■60 
Geology and Physical Geography: 
mountains and the character of the detritus in the river beds indicate 
that the upper Palaeozoic rocks of the Macalister extend up to 
and over the Main Divide whence the various sources of the river 
take their rise, and are connected with the Upper Palaeozoic area 
of Mansfield, between the Delatite and Broken Rivers. This 
however, cannot be proved without proper examination of the 
country being made. 
The general character of the more mountainous portion of the 
Upper Pala3ozoic area is very rugged. The rivers and creeks 
frequently flow' between perpendicular cliffs and through deep 
rocky ravines, while many of the ridges and high points exhibit 
very precipitous sides and craggy bluffs. The ranges and slopes 
in the Avon valley are fairly clothed with large timber, and the 
hollows support a tolerably dense scrub. The soil is, however, as 
a rule, poor and gritty, though in localities where the melaphyre 
bands crop out there arc very small areas of a tolerably rich soil, 
resulting from their decomposition. 
Ihe ranges in the Macalister valley are open and grassy, steep, 
and sometimes precipitous, and for the most part thinly covered 
with inferior timber. On the high lands the vegetation assumes 
a sub-alpine character, and is composed chiefly of stunted scrub, 
heath, snow-grass, mosses, and various herbs. 
The Upper Paheozoic area of Mansfield is beautifully park- 
like in character, well grassed, and thinly timbered with fair-sized 
redgums. The emiuences, such as Mount Tabletop and others 
have a tabular appearance, due to the almost horizontal and alterl 
nating character of the rock layers, the harder of which project 
in shelf-like contours round the slopes. The prevailing forms are 
hard, gritty, thickly-bedded sandstone ; hard, gritty Hags, dense 
brownish tine-grained argillaceous sandstones, and mudstones, or 
“ cornstoues,” similar to those of the Avon. 
This tract is partly hemmed in on the south-west, north-west, 
and north-east by lofty Silurian and Granite Ranges, through 
which gaps have been eroded by the streams flowing into tho 
Delatite on the western, and the Broken River on the north-eastern, 
side of the valley. To the south-east tho country rises, and 
becomes very broken and mountainous; Mount Buffer, one of the 
highest points, attaining an altitude of 5,800 feet. This part has 
not been properly geologically examined, but it is evident from 
the boulders and pebbles of felsite, quartz-porphyry, greenstone, 
syenite, 8cc., in the beds of the rivers that contemporaneous, and, 
probably also intrusive, trappean rocks are associated with the 
sediraeutary Upper Palceozoic strata near the sources of the 
Jamieson, Howqua, Delatite, and Broken Rivers. 
From tho horizoutallv-bedded appearance of tho rocks of a 
great bluff, visible at a distance far up the valley of the Howqua, 
I felt justified in assuming, and so indicating on tho Goological 
