are so common in the silurian formation, to which period, 

 from the dip and strike and general appearance, I suppose it 

 to belong. It has certainly been subjected to metamorphic 

 action since it was upheaved to its present vertical dip. I 

 regard the peninsula itself as a former island only very 

 recently reclaimed from the sea. At the land side, the hill 

 slopes down to a wide and marshy mangrove creek. The 

 intervening country between Island Point and the main 



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