240 
Minutes of the 
been melted with the heat. 1 am perfectly satisfied, from the 
opportunities afforded me in the course of this inquiry, that no 
vessel can with propriety proceed to England with this ore as a 
portion of her. cargo. If she reach her destination, it must be 
from a happy concurrence of circumstances rarely to be looked 
for in so lengthened a voyage. The quality of the ore makes its 
transmission the more difficult, containing as it does nearly a 
third of its weight of sulphur, exposed to decomposition from a 
great variety of agencies, and every change through which it 
may pass giving origin to heat sufficient to prove the focus of a 
destructive fire. Had the Rookery been so unfortunate as to 
receive her wool cargo at the port at which the copper ore was 
shipped, her destruction was certain. The absence of other cargo 
allowed the heat generated in the mass to be rapidly diffused, 
and thus the temperature was restrained within the limits of 
combustion.” 
Specimens of the ore were exhibited. 
\V. H. Breton, Esq., exhibited a siliceous fossil obtained by 
him from Fingal, which appeared to be part of the root of a 
monocotyledotious plant. 
The Secretary read extracts from various letters from His Excel¬ 
lency C. J, La Trobe, Esq., Edward Curr, Esq., and Dr, E. C. 
Hobson, relative to an animal called Bunyip, stated to inhabit 
the deep ponds and water-holes in the rivers of Australia Felix, 
and much dreaded by the aborigines, but of which no authenti¬ 
cated specimen had ever been seen by any European. A concise 
account of the general result of the various aboriginal statements, 
as furnished by these gentlemen, is given by Mr. Gunn at page 
147 of the last number of the Tasmanian Journal. 
, February 24, 1847. 
Mr. Ronald C. Gunn exhibited a skull which he had received 
from Edward Curr, Esq.; of Melbourne. It was found by Mr. 
Athol Fletcher on the bank of the river Murrumbidgee, and some 
of the aborigines stated it to be that of a Bunyip. A description 
of this skull by Mr. James Grant will be found at page 148 of 
the last number of the Tasmanian Journal. 
Read extract from a letter from Dr. E. C. Hobson to Mr. 
R. C. Gunn, dated 8th February, 1847, who states:—“1 have 
just returned from Point Nepean, and hasten to give you a short 
sketch of what I saw. Point Nepean rests upon a trappean 
formation, which becomes visible about two miles from Cape 
Schank. The oldest limestone is highly crystalline, indeed it is 
a tolerably good marble in some places. This is next to the trap. 
Immediately over this marble occur the remains of an ancient 
forest, with the stems and roots of the trees in situ, and highly 
