2 
In 1872 the late Mr. Daintree published his essay on the 
geology of Queensland in “ The Proceedings of the Geological 
{Society,” page 271. In this paper the author purposely excluded 
the Cape York Peninsula — or, at least, all north of the Mitchell 
Eiver — from his investigations, as the country was so little 
known. In his map, however, he sets down the south bank of 
the Mitchell Eiver as occupied by his tertiary desert sandstone, 
and this is incorrect. The Mitchell flows partly through granite 
ranges, partly through slates and schists of paleozoic age, and 
partly at the base of hills which are capped by a sandstone 
which I regard as the equivalent of the Hawkesbury (Mesozoic?) 
sandstones of N. S. Wales. 
In 1873 Mr. Elphinstone Dalrymple made an expedition 
along the coast as far as the Endeavour Eiver, and in the same 
year Mr. Hahn explored the interior of the same territory. 
Both expeditions resulted in geological observations, but nothing 
very detailed. Mr. Hahn was accompanied by Mr. Taylor, a 
professional geologist, but his report has never been published. 
I am not aware of any other account of the geology of this 
part of Australia. Mr. E. L. Jack has been appointed the 
Geological Surveyor for the Northern Districts since 1877, and 
from that time has been busily engaged in exploring the 
northern portions of the peninsula. He has already issued 
valuable reports on the geology and mineral resources of the 
district between Charters Towers Gold Field and the coast, 
besides papers specially devoted to the Bowen Coal Field and 
Charters Towers Gold Field, and will, no doubt, soon give us 
valuable information upon the whole geology of the district. 
My knowledge of the country I am dealing with extends 
from Townsville up to Cape Flattery in latitude say 14° south, and 
inland as far as the Hodgkinson Gold Field and the Normanby 
Eiver. I shall commence by describing the coast line, and then 
deal with the formations I have met w 7 ith in the interior. 
In coasting northwards from Eockhampton, an observer has 
an excellent opportunity of seeing a good deal of the rock for- 
mations. The coast is very bold and the number of islands so 
great, that all day long the steamers are within a cable’s 
length of one or other of them. The islands are very evidently 
of three kinds : — 1. Granite or trappean with a rugged surface 
and plenty of pine trees. ( Araucaria CunnincfliarniJ) 2. Flat- 
topped sandstone islands with apparently little vegetation ; of 
these the Beverly group seem to be notable instances. 3. The 
trappean, such as Prudhoe Island and Percy Islands, with high 
peaks and a good deal of open grassy land. It must be remem- 
bered that I have not landed on any of these islands, and that 
my generalization is only made from a distant view. It is very 
probable also that in the large Percy Islands there may be a 
development of paleozoic rocks beside the trappean. All the 
salient points of the main land are granitic, and north of Cape 
Conway all the islands are granitic or coral islands. Sir James 
Smith’s group appeared to be trappean from their outline, but I 
was never very close to them. 
