4o 



AUSTRALIAN PICTURES. 



in 1836-7 : ' A land more favourable for colonisation could not be found. 

 This is Australia Felix! 



The surface of this south-eastern corner of Australia is strangely diver- 

 sified, and hence its charm. Its own south-eastern region is occupied by 

 the Australian Alps. Hundreds of peaks rising from 4000 to 7000 feet in 

 height secure here an abundant rainfall, and in the sheltered gullies a noble 

 vegetation is to be found ; then come the uplands sloping down to the 

 Murray plains. And back from the western sea-board stretches the beautiful 



Melbourne, 1840. 



{From the original sketch by Mr. S. H. II ay don. 



so-called Western District, composed of open rolling plains studded with lakes, 

 and with the isolated cones of extinct volcanoes. A grand and terrible sight 

 they must have presented when these agents were at work sending forth fire, 

 ashes and water, but, happily for man, their powers have departed long, long 

 ago. Mount Franklin shows no sign of becoming a second Vesuvius, and the 

 volcanic deposit has secured for the west a wonderful luxuriance of growth — 

 such a growth as the grazier dearly loves. The beauty of the eastern district 

 of Victoria is of the kind that delights the artist ; the pleasant western 



