detail, I
shall prefix to the list of specimens in Captain King's and Mr. Brown's
collections, a general sketch of the coast from whence they come,
deduced, principally, from the large charts,* and from the narratives of
Captains Flinders and King, with a summary of the geological information
derived from the specimens. But I have thought it necessary to subjoin a
more detailed list of the specimens themselves; on account of the great
distance from each other of many of the places where they were found, and
of the general interest attached to the productions of a country so very
remote, of which the greater part is not likely to be often visited by
geologists. The situation of such of the places mentioned, as are not to
be found in the reduced chart annexed to the present publication, will be
sufficiently indicated by the names of the adjacent places.

(*Footnote. These charts have been published by the Admiralty for general
sale.)

GENERAL SKETCH OF THE COAST.

The North-eastern coast of New South Wales, from the latitude of about 28
degrees, has a direction from south-east to north-west; and ranges of
mountains are visible from the sea, with little interruption, as far
north as Cape Weymouth, between the latitude of 12 and 13 degrees. From
within Cape Palmerston, west of the Northumberland Islands, near the
point where Captain King began his surveys, a high and rocky range, of
very irregular outline, and apparently composed of primitive rocks, is
continued for more than one hundred and fifty miles, without any break;
and after a remarkable opening, about the latitude of 21 degrees, is
again resumed. Several of the summits, visible from the sea, in the front
of this range, are of considerable elevation: Mount Dryander, on the
promontory which terminates in Cape Gloucester, being more than four
thousand five hundred feet high. Mount Eliot, with a peaked summit, a
little to the south of Cape Cleveland, is visible at twenty-five leagues
distance; and Mount Hinchinbrook, immediately upon the shore, south of
Rockingham Bay, is more than two thousand feet high. From the south of
Cape Grafton to Cape Tribulation, precipitous hills, bordered by low
land, form the coast; but the latter Cape itself consists of a lofty
group, with several peaks, the highest of which is visible from the sea
at twenty leagues. The heights from thence towards the north decline
gradually, as the mountainous ranges approach the shore, which they jo