Ixx. 



remains are buried beneath, the ashes of the Mount Gambier 

 volcano, as proved by their remains occurring together in the 

 Gisborne and "Wellington caves. 



Now, the dingo is an alien ; he forms no part of the Aus- 

 tralian fauna ; and his introduction by man, as a companion 

 and assistant in the chase, can only satisfactorily explain his 

 presence in this continent, as in some of the Pacific islands. 

 Man and dog may have pursued together the Diprotodon, and 

 in latter times have been awed by the volcanic outbursts. 

 Indeed, no other cause of extirpation of the huge mammals has 

 suggested itself to the mind of Professor Owen save that of 

 human agency. He says, " To a race of men depending, like 

 the blackfellows, for subsistence on the chase, the largest and 

 most conspicuous kinds of wild beasts first fall a prey." 



The volcanoes of the South-East, and particularly those at 

 Mount Gambier, are characterised by the emission of much 

 ash and litttle lava. The volcanic energy was weak, and it was 

 the western limit of a force having its chief foci in Western 

 Victoria. 



Though tranquil as the eruptions had been, yet there is no 

 guarantee that the volcanoes will not again become active, and 

 that the volume of their vomitings will be as insignificant. 



Volcanic JEjectamenta beyond Present Craters.— Osidian bombs, 

 showing no marks of erosive action, have been collected at 

 distant parts of the colony, occurring either loose on the sur- 

 face or imbedded in the "crust limestone," I have seen a 

 specimen obtained at Gawler, from the centre of a nodule of 

 travertine ; and several that were collected about Stuart's 

 Creek, and one from King George's Sound. I incline to the 

 opinion that their distribution has been effected by human 

 agency — perhaps the wish is father to the thought — inasmuch 

 as the only feasible explanation of their presence arising from 

 natural causes militates against my theory of the origin of the 

 loess. Briefly, the state of the case is as follows : — 



1. The bombs have not been ejected from the volcanoes of 



the South-east, because they are not found within their 

 neighbourhood. 



2. They may have been the outcome of some volcanoes, all 



traces of which have been removed by the encroachment 

 of the sea. 



3. Or they may have been brought by icebergs from the 



antarctic volcanoes — Erebus and Terror. By these 

 means Mr. Scoular explains at once the ice marks on 

 the sea cliffs of St. Vincent's Gulf and the distribution 

 of the volcanic bombs, an opinion I do not share with 

 him, as previously explained. 

 These bombs are held in high estimation by the aborigines, 



