8 
from getting wild in the scrubs common to this 
class of country. I have made mention of 
altered rock, seen commonly in the form of 
gravel on the Downs of the west ; some 
of these stones are highly quartzose, 
which is not the character of *any of 
the sandstones. I have observed in sites 
south of Mount Colby, there are vast masses of 
water-worn boulders of great size of this altered 
rock. Tightly packed on the hill side, there 
are similar great bulwarks facing the south and 
southwest, on the base of the ranges which 
project from the main range into the valley of 
the Maranoa. There are also in the same 
valley vast piles of these boulders, some of 
which reach a hundred feet in height. In other 
localities near the mountains, their beds of rock 
are almost entirely composed of fragments of 
fossilized wood. On a tributary of the Maranoa 
(Basalt Creek), I found this formation in con- 
junction with shells. On Blythe’s Creek, where 
there are similarrocksandthe stemo r atree about 
fifty feet long, there are extensive beds of shells, 
such as inhabited shallow waters in the imme- 
diate vicinity. There is Iso on the Amby a 
large mass of fossilized wood, to which three 
bivalve shells clung, just as the oysters now 
fasten themselves to the mangroves. These 
various indications, together with the 
great destruction of the rocks, have left 
me under the impression, that the 
country which I have endeavoured to describe, 
?iz , round the base of the main range, was 
once a coast. With respect to the fossil shells, 
they are to be found over a great extent if 
country. The most easterly point from which 
I have ever obtained one is Wallan (a belam* 
nite). At Wollombilla creek they become 
numerous ; they are there found chiefly em- 
bedded in round calcareous boulders ; these 
boulders also contain fish teeth, and numerous 
minute organisms which can only be Been with 
the aid of a microscope. Fifteen miles west of 
Wollombilla I obtained the shells which I for- 
warded to your society. At the base of 
Grafton Range there again appears boulders 
with shells, many of them on the sur- 
face, amongst the grass of the Downs. 
Besides the boulders, there are some 
ammonites of great size. On Bunjewargorai 
Creek belamnites and small shells are numerous 
I have also found several copiolites in this 
locality, one of them very large, consequently, 
we may anticipate finding the remains of rep- 
tiles at some future period. Shells may be 
obtained on many parts of the Fitzroy Downs, 
in the bed of the Maranoa River, and far 
beyond it. Belamnites are very common on 
the Ward River. And on the sources of the 
Belyando, which is an eastern water, ammonites 
have been seen. How much further the for- 
mation may extend, I have as yet no know- 
ledge.” 
The reading of the above paper gave rise to 
an animated conversation, in which all the 
membtrs took part. A general desire was 
expressed that members of the society, who 
were acquainted with the country, should com- 
municate such information as they might 
possess, in papers similar to the one furnished 
by Mr. Coxen. 
Printed bz G. Wight, « Guardian” Office, 
