Reviews — R. B. Smyth — Goldjields of Victoria. 461 



sumed to be occupied by gold-bearing rocks. Granite and other 

 Plutonic rocks occupy 2,200 square miles ; Basaltic and Volcanic, 

 10,300 ; Silurian and Devonian rocks, 27,800 ; Carboniferous series, 

 3,200; Tertiary rocks, 28,600; Limestones of all ages, 330; unex- 

 plored region, chiefly consisting of Granites and Lower Silurian 

 rocks, 14,401 square miles. 



Let us now for an instant scan the physical features of the country. 

 The Colony of Victoria occupies the south-eastern sea-board of the 

 great Australian Continent, having New South Wales to the north, 

 from which it is divided along nearly its entire frontier by the 

 Murray Eiver, and South Australia to the west. 



The great Cordillera, extending southwards from Cape York, cul- 

 minates at Forest Hill in a peak 5000 feet high, and runs thence in 

 a south-west and west direction through Victoria, turning southwards 

 at St. Clair to "Wilson's Promontory. This great chain of moun- 

 tains, which give off numberless minor chains, spurs, and lateral 

 ranges, has at least thirty principal mountains, many of which are 

 from 5000 to 6000 feet in height, snow-clad at their peaks nearly 

 all the year. The principal ranges conform rudely to the coast-line, 

 dividing the water-shed between a series of minor rivers which flow 

 south and south-east to the coast, and a larger series running north 

 and north-west, which mostly unite with the great Murray River. 



Altogether there are sixty rivers in the Colony ; of these, the 

 Snowy River has a drainage area of 5000 square miles, the Yarra 

 about 1,500. A tract of 1,144 square miles drains into Lake Ko- 

 rangamite, which is twenty miles in length north to south, and in 

 some parts seven miles in breadth. 



Everywhere, beneath flows of basaltic lava, ash-beds, and other 

 volcanic deposits, the miners, in sinking, come upon ancient river- 

 courses and old land-surfaces, the drainage lines often running in 

 the same direction as the present, and hollowed out in the upturned 

 denuded beds of Silurian or Devonian strata. 



If arguments were needed to enforce the vast periods of time 

 occupied by subaerial denudation in forming and transforming, and 

 carving over and over again the surface-contour of continents, here, 

 in this region, so ably described and depicted in Mr. Brough Smyth's 

 work, we shall find abundance of illustrations. But here, as we 

 have always insisted, not one set of causes have oj)erated to effect 

 these changes, but many. Volcanic and plutonic action have been 

 busy, the sea has been here again and again, and torrents, whose 

 beds are dry, save in the rainy season, have here demonstrated what 

 can be done by rain. 



We cannot resist giving two or three extracts from Mr. Smyth's 

 work, which has so interested us in its perusal : — • 



"That part of the Victorian ten-itory which lies to the south of 

 the Great Spur has a better climate than that of the northern area, 

 and its soils are as rich as could be desired. The area of its water 

 surfaces, as compared with other parts of the colony, is considerable, 

 and the numerous bays, lakes, and streams increase the humidity of 

 the atmosphere to an appreciable extent. Both in the high lands at 



