2 Evidences of a Glacial Epoch in Victoria 



In the first place, the observer is struck by the frequency 

 with which washes containing huge boulders occur close to . 

 the sources of small rivulets. These insignificant gutters of 

 intermittent flow are quite inadequate in power to carve out 

 this drift. A stream of water with some volume is required 

 for the purpose. To get a stream a watershed is necessary, 

 but the gathering ground of some of the gullies which contain 

 these boulders in abundance is insignificant. Thus, the 

 water-power required is not only wanting, but, to all appear- 

 ance, always has been. This is not merely my own 

 individual opinion, but it is one which has been expressed 

 strongly by many geologists. 



On a col. between Mounts Lookout and Taylor, in Gipps- 

 land, Mr. A. W. Howitt reports a wash of boulders and rolled 

 gravel (Smyth's Goldfields, p. 123). On this saddle there is 

 no stream, and no watershed to feed one ; even the surface 

 runnels cannot unite until they reach the lower ground, 

 where the hill flanks gather themselves up into folds and 

 troughs. Nor can it be shown that where the saddle now 

 stands a watershed ever has served it, and has since been 

 removed by erosion. The only effect of erosion is that the 

 saddle has been lowered. In what manner, then, has flowing 

 water cut out and laid down this boulder bed ? 



We find similar deposits placed high up the flanks of the 

 Warrenheip Range, 1750 feet above the sea level. The 

 boulders are of immense size, and the wash has been traced 

 along the valley for miles. It once filled up the whole 

 depression, but now only remnants fringe the sides 

 (Murray's Rep. Ballaral Geo. Survey, Vict, p. 66). 



At Creswick, on two hills, there is a deposit which varies 

 in thickness between 4 and 60 feet. It occurs at an elevation 

 of 1400 feet, and consists of brown clay, quartz, gravel, 

 pebbles, and boulders. Some of the latter are as much as 

 four feet in diameter, and weigh over a ton. The age of this 

 deposit is lower pliocene (Lock's Gold, p. 931). 



Krause' describes a drift near Ararat, at 1100 feet above the 

 sea level, which is a mixture of clay, gravel, and angular 

 boulders, and which is occasionally 100 feet thick. In his 

 report he points out that these large boulders are found at 

 the very sources of the leads, where little or no fluvial action 

 can have taken place (Gold, p. 650). 



Without multiplying such instances any further, I will 

 quote to you an opinion expressed many years ago by 

 Selwyn, who wrote as follows : — " The wide spread of the 



