Physical Geography . 
7 
In its principal deviations, the course of the Main Divide con- 
forms noticeably to the configuration of the coast line ; the south- 
ernmost point of the former is where the Cordillera bifurcates at 
St. Clair, and is directly north of Wilson’s Promontory, the south- 
ernmost point on the coast line. The Divide recedes northward 
conformably to the indentation of Port Phillip, turns again 
slightly south-westward, and then deflects north-westward, coin- 
ciding in general direction with the coast line from Cape Otway 
to Portland. Of the spurs branching from the Main Divide on 
the north only those eastward from the Ovens River extend as 
far north as the Murray ; the spurs westward from the Ovens 
terminate on level country many miles back from the Murray. 
That portion of the Murray lliver drainage-area which is con- 
tained within Victoria lies to the north of the Main Divide, and 
comprises more than half of the entire area of the colony. 
The principal Victorian tributaries of the Murray are the Mitta 
Mitta, the Kiewa, the Ovens, the Broken River, the Goulburn, 
the Campaspe, and the Loddon, all of which rise in the Main 
Divide, and are fed by numerous tributaries. Westward from the 
Loddon are the Avoca, the Wimmera, and several smaller rivers 
and creeks which run only during wet seasons, and whose waters 
rarely reach the Murray, being received and retained in lakes and 
swamps, the overflow from which is absorbed by the porous soil 
of the low-lying tract extending from the Avoca to the western 
boundary of the colony. 
On the southern slopes of the Main Divide, the leading spurs 
separating the principal drainage-areas lying between Capo Howe 
and Port Phillip, extend down to, or to within a short distance 
of, the sea ; but, to the westward of Port Phillip, a wide extent 
of low-lying and level or slightly-undulating country intervenes 
between the foot-hills of the Main Divide and tho coast line. An 
isolated mountainous tract, known as the Cape Otway Ranges, 
totally unconnected by any conspicuous leading range with the 
Main Divide, lies to the south of a line from Geelong to Warr- 
uambool. The highest point in these ranges is Mount Sabine, 
1,800 feet above the sea, and from the Mount Sabine Range 
numerous spurs descend to the coast, where they terminate in 
cliffs and bold headlands. 
The Southern Spur, after leaving the Cordillera at St. Clair, 
trends southward for some miles to Mount Baw Baw, where it 
attains an elevation of about 5,000 feet; it then turns westerly as 
far as tho head of tho La Trobe River, whence it makes a south- 
easterly deflection, and descends to a level not 500 feet above the 
sea in the neighbourhood of Drouin, where it forms a low water- 
shed between the valleys of Gippsland and Western Port.^ Irom 
here the Southern Spur rises again, and forms the Strzlecki 
Range, over 2,000 feet above the sea. 
