4 On the Caves Perforating Marble 
iron, limonito, Hg Foj O 5 , in solution; or repi’esent thin seams 
laid down during the deposition of the calcareous sediments, 
and which have not been obliterated dui-ing the processes of 
consolidation by which it is probable these beds were meta- 
morphosed from marine limestones into crystalline marbles, 
I am unable to decide ; although, from the evident regularity 
and parallelism of the seams and their continuousness, 
together with the facts noticed when examining the structure 
of the marble in the interior of the caves, it is probable 
that the latter is the more correct explanation of their 
origin. The apparent thickness of this marble bed when 
crossed by the line of section does not exceed 250 feet. To 
the east the slates again appeal', but, at contact with the 
marbles, very much contorted along the line of strike. 
Crossing an eastern affluent of the Limestone Creek (Painter’s 
Creek), the porphyries are first seen, and the change is marked 
both in regard to the character of the soil and the vegeta- 
tion. 
On examination the rock is found to have a somewhat 
granular felspathic base, in which are scattered numerous 
irregularly-shaped patches of felspar, the dimensions of 
which may generally be about a quarter of an inch by an 
eighth of an inch in width. On ascending the hill side 
similar rocks are to be found, nearly to the first summit, but 
in places becoming moi'e compact.* On descending towards 
Stony Creek similar rocks are met with, until at lower levels 
the slates again appear, presenting the same strike and dip, 
and without any more than the normal state of alteration 
as seen generally on the eastern watershed near the marble 
deposits. On a small spur abutting on Stony Creek are 
seen the deposits of fossiliferous blue limestone from which 
specimen No. 1 was taken. 
At lower levels a tributary of Stony Creek — Round 
Mountain Creek — has laid bare another nai’row band of 
finely laminated sLates, which are succeeded by the Stony 
Creek marbles, consisting of rather amorphous or thick- 
bedded masses of whitish, greyish, pinkish, and variegated 
mai’bles, as seen in specimens Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5. 
In one place a ridge of undenuded porphyry remains 
overlying the marble deposits, as shown in sketch ; while on 
* Progress Report, Geological Survey of Victoria, 1876, p. 196, A. W. 
Howitt, F.G.S. 
