COLONIAL GEOLOGY — NEW SOUTH WALES. 



73 



produced the specimen in proof of the age of the coal, could have ad- 

 mitted that all he had said was untrue. The ' Australian Yeoman ' is 

 convinced that Mr. Clarke is right, and congratulates him on his triumph 

 over a stubborn foe. 



Then follow the geological notes collected during a three months' leave 

 of absence, spent in a trip from Melbourne to the Upper Burdekin, Queens- 

 land (with a plan and section), by Eichard Daintree, field geologist, Vic- 

 toria ; the substance of which is, — 



Starting from Melbourne, the Tertiaries of Port Philip Heads, the 

 Amygdaloids of Cape Schank and Philip Island, succeeded by the cliffs of 

 the Cape Paterson Carbonaceous strata, were rapidly passed. Next, the 

 granite of Wilson's Promontory and the low sandy Tertiaries of Gipps 

 Land. The promontory of Cape Howe was scanned, in the hope that it 

 would afford some connecting link between the eastern extension of the 

 Carbonaceous strata of Gipps Land and the southern coal-fields of New 

 South Wales, but, from the distance no sign of stratified rocks could be 

 discovered. 



Kiama was the first point where sedimentary strata, traversed apparently 

 by dykes of so-called " older basalts," met the view ; they form part of 

 the New South Wales coal-group. Here the Basalt relieves, with undula- 

 ting slopes of rich agricultural soil, the usual sterile character of a Carboni- 

 ferous area. From Kiama to Sydney, cliffs of sandstones of the coal-group 

 afford sections showing the gradual ascent into upper beds, the " Hawkes- 

 bury Series " of Clarke, on which Sydney stands. Crocodile Head, six 

 miles north from Jarvis Bay, is a worthy subject for an artist's pencil, so 

 picturesque is the grouping of these rocks at that particular point. From 

 Sydney to Newcastle, bold bluffs of the same formation give facility for 

 studying this part of the series. From Newcastle to Stony Creek is but 

 a short trip, and as there are sections on which Mr. Clarke bases his evi- 

 dence of the Palaeozoic age of part, at least, of the New South Wales 

 coal-seams, it is one of the necessary pilgrimages for the wandering geolo- 

 gist in search of truth. What I saw there I will state in as few words as 

 possible. I saw three shafts on Mr. Russell's estate — ladder-shaft, work- 

 ing-shaft, and 200 ft. shaft. Ladder-shaft is 19 ft. below the level, and 

 132 ft. west of working-shaft. Working-shaft is 9 ft. below the level, and 

 360 ft. north-west of 200 ft. shaft. The dip of the strata is east 6° south. 

 Taking working-shaft as a pivot, ladder-shaft is 6°, and " 200 ft." shaft 39° 

 off the line of dip. Reducing these distances between the shafts to the 

 corresponding distances on the dip, we have — ladder-shaft distant from 

 working-shaft 132 ft. nearly, " 200 ft." shaft distant from working-shaft 

 280 ft. For details of the various strata passed through in these shafts 

 see Clarke's 'Discoveries in Australia,' p. 53. Four coal-seams were cut 

 in the several shafts. We may distinguish them as the 5 ft. 7 in. seam, 

 splint seam, working seam, and bottom seam. Now the working seam, 

 No. 16 and 18 of Clarke, is removed between ladder and working shafts. 

 The top of this seam is struck in ladder-shaft at 24 ft. 4 in., and in work- 

 ing-shaft at 92 ft. 4 in. The difference in level being 19 ft., will there- 

 fore give a dip of 49 ft. in a horizontal distance of 132 ft., or the relation 

 of perpendicular to base of l:2*7=dip of over 20°. As 5 ft. 7 in. seam 

 crops at the surface of ladder-shaft, it will not afford safe data for calcula- 

 tion of dip between it and working-shaft. In " working " shaft top of 5 ft. 

 7 in. seam is met with at 60 ft. 9 in. from the surface, in " 200 ft." shaft at 

 153 ft., or, subtracting 9 ft. for difference of level, at 144 ft. This 

 gives a difference of 83 ft. 3 in. in 280 ft. horizontal distance, or the rela- 

 tion of base to perpendicular l:3 - 363. In " working-shaft," bottom of 



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