tinued decrease. With regard to the medicinal waters I have nevo 

 seen any waters that could be called medicinal waters here. An; 

 waters I have seen have been brackish waters — that is to say sei 

 salt perhaps with a little excess of sulphate of magnesium or sul 

 phate of aluminium. It seems the surface of the soil still contain 

 salt from the surface of the original sea modified to a certain ex 

 tent by the oxidising action continually going on. 



Mr. Moore — Have you known of any analysis of what are calle( 

 soda water wells. 



Mr. Dixon — There was an analysis of mine published in tli 

 " Mining Record " some years ago. 



Mr. Moore — What is the principle 1 



Mr. Dixon— Carbonate of soda. An excess of carbonic acid. 



Mr. J . F. Manx— Have you seen that chalebeate spring a 

 Mittagong 1 



Mr. Dixon— I have seen it. There are many such springs 

 (Mr. Dixon here explained the composition of the water in spring 

 of tills character.) 



THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA. 



Being Personal Recollections of those Tribes which once inhabited 



the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. 



By Edward Stephens, Esq., Bangor, Tasmania. 



iRead before the Royal Society of N.S.W., October 2, 1SS9.] 



I CAN hardly believe it, and yet it is true, that it will soon be 

 half a century since I, a lad with my parents, landed in the 

 infant colony of South Australia. The rains had been unusually 

 heavy, and the country was so flooded, that it was witli great 

 difficulty we reached Adelaide, the capital of the young sotth^uient. 

 As is usual with new arrivals in any part of the world, wo were 



see a native— a real Australian black-fellow. It was not long 

 before our curiosity was gratified. A dog having been killed— per- 

 haps drowned in the back yard — two or three of the genuine 



