1856.

VICTORIA.

REPORT ON THE

MURRAY RIVER DIS'"rRICT,

TN n EFEltEN CE 'ro ITS

GEOLOGY, SOIL, PROSPECTIVE RESOURCES, PROPOSED MEANS

OF INTER-COMMUNICATION, ETC.,

SUBMITTED TO THE HONORABLE THE SURVEYOR GENERAL IN ACCORDANCE WITH illS INSTRUCTIONS, ON 1ST APRIL, 1856,

By CLEMENT HODGKINSON,

SURVlIYOR III CHARGE OF EAST nOUlI.KE, EVELYN, ETC.; VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL INSTfTUTE

OF VHJTORIA.

PRESENTED TO BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT BY illS EXCELLENCY'S COMMAND.

ll~ l1lutlJorit~:

No. 16. JOHN FERRES, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, MELBOURNE.

REPORT:.

SIR,

Survey Paddork, 1st April, 1856.

I have the honor to lay before you the following Report of a cursory reconnoissance, conducted in accordance with your instructions, of the Murray River from Albury to Echuca, and as much of the adjacent country as would be indirectly benefited by the improvement of the navigation of that river.

In order to effect the inspection of as much ground as possible during Po.rtion of country the very short period of time that my ordinary duties admitted of my absence lnspected. from Melbourne, I requested Sergeant Forbes to go down the Murray to Echuca in a boat, to take notes during this descent of the position of all shoals, ledges of rock, or large accumulations of snags in the river bed, and to meet· me at certain intermediate points, whilst I inspected both sides of the Murray from Albury to the confluence of the Ovens; the lower portion of the basin of the Ovens; the country comprised between the Ovens, Goulburn, Murray, and Broken Creek; and the tract bounded by the Deegay Ponds, the Goulburn, the Murray, Campaspe, and forest south of the Oorinella Plains.

The portion of the Murray River District extending from Albury to Country adjacent to the confluence -of the Ovens consists of tracts of level box forest, on the recent ~tu~~aJ:e~: tertiary formation, comprised between the alluvial river flats and the well- fluence of the grassed forest hills of crystalline rock that extend to a.considerable distance Ovens. westward of Albury, and gradually recede from the river as the distance from Albury increases.

Granite forms the highest ridges, but some of the hills near the Murray Its geology. consist of mica schist, passing into hard quartzose slate, or else intogranitiform gneiss, quartz displaying -crystals of black tourmaline, quartz studded with projecting scales of mica,and -compact quartz rock.

The recent tertiary formation displays at surface an ochreous soil, in general more argillaceous than arenaceous, and whi-ch freq:u.ently maintains a very homogenous appearance toa depth of severall feet below the surface. Much of this soil is of great fertility, abounding in the alkalis derived from the decomposition of felspathic rocks, and apparently containing calcareous matter; lumps or nodules of concretionary limestone being found in great abundance at a moderate depth below the surface of the ground. These nodules are probably derived from .the action of rainwater on the shells originally embedded in the porous soil, and which are now rardy found therein in a perfeet fossil state. The other beds which I have noticed in this recent tertiary formation are a fine friable sandstone, a rcoarse ferr.uginousquartzose sandstone, occasionally passing into a quartzoseconglomer.ate of similar nature, ana pipe clay. These tertiary beds are 'well .displayed .in section on the escarped banks which characterise those portions 0f the bergs0f the Murray which impinge on the river. Small springs :are rnequently seen at points in these escarped banks, corresponding to the contact of the upper pervious bed:; with the pipe clay.

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Cattle Stations on left The stations on the left bank of the Murray) between Albury and the bank ?f Murray, Ovens are as follows ._ between Albury' ., and the confluence of the Ovens.

Name.

Wodonga. • Barnawatha • Gooramadda • Wagunyah . Bremin . .

TOTAL.

Area. in Acres.

· 41000 38400 · 53132 · 34476 · 28459 ., 195467

RETURN OF STOCK THEREON.

