4 ,o AUSTRALASIA ILLUSTRATED. 



The sources of the Kiewa, at the foot of Mount Hotham, are separated only by a 

 mountain range on the left from those of the eastern branch of the Ovens River, anil 

 by another mountain range to the right from those of one of the main affluents of the 

 Mitta Mitta. The whole region, in fact, from the New South Wales border line to the 

 east, and the slopes of the Dandenong Ranges to the west, is that of the ma.Yiiiinjn 

 rain-fall in Victoria, averaging nowhere less than forty, and in some places exceeding fifty, 

 inches per annum. A line drawn from Mount Kosciusko in the neighbouring colony to 

 Mount Minda. from Mount Minda down to Cape Patterson, and thence following in an 

 easterly direction to Genoa Peak, where it trends upward to the border line, would repre- 

 sent approximately the boundaries of the rainy zone of Victoria. Within these limits are 

 its noblest mountain ranges, nearly all of them clothed with forests to their very summits, 

 and thus constituting catchment areas of enormous extent and value. Eleven rivers, to say 

 nothing of creeks innumerable, take their departure from the southern slopes of the 

 mountain system comprehended within this space ; and five important streams, without 

 reckoning the Murray, flow from it to the northward, and swell the volume of the latter. 

 The Kiewa, after winding its way between high ranges and sweeping past Mount 

 Feathertop, receiving a host of petty tributaries in its progress some of which pour into 

 it from the massive shoulders of Mount Bogong enters into a tolerably broad depression 

 four or five miles south of Mullindolingong, a valley only encroached upon by the 

 buttress-like spurs thrown out by two parallel ranges, one of which follows its course to 

 within a few miles of the Murray, while the other stops short at the point where the 

 Yakandandah Creek runs into the Kiewa ; the latter joining the Murray at Wodonga. 



The Mitta Mitta takes its rise in the county of Bogong, and bearing the name of 

 Livingstone Creek in the earlier stage of its existence, the stream, which is here 

 upwards of two thousand feet above the level of the sea, flows past the mining town- 

 ship of Omeo, and then pursues a northerly course, receiving near Hinnomunjie the 

 overflow of Lake Omeo. On both sides, the Mitta Mitta absorbs a great number of 

 tributaries, the more important of which are the Dark River on its right bank, and the 

 Victoria, Bundarrah and Big Rivers on its left bank, while its waters are augmented by 

 those of half a hundred creeks. From Hinnomunjie to. Magorra there is almost an 

 uninterrupted chain of hills running down both banks of the River, with narrow valleys 

 edging in among the foot-hills, which sometimes spread out like a fan, and in others 

 like the fingers of the hand. Water-falls abound in this picturesque region, and the 

 country far away to the right and left is one succession of lofty ranges, some of which 

 radiate to all points of the compass from a central peak, as is the case with those 

 which have Mount Gibbo for their ganglion ; while others throw out long lateral 

 branches to the eastward only, from a prolonged and sinuous spine, as is the case with 

 the majestic range to which Mounts Wills, Bogong and Towanga belong, and have only 

 a few short piers, as it were, to the west. Many magnificent gorges and ravines are 

 hidden away in this little-known region, and the Mitta Mitta, after traversing it from 

 south to north for a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, finally Hows into the 

 Murray only a few miles from the outfall of the Kiewa 



