GEOLOGICAL NOTES IN THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 
307 
summits capped for many months in tlie year with snow, form striking 
objects from whatever quarter the island is approached. The central part 
consists of a table-land, averaging 3000 feet above the sea, and on which 
are seven lakes, in size from 2500 to 50,000 acres, and in the aggregate 
equal to 112,000 acres of fresh water. These lakes form the sources of 
many considerable rivers. 
The undulating country between the lofty table-land and the sea is 
covered with forests of gigantic trees, extending from the hill-tops down 
to the water's edge. The Tasmanian Commissioners sj)eak of the mineral 
resources of that island as encouraging hopes of great advantages, especially 
in respect of coal, of which numerous samples are exhibited from various 
localities, — coal being, indeed, very generally distributed throughout it j 
time and the assistance of capitalists being all that is needed for its com- 
mercial development. The main part of the fuel used in Hobart Town is 
derived from the mines of ]N"ew Town, and from the Tasman's Peninsula ; 
but it is generally believed that bettei* beds exist in other districts. Public 
attention has been of late much directed to jNTount Nicholas. The seam 
there locally known as the " Kelly Moon seam " breaks out at a height of 
500 feet above the Break o' Day Plains, about nine miles from Ealkirk, 
and can be worked by an adit-level. The coal is highly bituminous, and is 
said to be well suited for steam, gas, and domestic purposes. The same seam 
crops out near Fingal, and other places. This coal-bed is believed to 
extend over an area of fourteen square miles on the north of the Break o' 
Day Plains. Samples of bituminous coals are also exhibited from Douglas 
E.iver and Long Point (6 ft. 10 in. thick), on the east coast; from Mersey 
Eiver ; from Hamilton, about twenty miles distant, where a very good coal 
(4 ft. 6 in.) lies 40 feet deep. 
On the southern side of the island anthracite is abundant, and samples 
are shown from New Town, Tasman's Peninsula, Adventure Bay in Bruni 
Island, and from Three Hut Point in D'Entrecasteaux Channel. The coal 
at Tasman's Peninsula has been worked for twenty-five years, and the 
seam, 3 ft. 6 in. to 4 feet thick, is got at by a shaft 75 ieet deep, and 
within 100 yards of the water's edge. A new seam has been struck here, 
said to be of the highest quality. The coal formation of the south side of 
the island extends round the mouth of the Huon to South-west Cape. The 
labours of Mr. Gould, the Government geologist, have of late been almost 
concentrated on the coal-bearing deposits, and a commission was appointed 
by the Parliament, in March last, for testing the comparative values of the 
products of the various localities. The metal collections comprise gold, 
which exists in various parts, especially in the Fingal district ; but not, as 
far as is yet known, in anything like such richness as has made Australia 
and California such temptations for adventurers. 
To stimulate exploration, the Colonial Government has oflTered a reward 
of £20,0(X) for the discovery of a remunerative gold-field. There are abun- 
dance of quartz-reefs in the Fingal district, more or less auriferous, some of 
which will probably eventually pay for crushing. Galena and copper-ore 
have been found in different parts, but not hitherto in any considerable 
quantity. Iron-ore abounds all over the colony. At Ilfracombe, eight 
miles from the Tamar, there are immense masses of rich ore which will 
doubtless prove highly advantageous, in connection with the coal-fields of 
the east coast. It is said to be nearly identical with the brown haematite 
of Mittigong, in New South Wales. Count Strzelecki, in his excellent 
work on New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, draws a comparison 
between the agricultural capabilities of the two countries, from a considera- 
tion of the origins of their respective soils : the crystalline rocks, such as 