Sheep. Cattle. Horses.

... 2000 50 ... 1500 49

... 1060 50 ... 880 46 ... 543 27

... 5983 222

Land available Cor ' I roughly estimate the area of the land available for cultivation in cultivation on this " t h I i". b k f h M f Alb hOd part of the Murray prOXimIty 0 t e elt an 0 t e urray rom ury to t evens, an near

the Indigo Creek and Black Dog Creek, to be fifty thousand acres. This . extent of land embraces a few small plains clear of timber, but is .however for

the most part wooded by the box variety of Eucalyptus, Banksia, Casuarina Torulosa (sparingly), and' on the more arenaceous sites by Cypress Pine or Callitris Pyramidalis. It would be found exceedingly well adapted for the

, production of wheat, oats, lucerne, &c. Red arenaceous soil 'I may here state O'enerally that the red soil so prevalent throuo'hout the

of the tertiary form- • • d ,b. f h' M ' : . '0 ation, very favora- recent tertIary marIne eposlts 0 t e urray baSIn, would, from Its favorable ble for vine culture. constituents, depth, and slight amount of labor required to trench it, render the

'cultivation of vineyards on a large scale thereon, and the fabrication of wine, a most safe and remunerative mode of employing, capital in this Colony; for. in no part of Australia, and I may add, 'in no part of Europe, visited by, me, have I ever seen such very heavy crops of grapes in proportion to the bearing ·wood, as I have noticed in some of the gardens on the Murray and Broken River, and especially at Tallygaroopna, on the Goulburn.

Alluvial lands. The alluvial lands liable to flood, comprised within the bergs of the . Murray, consist of fluviatile sands and clays, sparingly intermixed with vegetable soil, and heav,ily wooded with large blue gum (Eucalyptus Globulus). Between Albury and the Ovens, these flooded lands are intersected in every" direction by long and tortuous lagoons, resulting from the alterations that have from time to time occurred in the course of the iiver. The alluvial lands of the Murray do not possess that exuberant richness of soil noticeable on the alluvial brush lands of the rivers on the eastern coast of Australia, and I think this difference is caused by the very rank and luxuriant vegetation of. the brush lands of the eastern coast, in which numerous plants abound whose nature is such as to derive from the atmosphere a very much greater pro-portionate quantity of· carbon than the 'vegetation of the flooded lands bordering on the Murray; therefore such plants, by their decomposition, tend ,to increase the richness-of the soil from whence they originally spring, or else, ,to augment the depth of the vegetable deposit. -

A large proportion of the agricultural produce of New South Wales is. raised on cleared brush land liable to occasional floods. Maize and tobacco grow peculiarly well on land of this description; but I beli~ve, on account of the facts just stated, that these exhausting crops could not be successfully cultivated on the alluvial lands of the ¥urray, unless on those sites where more than urdinaryaccumulations of vegetable soil have been fo:rmed.

Sites of Townships. The eligibility of the position of townships on the Murray above the junction of the Ovens is dependent not only on non-liability to floo,d, easy ,access to water, and other obvious desiderata, but also on the relative facility with which lines of. communication can be established therefrom to the grazing districts- of the Billebong and Murrumbidgee, and the gold districts. near Beechworth.

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On considerations of this nature, I venture to state that in my humble opinion Albury does not occupy the most eligible site that might have been chosen for the principal border town, as the flat on wHich it stands can hardly be said to be altogether beyond the reach of the highest river floods, and the nature of its surface renders it exceedingly miry after heavy rain. The grazing districts are also more accessible from other sites below Alhury.

Belvoir, the township in this Colony opposite Albury, is situated too far back from the margin of the Murray (in consequence of the wide extent ·of flooded lands and lagoons on the Victorian side opposite Albury) to rival the latter town; in fact, the occurrence of a bank beyond the reach of flood, near the margin of one side of the stream, is attended with the inevitable concomitant of a flooded flat on the opposite side, so as to preclude the advantageous establishment of townships directly opposite to each other in the two colonies.

