Highlands of Western Victorut. 271 



the ranges drop suddenly to the lower country about Beaufort. 

 There is no doubt that this southern end of the Mt. Cole Ranges 

 is a fault scarp, and forms the south end of a great tilted block. 

 It is al>o pro'bably nj fault line of early date on which move- 

 ment has been renewed, as the gi'anite is apparently absent from 

 the peneplain below. The south end is deeply scarred with 

 short steep valleys (not visible fron;i this point), and the edge of 

 the granite is in part buried under the talus fans. Northward 

 the ranges present a long even slope. Buangor is 3247 feet 

 above sea level ; Ben Nevis, 2875 ; Avoca Hill, 2464 ; and Lands- 

 borough Ilill, 190.3. The Avoca River runs north down the east 

 side of the highest ranges. Further north the Richardson and 

 the Avon drain the north end of the' block. The summits of 

 the Pyrenees are to be regarded as the same peneplain as at 

 Ballarat, but elevated more than 1000 feet higher. The parallel 

 range of Ben Major and Ben More is on this side the Avoea 

 River between it and the Bet Bet Creek. Possibly the Avoca 

 followTs down an east boundary fault, for the Ben Major rang© 

 is much lower, and the levels fall still more to the east under 

 the lava filled valleys. 



There is one great interruption to the regular slope of the 

 lino of the Pyrenees summits. Behind Lexton we look into a 

 great gap in the majss ; in the gap is the pointed summit of the 

 Sugarloaf, and beyond is the shoulder of Ben Nevis. We look 

 down the valley of the Upper Wimmera. Two explanations are 

 possible. There may have been an original slight hollow pro- 

 duced in the elevation of the block or a change of slope. Tlie 

 sniaill dift'erence in height between Ben Nevis and Avoca Hill 

 seems to favour this as well as the extent of country whose 

 drainage is diverted west and the fact that the diversion is not 

 very new. As an alternative it may be simply a case of river 

 capture, perhaps helped by an original steep fall at a fault on 

 the west of the bli:ck. Some amount of capture from the 

 Richardson and Avon has probably taken place, but an original 

 inequality of elevation very likely started this course of the 

 Wimmera. 



The Pyrenees may be taken as representing a range, due to 

 the same causes as ordinarily produce the Pennine type, but with 

 a gentle or slightly undulating long slope and now much modi- 

 fied by denudation. It is evident that in such a series of eleva- 



