174 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



extent) planets whose orbits approximate more closely to the circular 

 form. 



In conclusion, it may be said that in the absence of a continuous supply 

 of motive force, it is quite as difficult to reconcile a plenum with planetary 

 regularity as a vacuum with the transmission of light and heat. 



I am, Sir, yours obediently, 



John Pentecost, F.C.S. 



London, April 6, 1864. 



COLONIAL GEOLOGY. 



LEAVES EKOM MY AUSTRALIAN NOTEBOOK. 



BY THOMAS HARRISON, OF MELBOURNE. 

 NO. r. CAPE SCHANCK, ITS BASALTS AND CAVES. 



This spot, although barely, as the crow flies, fifty miles from Melbourne, 

 is not easy of access. Its bold, precipitous, and iron-bound coast-line 

 offers no harbours ; the district boasts of neither town nor township — an 

 Australian name for a little village, just as a city in America may mean 

 half-a-dozen tenements, — a few farmers till the rich soil of the neighbour- 

 hood, and some three or four squatters have stations thereabouts ; the 

 traffic between such a place and the metropolis is small, and on its not al- 

 together bad roads coaches are unknown. To proceed thither one must 

 take his own or hired horse or vehicle, or he must go on foot. Adopting 

 the latter alternative, the better plan will be to land at Schnapper Point 

 or, supposing the steamer should be running, at Dromana. This, the last 

 township on the route, is composed of some two or three houses, as many 

 hotels, and a long pier, built apparently to accommodate the latter. Close 

 adjacent, and the principal landmark near, is Arthur's Seat, a hill or 

 mountain of some thousand feet in altitude. This consists of a central 

 granite mass, surrounded by Tertiary, Silurian, and Basaltic rocks. The 

 ascent is easy and the height by no means great, but being situate on a 

 sort of peninsula, the view from the mountain top is extremely fine, em- 

 bracing, as it does, an extensive panorama of Western Port, Port Phillip, 

 Bass Straits, and in one direction the vast spread of still uncleared land 

 lying between the seacoast and the Australian Alps. 



In visiting the spot I was unable, during the short time at my disposal, 

 to detect traces of the Tertiary deposits having been in the least disturbed, 

 so that, although the surface of the adjoining district appears to have been 

 alternately raised and submerged several times, the changes must have 

 been brought about by movements in which the older granite and the 

 newer strata alike participated. Descending from the mountain, the road 

 lies for some miles further along the coast of the adjacent bay. In this 

 part of the journey very little of the picturesque presents itself, the 

 student of geology may, however, see in some measure how rocks are 

 formed, by a careful contemplation of the numerous sandbanks running 

 along the shore ; and may, moreover, chance to find, stranded upon the 

 beach, more than one specimen of that representative of a bygone age, 



