ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 9 
formed by sediment heaped by strong currents on an irregular 
bottom. That in some cases the sea, instead of spreading out 
sediment in a uniform sheet, heaps it round submarine rocks and 
islands it is hardly possible to doubt after examining the charts of 
the West Indies; and that the waves have power to form high 
and precipitous cliffs, even in land-locked harbours, I have noticed 
in many parts of South America. To apply these ideas to the 
sandstone platforms of New South Wales, I imagine that the 
' strata were heaped by the action of strong currents and of the 
undulations of an open sea on an irregular bottom, and that the 
valley-like spaces thus left unfilled had their steeply-sloping flanks 
worn into cliffs during a slow elevation of the land, the worn- 
down sandstone being removed either at the time when the narrow 
gorges were cut by the retreating sea, or subsequently by alluvial 
action.” I know not what our friend Mr. Tenison-Woods may think 
of these impressions. They do not agree with his own theory, and 
may not stand the test of the advanced geological science of the 
present day ; nevertheless they are interesting as being the early 
impressions of so celebrated an observer of nature as Darwin. 
T will, if you will allow me, quote the words with which he 
closes his chapter on New South Wales : “ Farewell, Australia ! 
you are a rising child, and doubtless some day will reign a great 
Princess in the south; but you are too great and ambitious for 
affection, yet not great enough for respect. I leave your shores 
without sorrow or regret.” 
Darwin’s hypothesis of evolution has been the subject of much 
controversy. Its adoption by such a leading scientist as Professor 
Huxley has led many to assume that it has been scientifically 
Proved. But the evidence for the antiquity of man has, upon 
reconsideration, had its foundations severely shaken. On Dar- 
win’s hypothesis, 20,000 years would form but a fraction of the 
time required to bring about the result which his theory of minute 
changes demands. It has been argued by many distinguished 
geologists that the generally admitted glacial and post-glacial con- 
dition of the earth, of which the evidences are unmistakeable, 
