﻿468 
  1'KOCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SOCIETY. 
  [Jlllie 
  22, 
  

  

  measure 
  sandstone 
  is 
  found, 
  in 
  which 
  trunks 
  and 
  roots 
  of 
  trees 
  have 
  

   been 
  met 
  with, 
  principally 
  Stigmarice. 
  

  

  I 
  may 
  mention, 
  en 
  passant, 
  that 
  while 
  on 
  a 
  visit 
  in 
  the 
  country 
  a 
  

   week 
  since, 
  I 
  had 
  the 
  satisfaction 
  to 
  discover 
  a 
  very 
  extensive 
  coal- 
  

   field 
  of 
  about 
  15 
  miles 
  in 
  length 
  by 
  about 
  5 
  in 
  breadth 
  ; 
  but 
  unfor- 
  

   tunately 
  it 
  is 
  forty 
  miles 
  from 
  Hobart, 
  and 
  far 
  from 
  water-com- 
  

   munication. 
  This 
  coal, 
  like 
  that 
  at 
  New 
  Town, 
  is 
  anthracitic, 
  and 
  

   although 
  I 
  have 
  directed 
  the 
  attention 
  of 
  the 
  authorities 
  to 
  its 
  ex- 
  

   istence, 
  it 
  can 
  never 
  be 
  of 
  any 
  economic 
  value 
  until 
  we 
  have 
  railway 
  

   communication 
  with 
  the 
  interior. 
  

  

  At 
  Hamilton, 
  an 
  agricultural 
  district, 
  seventy 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  

   city, 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  seam 
  of 
  bituminous 
  coal 
  of 
  magnificent 
  quality, 
  12 
  

   feet 
  in 
  depth, 
  and 
  extending 
  over 
  a 
  very 
  large 
  area, 
  which, 
  for 
  the 
  

   same 
  reason 
  as 
  that 
  above 
  mentioned, 
  is 
  entirely 
  useless. 
  

  

  4. 
  Carboniferous 
  Limestone 
  (?) 
  . 
  — 
  This 
  formation 
  is 
  very 
  extensively 
  

   developed 
  in 
  the 
  neighbourhood 
  of 
  Hobart, 
  and 
  affords 
  a 
  fine 
  field 
  

   to 
  the 
  palaeontologist 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  vast 
  quantity 
  of 
  fossils 
  it 
  

   contains. 
  In 
  the 
  gully 
  called 
  The 
  Cascades 
  this 
  limestone 
  is 
  seen 
  

   exposed 
  for 
  several 
  hundred 
  yards, 
  the 
  water 
  in 
  the 
  rivulet 
  having 
  

   denuded 
  it 
  of 
  all 
  superincumbent 
  deposits. 
  At 
  this 
  spot 
  the 
  sand- 
  

   stone 
  is 
  seen 
  reposing 
  immediately 
  upon 
  it. 
  This 
  formation 
  is 
  almost 
  

   entirely 
  composed 
  of 
  Producti, 
  Spirtferce, 
  and 
  Pectinidce, 
  with 
  an 
  

   immense 
  number 
  of 
  Corals. 
  The 
  uppermost 
  stratum 
  consists 
  of 
  a 
  

   coarse 
  gritty 
  kind 
  of 
  sandstone, 
  interspersed 
  with 
  fragments 
  of 
  quartz, 
  

   and, 
  like 
  the 
  underlying 
  limestone, 
  is 
  highly 
  fossiliferous. 
  This 
  fact 
  

   alone 
  has 
  led 
  some, 
  I 
  believe, 
  to 
  consider 
  this 
  formation 
  as 
  being 
  a 
  

   member 
  of 
  the 
  Devonian 
  system 
  ; 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  quite 
  juobable 
  that 
  such 
  

   may 
  be 
  the 
  case, 
  although 
  the 
  Xew 
  Red 
  Sandstone 
  is 
  directly 
  super- 
  

   imposed, 
  — 
  the 
  Coal-measure 
  series 
  having 
  been 
  removed 
  by 
  denuda- 
  

   tion 
  before 
  the 
  New 
  Red 
  Sandstone 
  was 
  deposited. 
  But, 
  in 
  the 
  

   absence 
  of 
  other 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  Devonian 
  system 
  in 
  association, 
  and 
  

   having 
  failed 
  to 
  discover 
  the 
  principal 
  palaeontological 
  characteristics 
  

   of 
  that 
  system 
  in 
  the 
  coarse 
  arenaceous 
  superstratum, 
  I 
  am 
  inclined 
  

   to 
  accept 
  it 
  only 
  as 
  a 
  true 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  Carboniferous 
  series. 
  This 
  

   limestone 
  is 
  seen 
  to 
  dip 
  towards 
  the 
  east 
  at 
  40°, 
  with 
  a 
  south-easterly 
  

   strike 
  ; 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  again 
  seen 
  after 
  passing 
  under 
  the 
  sandstone. 
  

  

  The 
  Cascades, 
  the 
  site 
  of 
  this 
  formation, 
  are 
  situated 
  at 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  

   the 
  first 
  ascent 
  proper 
  of 
  Mount 
  Wellington, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  only 
  after 
  this 
  

   first 
  "pinch" 
  has 
  been 
  gained 
  that 
  true 
  indications 
  of 
  the 
  Old 
  Red 
  

   Sandstone 
  are 
  met 
  with 
  ; 
  these 
  are 
  at 
  an 
  elevation 
  of 
  upwards 
  

   of 
  a 
  thousand 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  Cascades, 
  and 
  consist 
  of 
  a 
  sandstone- 
  

   grit 
  reposing 
  upon 
  the 
  representative 
  of 
  the 
  pudding-stone 
  of 
  England. 
  

   This 
  fact, 
  then, 
  argues 
  in 
  favour, 
  I 
  believe, 
  of 
  the 
  formation 
  in 
  

   question 
  being 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  Carboniferous 
  series. 
  

  

  Having 
  passed 
  over 
  the 
  first 
  hill 
  in 
  the 
  ascent 
  of 
  Mount 
  "Welling- 
  

   ton, 
  we 
  come 
  upon 
  the 
  true 
  Devonian 
  ground. 
  This, 
  however, 
  affords 
  

   but 
  little 
  interest 
  to 
  the 
  geologist, 
  consisting 
  as 
  it 
  does 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  thin 
  

   beds 
  of 
  coarse 
  sandstone 
  interspersed 
  with 
  dark-coloured 
  shaly 
  bands, 
  

   the 
  sandstone 
  being, 
  as 
  I 
  take 
  it, 
  the 
  equivalent 
  of 
  the 
  English 
  

   " 
  cornstone," 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  which 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  has 
  proved 
  

  

  