^^■^••l Dalv, Notes of a Visit to Mallacoota Inlet. 12? 



1917 J ' -' *- J 



Genoa Peak, to the north-west, with its sharp pinnacle at one 

 end, being a predominant feature. The table-topped Mount 

 Nadgee is to the north-east, and the Howe Range, the extreme 

 coastal spur from the main range, lies a few miles east of the 

 Inlet. 



The view from the entrance is a very fine one. Near the 

 western side the current sweeps through the shifting and 

 tortuous channel. There is a sand-bar near the mouth, with 

 only three or four feet over it at low water, and off Captain's 

 Point an inner bar with even less depth of water at low tide. 

 This obstruction makes navigation difficult. A long barrier 

 of sand-dunes, with tea-tree, Acacia, Banksia, rushes, and 

 grasses, extends eastwards towards Cape Howe, below a ridge 

 leading to the Howe Range. Three flat islands — Rabbit Island, 

 Goat Island, and Horse Island — lie just within the entrance. 

 At the western side of the entrance the stratified rocks, up- 

 turned at right angles to the plane of deposition, are scored 

 by the tidal action, the Bastion Point showing, in its weathered 

 appearance, conclusive evidence of the mighty disintegrating 

 power of wind and wave. About eight miles distant is the 

 syenitic granite mass of Gabo Island, with lighthouse, and tlie 

 low coast-line of Cape Plowe, the small island of TuUaberga 

 intervening between the entrance and Gabo. Looking west- 

 ward from Bastion Point along the coast, Little Ram Head 

 bounds the view. Just within the entrance the first settlement 

 was made about 1842 at Captain's Point by an ex-whaler from 

 Twofold Bay — John Stevenson, previously with the adventurous 

 Benjamin Boyd. The Lands Office records in 1847 show the 

 location at Mallacoota of two cattle stations, also the holding 

 of James Allan, son-in-law of Captain Stevenson. 



Mallacoota, like the inlets along the Pacific coast, is an 

 example of a drowned river valley, and the scenery on the 

 eastern side reminds one of the famous reaches of the Hawkes- 

 bury River. An extensive sand-bank or shoal, known as the 

 Goodwin Sands, part of M'hich, when uncovered at low tide, 

 is a favourite haunt of wild-fowl, has been formed within the 

 Inlet, the main current in general trending down the western 

 side of the lake. The Inlet is nearly six miles long by three 

 miles wide. There are numerous delightful arms and recesses, 

 many of which can be explored with a boat some distance into 

 a tangled jungle of luxuriant vegetation, where tea-tree, tree- 

 ferns. Myrtle, Sassafras, Musk, Hazel, and Blanket-wood, 

 entwined with creepers and lianas, grow above the dense scrub 

 and fallen timber, wattles, gums, and Angophoras forming a 

 leafy canopy overhead. It is here the marvellous notes of 

 the shy Coachwhip-Bird are heard at their best, amid the 

 tuneful melody of the Bell-Miners and the full-throated song 



