Thamanampalli Surekha

After a delay of about half an hour, occupied in "coaling" at the hulk in Hobson Bay, and landing and taking in passengers and cargo at Williamstown, our smart little boat steamed at a brisk rate round Point Drake, speedily leaving the lighthouse behind and opening up the waters of Geelong harbour. To say that the day was bright is using a feeble expression to convey to the reader any idea of the brilliancy of an Australian summer morning, the sky and water absolutely glittered in the sunbeams, and we enjoyed the shade of the awning spread over the quarter-deck of the vessel amazingly. As she paddled along within a few miles of the shore, on our right hand we could see the poverty-stricken country through which the road from Melbourne to Geelong traversed, for many miles inland it appeared a barren plain without any vegetation on it, we were, therefore, the more gratified when the fertile lands on the opposite shore, or southern side of the harbour, became sufficiently close for use to discern its verdant slopes. This tract of agricultural land in the environs of Geelong is called Indented Head, and possesses the richest alluvial soli in that vicinity. Through the telescope we could see numerous farm-houses studding the green cliffs of the bay all they way along as far as Point Henry. Thus point divides the waters of Geelong Harbour and Corio Bay, closing in upon it, we saw a great many large square-rigged vessels lying at anchor. We were informed that the greater portion of the wool raised in the province was shipped at this port, which is a sufficient indication of the rich pastures in the country to the westward. Ships arriving in Port Philip harbour from England, bound for Geelong, proceed no further than this anchorage, which is about ten minutes miles by water, and six miles by land, from the town. And as we have stated in our memorandum, upon arriving in Hobson Bay, with regard to the conveyance of passengers and their luggage form the ship to Melbourne, the same applies here, for they have to proceed to Geelong with their goods and chattels from the ship, at their own risk and expense. The most convenient way to reach it is by hiring a boat to put you on board the steamer form Melbourne. As we passed along the vessel stopped to pick up passengers in this way, which added considerably to the company on board. And thus we steamed merrily into Corio Bay, passing over a shoal reaches from Point Henry across the entrance to the bay, with not sufficient water upon it for ships large burden to soil over it. There is no doubt, in the opinions of persons competent judge on the matter, that a sufficiently deep channel could be made through this shoal with a good steam-dredging machine, so as to allow the largest ships to enter, in which case the port of Gee- long would be a more important one than that of Melbourne. The surveyors report that there is no great obstacle it is doubtful whether the removal of the barrier at the entrance to the Yarra would continue clear. The Yarra is a stream liable to great floods, and its waters convey the sedimentary matter which form these deltas, when the downward current meets the opposing tide at its moth Corio Bay, on the contrary, has no river or running stream flowing into its basin, and therefore has no outset to meet the flowing tide. The shingle which forms this bar being once removed, it is calculated that there are no influences likely to deposit the same again. As the colony advances, there is every likelihood, therefore, of this important matter being accomplished sooner at Geelong than Melbourne, as it would not only take less time, but much less expense to execute. Upon entering Corio Bay- the inner Geelong of Captain Hinders-you are surprised and are charmed with the view before you, and if you have been up the Mediterranean and seen the bays there, you may have your memory thrown back upon some of these localities which were so agreeable to you at the time, and of which you are so strongly reminded by all around you. Before you is an amphitheatre of green undulating cliffs, rising abruptly from the almost circular basin of the bay, some sixty or eighty feet above the smooth sandy beach. On your right, a few miles back from the shore, over part of the sterile plain we have mentioned, rises the thickly-wooded cone of Station Peak, to an altitude of eleven hundred feet. This mountain, and the lesser granite hills which surround it, called the Anaki-Youans, has been said to resemble Mount Etna and its volcanic group of cones rising from the Bay of Sicily. On your left hand, about the same distance back from the southern side of the bay, the Barrabool hills present a contrast to the densely-timbered flanks of their neighbours, from being as clear of trees as any Welsh or Highland mountains. Altogether the scenery of the country in the vicinity of this miniature bay, from the cleared rising ground on and about Point Henry, covered with rich verdure, round to the forest-land on the opposite shore, with its dark-green foliage, seen between the clear blue sky above and the darker tint of the water below, presents many subjects worthy of the painter's art. The channel through this shallow bay is from four to six fathoms deep, and makes a half-circuit in its course round the northern and western shores, crossing to the south side of the bay, where the town of Geelong is situated. As you approach the town along this channel by the steamboat, it lies right ahead of the vessel, and