In my progress down the New South \Vales side of the Murray I inspected a new township laid out at Howlong, and an extensive tract of country about to be offered for sale in farms of moderate size.

Howlong is a most excellent site for a township, being contiguous to a very fine plain, clear of timber, and an open box forest of the best description, backed by granitic ranges.

On the Victorian side of the Murray, I am inclined to think that the best site for a township, between Belvoir and. the Ovens, would be found at or adjacent to Mr. Ford's homestead at Wagunyah, as that locality possesses the following advantages:-

1st. S.ound fertile ground, above the reach of flood, y~t very near the rIver.

2nd. A width between the opposite bergs very much less than the average width, and therefore favorable as regards the establishment of a crossing place.

3rd. A position about equidistant from the established towns of Albury, Wangaratta, and Beechworth. .

4th. A line of communication with Beechworth,with less steep ascents than those which occur .on the mail track from Albury to Beech-worth.

5th. A g90d line of communication with Wangaratta. The land contiguous to the Ovens, from Wangaratta to the confluence, The country ~ear the·

consists of the fertile tertiary soil already described. Ovens. On the range which forms the 'Watershed between the Ovens and the

Broken River, and which range consists of a rather coarse granite, similar to that of the ranges along the southern portion of the basin of the Broken River, I noticed at one point a fine close-grained flesh-colored granite, probably appertaining to a vein to be referred to a different period to that of the pro-trusion of the ordinary granite of this range.

Near the confluence of the Ovens a!1d Murray there is a large station-Peechelba, connected with several; out stations, embracing altogether an area of 126,483 acres, and reported to hold 8822 sheep, 100 head of cattle, and 163 horses.

Between the Murray amI Broken Creek (which is a long but ill-defined TractofconntrycO))l-anabranch connecting the Broken River with the Reed Beds of the Munay prised between the-

M · )]. .'. J! I I I d' Ovens, Goulbnrn. near ?lf3 t Jere IS an extenSIve tract 01 ow eve country, woode by the Murray, and Bro-box varIety of Eucalyptus, with an occasional appearance of' Banksia, Callitris ken Creek. Pyramidalis, Casuarina Torulosa, Casuarina Paludosa, Exocarpus Cupressi-form is, and some of the Acacia tribe. The western portion of this level forest country is, however, diversified by many open grassy plains varying in extent from about one hundred acres to several thousands of acres. Some of these plains are very beautiful, their irregular but well-defined margins being fringed by the graceful Callitris and Casuarina.

A ~dense underwood pervades much of the box forest, and I may here

6

remark that the forest land generally, both on the New South vVales and Victorian sides of· the Murray, is rapidly ~ deteriorating as regards its grazing capabilities, owing to the great increase of scrub and underwood consequent on the partial cessation of the bush fires which formerly checked their growth.

Its geological charac- The country extending back from the Murray to the Broken Creek is ter. connected with the recent tertiary deposit already described. The red soil near

the river bergs is, however, more frequently arenaceous than was observable above the junction of the Ovens.

At a distance of a few miles south of the Murray, the absence of natural drainage channels creates an excessively boggy state of the surface over a wide extent of country during the winter months,

In. the lower, part of the Broken Creek I found the hollows of this ill-defined channel of drainage quite dry, their beds consisting of quartzose sand in~ermixed with black veg'etable matter. .

The level country between the Murray and the Broken Creek seemed to :me to aisplay in some places indices of comparatively modern fluviatile drifts, at a level mnch above that of the highest floods that have occurred since the discovery of the Murray River. .

