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. 
LEAY.es FKOM my AUSTRALIAN NOTEBOOK, 
BY THOMAS HAREISON, OF MELBOURNE. 
NO. I. 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, 
