NOTES OF RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF FOSSIL REMAIN S. ON TRE 
DARLING DOWNS. //' A • : 
• 4 > 
Read at the usual monthly meeting of the Queensland Philosophical ’<3 
Society , 1th December , 1875. 5 
At the request of a few of the members of this Society, I have 
consented to give the benefit of my experience as to the localities 
on the Darling Downs where the fossil remains of extinct 
Marsupials have been found. The Downs is worthily called the 
“ Harden of Queensland,” as it is capable of returning the 
grazier and farmer a large profit for his outlay ; and to the 
scientific man it contains treasures innumerable and invaluable. 
It has often been a source of wonder to me that, where these 
specimens are so easily got, there should not be even one of our 
legislators who would say a word in favor of a systematic search 
being made, and these treasures thereby unearthed and recorded in 
the annals of Science. At the suggestion of Professor Owen, the 
Legislature of JSTew South Wales voted £150 for the exploration 
of the Breccia Caves, Wellington Valley ; and two scientific 
men — Professor Thomson (of the Sydney University) and Mr. 
G-. ICreUt (of the Sydney Museum) were sent out, and they were 
fully repaid for their trouble ; or, as the Times of December, 
1869, says, “With astonishing and unexpected results.” It 
may not be out of place to give the following note on the 
Downs by Dr. Leichhardt, which accompanied some fossils sent 
home July 10th, 1844 : — “ The Darling Downs are extensive 
“ plains, formed by broad shallow valleys, without trees, covered 
“ only with grass and herbage, which grows luxuriantly on the 
“ rich black soil, in which concretions of carbonate of lime are 
“ frequently found ; ranges of low hills, forming long simple 
“ lines with sudden slopes and flat-topped cones, accompanying 
“ these valleys, and having an open forest formed of various 
“ species of stunted Eucalyptus. All these hills are formed by 
“ a basaltic rock, containing frequently crystals of peridote, and 
“ being often cellular — sometimes real scoria. The base of the 
“ rock, however, is feldspathic ; and as the peridote is frequently 
“ absent, the rock becomes uniformly grey, forms a white globule 
“ before the blow-pipe, and is therefore to be classed among the 
“ trachytes or phonolites. The plains are filled by an alluvium 
“ of considerable depth, as wells, dug 50 to 60 feet deep, have 
“ been sunk within it. The plains and creeks in which fossils 
“ have been found are — Mr. Hodgson’s Creek, Campbell’s Creek, 
“ Mr. Isaacs’ Creek, and Oakey Creek. They pass all into and 
“ through immense plains on the west side of the Condamine, 
“ into which they fall. The bones are either found in the bed of 
“ the creek, particularly in the mud of clried-up waterholes, or 
