152 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



of the settlement assuming a grass-green tint, while the water 

 beyond it was tinged with a bright rosy hue. On the 11th I 

 made an excursion with Captain Mayne and one of the officers 

 to visit a seam of coal in the neighbourhood, which the 

 governor of the colony was anxious that we should examine. 

 We landed in the forenoon, and after some delay in procuring 

 horses, set forth in company with the governor, and a convict 

 who acted as guide. The greater portion of our route lay 

 through the woods, following the course of a small river, which, 

 as I have previously mentioned, flows through a gorge in the 

 hills behind Sandy Point, and enters the sea not far from the 

 settlement, and involved rather rough riding, as our steeds 

 were compelled to jump over many tree-trunks, and to 

 scramble up and down the steep banks of the stream, which 

 required to be crossed many times. Soon after entering the 

 forest, we passed through a broad belt of charred trees, the 

 result of the late fire ; and after we had penetrated for some 

 distance, we observed a perceptible increase in the numbers of 

 the Winter' s-Bark trees, the glossy leaves and white flowers of 

 which showed to great advantage. The banks of the ravine 

 through which the stream flows, after a time became very 

 steep and elevated in their character, occasionally presenting 

 fine geological sections, and several thick beds of fossil shells, 

 principally composed of a species of Ostrea, being laid bare at 

 one spot. At length, after we had ridden to a distance of 

 between three and four miles from the settlement, we reached 

 the site of the seam of coal, which we estimated to be about 400 

 feet above the level of the sea. The coal appeared to me, on 

 examining it, to be of tertiary age and of inferior quality ; 

 and I could not but feel very doubtful whether the working of 

 it would pay. On the bank under the trees, not far from 

 where it occurred, I found a few beautiful specimens of 



