-June, 1907.] THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 23 



PHYSIOGRAPHIC AL AND GEOLOGICAL NOTES ON 

 THE MT. WELLINGTON DISTRICT, NORTH 

 GIPPSLAND. 



By E. O. Thiele. 



With an Appendix on Some Fossils, by F. Chapman, A.L.S. 

 (Read before the Field Naturalists' Oltib of Victoria, 8th April, 1907.) 

 In January of the present year a third excursion was made to 

 North Gippsland to further examine the geographical and 

 geological features of the district round Mt. Wellington. The 

 previous trips had suggested a number of problems which 

 required more evidence before an answer to the various questions 

 could be attempted. A fertile field for inquiry had been opened 

 up. The most time, however, which could be again spared for 

 explorations in this district was three weeks, and the roughness of 

 the country, together with the time taken up in travelling to get 

 into the heart of the region, could only allow of the work being 

 somewhat incompletely accomplished. 



The brief enumeration of the more salient points which called 

 for attention will serve to summarize some of the previous know- 

 ledge, and indicate the plan and object of the last excursion. 



1. The extent and further examination of the Upper Ordovician 

 graptolite slates of the Wellington area was worthy of additional 

 attention (8). 



2. The relation of the serpentine belt to the Ordovician slates 

 and Upper Palaeozoic rocks needed working out, for sections 

 showing this had yet to be searched for. Other promising 

 features in the serpentine area also required examination (9). 



3. The great development and variety of the porphyritic rocks 

 of Mt. Wellington and its vicinity called for special investiga- 

 tion (3, i). The preliminary examination of several rock slides 

 from this area confirmed their volcanic origin, and suggested 

 their correlation with similar rocks in known sections elsewhere. 



The great mass and general contour of the mountain at first 

 sight suggested that an ancient volcanic stump might prove to be 

 the explanation of the great pile of igneous rocks, but as there 

 was little evidence in hand for this at present, that view could 

 only be regarded as a suggestion, requiring further investigation. 



4. A more careful examination of the rocks of the barrier in 

 the "Valley of Destruction," below Tali Karng (6, 10), should 

 enable a more accurate comparison to be made with those of the 

 table-land and the surrounding ranges. This, it was hoped, 

 would provide additional evidence, if that were necessary, as to 

 the source of the rocks which impounded the waters of the lake. 



5. The old strike valleys on the dissected plateaus offered 

 some interesting objects of study, for here incipient or recent 

 lines of drainage alterations, affecting the remnant of a more 



