s of it, but
more particularly in the neighbourhood of Wellington Valley. The local
interest which has of late years been taken in the prosecution of
geological investigations, led many gentlemen to examine the contents
of these caverns; and among the most forward, Major Mitchell, the
Surveyor-General, must justly be considered, to whose indefatigable
perseverance the scientific world is already so much indebted.

The caves into which I penetrated, did not present anything particular
to my observation; they differed little from caves of a similar
description into which I had penetrated in Europe. Large masses of
stalactites hung from their roofs, and a corresponding formation
encrusted their floors. They comprised various chambers or
compartments, the most remote of which terminated at a deep chasm that
was full of water. A close examination of these caves has led to the
discovery of some organic remains, bones of various animals embedded in
a light red soil; but I am not aware that the remains of any extinct
species have been found, or that any fossils have been met with in the
limestone itself. There can, however, be little doubt but that the same
causes operated in depositing these mouldering remains in the caves of
Kirkdale and those of Wellington Valley.

About twenty miles below the junction of the Bell with the Macquarie,
free-stone supersedes the limestone, but as the country falls rapidly
from that point, it soon disappears, and the traveller enters upon a
flat country of successive terraces. A schorl rock, of a blue colour
and fine grain, composed of tourmaline and quartz, forms the bed of the
Macquarie at the Cataract; and, in immediate contact with it, a mass of
mica slate of alternate rose, pink, and white, was observed, which must
have been covered by the waters of the river when Mr. Oxley descended
it.

From the Cataract of the Macquarie, a flat extends to the marshes in
which that river exhausts itself. From the midst of this flat Mount
Foster and Mount Harris rise, both of which are porphyritic: but as I
have been particular in describing these heights in their proper place,
any minute notice of them here may be considered unnecessary. We will
rather extend our enquiries to those parts of the colony upon which we
shall not be called upon to remark in the succeeding pages.

Returning to the coast, we may mark the geological changes in a line to
the S.W. of Sydney; and as my object is to extend the in