On the surface of an open plain near the Broken'Creek, and at an elevation apparently many feet above that of the highest flood mark of that anabranch near this plain, I noticed a· great variety of waterworn fragments of quartz, quartzose schist, slate, &c., the dimensions of which fragments were occa-sionally as great as. a cubic inch, and which must have been brought down from ranges very far from the plain where found. The Murray, subsequently to the rise of the submarine bed of the large estuary corresponding to the tertiary deposits of the upper portion of the basin of that river, must };lave commenced.fo cut, and gradually deepen, a channel through them; and th

7

during my short visit to the Murray. Potatoes, which grow well at Albury, do not succeed at Cobram and Yarrawonga. Some kinds of vegetables attain, however, a large size, as will be evident from the following 'statement of the weights of some melons and caBbages grown by a resident on the Murray :-

Melons (Rock Cantaleupe), 15 Ibs. A preserving melon, 28 lbs. Cabbages (mean weight of some of the largest specimens), .171bs. eac~.

The badly drained levels of the back country and the want of water m Future resources of d · 1 . d ' . I I . 1 h 1 IX' d' this portion of tho summer ren er It utter y un sUIte for agrlCu tura pursUIts, a t oug 1 allOl' mg Murray.

very good fattening pasturage for stock. ' On the whole, therefore, I am of opinion, that under the existing

drcumstances of the Colony, it would be to the public .advantage that the portion of the Murray River country between the Ovens and the Goulburn should remain as a grazing district; yet, if at some future period in the history of the Colony of Victoria, a very greatly augmented resident population on the Murray should ever render the cultivation of the soil on its banks a paramount branch of industry, much of the land on the banks of that portion of the Murray just alluded to might be made, with the aid of i1Tigation, to yield certain and abundant crops of the ordinary cereals and leguminous plants, and also display vineyards, olive groves, and orange orchards.

The lands available for cultivation along the bergs of the Murray being Irrigation. of very uniform and moderate elevation above"the river, and only a, very few feet above the highest floods, I think that whenever a series of contiguous farms shall be est.ablished along the banks, the water required for irrigation could be economically supplied to each farm by means of a flat- bottomed vessel, transportable to different parts of the river, and provided with pumping engines and flexible hose' of adequate power and dimensions to deliver to the farms from the nearest points in the stream the supply of water required by each for distribution over the cultivated lands.

The absence of water during the summer months, in the back country, Artificial water-holes. causes much fine pasture land to be understocked, and the temporary abandon-ment for part of the year of many out-stations. These disadvantages might be considerably mitigated by deepening some of the existing hollows and rendering them impervious. This could be easily effected as clay is generally attainable at no great depth in the tertiary beds, and lime is also procurable. By lining the bottom and sides of a hollow with a layer of well-worked clay, one foot deep, covering the la-yer of clay with a layer of quick-lime one-inch thick, and finishing with rough pitching, or only a coating of quartzose gravel, it would remain water-tight.

In beds of ponds thus constructed in Great Britain, the lime has been found to exercise an important influence on the subjacent bed of clay, preventing its perforation by insects, &c. Mr. Brough Smyth's experiments on evapo-ration having convinced me that my original estimate of 5 feet 6~ inches for the annual evaporation from pond water near Melbourne is likely to be a tolerably fair average rate for ordinary years, I think in the hotter climate of the Murray the evaporation from still water would be six feet. It would therefore be advantageous that any artificial water-holes constructed in the Murray River District for the use of stations should be formed of a narrow oblong shape, so as to admit of being partly covered in by charred logs, brush-wood fascines, and a top-coating of earth. .

The site extending from the junction of the Ovens to a point on the Site for Townships. Murray two or three miles below it, is a good site for a town reserve, the forest being open and fertile, the bergs high close to the m;;trgin of the stream, and the communication with \Varigaratta very easy along a sound track, on which only one steep crossing occurs throughout its whole length.

A short distance above Yarrawonga, a punt has been established by which the settlers on the right bank of the Murray, and als9 at the Billebong country cross over into Victoria, and travel to Melbourne via Benana. The

8

settlers at the Billebong and Yanko Creek could, 'however, reach the capital of Victoria by a much shorter route if a crossing place were established at some favorable site either near Cobram or Ulupna, as an easy and nearly straight line of communication could be foi'med froni this part of the Murray, either to Stapleton on the Goulburn, or to Avenel on Hughes' Creek. .

