celebrated for a very thick seam of coal and three or four smaller ones
which make their appearance on the side of the range 500 feet above the
valley. The large seam is 16 feet in thickness, but the coal, although
bituminous, is of a quality that renders it unfit for steam, or gas
making purposes. For one or two inches of good bright coal, there are
on the average from 12 to 15 inches of inferior earthy matter――in fine
bituminized clay. On the opposite side of the valley this seam again
appears at the same altitude at Mt. Legion 4 or 5 miles away, and
again at the back of Fingal. There is a bullock dray road to the big
seam, which is surrounded by some very romantic bits of scenery. For
500 feet above the upper seam of coal, volcanic rock obtains, which on
the summit of the hill rises in very fine columns, a characteristic of
the greenstone of the same age in Tasmania. The beds of clay above and
below the coal furnish very fine specimens of fossil ferns conspicuous
among which, are the tongue-fern _Glossopteris_, the wedge-fern
_Sphenopteris_, the nerve-fern _Neuropteris_ and the tooth-fern
_Odontopteris_. All of which are long since extinct it is believed.
That mansion just discernible through the poplar and other acclimatised
trees on the right hand of the visitor, is Killymoon, the largest and
most imposing structure in the district, and is the residence of S.
Ransome, Esq. Its founder, the late Mr. Steiglitz, was evidently a man
of good architectural taste, and in it one is strongly reminded of much
that characterises the structures of medieval times. The freestone of
which it is built was quarried close by, and is associated with the
coal seams. It possesses the remarkable property of resisting, to a
great degree, the action of fire, and in this respect much resembles
itacolumite sandstone, which is employed for the floor of furnaces
occasionally in Europe. When it is closely examined it is found to
consist of small, well rounded grains of quartz, bound together by an
argillo-siliceous cement.
The visitor is now passing through Cullenswood, by which name this part
of the Break o’ Day valley is known. A few cottages, and cultivated
fields, with a church and its resting place for the dead, are its chief
features. Two miles further on it merges into St. Mary’s. This village
boasts one inn, one general store, and a smithy. The inn is situated
on the brink of a clear, cool mountain stream which is never failing.
St. Patrick’s Head, with its perfect pyramid form, rises grandly in
front, while another conspicuous, though less aspiring hill, the Black
Elephant, forms the eastern boundary of the vale. Horses are changed at
the inn and soon the traveller is being hurled merrily along through
an avenue of fine old wattle trees, whose branches meet over-head,
and if it be Spring time the perfume from their golden blossoms
is intoxicating. He must now be prepared to witness in a very few
minutes, one of the grandest sights in natural scenery of the Southern
hemisphere. There are few persons who have resided long enough in these
colonies to become acclimatised that have not heard of