Volume I Part 24 (2/2)

Turning to the left fro silently between rich grassy flats On one of these Mr

Sht on the opposite side of the river; and the blue stream of smoke that arose from the fire of his party, helped to impart life and beauty to the scene From the Barabul hills I almost traced the Barwon to its confluence with the sea

Five miles to the south-east frooon; after leaving which, I was informed there was only a depth of three feet, and a width of one eighth of a mile It is not, however, this alone that renders the Barwon useless for water-carriage to the town of Geelong; for the exposed situation of its

The singular sloping treeless sides of the Barabul hills, and the declivities of the valley of the Marabul river, bear a striking reseonia They appear as if they had just eed from the sea, which had as it were scooped out their hollows and sh round hill, perfectly bare of trees, and called by the natives Moriac, bore West 1/2 South six miles from where we stood On our return we met some of the natives; they were the first I had seen of the aborigines of this part of the continent, and were certainly a finer race than the people on the western coasts They co aniaroo, and destroy the roots which at certain seasons of the year form part of their sustenance This, Mr

Seneral co at Captain Fyans' coements were made for next day's journey to Station Peak, Mr S to lend me a horse and to accompany me

STATION PEAK

January 3

We started for Station Peak very early The rass glittered with a copious fall of dew The first five h doith pretty patches of woodland interspersed; and the re ten over a low plain that stretches to the foot of the peak Six miles from the latter we crossed a hollohere I noticed some calcareous matter, in which were included shells of recent species, evidently showing that an upheaval had taken place in this part of the continent We saw on the plain several large bustards rese our horses at the foot of the peak, we ascended it by a sloping ridge on the south-east face Huge blocks of granite--sohtest touch would send the to the plains below--covered the sides and summits of this and the smaller peak, to the north of which are several others scattered over about athe summit, I hastened to a pile of stones which Captain Flinders had erected to commemorate his visit; but, alas, the bottle and paper left by hione, and I have not since been able to learn who it was that took away this interesting and valuable record

VIEW FROM STATION PEAK

The view commanded all points of the splendid sheet of water called Port Phillip, which stretched away its shi+ning expanse see wavy lines of trees showed the course of the Little and Weariby rivers h the plain

The natives call this cluster of peaks Ude (great) Youang, and the other West-North-West seven h round hill, fifteen miles further nearly, in the sa

We have thus five native nahbourhood of Port Phillip, having the ter probably Barwong At King George's Sound in Western Australia, the naain to the eastward, near Gipps' Land, the final letter is n These observations ists to the subject of the distribution of the Australian dialects or languages

Ude Youang, or as Captain Flinders naranitethere is some confusion in the formation The rocks, however, that prevail are trappean

FOSSIL ShellS

In digging a well there, a fossil cowrie (Cypraea eximia) of an extinct species was once found at the depth of sixty feet Another specie near Launceston, from a hundred and forty feet below the surface of the soil Count Strzelecki gives a figure of it in his interesting work

Mr Ronald Gunn, in his observations on the flora of Geelong, observes that out of a hundred species of plants collected indiscriminately, sixty-seven were also to be found in Tas only thirty-three to indicate the peculiarities of the Geelong vegetation

Sole exhibited at this place syfor so, which were just then selling One that was bought for 80 pounds ht have been sold a year afterwards for 700 pounds I mention this fact that the reader ue

ARTHUR'S SEAT

On the , touched at Hobson's Bay for a chronometric departure, and proceeded to sea by the south channel

Arthur's Seat is a good guide for its entrance fro close under the foot of it The eastern extremity of the northern banks, we found very difficult to htly discoloured on it It is, erous to approach From this eastern corner of the bank, Arthur's Seat bears South 50 1/2 degrees West and a solitary patch of cliff, ard of the latter, South 68 degrees East

In consequence of bad weather it was three days before we passed through the channel, which, ere pleased to find navigable for line of battle shi+ps A West 3/4 North course led through, and the least water was five fathoms on a bar at the eastern entrance, where the width is only three-tenths of a mile, whilst in the western it is one mile, with a depth of seventeen fathoms When in the latterFlinders Point between Lonsdale and Nepean Points, and as we came down the channel, the last two points were just open of each other

PORT WESTERN

Leaving Port Phillip, we surveyed the coast to the eastward, and anchored in the entrance of Port Western, after dark on the 10th Nextwe examined the south-west part of Grant island, and e off its North-East point Port Western is formed between Grant and French islands in rather a rereat bays lie one within the other, the inner being nearly filled up by French island, whilst the outer is sheltered by Grant Island, stretching across it al a wide shi+p-channel on its western side, whilst on the eastern the passage is narrow and fit only for boats and small vessels

Gales between North-West and South-West detained us here until the 19th

We found water by digging on the North-East extreh tide is a low sandy islet On first landing there, we found in a cluaroo, very dark-coloured, indeed al cut off he took to the water, and before a boat could reach him, sank This not only disappointed but surprised us; for in Tasaroo has been known to swim nearly twotheseason, were easily run down by the boats Their outstretched necks and the quick flap of their wings as they , reminded us forcibly of a steamboat At this season of the year when the swans cannot fly, a great act of cruelty is practised on them by those who reside on the Islands in Bass Strait, and of whoe nu to eat, in fact almost starve them to death, in order that the down enerally covers their bodies