Physiography of Werribee Area. 30.> 



sandstones and older basalts. Myrniong has similar soils, and 

 both places are dairying and agricultural localities. Other town- 

 ships are Ingliston, Mt. Wallace and Bunding — all on the volcanic 

 plains, farming and grazing. There are quarries in the permo- 

 carboniferous ''freestones" of Greendale, which are occasionallv 

 worked. 



(iv.) Blackwood and Ltrdtrdtrg Manges. — We find in these up- 

 lifted masses of bedrock a quite different population. The quartz 

 reefs of the Ordovician and the timber of the ranges attract only 

 miners and saw-millers. Blaclo^'ood is the chief township here,, 

 and was almost wholly mining — alluvial and quartz. Near by 

 were the townships of Simpson's and Barry's reefs, both wholly 

 mining. The village of Blakeville was largely a timber-getting 

 centre, on account of its position in the ranges, and communica- 

 tion by an easy road to Ballan. Mining was also carried on. The 

 tiny locality of Green Hills, well hidden in the ranges, is interest- 

 ing. Here a small isolated lava flow covered up and preserved the 

 river gravels of a short valley. This lava provided a limited area 

 of good soils, the buried gravels were mined for gold, and the sur- 

 rounding ranges were densely timbered; the locality thus became 

 a mining, saw-milling and farming area. The two first-named 

 industries have passed away, and a few farms alone remain. 



The fairly dense forests that clothe the Ordovician ranges are for 

 the most part at present closed to saw-millers for regeneration pur- 

 poses. The great economic importance of these timber supplies 

 must not be overlooked, especially in view of the growing apprecia- 

 tion of native hardwoods. 



(v.) Bris})ane Ranges. — As in the Blackwood ranges, gold-min- 

 ing is the chief activity, St-eiglitz being the main centre. In the 

 western part, where newer basalts occur, there is some farming and 

 grazing. To the south, where a let-down has preserved the 

 younger rocks, tertiaries a,nd older basalts, we get the fertile farm- 

 ing townships of Maude and Sutherland's Creek. The Geelong 

 water supply has two reservoirs in these ranges at Durdiwarrah. 



(vi.) The Divide. — On or near the Main Divide, where it bounds 

 the Werjibee basin on the north, there are three townships — Kor- 

 weinguboora, Old BuUarto and Newbury (Garlick's Lead). All 

 three are situated on areas of good volcanic soils, and are farming 

 localities. In each case, also, the buried river gravels, l^elow the 

 lava flows, were worked for gold in the past. 



