80 « C. B. BROWN ON THE TERTIARY DEPOSITS ON THE 
substance intimately mixed with earthy materials, and contains 
pieces of wood, the original appearances and texture of which are 
very slightly altered. It contains a thin layer, hardly an inch in 
thickness, of pure lignite, while all the rest is impure and uninflam- 
mable. Amongst the decidedly woody parts are surfaces covered 
with minute crystals of iron pyrites. The lignite exposed in the 
section at Canama-Settlement landing, though evidently a continua- 
tion of the same layer, differs exceedingly from the above in its 
upper half being composed of peaty matter containing vast quanti- 
ties of entire and comminuted shells, most of which are minute uni- 
valves. Seeds or nuculee of a species of Chara are also very common 
in it. The lower portion is composed of impure lignite, and does 
not contain any shells. 
Although the cliff-front at the landing-place of Canama appears 
to have slipped, rendering the section doubtful, still I think the fol- 
lowing is the true sequence of the beds :— 
10 O Yellowish clay containing layer of lignite. 
4 0 Dull greenish-blue clay with fossils. 
6 O Light bluish clay. 
210 Impure lignite with fossils in its upper portion. 
3 O  Bluish clay with shells. 
5 O Sloping clay talus. 
River. 
These beds dip east at an angle of 6°. The yellowish clay is 
slightly arenaceous in parts, and, where it reaches a level of about 
6 feet above the water-line, contains numbers of fossil shells, chiefly 
of Melania, Cerithium, and Anisothyris, together with a very 
curious little Neritina marked with black dots. The shells found 
in the two clay beds of the above section are chiefly Neritina and 
Amisothyris. 
From a perusal of the descriptions of the above sections it will be 
seen that though there is a great similarity in the composition of these 
beds in the various spots on the Javary where they occur, yet their 
thickness and relative positions vary greatly within short distances. 
While most of the sections show horizontal bedding, two of them, 
viz. that at Canama landing and that at Barreiras Braga, disclose 
clear dips at gentle angles. It is therefore next to impossible to 
construct a general section representing the true continuity of the 
whole along the river’s edge with any degree of accuracy. It would 
appear that in being raised to their present position they have be- 
come in some degree disturbed. Again, on the other hand, if we 
compare the section that is described as occurring above Canama, on 
the Javary, with a section taken by Mr. Steere at Pebas some fifty 
miles to the northward, we find a remarkable similarity between the 
two, suggesting, in fact, that they are both on the same horizon. Mr 
Steere’s section is as follows :— 
