Physiography of Werribee Area. 18S 



map (undated) from the surveys of Wedge and others. On thi& 

 the Werribee is shown, but not named, while the Saltwater is given 

 two names; near the mouth it is named the Saltw^ater River; while 

 higher up it is labelled " River Wearily." 



By the courtesy of Mr. Saxton, of the Lands Department, the 

 writer has been shown an interesting original map of part of the 

 Harbour of Port Phillip by D'Arcy, July, 1837. This shows only 

 the mouth of the Werribee, but it is clearly labelled *' River 

 Wearihy.^' 



In 1838, in a map by Asst. Surveyor Smythe, the name is very 

 distinctly lettered, and twice spelt " Weariby." It is believed by 

 some that this name is the " Wearily " of the Saltwater transferred, 

 and with the italic ** 1 '' of a previous map mistaken for a "b.'' 

 Probably, however, the error was in the map reproduced by Bon- 

 wick, with an " 1 " replacing a " b." 



Wedge published a good deal of description and some pictures 

 from 1836 onwards, referring to the river as the '' Peel or Weir- 

 ibie River," and later, foregoing the name (Peel), which he had 

 originally given, he refers to it as simply the "Weiribie." We 

 thus see that within the first twenty years after its discovery, the 

 river had been referred to as the Peel, Arndell (Ardnell, Arundell), 

 Tweed, Exe, Weariby (Wearibie, Weiribie), and Werribee. 



The present incomplete survey of this country has been referred 

 to, and it is of interest, to note that in '' Ham's Map of 1847," of 

 w^hich Mr. Barnard has kindly lent a tracing, the general outline 

 of the Werribee and its tributaries is almost as well set out as it is 

 at the present time. 



From at least as early as 1847, and probably since 1840, the 

 river has been consistently referred to as the Werribee River, 

 although in 1866 Wedge wrote a letter to Bon wick, in which he 

 refers to the Weiribie River. 



While Bonwick mentions the changes which have taken place in 

 names, and quotes the Wearily becoming Werribee as an instance, 

 there is still a possibility that the name is of aboriginal origin. 

 For instance. Wedge, who was the first settler on the river, and a 

 man of parts, would hardly forego the prior name of *' Peel," given 

 by himself, to such a chance-grown name as Weariby. Further, 

 in one of his sketches he refers to the Weiribie Yaloak; and since 

 the latter is the aboriginal word for river, it naturally suggests 

 that the first word was also native. Mr. G. Firth Scott (ref. 61, p. 

 94), says with reference to Humd and Hovell's journey : " Arriving 