The country adjacent In ascending the Goulburn from its junction with the Murray, extensive to the Gonlburn. well grassed plains are succeeded by box forest often scrubby, but interspersed

with small clear plains covered with kangaroo grass. Above Murchison an undulating tract of forest country commences, which improves c~nsiderably after crossing the range south of the Deegay Ponds. .

Its geology. In the immediate vicinity of'the Goulburn, the tertiary deposits extend up to Murchison. . Quartzose schists soon after occur; and, on approaching-Seymour, basalt is seen adjacent to sl~ty flagstone, which is altered at its conta

9

The information afforded to me by the residents in the neighbouring townships of Echuca and Moama relative to agricultural ,productions, was Jess unfavorable as regards the ill effects of the dry summers on the crops of this part of the Murray, than that obtained from the squatters.

Having now submitted to you my humble opinions in reference to the geology, soil, and resources, either existing or prospective, of the country near the Murray from Albury down to Echuca, I next beg to offer the fol-lowing observations in reference to the establishment of lines of communication to render this portion of the Colony more accessible.

It is not necessary for me to discuss the paramount advantages that Proposed railway to would accrue to this Colony on the completion of a railway connecting Mel- ~~~~ca, tlU, Sllml-bourne with Echuca, as I am aware, Sir, that you have been, ever since the earliest proceedings in reference to' colonial railways, so fully impressed with the favorable geographical position of Echuca for the terminus of a railway to the Murray as to have personally reconnoitred the basin of the Campaspe River, in order to decide on the general direction to be adopted for this line. If, therefore, I state my belief that the construction of this railway will render Echuca the imtrepot for all the surrounding' grazing districts, and cause it to become rapidly one of the largest inland towns of Australia; that it will benefi-cially affect even the most remote of the interior districts of New South Wales, and also tend to. create a very great reduction in the price of- food to the consumers at the Mount Alexander gold fields and even Melbourne; and lastly, induce-the settlement of an agricultural community on part of the Murray, I only do so in order to shew cause for the opinion I now venture to express, Navigation of tbo. that the navigation of the Murray River above Echuca will ultimately be an ~g~:fm~~rr~~c ~~ o/dect of very much greater importance to this Colony than to New South Victoriath~ntothc Wales or Sm~th Australia. othcr colomcs.

For, on completion of the railway, stores conveyed by rail to Echuca and by water to the various stations and townships up the Murray, could be delivered at rates that would utterly preclude the ports of South Australia from competing' with Melbourne for the traffic of the Murray Districts above Echuca, especially as the delivery of stores, &c., thus obtained from Melbourne, would not be liable to that uncertainty as regards the probable period of such delivery, which can hardly be obviated in the transmission of stores from South Australia to the Upper Murray. I may further state incidentally, that even if the construction of this very important railway were not in contemplation, it would be quite possible for Melbourne to obtain a fair share of the river traffic of the interior, by the expenditure of about £4000 on the Goulbmn below the Mitchell's Town Reserve, and the improvement of the road from Kilmore to that reserve.

I found the Murray, on a section taken above the punt at Albury, on Discharge of tile 8th March, to possess a sectional area of 1060 square feet, and a discharge of ~;~~lay on 8th

.t • .t_C I, 1856, at 660,400 gallons per minute; the width was 167 feet. AlbUry.

At a distance of ~ few chains below the punt there is a shoal of quartzose Impediments to tile gravel, admitting of the passage of the Murray by bullock drays on the day navigation. when the section was taken. I found I could ride through the Murray across several similar shoals between Albury and the Ovens; the lowest crossed by me was near Brown's station, on the New South Wales side, a short distance above the confluence of the Ovens, which is about 108' miles by water from Albury.

