Mines and Mineral Statistics. 
185 
Prom tlie same beds of sandstone also I possess specimens con- 
taining ferns, like Odontopteris ; and from the Wianamalta beds 
columnar and pisolitic iron ore, Avith many fragments of stems or 
leaves of ferns, diHerent in species from those of the coal mea- 
sures ; but in neither series is there any Glossopteris or any coal 
seam. The sandstones of the Wiauamatta beds are Inier in grain 
than those of the Hawkesbury, but \^ery much more compact and 
heavier, and often calcareous. The tints of the latter are poiJdlUic, 
darkening from exposure, and exhibiting imitations of landscapes 
sometimes of striking character, dhc scmi-crystallinc fragments of 
quartz, and the disposal of colours (suggesting the idea of the 
action of gases removing the ferruginous tint in ])laccs) have 
caused me to believe that some transmuting agency has affected 
large areas of tlio HaA\’keslniry rocks. The glistening of the 
crystalline quartz particles reminds one of t!ie same cliaracter 
observable in the millstone grit of England. It is impossible to 
understand how considerable masses of the sandstones could ha\'e 
received such a present structure Avithout the metamorphism 
suggested; for the crystalline facets are quite unabraded and 
belong to particles that have been collected originally by AA'ater 
holding silica in solution. By wasliing in acids tlie colouring 
matter of the particles may be entirely remoAmcl, and tlien it is 
seen that they are imperfect cyrstals. But the cementing matter is 
not always ferruginous; a felspathic cement holds tlicin together 
with 2f5cf/mica evidently derivative, and sometimeH with graphite. 
Another Auriation in character of the HaAvkeshury rocks is in 
their cohesion. In 1850 I was Chairman of the Artesian AVell 
Board, and remember the difficulty Avm had in procuring tools hard 
enough to pierce the quartzose sandstone at the gaol in Sydney ; 
the boring after a small depth was abandoned — one of the 
workmen precipitating the conclusion by blocking the bore-hole. 
But in parts of the Ilaihvay lines, there have been instances, as 
stated to me by the Bagincer-in-Cliief, Avhcu the largest blocks 
have been shivered to atoms by a not A^ery heavy fall over an 
embankment. 
The distinguishing features of the "Wianamatta beds compared 
Avith the generally level horizon of the grits, sandstones and 
conglomerates of the IlaAvkcsbnry rocks are their greater 
proportion of calcareous matter ; and in the region of the shales, 
the smooth rolling surface of the couiitiy. In the creeks 
formed by the synclinal slopes of the land, tlie HaAA'kesbury 
sandstones, much water-worn, arc seen to underlie the Wiana- 
matta beds. 
Victorian Palaeontologists claim for that Colony the existence 
of a coal formation of the same age as the Wianamatta, and I 
have myself long ago pointed out that certain beds at the Barra- 
bool Hills resemble very closely certain strata about Camden, 
