PHYSIOGRAPHY OF SOUTH GIPPSLAND. 455 



From this locality a splendid view of tlie extensive lacustrine area 

 of the Gippsland lakes is obtained to the east, and of the lower 

 marshy reaches of the Latrobe, flanked in the distance by the high 

 ridges proceeding from Movmt Wellington; to the south and 

 south west are visible the long stretch of littoral country bordering 

 the ninety-mile beach and the waters of Corner Inlet, with the 

 bold granite peaks of Wilson's Promontory in the distance. 



Main Gippsland Line. 



The main railway from Melbourne to Bairnsdale traverses the 

 Latrobe A'alley. At Longwarrie the marshy flats bordering the 

 Koo-wee-rup swamps give place, towards Drouin, to rising ground 

 of rich volcanic soil ; so also on the watershed line between the 

 Tarago and King Parrot Creek on the west and the Moe on the 

 east. From thence to Warragul similar rich volcanic soils and a 

 dense vegetation are ciiaracteristic features. At Bloomfield the 

 extensive flats of the Moe Valley are reached, and from this place 

 past Darnum, Tarragon, Trafalgar, and Moe the high spurs of the 

 Strzelecki Range run parallel with the railway line on the south. 

 At Morewell the basin of the Morewell River causes a deflection 

 of the range for some miles to the south, and similarly the basins 

 of Traralgon and Flynn's Creek have deflected it south of Traral- 

 gon. It is within the belt of Tertiary flats extending from Darnum 

 to Traralgon that the enormous beds of brown coal occur. 



Great Southern Railway. 



Following this line of railway from the edge of the Koo-wee-rup 

 Swamp, the following features are observed : — After passing 

 through another stretch of swamp land, the line rises gradually 

 through heathy sandhills to Nyora, at the ed^e of the forest 

 region, and on tiie divide between the Lang Lang and Bass. 

 From Nyora it descends to the Bass Valley at Loch, and then 

 gradually rises through the Jeetho Valley (where the" character of 

 the forests are well seen in tall eucalyptus and dense under- 

 growth of arboreous shrubs and tall ferns, &c.), to Bena on the 

 watershed line dividing the Bass and Powlett, and through 

 Mesozolc ridges to Korumburra. It descends from this rising 

 coal centre along the densely-timbered valley of Coalition Creek 

 to Leongatha in the Tarwin Valley, where rich volcanic soils 

 similar to those at Drouin and Warragal mask the Mesozoic stra'a. 

 From Leongatha the line passes over a long stretch of heiithy 

 imdulating plains covered with belts of gums across the Tarwin 

 Valley to Fish Creek, on the Hoddle Range. Rising over the 

 Hoddle Range, where forest ridges similar to these at Korum- 

 burra prevail, the line descends to the estuarine flats towards 

 Foster (reek ; again through heathv sandhills, with a magnificent 



