PROGRESS OF MINING AND GEOLOGY IN QUEENSLAND. 363 
moment 1,000 acres of land to each man, woman, and child in the 
colony, many of whom, indeed most of whom, can have taken no part 
in the exploration of its territory or in the exploitation of its mineral 
wealth ; it will, therefore, be at once seen that what we know at 
present under that head is but a drop from the ocean of the Great 
Unknown. Ample scope is afforded for the occurrence of every 
description of geological formation ; and, thanks to the liberal pro- 
vision of our Governments in this direction, and to the indefatigable 
exertions of our geologists, these are gradually being examined and 
unfolded. 
It will be understood that during the penal days of the Settle- 
ment very little was done in the direction of geological research or 
mineral development. The quarrying of stone, the making of bricks 
(probably without straw), and the burning of lime were all the handi- 
work of the pioneers of civilisation — those pioneers the outcasts of 
society ; the knowledge of the processes, that possessed by their 
gaolers, the military subordinate officers ; and the labour, that enforced 
by the lash and guarded by the musket. The raw material was found 
plentiful enough in the immediate vicinity of the Settlement and at 
the head of Limestone Creek, and thus a commencement was made to 
lay the foundations of this now prosperous colony of Queensland, and 
to develop, although in a feeble manner, the earliest indications of the 
mineral wealth which has since been proved to lie scattered over the 
surface, or hidden beneath the soil, in such abundance as to give to this 
still sparsely-populated colony a very high position among the different 
divisions of Australasian territory, and to promise at no very distant 
date to place her on the pinnacle as a producer of the most valuable 
of the metals — gold. 
It is not on record that any other mineral was discovered during 
the penal days than those required in the erection of buildings such 
as have been already mentioned; but soon after the Settlement was 
thrown open to free occupation a discovery of considerable importance 
was made — that of coal at Bedbank, on the right bank of the Brisbane 
Biver, in 1843, although it does not appear to have been worked until 
1846, when the enterprise of the people created a demand for it by 
placing a steamer on the river to ply between the Settlement and 
Limestone, as Brisbane and Ipswich were then respectively called; 
and from that time to the present coal has been worked without inter- 
mission, but with varying success, the output having only on one 
occasion averaged 1,000 tons per day for each working day throughout 
the year, and during the past few years, whilst fluctuating near that 
point, it has fallen somewhat short of it. Our geologists have assured 
us, however, that we have abundant supplies of this mineral fuel ; and 
although its geographical location forbids the prospect of competition 
with the mother colony in foreign markets, we are satisfied and 
gratified to be able to supply our own requirements in the various 
ports of the colony, as well as on our extensive railway communication 
from the coast to the interior, and in the manufacturing establishments 
and other fuel-consuming operations which are being established and 
carried out within its Winds. 
In 1853 the Government Geologist of New South Wales (the 
late Mr. S. Stutchbury) in the course of his peregrinations visited the 
remote settlement of Mo reton Bay ; and during the same year the late 
