252 J. MILNE CURRAN. 
TURQUOISE. 
Turquoise is found in one district only in New South Wales, 
viz., near Bodalla ; the exact locality is at a bluff on the left bank 
of Mumuga Creek, half a mile up the stream off the main road from 
Bodalla to Wonga Heads. The bluff consists of highly-inclined 
and in some places contorted Silurian slate. This gem-stone was 
discovered here early in the year 1894, by Mr. S. Lorigan, of 
Bodalla, when prospecting for gold. Locally the stone was thought 
to be one of the ores of copper. The credit of recognising its true 
nature is due to Mrs. Laidley Mort, of the Bodalla estate. Shortly 
afterwards some samples were se nt to the writer, who forwarded 
an analysis of the turquoise to Mr. Lorigan. This showed that 
the stone was a phosphate of alumina and copper, or in other 
words a true turquoise. At the date of writing (1896) some men 
are mining for turquoise with varying success. Some excellent 
samples of turquoise have been found, but it is fairly settled, that 
the great bulk of the turquoise found here is not marketable as a 
gem-stone. When I visited the mine, Joubert and party had close 
on one hundredweight of turquoise, but most of this was faulty in 
colour, and not perfect in texture. Much of the stone is found 
on polishing to be rather porous, certainly not as compact as good 
turquoise should be. The bulk of the stones, too, have an objec- 
tionably green tinge. At the same time I must admit that afew 
picked stones are quite equal to turquoise of the best quality. 
Occurrence of the Gem. 
The turquoise generally occurs as :— 
(1) Thin crust-like seams filling horizontal joints in the slate. 
(2) In rounded marble-like balls in vugs of the slate. 
(3) As concretionary masses in similar vugs. 
(4) In thin lenticular plates in black slate associated with iron 
pyrites. 
The slate-rock is dark in colour, and at a short distance from 
the surface is always found charged more or less with iron pyrites. 
This pyrites when separated from the stone contains gold at the 
