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usually tlie ease in limestone caves, tliis circumstance probably pointing to the dryness 
of the climate. The greater part of the floor was deeply covered with drab-coloured 
“ cave-earth,” representing probably the insoluble argillaceous impurities of the 
limestone. Shells of Helix, in all stages of incrustation by lime, were plentifully 
scattered over the floor in some places — probably the sites of pools in wet weather. 
On one side of the “theatre” a dark recess opened out, its lower half blocked by a nearly 
flat limestone boulder, in front of which a row of stalactites depended from the roof 
like a partially uplifted curtain. Perhaps the most picturescjue aspect of the cave was 
that seen from behind the stage, looking past this screen into the proscenium. A 
narrow passage behind the stage led to other caves, some at lower and some at higher 
levels. One of those must have been at least two hundred feet in length, and 
fifty feet in width, with a gothic roof eighty feet high. There w'ere many nooks 
w^here the stalactites were little thicker than pencils, and arranged in groups of 
cxcjuisite beauty. Very few of them had, at the date of our visit, the drop of water 
which one expects to find in such a position. Prom a few, drops of water fell at 
very long intervals. The floors of the caves appeared to be about on a level with the 
surrounding country, and, according to Mr. Livesey, this is usually the case with the 
caves of the district.* 
The Middle Devonian Limestone of the Broken River, a tributary of the Clarke, 
contains numerous caves, from the detritus on the floors of which gold is said to have 
been obtained. 
The limestone beds of the same age near the Panning Station also contain 
beautiful if not large caverns, adorned with stalactites. 
The caves in the limestones of Raglan and Langmorn, Port Curtis, have been 
described by the late Mr. James Smith t as large and picturesque. Mr. Smith has 
obtained from the stalagmitic deposit on the floors some fragments of bones, still 
undetermined, together with recent land shells, and has also noted the occurrence 
of a deposit of stalagmite, containing fossil bones, from which the limestone that 
formerly enclosed them has been entirely weathered away. 
In the neighbourhood of Rockhampton numerous caves occur in the immensely 
thick limestone beds of the Gympie Series. Some of these were explored to some 
extent by Mr. Smith, wdiose descriptions (somewhat coudensed) are quoted below. 
Making every allowance for Mr. Smith’s well-known enthusiasm, it is evident that 
the caves are worthy of systematic and scientific investlgation.J It may be added 
that Mr. Smith’s determination of species may be incorrect, and in point of fact my 
Colleague does not adopt them, as further collections will be made. 
Olsen’s Caves . — “ Traversing these long, extensive subterranean passages, lofty 
galleries, spacious chambers, and wide spanning arches, by the light of a candle that but 
reveals the gloom, you cannot help becoming possessed with a sense of solemnity and awe 
in the presence of ^faturo’s mysteries. But these walls are not of a black and ghastly 
funereal hue. They are everywhere of a neutral tint of shaded white, abundantly 
tapestried with encrusting infloreseuce, panelled with curiously-carved pendentand planted 
alabaster decorations, and clothed with many hangings of petrified cascades, entirety 
made up of minute hexagonal, needle-pointed, reversed crystals of purest calcite. Do 
these caves contain any records throwing any light on the conditions of local former life ? 
This is a problem that will provide occupation for many labourers for long years to 
come. 
* Report by R.L. J. on the Chillagoe and Kooboora Mining Districts. Brisbane : by Authority : 1891 - 
t MS. notes. 
t Mr. W. H. Rands has recently examined the Caves, and his Report will shortly be published. 
