Page:Victoria, with a description of its principal cities, Melbourne and Geelong.djvu/68

 Wales, are likewise alpine or sub-alpine, but the greater part of these ranges are yet untrodden by civilized man.

The Omeo country in this region resembles, in climate and scenery, the Highlands of Scotland. The plains are elevated 3000 feet above the level of the sea, and nothing can be more delightful than to proceed in the summer from the parched plains, at the base of the mountains, to this elevated table-land, where the traveller finds a renewed spring, and a delicious climate. The emerald green of the Omeo Plains, the horses and cattle scattered over them, and the towering mountains which surround them, combine a beauty and a grandeur which the beholder cannot easily forget. This country was discovered by Mr. James MacFarlane.

Towards the south-eastern part of Gipp's Land, the nature of the country alters almost suddenly from that of Van Dieman's Land to that of New South Wales.

Beyond the Snowy River, the cabbage palm (Corypha Australis) attains the stupendous height of 60, and even, though rarely, 80 feet. This useful tree reaches here its most southern latitude, and associated with it are numerous climbers and other plants generally found within the tropics. The whole of this extraordinary region is, in fact, evidently sub-tropical. In all probability this phenomenon is partly traceable to the country being sheltered by Van Dieman's Land from the