BOTANICAL, TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL NOTES. 137 



Siclmouth Valley is composed of black soil derived from 

 the decomposition of some basic rocks on the mountains 

 to the south, and before being cleared, it probably supported 

 a vegetation differing somewhat from that of the surround- 

 ing granite hills. At the point crossed it is what the 

 physiographer terms an immature valley, owing to its 

 steep sides, but develops into a broad mature valley lower 

 down. 



First Official Record of Gold in Australia.— The road 

 again meets the Fish River at O'Oonnell, and at a point on 

 the opposite side of the river about six miles above this 

 little village is the site of the first officially recorded gold 

 discovery in Australia. In the Mines Department Annual 

 Report for 1877 (p. 202) Mr. 0. S.Wilkinson, f.g.s., Govern- 

 ment Geologist, refers to the first discovery of gold, and 

 mentions the record by Assistant Surveyor McBrien in his 

 field book, as the earliest notice on record of the discovery 

 of Gold in Australia. The entry was made by Surveyor 

 James McBrien when surveying the Fish River, and is 

 dated 15th February, 1823. The entry reads:— "At this 

 place I found numerous particles of gold in the sand in the 

 hills convenient to river." The field book is still in the 

 custody of the Department of Lands, but a facsimile of the 

 page recording the discovery may be found in " The Mineral 

 Resources of New South Wales " by Mr. B. F. Pittman, 

 a.r.s.m., Government Geologist. 



In March, 1909, Mr. Licensed Surveyor T. G. Wilson, Sr., 

 having some leisure at his disposal, obtained a copy of the 

 field book with which he proceeded to the district, and by 

 making a re-survey established the position indicated by 

 Mr. McBrien. From Mr. Wilson's study of the field notes 

 he concludes that the sign like an 8 or an h after the word 

 "at," which occurs so many times, means "end of line." 

 The remainder of the particular entry referred to would 



