PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 41 



As regards topographical relief one of the most conspicu- 

 ous features in Queensland is that of the steep-to Ranges 

 along the northern coast. These ranges form a very steep-to 

 coast from opposite Hinchinbrook Island through the 

 Bellenden-Ker Ranges, 5,438 feet high, (the highest ranges 

 in Queensland) to the north of Cairns. The Bellenden-Ker 

 are situated only about ten miles inland from the coast, 

 and Hinchinbrook Island, formed of granites, schists, slates, 

 etc., is 3,650 feet high. This steep-to coast has remark- 

 ably short rivers draining eastwards, as the Main Divide 

 is here so close to the ocean. Western rivers, like the 

 Gilbert and Mitchell, on the other hand, flow down long 

 gentle slopes to the Gulf of Carpentaria. This steep-to 

 coast is situated, for the most part, all along the area 

 facing the Great Barrier Reef. 



There can be no doubt that a very important tectonic 

 feature is indicated by this remarkable type of coast. 

 Mount Bartle Frere in the Bellenden-Ker Range is 5,438 

 feet above sea-level ; is formed of granite and is yet only 

 fourteen miles inland from the coast. Peter Bott, also of 

 granite, and 3,311 feet high, is only five miles back from 

 the coast. "Rough Round Hill," about one hundred miles 

 north of Princess Charlotte Bay, only three miles inland is 

 1,543 feet high, and also formed of granite. In fact the 

 Main Divide near the Bellenden-Ker Range just north of 

 Cairns is only eight miles distant from the Pacific on the 

 east, whereas the nearest ocean, the Gulf of Carpentaria 

 on the west is 275 miles distant. This extraordinary 

 position of the Main Divide taken in conjunction with the 

 evidence of waterfalls like the Barron Falls, 800 feet high, 

 and the numerous high granite and slate islands is almost 

 certainly due to comparatively recent crust foundering on 

 a grand scale along the region of the Great Barrier Reef, 

 whereby almost the whole of the eastern side of the old 



