Mines and Mineral Siatistics. 
he male tliG liii^hcsl peak ia November, liSC*2, 7,17G feet. This 
makes Kosciuseo's summit, above the crossing place of the Iiuli 
or Hume Eiver, at Crroggan’s, 5,425 feet. 
To the northwards, the 141th meridian limits very nearly all 
the high land of the East Coast to Cape ISlelville, whilst the 
142iid meridian limits to the westward tlie basin of the Darling, 
including part of the drainage along the Thomson and Earcoo, 
from the head of the Elinders to where it passes into South 
Australia on the 141st meridian. 
Thus, all this enormous drainage of western Xcw South Wales 
and south-western (Queensland is, as it were, bounded by ranges 
of higli geological antiquity, the (Irey and Barrier groups being 
of undoubted similar age to the mass of the Eastern Cordillera. 
It has long been known that the strike of tlio oldest Sedimen- 
tary rocks tbroiigli the Coialillera, in Ahetoria, as well as in Xew 
Soutli AV^ales, is generally meridional ; so that in the former 
province the beds strike across the Cordillera, whilst in the latter 
they form various angles I'roin parallelism vvitli it to a transverse 
direction, as the chain doubles aiid winds irregularly in its 
course. 
This is the experience of the A'ictoria survey, and my own 
traverses across various poiiits of the Cordilleiai in New South 
AValcs and Victoria establish the fact of a normal meridional 
strike of the oldest strata. St.) distinct, indeed, is this charac- 
teristic, that the settlers in various parts of this Colony have 
been accustomed to trace the direction of north and south by the 
strike of the slates, and arc often guided by it. 
It sometimes happens that, owing to the high angle ol dip, and 
the elfect of denudation on the overlying formations, the Cor- 
dillera itself becomes in places almost knife-edged, so that in 
New South AVales it presents occasionally a water-shed not 
more than nine paces in width ; whilst in Maneero to the south, 
and in New England to the north, it spreads out in a plateau, 
on which eastern and western waters rise close together and 
sometimes overlap. These different features have a variable 
geological value as well as aspect ; for, owing to the strike of the 
older rocks, the breadth of the vSiluriau formations, Avhich, as in 
other countries, are repeated by recurring folds, ma}^ be more 
exposed ill Victoria tbaii it is in New South AVales ; and owing 
to the curve of the Cordillera probably the sarnebeds arc traceable 
to tbo north which occur in the south ; as, for example, the 
auriferous rocks of Oineo and Peak Downs, which are on the same 
meridian ; and thus the meridional strike is exhibited along the 
north-east coast, where there are alternations of old rocks 
forming precipitous cliffs, with low valleys and beaches separating 
those alternations. 
