Geology.] 
NATURAL [IISTORY. 
569 
of Cape Grafton to Cape Tribulation, precipitous hills, bor- 
dered by low land, form the coast ; but the latter Cape 
itself consists of a lofty group, with several peaks, the 
highest of which is visible from the sea at twenty leagues. 
The heights from thence towards the north decline gra- 
dually, as the mountainous ranges approach the shore, which 
they join at Cape Weymouth, about latitude 12°; and from 
that point northward, to Cape York, the land in general 
is comparatively low, nor do any detached points of consi- 
derable elevation appear there. But about midway between 
Cape Grenville and Cape York, on the mainland south-west 
of Cairncross Island, a flat summit called Pudding-Pan Hill 
is conspicuous ; and its shape, which differs from that of 
the hills on the east coast in general, remarkably resembles 
that of the mountains of the north and west coasts, to which 
names expressing their form have been applied *. 
The line of the coast above described retires at a point 
which corresponds with the decline of its level ; and imme- 
diately on the north of Cape Melville is thrown back to 
the west ; so that the high land about that Cape stands out 
like a shoulder, more than forty miles beyond the coast- 
line between Princess Charlotte^s Bay and the north-eastern 
point of Australia. 
The land near Cape York is not more than four or five 
hundred feet high, and the islands off that point are nearly 
of the same elevation. 
The bottom of several of the bays, on the eastern coast, 
not having been explored, it is still probable that rivers, 
or considerable mountain streams, may exist there. 
* Jane's Table-Land, south-east of Princess Charlotte’s Bay, 
(about lat. 14° 30'), — and Mount Adolphus, in one of the islands 
(about lat. 10° 40') off Cape York, have also flat summits. — 
King MSS. 
