1872.] DAINTEEE — GEOLOGY OF QUEENSLAND. 275 



goes to prove that Diprotodon and its allies iuhabitcd the Queensland 

 valleys when they presented little difference in physical aspect or 

 elevation from that of the present time. The crocodile (Crocodilus 

 AwsiraZis), however, had then a greater range inland than it has now. 



A study of these i);^:»roioc/oH-breccias leads to the conclusion that 

 the remains are chiefly entombed in what were the most permanent 

 "water-holes" in seasons of excessive drought, and that the animals 

 came there in a weak and exhausted state to drink and die, just as 

 bullocks do under similar conditions at the present time. 



jSTo human bones, flint flakes, or any kind of native weapon have 

 yet been discovered with the extinct mammalia of Queensland. 



Cainozoic. 



Desert Sandstone. — On the eastern branches of the Upper Flinders 

 river and elsewhere fine sections are exjDosed of lava resting on hori- 

 zontal beds of coarse grit and conglomerate, which lie in turn uncon- 

 formably on olive-coloured and grey shales with iuterstratified bands 

 and nodules of argillaceous limestone coutaining fossils of Cretaceous 

 affinities. I have called this upper conglomerate series " Desert Sand- 

 stone," from the sandy barren character of its disintegrated soil, which 

 makes the term particularly appHcable. Only a few rolled fragments 

 of coniferous wood have been found imbedded in it, proving nothing 

 as to its age ; and all that can be asserted is, that its horizon is above 

 and unconformable to the Cretaceous series of the Flinders. 



Without doubt it is the most recent, widely spread stratijied de- 

 posit deveJojjed in Queensland. The denudation of the Desert Sand- 

 stone since it became dry land has been excessive ; but as will be seen 

 by the geological map (PL IX.), there still remains a large tract iri 

 situ, whilst outliers and isolated ridges are to be met Avith in the most 

 unexpected localities. A view of a cliff section of Desert Sandstone, 

 with outlier, is represented in the accompanying woodcut (Fig. 3). 



All the available evidence tends to show that this " Desert Scind- 

 stone " did at one time cover nearly, if not quite, the whole of Aus- 

 tralia, with the probable exception of the south-eastern corner of the 

 continent from the Cordillera to the ocean. The journals of the two 

 Messrs. Gregory in their expedition on the north-west and north, 

 and Goyder's description of the new settlement of Port Darwin, all 

 bear evidence to the continuity of this so-called "Desert Sandstone" 

 over all the extended areas investigated by them, where denudation 

 has been resisted by local peculiarity of structure or other special 

 causes. Frank Gregory, in his description of the geological pecu- 

 liarities of that portion of the Nichol Bay countiy that came under 

 his observation during his exploring expedition of 1861, observes that 

 "it consists of a series of terraces rising inland for nearly 200 miles, 

 more or less broken up by volcanic hills toAvards the coast. 



"The first belt averages from 10 to 40 miles in width from the 

 sea, and is a nearly level plain slightly ascending to the southward 

 with an elevation of from 40 to 100 feet, the soil being generally 

 either light loam or strong clay, according as it is the result of the 



