VICTORIAN YEAR-BOOK, 1881-2.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

Victoria.

1. It is believed that the first Europeans who ever sighted any portion Discovery of of the land now embraced within the limits of the Colony of Victoria were Captain James Cook, of the Royal Navy, and the crew of His Majesty's ship Endeavour. This vessel had been sent to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus over the sun's disc, and Cook, who was in command, having accomplished that object, and having also made a survey of New Zealand, continued his course westward, in order to explore the eastern coast of "Terra Australis Incognita." He made the land on the 19th April 1770, and estimated a prominent point-which he named after the first discoverer, Lieutenant Hicks, one of the officers of his vessel-to be in latitude 38° south, longtude, 211° 7' west (148° 53′ east). Cook, however, did not attempt to land, or even to approach near the shore, but passed on to other discoveries. It may be observed that Point Hicks appears to be identical with the present Cape Everard, in Gippsland, situated about midway between Cape Howe and the mouth of the Snowy River.*

to land.

2. About the middle of February 1797, a ship called the Sydney Cove,First party whilst on a voyage from India to New South Wales, was wrecked at Furneaux Islands, in Bass's Straits. Mr. Clarke the supercargo, the chief mate and fifteen men, endeavored to reach Sydney in the launch, but were driven on shore somewhere to the south of Cape Howe, and therefore on the cast of Victoria. They started off by land for Sydney, but three only, viz., Mr. Clarke, an English sailor, and a Lascar, reached it alive. Clarke and his party were probably the first Europeans who ever set foot upon the Victorian shore.

attempts

at coloniza

ion.

3. The first attempt to colonize the district was made by an expedition Early under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins, a marine officer, who had previously held the post of Judge Advocate in Sydney. The party, which consisted of 307 convicts, with a guard of soldiers and a few civilians, making in all 402 persons, set sail from Portsmouth on the 26th April 1803, in two ships, which arrived at Port Phillip on the 7th and 11th October of the same year. They, however, remained

The latitude of Cape Everard, according to the latest computations, is 37° 49′ S., and the longitude 149° 17' E.

A

Permanent settlement

trict.

only about three months, and then abandoned the territory as unfit for the residence of civilized man. A second attempt was made to found a convict establishment in the beginning of 1826, the site of the settlement being Western Port, and the commander of the expedition Captain Wetherall. As, however, the place chosen was altogether unsuitable, and moreover the expense was objected to by the British Government, orders were soon given to remove to Sydney, which was accordingly done. Thus on a second occasion the territory was abandoned.

4. The first permanent settlement was at Portland Bay, situated near of the dis- the western extremity of the colony, the pioneer being Mr. Edward Henty, who landed there from Tasmania, then called Van Diemen's Land, with a few followers, on the 19th November 1834, and soon began to till the soil, to run and breed stock, and to carry on whaling operations. In the following year two parties, also from Tasmania, established themselves at Port Phillip. The leader of the first party was John Batman, who landed on the 29th May 1835, at Indented Heads, about twelve miles from the entrance to Port Phillip; and the leader of the second was John Pascoe Fawkner, who landed on the 18th October 1835, having previously despatched a vessel which arrived on the 28th August. These three parties may be said to have paved the way to the successful colonization of the territory now called Victoria.

Position of
Victoria.

Area of
Victoria.

Boundaries.

5. Victoria occupies the south-eastern portion of, and is the southernmost colony on, the Australian continent. It lies between the 34th and 39th parallels of south latitude and the 141st and 150th meridians of east longitude. Its extreme length from east to west is about 420, its greatest breadth about 250, and its extent of coast-line nearly 600 geographical miles.

6. According to the latest computation, the area of Victoria is 87,884 square miles,† or 56,245,760 acres. The whole continent of Australia is estimated to contain 2,944,628 square miles,† and therefore Victoria occupies about a thirty-fourth part of its surface. Great Britain, exclusive of the islands in the British seas, contains 89,644 square miles, and is therefore somewhat larger than Victoria.

7. On the north and east Victoria is bounded by the River Murray, and by a right line running in a south-easterly direction from a place near the head waters of that stream, called The Springs, on Forest Hill, to Cape Howe. On the west it is bounded by South Australia, the

In consequence of its position at the extreme south of the Australian continent, Victoria is often mistaken, by English writers and others not well acquainted with Australian geography, for an adjacent colony, which has been misnamed South Australia, the truth being that only a very small part of South Australia is situated further south than even the most northern portion of Victoria. A chapter on the Geography of Victoria was given in the Victorian Year-Book, 1874: Ferres, Melbourne.

The estimated area of Australia has been revised since last year by Mr. Surveyor-General A. J. Skene, the result being that these figures exceed by 609 square miles those given in the Victorian YearBook 1880-1.