034 NEW SOUTH WALES. 
great, is evident from the wide channel and deep waters between the 
outer reef or barrier and the shore, the distance, as we have stated, 
being, in some parts, fifty or sixty miles, and the depth sixty to eighty 
fathoms. We cannot believe the subsidence to have been less than 
the depth of the inner channel, or five hundred feet. The forms and 
extent of Ports Jackson, Broken Bay, Macquarie and Stephens have 
been alluded to as proofs of subsidence, probably the same that is in- 
dicated by the coral reefs. 
Calcareous deposits on the southern and western shores, first noticed 
by Flinders, appear to indicate, in some parts, a considerable rise of 
the land. For facts with reference to this coast, we must refer to 
other authors, and especially Fitton’s Appendix to Captain King’s 
Voyage, Mr. Darwin’s Volcanic Islands, and Strzelecki’s New South 
Wales. The formations appear to be of comparatively recent origin. 
On the eastern coast there are occasional elevated beaches or deposits 
of shells, and some appearance of terraces. 
The evidence of elevation from shell deposits should be received 
with hesitation, for it is well known that along shores they are often 
heaped up in great quantities by the natives of the country, who sub- 
sist generally to a great extent on the species of the coast. Along 
some of the coves of Port Jackson I observed beds of recent shells, as 
in the deep cove just east of Sydney; but I should sooner admit them 
as evidence of the temporary residence on the spot of migratory Aus- 
tralians, than of any shifting of place in the land. 
In the [lawarra district, there is a low ridge, fifteen to twenty feet 
above the sea, extending along the coast for much of the way between 
Bulli and Wollongong. It consists largely of shells, and more resem- 
bles an elevated beach than anything of the kind seen elsewhere by 
us in New South Wales. The annexed figures represent sections of 
Fig. 1. 
Fig. 2. 
A 
the shore between Point Towrudgi and Ballambai. From A to B is 
the present beach, and B is the highest point the sea reaches. Back 
of B the sands sometimes decline a little and then rise to a higher 
