22 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



and Altona the country for several square miles is covered by 

 recent sea-shells. It was many years ago pointed out that this 

 indicated a recent elevation of about twenty feet, and it is 

 interesting to notice that the two estimates, arrived at on different 

 grounds, so closely agree. 



Besides these points, which were discussed on the ground, other 

 minor points were dealt with as they arose. — T. S. Hall. 



A TRIP TO LAKE KARNG AND MT. WELLINGTON, 

 NORTH GIPPSLAND. 

 By E. O. Thiele. 

 {Read before the Field Naturalists' Cluh of Victoria, 10th April, 190o.) 

 The Mt. Wellington district is one of the least known and settled 

 parts of North Gippsland. Neither the miner's pick nor the 

 settler's axe has yet made much impression in this rugged and 

 mountainous district. Broadly, the area under consideration 

 consists of an elevated plateau rising steeply on the north side of 

 the great plains of the Gippsland valley, to a height of from 4,000 

 to over 5,000 feet. The table-land stretches north to the Dividing 

 Range, where in Mt. Howitt it rises to 5,715 feet. River action 

 has so deeply dissected this highland that deep gorges are 

 overlooked by frowning precipices and bluffs rising from 2,000 

 to 3,000 feet above the shadowy depths of the valleys. 



Geologically the area forms a belt of reddish to purplish 

 sandstones, shales, and conglomerates, with associated igneous 

 rocks, the latter mostly of a porphyritic nature. This formation 

 stretches in a north-westerly direction across the main divide to 

 Mansfield, where it is now generally regarded as Carboniferous, 

 though it was originally described as Devonian. As, however, 

 the relation of the southern portion to the Mansfield area has not 

 been fully worked out, it is preferable at present to simply refer 

 to the Gippsland portion as Upper Palaeozoic. 



Owing to the difference in rock structure from the better known 

 alpine parts of Victoria, its scenery is quite distinct. Abrupt 

 scarps and precipitous cliffs terraced with rocky ledges form 

 characteristic features, which lend a rugged grandeur to the 

 mountains, and contrast them strongly with the more gently 

 flowing outlines of the Silurian ranges. 



On the map much of the area is still marked by a blank ; only 

 several of the more important peaks are shown. No roads exist, 

 and only a few tracks have been blazed. Two well-known 

 Victorian geologists, Mr. R. A. F. Murray and Dr. A. W. Howitt, 

 have contributed practically all that is at present known of the 

 geology of this most interesting series of rocks. On visiting this 

 region one is struck by the exceptional difficulties and arduous 

 work these two pioneer geologists had to face in obtaining the 

 information embodied in their respective reports. 



The Progress Report of the Geological Survey of Victoria, No. 



