THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST. 
6 3 
with the sea, and just south-west of the township of Smithton. Like 
most of the swamps it is covered with dense vegetation, consisting 
chiefly of blackwood, ti-tree (Melaleuca), sassafras, dogwood, cutting 
grass of several kinds, and almost every fern found in the State. 
At the end of July, 1910, a settler in the Mowbray Swamp, Mr. E. 
C. Lovell, was engaged upon draining his selection, which is situated 
about three miles from the coast and from Smithton, and about a 
couple of miles from the Duck River, very nearly in the centre of the 
swamp, and fifty-five feet above sea level. 
While working near the bottom of one of his drains, and about four 
feet from the surface, his spade struck some bones, which he at first 
supposed to be the remains of a bullock, although he was at a loss 
to understand how they had become embedded so deeply, but a little 
further examination showed they belonged to some other species o( 
animal. 
The bones were in a rather wet portion of the swamp, and 
although they all appeared to be at about the same level, and were 
lying together, some of the back bones were in front of the head, and 
some of the bones of the fore leg were behind it, as though they had 
been slightly scattered by some preying animal. The soil in which 
they were found appeared to consist almost entirely of dead vegetation 
and peaty mould, full of dead roots and decaying wood, which changes 
to sand at a depth of about seven feet. About three feet from the 
surface, and scattered over an area of at least 250 yards in width, 
the drains prove the existence of a small lake or pond, which has left 
a deposit of a few inches of mud mixed with freshwater shells. 
Although the shells are in a fair state of preservation the more delicate 
parts have worn away, and although they appear to present but little 
difference from similar shells of the present day, it would be difficult to 
prove it on this account. 
No shells were found within twenty feet of the bones, but they were 
found in every direction from them, and although it would appear that 
the average dep f h of the shells was somewhat less than that of the 
bones, it would be a question difficult to solve after the bones had once 
been removed. 
As many miles of drainage has been carried out through the 
Mowbray swamp, and only one find of prehistoric bones has been made, 
it cannot be claimed as a rich field for naturalists. However, the 
drains will have to be excavated both in larger numbers and to a 
greater depth before the undertaking will be quite successful; so there 
is every hope that other remains will be found even in the Mowbray 
swamp, while some of the other swamps throughout the district may 
yield better returns when drainage is undertaken. 
