PIG <2 Influence of the Physical Character 
instances are recorded of such reservoirs having been reached. 
I may also mention the numerous springs in the coal districts 
in England, which pour their waters from every hill side, and 
are seldom affected by the seasons. 
+ River Currents.—On comparing the rivers of this country, 
one with another, the vast superiority of the Gipps Land 
District, in this respect, cannot fail to be noticed. A recent 
report * by Mr. Surveyor Dawson, a keen and intelligent 
observer, has particular reference to this. He justly attri- 
butes the superiority, in a great measure, to the very high 
hills which form the northern part of the great Dividing 
Range. Amongst them may be mentioned the Munyang 
Mountains, the Coborras, Mount Kosciusko, and other higher 
hills to the westward, as the Boyong Ranges. These exer- 
cise a powerful influence on the climate of Gipps Land, many 
of them being covered with snow during a great part of the 
year. The hills near the sources of the: Wonnangatta, Won- 
nangaratta, and the Moroka, tributaries of the River Mit- 
chell, are very high, and are sometimes covered with snow 
in November. Near the head of the Moroka, Mount Va- 
lentia rises to a height of 4,000 feet, Mount Wellington 
5,000 feet, and Mount Castle 5,000 feet. 
The Snowy River, which has its embouchure within the 
boundaries of this province, is said to be a splendid stream. 
It drains an enormous extent of country—probably nearly 
5,000 square miles. 
The McAlister, and the Latrobe, which unite and flow 
into Lake Wellington,—the Nicholson, the Mitchell, and the 
Tambo, flowing into Lake King,—are also very large streams, 
navigable for a considerable distance inland. 
Dr. Ferdinand Mueller, who has recently visited the 
north-eastern mountains, describes them very much in 
accordance with the officers who have been employed in 
surveying that part of the country. Their geological cha- 
racter is not dissimilar to other parts of: the colony. 
Granite and auriferous schistose rocks abound, and there- 
* Mr. Dawson’s Report to the Surveyor-General, on the Gipps Land Country, 
was published in the daily newspapers, and, I believe, may be found in the 
printed papers of the Legislative Council. It well repays a perusal. 
+ Dr. Mueller, whose high scientific attainments, and intense application to 
his arduous labours, have gained him the esteem and admiration of all who can 
appreciate learning, has evinced his enterprise by climbing these rugged 
heights; but I think he is under some misapprehension when he asserts that 
he is the first explorer. The whole district, I am informed, has been traversed, 
and the greater portion surveyed, except that bordering on the Snowy River 
to the eastward. Dr. Mueller’s enterprise, and noble exertions, are not, how- 
ever, at all the less praiseworthy. 
