11 



position in the Island of Nevis. This lady, with a son and two 

 daughters, survives him. 



In 1833 he was presented to a small vicarage near Poole, where in 

 addition to his clerical duties he discharged the functions of a niagis- 

 trate. His ardour in pursuit of travel and geology exposed him to a 

 severe illness which culminated in rheumatic fever, which so crippled 

 him that he was induced in 1839 to try the effects of a warmer climate, 

 and as the investigation of a new country had peculiar charms, he 

 resolved to visit the colony of New South Wales, which in those days 

 included what are now Victoria and Queensland. He had also a kind 

 of special mission from his brother geologists to investigate the 

 carboniferous formation of Australia. The ship in which he was 

 making the voyage touched at the Cape of Good Hope, and Mr. Clarke 

 seized the opportunity of making a survey of and report upon the 

 geology about Cape Town. From the time he landed in Australia, in 

 1859, to the clay of his death, he never ceased pushing forward his 

 researches into the unknown regions which lay before him. It is no 

 exaggeration to state that he knew every inch of the greater part of 

 New South Wales proper, and from constant investigation of reports 

 by explorers and others he knew the general character and geography, 

 almost topography, of Australasia. 



The modest income which is supposed to be the lot of those who 

 undertake the duties of a clergyman, and which in the case of 

 Mr. Clarke, averaged, up to 1861, less than £200 per annum, in- 

 clusive of the grant of £1,000 made in recognition of his services, 

 prevented his issuing well illustrated works. Most of his publications 

 appeared in a very modest form, either as Parliamentary papers, 

 newspaper letters, or as papers in the various scientific journals. 

 Latterly, the Government Printing Office offered some relief from 

 the expense of publication, and the last edition of his last work is 

 creditable to that establishment. The Government always had a high 

 appreciation of his services, and never failed when in difficulties to 

 utilise his knowledge. Thus in 1851, when the Government wished 

 to have a proper report upon the mineral resources of the country, no 

 fitter person could be found. The neighbouring colonies also appealed 

 to Mr. Clarke upon all matters of a geological nature. His name was 

 in fact a " household word " all over Australasia. 



It is proved beyond controversy that he ascertained the auriferous 

 nature of the country in 1841, ten years before the popular date of 

 1851. The main conclusions at which Mr. Clarke arrived from his 

 geological investigations were, that matrix gold was the thing to be 

 looked for, and that the . carboniferous deposits of the main seams 

 in New South Wales were Palaeozoic. 



To a geologist of Europe, with libraries of reference in every city, 

 and with rapid means of locomotion and comfortable quarters every- 



