^!g!j] AuDAs, A Botanist in the Portland District. i6i 



of just 250 miles, I was met by two local residents — Mr. Dillon, 

 of the Education Department, and Mr. Stuchbery, of the Portland 

 Botanic Gardens, who kindly assisted me in many ways during 

 my stay. 



Portland is not well known to the average tourist, though it 

 can justly claim to be the oldest town in Victoria. As early 

 as the year 1834 the brothers Edward and Stephen Henty 

 landed there to establish a whaling station at Whalers' Point. 

 Finding the land further inland to be of good arable and 

 grazing quality, they, with others, brought live stock, &c., 

 there, and formed the first little settlement that Major Mitchell 

 saw on the occasion of his historic meeting with Edward 

 Henty, after traversing Austraha Felix from Botany Bay to 

 Portland. At an earlier period, in 1832 or thereabouts, 

 Captain Dutton landed on the shore of the Bay, a little north 

 of the present town, intending to form a whaling station. He 

 bought his land from the blacks, and built the first white home 

 in Victoria, which can be seen to-day from the shore at Narra- 

 wong, about eight miles from Portland, and the remains of 

 Dutton's jetty can be seen on the beach at low tide. 



With the decline in whaling, and settlement in the rich Glenelg 

 country, followed by the discovery of auriferous deposits, and 

 the growth of the more centrally-placed Melbourne, Portland 

 lost its significance as a port ; but now the great development 

 of the Mallee country has created a demand for a more direct 

 port of shipment, and Portland will doubtless be much availed 

 of when the Mount Gambler and the Cavendish-Toolondo rail- 

 waj^s are completed. Its advantages as a shipping port are 

 many. It has a greater depth of water than Williamstown 

 or Corio Bay, and is sheltered from the prevailing west and 

 south-west gales and affords good anchorage. A fine new pier 

 over half a mile in length is nearing completion, and will afford 

 facilities for accommodating the largest vessels. An interesting 

 feature of the harbour is the fleet of fishing boats and yachts, 

 which look very picturesque with their white sails set. From 

 the north the shore rises in white chalk cliffs to Whalers' 

 Point, from which a fine view of the whole town and bay is 

 obtained. On the parade surmounting these cliffs, in front 

 of the hospital, can be seen the furrows left by the first plough 

 ever used on Victorian soil. 



Many of the early structures are built of bluestone, which 

 is obtainable locally, noticeable among them being " Burswood," 

 the home of Edward Henty, situated to the south of the town. 

 Another bluestone building is the public library, where some 

 interesting curios may be seen — ^namely, a harpoon of Hentys' 

 recovered from a whale in the Behring Sea, and the lifeboat 

 used at the historic Admella wreck. The public gardens arc 



