Page:Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia, Volume 2.djvu/646

 ,xoLo'r.] NATURAL H!gTORY. appearance-of calcedouy, and is harder than ordinary car- bonate of lime. The characters of the shells in Captain King's specimens from this place are indistinct; but the speeimeas at the Jardin du ]{i, which, there is reason to suppose, have come from this part of the coast, eontnin shells of several species,--belonging among others to the genera, corbula, ehama, earallure, por- eellanea, turbo, eerithium. M. Prevost, to whom I am in- debted for this account, observes, that notwithstanding'the recent appearance of the shells, the beds which contain them are stated to oceur at a considerable height above the sea: and he remarks that the aspect of the rock is very like that of the shelly depesite of St. Hespiee, near Nice. KxNG OsoGa's $0um), on tlme south coast, east of south from Cape Leeuwin.--Benutifully white and 'fine raartzo rand, 'from the sea-bench. Yellowish grey 9.an/t, from Baldohesd. Two varieties of a ca/careom roei, of the same nature with that of Dirk Itartog's Island; consisting of par- tides of translucent quartzose sand, united by a cement of yellowish or eream-coloured earbona of lime, which has a flat conchoidal. and splintcry fracture, and is o hard as to ield with difiieulty to the knife. In this compound, there. are not any distinct angular fragments, as in the stone of Dirk Hartog's Islands; but the calcareous matter .is very unequally diffused. A third form in which this recent ealcareous matter ap= pears, is that of irregular, somewhat. tortuous, stem-like bodies, with a rugged sandy surfnee, and from half an inch to an' inch in diameter; the cross fracture of which shows that they are composed of sand, eementmi by carbonate of lime, either uniformly mixed throughout, or forming a crust around caJeareous matter of a spongy texture; in which

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