GEELONG. 71 



Geelong', the town in this district of next importance 

 to Melbourne, from Avhicb it is distant, by water, 

 fifty-five miles. The western shores of Port Phillip, 

 along- which we passed, are low, thinly wooded, and 

 bear a very monotonous aspect. Yast numbers of 

 a large " sea-jelly" (Shizostoma Mosaica), g-ave 

 the water quite a milky appearance. I was sur- 

 prised to find the town, only a few years old, to be 

 one already containing' about 3000 inhabitants. It 

 is built on a range of low gravelly banks facing the 

 hai'bour, from which it extends backwards in a 

 strag'gling' manner towards the river Barwon, 

 which, at the distance of a mile and a half, was 

 then 100 yards wide, deep, and without current. 

 The town of Geelong- derives its consequence from 

 being a convenient outlet for the wool and other 

 produce of the southern districts of Port Phillip — 

 perhaps the best sheep country in Australia. Four 

 or five vessels were then loading for England. 

 Unfortunately, Corio Harbour, on the shores of 

 which the town is built, is blocked up by a bar, and 

 vessels of moderate size are obliged to remain in 

 Geelong- Bay, about five miles off, while discharging- 

 or receiving cargo. 



Five days after clearing the Heads of Port 

 Phillip, we had crossed Bass' Strait,* and anchored 



* For every information required by navigators passing through 

 Bass' Strait, I would refer to Discoveries in Australia, with an 

 account of the Coasts and Rivers explored and surveyed during 

 the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the years 1837-43, by J. Lort 



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