Ledges of rock consisting either of soft shale, sandstone, or soft ferru-ginous quartzose conglomerate occur near Howlong, Wagunyah, Macrae's Punt, Oobram, and Moama. I, however, quite concur with the opinion expressed in a letter to me by Captain Cadell, that these shoals and ledges of rock present no obstruction to vessels of the light draught employed by the Murray Riv.er Navigation Company, and that the snags constitute the main obstacles to the successful navigation of the Murray. .

At some of the bends of the river, I noticed great accumulations of

10

snags and driftwood almost entirely blocking up the channel, and I therefore cannot sufficiently express my admiration of the energetic resolution which must have been displayed by Captain Cadell ,in effecting the first a~cent of the Upper Murray, at a period when the low state of the river must have exposed the Lady Augusta steam tug, to continual risk of "destruction from the huge logs and projecting snags that bristled up in all parts of the stream. '

The navigation of the Murray from the Ovens to the confluence of the ~oulburn, which is 274, miles by water from Albury, is very much less lmpeded by snags than from Albury to the Ovens. ",

The 1anabranches Tuppal's Creek, the first 01 the series of anabranches which diverge from ~:J.~~gRi!!;. Ed· the main stream to form the Edwa;rd'sRiver, does not abstract water from the

Murray except during th~ freshets. The Gulpha' Creek or chief feeder of the Edward's River, was abstracting from the Murray on March 21st a small quantity of water; . its width near point of departure from the Murray was 110 feet, and greatest depth 12t feet.

'Vhenever the Murray is a little lower than it was found to be when the Gulpha Creek was examined, no water would be conveyed away by the latter, but in time of flood the Gulpha affords an outlet for an immense volume of the surcharged waters of the Murray. From the Gulpha to a~point a few miles

Rood Beds. below Lake Moira, the Murray meanders through re~d beds,and its channel is very free from snags. "When the wooded flats recommence, the reaches of the river still cont.inue unobstructed by any large accumulations of snag~ as far down as Echuca. '

Impediments ~ ItJJ.e· Having written to inform Oaptain Cadell that the short time I could ~~~~~~on e ow devote to the reconnoissance of the Murray would not admit of my proceeding

to the South Australian Boundary, he has kindly favored me with a description of two portions of the bed of the Murray, where impediments to the navigation

, occur between Echuca and the South Australian Boundary, ' . The first of these portions begins a little below Gunnewarra (about fifty

miles below Echuca), where ~he river is divided' by an island and.is then sinuou~ and much impeded with timber until within fifteen miles of Swan Hill, where reed beds of vast extent commence, and the navigation becomes pleasant and safe. .

The second bad portion commences about seventeen miles below Swan Hill, on th~ lower part of the Tyntyndon Run, where the .reed ·beds terminate· and the ri,ver becomes dangerous and narrow to its junction with the 'Vakool, which is here so broad as to present the appearance rather of a recipient of the Murray than of an affluent to it.

Sum granted by the The Murray River· Navigation Company has received from the New ~~~e!::~~Wai~ South Wales Government £2000, of which £1000 is to be devoted to the wards t~e clearing improvement of the Murrumbidgee, and the other £1000 to the Murray. of the nvcr. 'c . C d II ' d' h' II . I' t I' . aptam a e IS expen mg t IS sma sum m emp oymg wo c earmg partIes,

one of which was visited by me near Barnawat~a, and the other near vVagunyah, Presentmodeofclear.and which parties were engaged in cutting down flush with the water surface

mg. those snags that projected above the water in the main channel; the men working with axes, fronl boats and rafts of pine.

The small amount of funds thus placed at the disposal of Captain Cadell for the river improvements, must, of course, have prevented him from devoting any portion of those funds to the purchase of the working plant and gea:r requisite for sawing the snags under water, &c., so that the present process ot clearing, although uu,dou btedly of some benefit, is 'yef liable to some objection; for, by thlls cutting down the snags to the water surface, any boat steered in ' ignorance of the channel and running' against one of these truncated snags when covered with less water than the draught of the boat, would receive much greater ii~jury than if it encountered an ordinary uncut branching snag .

