of the Buchan District. 9 



long as the pitch of the river bed remains but slight, as on 

 the table lands, no very great changes have followed ; but 

 where the river bed descends rapidly, as does that of the 

 Snowy into the valley lying within this colony, the changes 

 produced have been enormous. 



Early settlers with whom I have conversed assure me 

 that these changes in the Snowy River valley date from the 

 year 1852. Its condition in the year 1848, about where the 

 boundary line of this colony crosses it, has been described 

 to me by one of the early settlers, as follows : — The river 

 was then from 60 to 70 yards across, between banks about 

 three feet in height, and with a rocky and shingly bottom. 

 The flats were from 100 yards to a quarter of a mile wide, 

 and were luxuriantly covered with oat-grass. Here and 

 there a big rock stuck out of the soil. 



The river began first to cut its banks in the year of the 

 great Gundagai flood (1852), and almost the whole of the 

 soil was then carried away. Each subsequent flood has 

 added to the change, the great flood of 1873 having even 

 removed the soil in many places from the hill-sides for some 

 thirty feet above the river level. 



The present state of the valley within flood-marks may 

 be described as being washed out to the bed, and being 

 either bare rock or banks of sand, gravel, or boulders. I 

 have myself observed that throughout the whole course of 

 the river, from the boundary line to the low lands near the 

 coast, there are now no trees growing within flood-marks. 

 In consequence of all these changes the drainage area of the 

 river is undergoing more or less accelerated degredation, and 

 the swamps and lagoons at the Snowy River mouth are in 

 process of being filled up. 



The Buchan River rises in Victoria, in the Great Dividing 

 Range, near the mountain known as the Cobboras. Through- 

 out its course to Buchan it flows in narrow and wooded 

 valleys, which are almost uninhabited, and but little stocked. 

 It has, therefore, remained far more in its original state than 

 has the Snowy River valley. Still, changes somewhat 

 analogous have occurred, though to a less degree. 



However much this rapid stripping of the alluvial soil 

 from the valleys is to be regretted, as possibly pointing to a 

 future general denudation of the hill sides and sloping- 

 ground of the drainage area, the immediate result has been 

 to disclose innumerable natural sections of the formations, 

 of the very greatest interest and value to the field geologist. 



c2 



