At a quarter of a mile from the camp we crossed a running stream which also contained deep and apparently permanent pools. Several pine or callitris trees grew near its banks being the first we had seen for some time. I named this mountain stream the Mackenzie. Beyond it were grassy undulating plains with clumps of casuarinae and box trees (eucalypti). At three miles and a half we crossed another chain of ponds, and at four miles we came to a deep stream, running with considerable rapidity over a bed of sandstone rock. It was overhung with mimosa-bushes; and it was not until after considerable search that I could find a convenient place for fording it. This I named the Norton. Good grassy hills arose beyond, and after crossing them we found an undulating country and sandy soil where there were shallow lagoons and but little grass.
THE WIMMERA IN A UNITED CHANNEL.
At nine miles I was aware, from the sloping of the ground, of the vicinity of a river; and we soon came once more upon the Wimmera, flowing in one deep channel nearly as broad as the Murrumbidgee, but in no other respect at all similar. The banks of this newly discovered river were not water-worn but characterised by verdant slopes, the borders being fringed with bushes of mimosae. The country was indeed fine adjacent to the Wimmera, and at the point where we came to it the river was joined by a running creek from the south which we crossed, and at two miles and a quarter further we encamped on a spot overlooking a reedy lagoon, from which some long slopes descended towards the river, distant from our camp about half a mile. When we thus again intersected the Wimmera I was travelling due west, partly with a view to ascertain its ultimate course.
LOSE THIS RIVER.
The isolated hill lay before me, and it was now to be ascertained whether the course of the stream was to the south or north of it. The appearance of the country from Mount Zero certainly afforded no prospect of our falling in with the river where we did, but at this camp Burnett, having climbed to the top of a high tree, thought he could trace the course to the southward of the hill before us, which bore nearly west. This prospect accorded with my wishes, and I hoped to trace it to the coast without deviating too far to the westward of my intended route.
July 22.
A small stream from the south crossed our way when we had proceeded about half a mile. At six miles and a half we met with another; and three miles beyond it I perceived a change in the appearance of the country. We had been for some time travelling through forest land which now opened into grassy and level plains, variegated with belts and clumps of lofty trees giving to the whole the appearance of a park. We had now the hilly mass of Mount Arapiles on our right, or north of us, but to my surprise there was no river flowing between us and those heights as I had reason to suppose from what had been seen from the tree by Burnett. Turning towards the north-west therefore and at last northward, we finally encamped on a spot to the westward of the hill after a journey of sixteen miles. Much of the ground near this hill was so soft that one of the carts could not be brought in before midnight, although assisted by several teams sent back from the camp. We were now encamped on a dark-coloured soil from which arose the same peculiar smell that I had remarked at Cudjallagong (Regent's Lake of Oxley). What had become of the Wimmera I could scarcely imagine but, anxious to ascertain its course, I hastened before sunset to a western extremity of the hill; but instead of the river, of which I could see no trace, I beheld the sun setting over numerous lakes: the nearest, two miles and a half to the northward, being apparently six miles in circumference. It seemed to be nearly circular and a group of low grassy hills formed a concentric curve around the eastern margin, and from the total absence of any reeds, trees, or smoke of natives, it was too obvious that the water was salt. From the spot where I then stood I counted twelve such lakes, most of them appearing to have a crescent-shaped mound or bank on the eastern side. This certainly was a remarkable portion of the earth's surface, and rather resembled that of the moon as seen through a telescope. The eastern and principal summit of the hill was at some distance; and I returned to the camp in hopes of being able to discover from that point in the morning some indication of the further course of the Wimmera.
ASCEND MOUNT ARAPILES.
July 23.
Having ascended the highest summit I counted from that height twenty-seven circular lakes, two of the largest being about seven miles to the north-east, the direction in which I expected to see the river. Beyond these however I observed an extensive woody valley whence much smoke arose, marking, to all appearance, the course of the Wimmera which must have taken a turn in that direction, not far below the junction of the last creek crossed by the party. Beyond that supposed bed of the Wimmera the country appeared to be undulated, open, and grassy; and it was probably covered with lakes similar to those on this side, for I had observed from Mount Zero patches of water in that direction. From this summit I had a good view of the Grampians of the South and, discovering that a lofty range extended from them southward, I named it the Victoria range having also recognised and intersected Mount William, distant 53 1/2 miles. I could see no high land to the westward, and the hill on which I stood seemed to divide the singular lacustrine country from that where the character of the surface was fluviatile. Mount Arapiles is a feature which may always be easily recognised both by its isolated position and by its small companion the Mitre Rock, situated midway between it and the lake to the northward, which I named Mitre Lake after the little hill, its neighbour. Like the mountains in the east Mount Arapiles consists of sandstone passing into quartz, the whole apparently an altered sandstone, the structure being in one part almost destroyed, in others perfectly distinct and containing pebbles of quartz. At the western extremity this rock occurs in columns, resembling, at a distance, those of basalt. (See Plate 31.) On the steep slopes grew pines, casuarinae, and a variety of shrubs among which we found a new species of Baeckea, forming a handsome evergreen bush, the ends of whose graceful branches were closely covered with small white delicate flowers.* This mass occupies about two square miles, its highest summit being elevated above Mitre Lake 726 feet. I ascended this hill on the anniversary of the battle of Salamanca and hence the name.