. The thorough clearance from snags of the bed of the Murray through-out its total width, aild the felling and removal of all' overhanging trees on the

- --

11

:banks would prove a very costly operation, and the advantages derivable from ,such a complete removal of the river obstructions would be not adequate to the expenditure. .

. In order, however, to effect such.a clearance of the main channel from Albury to Echuca as should render its navigation perfectly safe and easy for such vessels as are employed by the Murray River Navigation. Company, I think that if in addition to the £1000 already granted by the New South Wales Government, £2000 more should be judiciously expended, a very important improvement in the navigation would result therefrom.

I therefore beg respectfully to recommend that, as the future interest of Su;nrec0f!=cndc~foE' h· C I (. h d'l h M . ) 'II b 'lmprovlllg navlgll-t IS oony owmg to t e propose rm way to t e urray Wi e greater III tion.

the navigation of the Upper Murray than those of either of the adjacent colonies, a sum of £2000 be granted for the improvement of that portion of the river comprised between Albury and Echuca, and £500 for that extending from Echuca to the junction of the Wakool.

The dimensions of the steamers. of fifty horse powel' to be employed by the Murray River Steam Navigation Company, are as follows·:-

Length over all. . . . . .. . . . .. 130 feet Depth of hold ............ 6" Draught when light. . . . . . . . 1 ft. 6t in. Ditto loaded ...... 2 ft. 9 in. The barges are 120 ft. by 14 ft. 6 i'n.

During my cursory visit to the Murray I could not but remark how lmprovcmentofcxist-very much the road communications of the interior might be bettered .at slight ing ~a~~hin Mth~ -cost by forming short detached plank wa ysacross those limited portions of ;~;~ 0 c ur soft boggy ground which occasionally occur on the main track to Sydney, and other tracks near Benf,llla, &c.; for the tracks in the country of the Murray and near its chief tributaries often keep sound and good for many miles, and then cross over a few hundred feet of soft ground, when the sound ground is re-entered, and so on.

Teams employed in transporting goods along tracks of this nature have to be loaded in winter excessively light in reference to their power of draught on the sound portions of the tracks, in order that they might be able to get through the short boggy flats that occur at intervals. Yet, if those bad places Advantage of plank-were formed, and p~anked ways l¥d down, they would· no longer impose a cd waYa t across strain on the draught animals, but prove a great relief to them, when loaded, swampy as. commensurate with their. power of draught on the sound track, as a horse can actually draw two and a half times as heavy a load on a level planked way as on a level macad'amized road.

The"mode of constructing such a plank way across a swampy flat might be as follows :-First, cut deep roadside drains, and throw up earth resulting' therefrom to raise the proposed road surface, forming culverts where necessary, and drains in continuation towards the outfall. Lay on their flat sides, in trenches cut to receive them, two rows of longitudinal sleepers about 3k feet apart in the clear, each sleeper being of an uniform length of about 16 feet by 12 inches and 4 inches, and obtained from any sound variety of Eucalyptus. They should be of course so laid that the joint between two sleepers on one side should be opposite to the middle of a sleeper on the opposite side. Fasten down on these longitudinal sleepers, with six iuch spikes, seasoned gum planks eight feet long' and three inches thick, taking care to pack the earth well under them as they are laid. Next spread over the planking a layer of sand, about one inch, thick and the planked way is ready for use. The earthen roadway, outside of the planking, would have to be well-formed, so that when two vehicles coming in opposite directions, meet on the planked way, one of them could easily turn off on to the em'then roadway, and regain t.he planked way after the vehicles had passed each other.

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The cost of such a planked way, inclusive of that of the formation and' drainage of the earthen roadway, would not, I think, exceed at present, if near' well-timbered Crown Lands, the rate of £2000 pel' mile; and the annual cost of its maintenance would not, I think, be more for the first seven years than one per cent. per mile on the original cost. .

