Page:Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies.djvu/83



Macquarie Harbour did not present the desolate appearance which we had been given to expect. The mountains along the east side are not nearly so bare as those of Port Davey, the rock only projecting above the soil on the tops of the highest. The most striking mountains are Mount Discovery, to the south, Mount Sorell, to the east, and Mount Zeehaan and Heemskerk, to the north. The herbage on their sides is coarse and deep; it looks grassy from a distance, but probably may not be so in reality. The scrub of the gullies runs into deep wood on the lower grounds. Deep wood also clothes many of the hills. The prevalence of Myrtle—Fagus Cunninghamii—and other trees of dark foliage, gives a very sombre appearance to the forests. These extend also over the low hills at the foot of the mountains, and up the west side of the harbour, about ten miles, toward Cape Sorell. Behind the mountains on the east of Macquarie Harbour, rises a magnificent, snow covered range; the most striking point of which is the Frenchmans Cap, having the form of a quarter of a sphere, perpendicular on the south, and towering to 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. This is probably the highest point of V. D. Land. The south end of the harbour is more level and less woody. A wide inlet called Birches River opens into it, and a little to the east, the Gordon River, which is navigable for 30 or 40 miles, but