Western Victoria. 79 



that in fine weather the rollers do not break when they 

 enter it. I judge that the depth of water must be 20 feet. 



A fourth cave, near by, is three or four feet above high 

 water mark, and it is so dry that the fishermen have lived 

 in it for months at a time. 



The positions of these caverns relative to the sea level, 

 point to a still proceeding elevatory movement of the coast. 



The big cave must have been quite 20 feet lower when 

 the ocean carved it out. The second of those described is 

 now far out of reach of the waves. It must have stood 50 

 feet lower than it does to day, when the grind of the surf 

 bored it out of the rock, and ages may have passed since its 

 rolled stones were last wet with the surf 



The fisherman's cave must have altered its level by 

 24 feet, but the great water cave is still in the course of erosion 

 having its floor about 20 feet beneath the sea surface, and 

 its roof 15 feet above it. Every lift of the sea must roll the 

 grinding shingle upon its floor, and, in rough weather, the 

 air suction due to the draw-back, must be an enormous 

 force, quite sufiicient to drag out of its walls every block of 

 stone that the battering of the breakers has loosened. 



While the existence of these raised beaches is evidence of 

 an upward movement, the occurrence of exceedingly deep 

 water at the very foot of some of the clifls is an indication 

 that the present elevatory movement was immediately pre- 

 ceded by a considerable depression. If we take the Admiralty 

 chart and note the soundings we shall see that the cliffs on 

 the east side of Cape Grant have their bases in 72 feet of 

 watei". They rise almost sheer from that great depth. The 

 soundings and the outlying rocks show that the present line 

 of cliffs does not represent the original southern edge of the 

 lava flow. That margin lay out in the offing. Its present 

 position is due to the fact that the cliff has been cut back by 

 the sea. The rocky floor, now 70 feet deep under watei', 

 must once have been at least 50 feet hio-her, to allow the 

 waves to operate upon the mass out of which its precipices 

 have been carved. Since that time there has been a down- 

 ward movement, and an upward one, the latter of which 

 has long been in progress, and has, moreover, been varied by 

 several periods of rest. 



Conclusion. 

 It may be noticed, that my sketch map differs materially 

 from the Geological map issued by the Government. I might 



