216 



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 Dividmg 

 Range. Amongst them may be mentioned the Munyang 

 Mountains, the Coborras, Moimt Kosciusko, and other higher 

 hills to the westward, as the Boyong Eanges. These exer- 

 cise a poAverful 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 withm 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 Kow 

 into Lake AVellington,— the Nicholson, the Mitchell, and the 

 Tambo, flowing into Lake King,— are also very large streams, 

 navi*>'able for a considerable distance inland. . . i i 



D?. Ferdinand Mueller,t who has recently visited the 

 north-eastern mountains, describes them very much m 

 accordance with the officers who have been employed m 

 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- 



"^r. Dawson's Report to the Surveyor-General, on the <>W^L?^^d^Com^^^^^ 

 was published in the daily newspapers, and, I heheve, niay be found m the 

 printed papers of the Legislative Conncil. It wel ^^P^f ^ 



t Dr Mueller, whose high scientific attainments, and intense application to 

 his ardu^ria^^^^^^^^ have gained him the e.teem and admirat on of all who can 

 .^^^^l..v^^i has 'evinced his enterprise by ^^^-^^^^^^ 

 heights; hut I think he is under some misapprehension when he ^^s^rts that 

 he ?s thi first explorer. The whole district, I am informed, has been traveW^ 

 and the greater portion surveyed, except that bordermg on the Snowy Kiver 

 to the eastward. Dr. Mueller's enterprise, and noble exertions, are not, how 

 ever, at all the less praiseworthy. 



