2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETV. [XoV. 6, 



from this point it is bounded by a slightly curved line extending 

 south about twenty miles to the Severn river, three miles below the 

 Ballandean Head Station, where it trends south-east for twelve 

 miles further, meeting the boundary of New South "Wales at the 

 Tenterfield Run ; thence the crest of the watershed which forms 

 the boundary between the two Colonies embraces it in a north- 

 easterly and easterly direction back to Lucky Yalley, the area 

 comprised being in round numbers five hundred and fifty square 

 miles in extent. Of this area, however, only about two hundred 

 and twenty-five square miles have hitherto been found sufficiently 

 rich in tin-ore to pay for working ; and consequently it is to this 

 latter portion that my attention has been especially directed, although 

 there are several instances of tin being found in payable quantities 

 beyond these limits. 



The physical and geological character of nearly the whole of the 

 area described is that of an elevated granitic tableland intersected 

 by ranges of abrupt hills, the highest limits of which are about 

 three thousand feet above the sea, its eastern escarpment forming 

 the watershed of the Clarence river, the northern that of the 

 Condamine, and the south-western that of the Severn and Mclntyre 

 rivers. 



The passes and gorges whence these rivers issue from the ele- 

 vated granite country are mostly very steep and rugged, and difficult 

 to traverse, especially to the north and eastward. 



Of the rivers and watercourses which intersect this tract of 

 country it will be only necessary, for present purposes, to refer to 

 the Severn and its tributaries, as it is on them that by far the 

 greater portion of mineral wealth is found. 



The principal head of the Severn is the stream known as Quart- 

 pot Creek, which, with its numerous tributaries the Funker's 

 Gap Creek, Four-mile, Law's, Ten-mile, Sugar-loaf, and Thirteen- 

 mile Creeks, drain the eastern portion of the district, comprising 

 fully one half of the country at present occupied by selections ; 

 while the northern head of the Severn, better known as the Broad- 

 water, has for its tributaries Spring Creek, Reeves Gully, Hardy's 

 and Cannon Creeks. 



Again, to the westward, several watercourses known as the Ten-, 

 Thirteen-, Fifteen-, and TAventy-mile branches of Pike's Creek flow 

 westerly into a metamorphic formation in about seven or eight miles, 

 where the tin-bearing country terminates. The majority of these 

 watercourses rise in open sandy or rocky hollows, or shallow valleys, 

 having at their commencement very little fall in them, and in 

 ordinary seasons are well supplied with water, several being all but 

 permanent streams, the main channels containing numerous large 

 pools and sheets of water, in some instances over a quarter of a mile 

 in length. 



The fall of the country from their sources to Ballandean Head 

 Station, an average distance of twenty miles, may be roughly esti- 

 mated at from 400 to 600 feet, and in a few instances fully 1000. 



The portion of the district over which the principal deposits of 