In one of the reports of the Board of Public Works in Canada, it is shewn that in that country the cost of one mile of macadamized road would form nearly four miles of planked way; arid that on one ·road the substitution of plank for metalling caused a saving equivalent to the replanking of the road every three years-an operation of course not required so often as that, as the duration of planked roads, in An:ierica, under heavy traffic, is at least eight years. In Australia, seasoned gum plank would be found more durable than the pine and hemlock plank of the United States ..

'l'im?crof't.he~urray In the basin of ·the Murray River, the Eucalyptus Globulus of the RlYCr Dlstnct. extensive alluvial flats bordering on the Murray, Ovens, Goulburn, &c" would

yield plank of the best description; and I may mention that saw mills are about to be established at 'Vangaratta, and also at Echuca. .

The box of the· interior is generally unsound at the heart, if of large size; it would, although available, when gum might not be' close at hand, not furnish such good plank as the gum, and be quite as liable to longitudinal as well as lateral contraction.

A large tree resembling Box, very common in the Murray District, and there called Apple Tree, although totally different from the Angophora Lanceolata or Apple Tree of the Sydney Colony, furnishes timber proved by experience to be much less durable than the other varieties of Eucalyptus, and its use in constructions ought therefore to be carefully avoided.

Ironbark .of good quality is obtainable on part of Futter's Ranges, near the Ovens, and also on some of the ranges near Beechworth. Callitris Pyra-midalis, or Murray Pine, seldom attains a thickness of two feet, and its use as a timber tree is necessarily restricted; its wood is light, durable, and liable to very little contraction.

Black wood, which is, however; a rare tree in the basin of the Murray, is. very durable, and its contraction small.

Relative summer dis- Before concluding this Report I may mention that I measured the charges of the Mar- d' h ' f l' d b '1 f I" h al £'.11 ray audits 'tri- ISC arges 0 t 1e TIvers crosse, ut t 1e ,.occurrence 0 a s Ig t gener ' 1a

'~~~t~r~~s at certain botl~l in the MU~'l'ay and all its tribut,aries during the. short period that elapsed durmg the first and last of these measurements, precludes such measurements from being placed in juxtaposition for comparison. I have tried to apply some corrections to them for the estimated effects of such fall in the rivers, but the results so corrected are necessarily vague and unsatisfactory, and I merely submit them to you as· rude approximations to the probable relative, dis-charges of the streams on the day specified, 8th March. . Discharge of the Murray, at Albury, on 8th March, taken

, as unity .. " .' . . " " . . 1"000 Goulburn, at Seymour, corrected to same date 0-370 Ovens, at 'Vangaratta, ditto 0-100 Campaspe, at Rochester, ditto 0'007 Broken River, at Benalla, ditto . 0"003 Tn proportion to the areas of drainage above the points where the

measurements were taken, the summer discharge of the Goulburn ranks very high, and that of t~e Campaspe very low. - '"

The difference in the nature of the flow of the two rivers IS due to the very lofty densely w()oded range of mountains, abounding in unusu~ny copious and permanent springs, and which separates the Goulburn from the Yarra Yarra, and the streams flowing towards Gipps' Land. "

On the occurrence of the rainy season, the discharge of the Campaspe would of course increase in a much greater ratio than that of the Goulburn.

13

Trusting you will ex'cuse me for submitting to you a Report which I now feel, in concluding it, to be excessively long in proportion to the few observations which so cursory a reconnoissflnce enabled me to make on the ground,

I have the honor to remain, Sir,

Your most obedient servant, CLEMENT HODGKINSON,

Surveyor for East Bourke, Evelyn, &c., Vice-President of the Philosophical Institute

of Victoria. 'fhe Honorable the Surveyor General,

&c., &c., &c.

, '

By AuthOl'ity: JOB::; FI1JlBES, Goverment Printer, Mebourne.