GIPPS' LAND. 427 



before ; and the sight of their number did not a 

 little encourage me to expect a similar result from 

 the gift I had bestowed on Kent Group. 



From the highest hill on the south-eastern point 

 I had obtained a most excellent view of Corner 

 Inlet, which bore a great resemblance to a basin. I 

 have before called it useless, from its being only 

 navigable a mile or two within the entrance and 

 that chiefly on the northern side, the rest being 

 occupied by mud flats. It was a bitter cold day ; but 

 between the sleet squalls I was able to trace the coast 

 westward as far as Cape Liptrap over the low neck 

 connecting Wilson's Promontory with the main, and 

 forming the south-western shore of Corner Basin ; and 

 eastward beyond Shallow Inlet,* where the Clonmel 

 steamer was lost. About six miles to the north-east 

 the masts of some vessels pointed out the approach 

 to Alberton. The intervening space was filled with 

 islands and mud banks ; which character the shore 

 appeared to retain further eastward, being fronted 

 by a margin of low sandy land, sometimes broken 

 by the pressure of the sea from without or of the 

 waters from within, when the streams that add to 

 the fertility of Gipps' Land are swollen by the melting 

 of the snows on the Australian Alps. To com- 

 memorate my friend Count Strzelecki's discovery 



* Vessels bound to Alberton, the capital of Gipps' Land, ge- 

 nerally pass tbrougb this inlet, but as the water is shallow, and 

 breaks across the entrance, if there is any swell, it is more prudent 

 to enter by Corner Inlet, and take the second opening on the 

 right within the entrance. 



