305 



Lieut.-Col., then Major Mitchell, from the caves of Wellington Valley, 

 Australia, to the Geological Society, and which is described in his ' Expe- 

 dition into the Interior of Eastern x\ustralia,' 8vo, 1838, vol. ii. p. 362. 



From the alluvial or newer tertiary deposits in the bed of the Conda- 

 mine River, west of Moreton Bay, Australia. 



Presented by Lieut.-Col. Sir T. L. Mitchell, C.B. 



Of the River Condamine, which is in lat. 28° S., long. 150° E., 

 Sir Thomas Mitchell states, " This stream, as I understand, is remark- 

 able from forming large basins at some places and losing its course in 

 swamps at others, and at other parts again cutting its course in a deep 

 channel, through deep beds of alluvium, in which these bones are thus 

 brought to light." 



The three following specimens were transmitted together, and are referred to 

 in the following extract from a letter from Lieut.-Col. Sir T. L. Mitchell, dated 

 " Sydney, N.S. Wales, 6th April, 1842," addressed to Prof. Owen, Royal College 

 of Surgeons. 



" I write now chiefly to apprise you of my having sent, by the same 

 vessel, which will take the mail and this letter (namely the ' Everetta'j, 

 a box containing some fragments of fossil bones addressed to you. 

 These are not satisfactory specimens such as I hope soon to send 

 you ; but, being the first from the locality, I am anxious you should 

 first hear of them. I can tell you but little of the manner in which 

 they occur ; but such bones are found on Darling Downs, those ex- 

 tensive plains which you will see marked to the S.W. of Moreton Bay, 

 on most maps of this country. They are at the sources of the Dar- 

 ling River, and at a great height above the level of the sea, upwards of 

 4000 feet. I am informed that these huge bones (of which I send you 

 but fragments) are found in some abundance. 



" What will interest you most is a tooth, which I have put up 

 amongst these fragments, being from the same locality ; it is packed 

 in the same kind of paper, so I hope care will be taken to find it. I 

 thought it safest among the fragments, as such a small article at the 



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