VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY OF SOUTHERN LANDS.

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After this detail of his interefting excurfion, M.Bailly gives the refult of his refearchesinto the mineral productions of the county of Cumberland as follows :

“ Independent of the quartzy freeftone, of which the bafe of the country from thefea to the mountains is compofed, large fpaces are found covered with fchift, but this isof pofterior formation to the freeftone, as is evident from its incumbency on thatfubftance.

“ Both the freeftone and fchift are horizontally difpofed, or at leaft, in a directionvery nearly parallel to the horizon; occafionaily their thicknefs exceeds feveralyards, at other times but a few lines : commonly there is little adherence in the oneftratum to the other, and they are readily feparated.

“ In the freeftone cavities more or lefs large are found as in geodes (lithotomicavernofi), lined with a fpecies of oxidated haematites of iron, difl'olved by water andafterwards depofited.

“ On the beds of fchift and freeftone repofes the vegetable earth, of little depth nearthe fea, but increafxng in depth in proportion to the diftance from its fhores, and, on thebanks of the Hawkeibury River, acquiring very confiderable thicknefs.

“ Vegetable earth does not appear to be the excluftve depofit made on the beds offreeftone; for there are alfo found on them feams of ferruginous clay, exceedinglycompaCt, and ferving to make excellent bricks.

“ In other parts, anc^ efpecially the vicinage of Sydney Town on the road toParamatta, other feams are found of a whitiih day, mixed with quartz, mica, and aferruginous matter, apparently carbonated iron. This remarkable combination whichhas been compared to, and does not ill referable granite in a decoinpofed ftate, wasdefcribed fome years back in the Philofophical TranfaCtions of the Royal Society ofLondon, under the name of Sydneyte, or Sydneya , and was noticed as a new fubftance,although it contains no new element. This clay, or rather this mixture, is fuccefsfullyemployed in the manufacture of divers kinds of pottery, for which purpofe feveralkilns have been ereCted at the village of Brick Field. I have feen of their productionfome fpecimens, equally remarkable for the finenefs of the pafte of which they weremade, and for their whitenefs.

“ Throughout the whole extent of country occupied by the Engliih, and in itsneighbourhood, Port Stephen, for example, the river Hunter, Port Flacking, BatemanBay, &c. not the leaft veftige of any calcareous ftone, has hitherto been found ; and, inevery part, the inhabitants are fain to ufe for making lime the fhells of oyfters andother filli, of which confiderable quantities are found at Botany Bay . In vain hasgovernment proffered handfome rewards for the difcovery of any ftratum of limeftone;all fearch after this article has hitherto proved fruitlefs, nor is there room for fuppofingthat any will hereafter be found*.

“ On the road from Flawkefbury to Tongabee, at nearly an equal diftance from the■two towns, we obferved oxidated haematites of iron, in chambers. This fubftance wasdiffufed in large quantities, and in maffes of confiderable volume, over the furface ofthe foil; we conjeCiured it could not have been brought from any great diftance, and•that it had been colle&ed at this fpot by fome particular accident, the nature of whichit would be difficult to fathom, as there is no mine yet worked in the country. Thismatter appeared to us fufceptible of yielding excellent iron; and in a country where

* Wilfon, who in the beginning of February 1798 accompanied three convidis on an attempt to pafsthe wettern mountains, by order of the governor, at a diftance of between feventy and eighty miles nearlyiouth welt of Paramatta, difcovered both limeftone and coal. Tr.

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