530 
Creek, between tbe Palmerviile and Byerstown Roads. There the sandstone overlies, not 
the slates, quartzites, &c., but a great thickness of strata containing Olossopteris 
[Permo-Carboniferous or Bowen River Beds], The beds of this formation dip at high 
angles to the north-west under the horizontal sandstone [Desert Sandstone] of the 
‘ Brothers,’ which is therefore separated from them by a violent unconformability. As 
a great thickness of the coal-bearing strata dips under the sandstone of the ‘Brothers’ 
on the east side of that range, and docs not reappear on the west side (where the sand- 
stone rests immediately on slates), the coal-bearing strata must be bounded on the west 
by a fault which passes beneath, and docs not disturb the horizontal sandstones. 
“ The horizontal sandstone varies in texture from a coarse grit to a fine, hard, 
compact rock. The materials are for the most part siliceous, but occasionally felspathic. 
Generally white or yellow, they sometimes have a faint red tinge from the presence of 
peroxide of iron. "Where much iron is present, nodules of fine haematite are frequently 
met with. Pebbles of quartz, quartzite, slate, lydian stone, greywaeke, and granite occur 
near the base of the formation, forming a few beds of conglomerate. In the far north 
of the Cape York Peninsula, as will be hereafter seen, the upper beds of the forma- 
tion assume an entirely different aspect. There are very few shaley beds among the 
sandstones. On the north side of the estuary of the Endeavour, however, some shales 
are seen crowded with plant-^fe'irfs. Indistinct plant-remains have also been met with 
on .lane’s Tableland. Thin (quarter-inch) coal-scams occur on the north shore near 
Cooktown, and in Tcm^fie Bay.” 
The Morgan Tableland is a fragment of the Desert Sandstone, about four miles 
across, and resting on upturned slates. 
West of the Morgan Tableland is another large tableland of Desert Sandstone, 
resting at an estimated elevation of four hundred feet above the sea-level, sometimes on 
slates and greywackes, and occasionally on granite or porphyry. Its northern edge 
trends west-north-west, and is drained by the Starcke and Jeannie Rivers. A tributary 
of the left bank of the Jeannie divides this tableland from another, though less extensive, 
fragment extending towards Cape Melville. Cape Melville itself, as seen from the sea, 
consists of apparently a thickness of three or four hundred feet of Desert Sandstone, 
coming down to the sea-level and slightly undulating. Cape Bowen, to the south, shows 
also a great thickness of Desert Sandstone, apparently quite horizontal, and resting on 
slates (?) perhaps one hundred feet .above sea-level. At Cape Flattery a great thickness 
of gently undulating Desert Sandstone beds comes down to the sea in places, and in 
others highly inclined schists are seen underlying the sandstone in the sea-cliffs. Here 
the lower third or so of the formation is of brown sandstones and shales, and the upper 
two-thirds of white sandstone. 
At Cape Bedford, as seen from the sea, the Desert Sandstone forms a small 
isolated tableland perched on slaty rocks, at apparently about four hundred feet above 
the sea-level. 
The tableland, whose eastern extremity at the beads of the Endeavour has already 
been referred to, is reached by the Cooktown and Palmerviile Road, a few miles east of the 
Hormanby River. At its edge it is seen resting on nearly vertical slates and greyw'ackes. 
After making a “ j iimp-up” of two or three hundred feet, the road passes over horizontal 
beds of white sandstone, for many miles, but on the left bank of the Normanby a 
mountain-mass of grey granite is seen, possibly of later date than the Desert Sandstone, 
at least the absence of granite pebbles at the base of the latter appears to favour that 
view. After passing the Normanby the road, as far as Battle Camp, passes over, or 
rather ploughs through, heavy, sandy, level country, the soil being probably all derived 
from the waste of an underlying horizontal bed. At Battle Camp the road clears the 
