THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 73 I 



grand and impressive. Away to the nortli-west the bold 

 granite peaks of the Buffalo Mountains stand sentinel-like 

 against the distant horizon. Intervening lies the deep gorge 

 through which the Ovens River v^inds its sinuous courses. To 

 the north lies the narrow-crested ridge which culminates in 

 Mount Feathertop, at 6303 feet above sea level, the deeply- 

 sculptured furrows on its eastern slopes plainly visible. Still 

 further to the north-east rises Mount Loch, a notable feature 

 in the landscape (a culminating point on the ridge dividing the 

 Cobungra and Kiewa Rivers), a worthy rival in greatness to its 

 brother, Hotham ; in fact, a few feet higher. Just visible 

 between Mount Loch and Mount Feathertop are the clear, 

 rugged escarpments of the Fainter, a noted peak standing at 

 the intersection of the two branches of the Kiewa River. Still 

 further east rise the grassy table-lands known as the Bogong 

 hii^h plains (the highest plateau in Victoria, 6000 feet above 

 sea level) ; and on its southern margin appears the coned peak, 

 Mount Cope. Away to the east is the valley of the Cobungra, 

 falling towards the undulating country near Omeo ; and in the 

 dim distance, in shadowy outlines, the serrated heights of the 

 Cobberas Mountains, some 70 miles distant, are seen. To the 

 south lies the deep gorge of the Dargo River separating Mount 

 Hotham from the Dargo high plains table-land, while to the 

 south-west are a series of bold-wooded ranges and mountain 

 peaks which rise from the main Dividing and its lateral spurs. 

 In closer proximity stands the coned summits of The Twins, 

 while intervening, the crest of the Dividing Range, including 

 Mount Smyth, is plainly visible ; and perched on the side of 

 Mount St. Bernard, with the road leading to it, well defined 

 along the ridges and sidelings, is the welcome hospice of 

 William Boustead. 



The geological formation of Mount Hotham is silurian slates 

 and sandstone, with some outliers of tertiary basalt on its 

 eastern slopes. The Bogong high plains to the north, the 

 Higinbotham heights to the west, and the Dargo high plains to 

 the south, are all capped by huge deposits of similar basalt, 

 formed by extensive lava flows during miocene times, which 

 sealed up the river valleys of the period, and which now yield 

 characteristic fossil leaves of a tropic facies in their beds of clay 

 and lignite. 



Ramifying through the silurian sediments are numerous 

 dioritic dykes ; and at the Pulpit, near Mount St. Bernard, is a 

 mass of apparently plutonic rock, whose relation to the adjoin- 

 ing sediments is very peculiar, and requires further examina- 

 tions to disclose its origin. 



The summit of the mountain is above the line of arboreous 

 vegetation, although the dwarfed forms of Eucalyptus pauciflora 

 ascend to 5900 feet on its northern slopes. 



