1866.] CLAHKE^ AUSTRALIAN CANCELS. 447 



E-eedy-Creek Cannel has excited so much interest that all kinds of 

 substances have been forwarded for examination, and among them 

 black clays from various parts of Manearo, some of which, on 

 analysis, have shown the proportion of ash to volatile and carbo- 

 naceous matters to be as 77 to 23. 



11. Bournda. — There is, however, another kind of deposit which 

 demands notice. 



The coast, for many miles to the northward of Cape Howe, is 

 formed of rocks which belong to the Lower Silurian formation, 

 and consist principally of purple schists with quartz veins and 

 with some beds of purple slate and sandstones. Along the shore, 

 as just north of Eden, at Pambula and Meribula, beach-lakes 

 occur, and some of those further to the northward are partly 

 blocked by sand. At Bournda there is a tract of country in which 

 formerly a lake or lagoon existed. It is now not altogether dry ; 

 and though not much timber exists there, there is a considerable 

 growth, on the dried surface, of that peculiar vegetation which 

 clings to a soil made up of sand and marsh. The coast-hne inter- 

 sects the deposits which form the base of this tract, and which 

 rest upon the highly inclined purple slates, granite occurring at no 

 great distance. The age of the deposits is probably of the recent period. 

 There is no evidence of any Tertiary epoch ; yet it has some resem- 

 blance to a Brown Coal deposit. 



A section of 60 feet of the cliff at Bournda gives the following 

 succession of deposits : — 



1. White decomposed granite full of rounded bits of quartz like that of 

 granite. 



2. Rather more yellowish decomposed granite, of like kind, with roots of 

 recent plants. 



3. Very gritty pale deposit with woody matter. 



4. Yellowish, and occasionally reddish, sand (in the condition of dune sand), 

 with partly abraded particles of quartz. 



5. Greyish-white clay, strongly adherent to the tongue, with recent plant- 

 fragments. 



6. White, fine, friable, very slightly gritty clay of a kaolin character, pro- 

 bably useful for fire-clay and pottery. 



7. Blackish muddy laminated deposit, full of vegetable patches, much iron- 

 pyrites, and some lignite. 



8. Dark yellowish-brown laminated deposit, 1 foot thick — the "Bournda" 

 so-called " lignite," being a clay -bed saturated with volatile matters, resting on — 



9. A partly reddish, partly brown, sandy and earthy deposit, with an abun- 

 dance of small quartz pebbles. 



The lower part of the deposit has been entered to the extent of 

 fifteen yards ; it is found to be four feet thick, and has been sub- 

 jected to chemical analysis. It seems to have been a mud satu- 

 rated with oily ingredients, and is highly inflammable. It is not 

 altogether a true peat, but may be regarded as such, having 

 probably had a similar origin and afterwards been covered by 

 flood-detritus brought down from the ranges. None of the sand- 

 or clay-deposits exhibit any evidence of calcareous matter; the 

 explanation, therefore, of its lacustrine origin on the land is pro- 

 bably the correct one. 



A year ago I received from a creek about forty miles north of 



