GEELONG. 71 



Geeloiig*, the town in this district of next importance 

 to Melbourne^ from which it is distant^ by water^ 

 fifty-five miles. The western shores of Port Phillip^ 

 along" which we passed^ are low_, thinly wooded^ and 

 bear a very monotonous aspect. Vast numbers of 

 a larg'e ^^ sea-jelly^' {Rhizostoma llosalca), g-ave 

 the water quite a milky appearance. I was sur- 

 prised to find the town^ only a few years old^ to be 

 one already containing* about 3000 inhabitants. It 

 is built on a rang'e of low gravelly banks facing- the 

 harbour^ from which it extends backwards in a 

 strag-g'ling' manner towards the river Barwon^ 

 which^ at the distance of a mile and a half^ was 

 then 100 yards wide^ deep; and without current. 

 The town of Geelong' derives its consequence from 

 being" a convenient outlet for the wool and other 

 produce of the southern districts of Port Phillip — 

 perhaps the best sheep country in Australia. Four 

 or five vessels were then loading' for Eng-land. 

 Unfortunately^ Corio Harbour^ on the shores of 

 which the town is built^ is blocked up by a bar^ and 

 vessels of moderate size are oblio'ed to remain in 

 Geelong- Bay^ about five miles ofF^ while discharging* 

 or receiving carg'o. 



Five days after clearino- the Heads of Port 

 Phillip^ we had crossed Bass' Strait,* and anchored 



* For every information required by navigators passing through 

 Bass' Strait, I would refer to Discoveries in Austraha, with an 

 account of the Coasts and Rivers explored and surveyed during 

 the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the years 1837-43, by J. Lort 



