26 Tflfi VICTORIAN NAtURALlsT, 



huge blocks of rock had cleared a path in the headlong descent 

 from the cliffs above. A lower but precipitous face of rocks 

 overlooked the east end of the lake, where the deep wooded gully 

 of Nigothoruk Creek entered from behind a steep spur on the 

 left. A bouldery delta marked the entrance of the creek, and 

 showed that the filling up of the lake has already advanced to a 

 considerable extent at the top end. At the north-west end of the 

 lake another tributary creek enters, and it is proposed to call this 

 Snowden's Creek, in honour of the discoverer of the lake. 



Unfortunately, the extreme difficulty of taking horses down to 

 the lake, and the fact that there was no feed for the horses there, 

 prevented a camp being chosen on the lake. It was therefore 

 necessary to climb another i,ooo feet to the top of the mountain, 

 where good feed was expected. This part of the journey was 

 particularly steep and rocky, first over angular blocks of 

 apparently altered sedimentary rocks, and finally over loose rocks 

 of many varieties of porphyry. The upper part of Snowden's 

 Creek was crossed twice, and at the last crossing a snake, locally 

 known as the Snow Snake, was killed. It was about 3 feet long, 

 bluish-black on the back, light underneath, and with a well- 

 defined ring round the neck. Close to the top of the mountain a 

 damp peaty and mossy slope, with springs, was crossed. This 

 was gay with numerous sub-alpine flowers, and was a refreshing 

 sight compared with the bare rocky places passed over lower 

 down. At the top of the mountain a comfortable camping spot 

 was chosen, close to a log hut erected by Mr. Riggall, and used 

 when mustering cattle on the mountain. It was soon found that 

 we were not the only inhabitants on this extensive table-land. 

 Two cattle drovers from the plains were camped here, having 

 come up the Avon Valley with cattle to graze them on the snow 

 plains. Usually there is good summer feed on these elevated 

 tracts, but this season is the driest remembered in the district. 

 With the additional cattle to be brought up a few days after we 

 left, it was estimated that there would be over a thousand head of 

 cattle depasturing there. This will perhaps give some idea of 

 the extent of country on the top of the mountain. 



Mt. Wellington forms the southern bluff of a range which 

 extends as a somewhat broken plateau for 7 miles to the north- 

 east, where it culminates in the Trig. Station. From here a lower 

 saddle turns easterly to Castle Hill. Mt. Wellington itself forms 

 a fiat-topped mass of quartz porphyry of considerable extent, 

 with shallow, gently sloping valleys radiating to the edge of the 

 plateau. A deep gap formed by the approaching head waters of 

 Nigothoruk Creek on the west, and a tributary of the Avon on the 

 east, divides the main mountain mass on the south from the 

 northerly extension of the range. This latter portion consists of 

 two parallel ridges running in a north-easterly direction : the 

 westerly one consists of porphyry ; and the easterly, of indurated 



