4 
197 
Under the above circumstances it did not appear necessary to make a 
longer or more detailed examination ; the rough facts observed appear suffi¬ 
cient for present purposes, and to make an exact geological survey would 
require the labour of an equipped party for some months with but meagre- 
prospect of any public advantage accruing further than the additional 
scientific knowledge that might be obtained. 
[Report sent in 23.4.06 .] 
Further Notes on the Gibbo River. 
Since my former report I went up the Gibbo River for some miles and 
found no further occurrences of basalt above those already noted on the 
geological map, nor did I notice any rolled pieces in the river gravels and 
terrace washes to indicate the removal of basalts by denudation from 
further up the river valley. 
In connexion with the alluvial gold workings up the river, I may state 
that portions of its bed and banks have been worked to my knowledge for 
fully 10 miles, if not more, from where the road from Benambra strikes 
the river, but from all accounts nothing very rich was ever found except 
perhaps in patches. Some years ago a race was cut and some of the high 
level or terrace gravels treated with the hydraulic nozzle, but, as stated, 
through some mismanagement the enterprise fell through, though fairly 
good prospects for that class of work were obtained. At the time of my 
last visit a scheme was in course of execution to construct a race that wiil 
from its delivery give sufficient force to work the bed and banks of the river 
upon the hvdraulic elevator principle. 
This work, if properly carried out, bids fair to be successful. 
{Report sent in 2g.8.o6\ 
BLACK COAL HORIZONS IN VICTORIA. 
By E. J. Dunn , F.G.S., Director , Geological Survey. 
In this State there are two distinct and geologically widely-separated 
horizons at which black coal may be searched for. The upper and newer 
horizon is of Jurassic age, and one of the most widely diffused and charac¬ 
teristic fossils met with in these beds is Tceniopteris Daintreei. Sandstones, 
shales, and mudstones are the usual rocks, and interlaminated with them 
are seams of coal from a mere film to 5 feet in thickness. 
It is in the Jurassic beds that coal has been worked extensively in 
Gippsland up to the present. In these beds also coal has been proved to 
exist at Apollo Bay and at Merino in the Western District. The total 
thickness of the Jurassic rocks is unknown, but it is probably more than 
4,000 feet. 
In New South Wales the Clarence River beds correspond to the Vic¬ 
torian Jurassics. In Tasmania, the coal-fields of the north-east appear to 
be of about the same age, and in South Africa the Stormberg series with 
the associated plant remains, including T oeniopteris Daintreei , also appear 
to represent the coal-bearing Jurassic beds of Victoria. 
In all these cases the coal seams are recognised as belonging to the 
upper series or the Toeniopteris horizon. 
There is an older coal horizon, separated in some cases by a great 
thickness of stratified rocks from the Toeniopteris horizon, and this is 
characterized by a more ancient flora, one of the most prominent forms 
being Glossopteris Browniana. 
c 2 
