lled over the loaded punts.
The men and oxen then swam across, and once more pushed forward. But the
country through which they had now to pass was so rough and woody that
they were obliged to abandon their carts and load the oxen with their
provisions. They journeyed on, through hilly country, beneath the shades
of deep and far-spreading forests; to their left they sometimes caught a
glimpse of the snow-capped peaks of the Australian Alps, and at length
they reached the banks of a clear and rapid stream, which they called
the Hume, but which is now known as the Murray. Their carts being no
longer available, they had to construct boats of wicker-work and cover
them with tarpaulin. Having crossed the river, they entered the lightly
timbered slopes to the north of Victoria, and holding their course
south-west, they discovered first the river Ovens, and then a splendid
stream which they called the Hovell, now known as the Goulburn. Their
great object, however, was to reach the ocean, and every morning when
they left their camping-place they were sustained by the hope of coming,
before evening, in view of the open sea. But day after day passed,
without any prospect of a termination to their journey. Hume and Hovell,
seeing a high peak at some little distance, left the rest of the party
to themselves for a few days, and with incredible labour ascended the
mountain, in the expectation of beholding from its summit the great
Southern Ocean in the distance. Nothing was to be seen, however, but the
waving tops of gum trees rising ridge after ridge away to the south.
Wearily they retraced their steps to the place where the others were
encamped. They called this peak Mount Disappointment. Having altered the
direction of their course a little, in a few days they were rejoiced by
the sight of a great expanse of water. Passing through country which
they declared to resemble, in its freshness and beauty, the well-kept
park of an English nobleman, they reached a bay, which the natives
called Geelong. Here a dispute took place between the leaders, Hovell
asserting that the sheet of water before them was Western Port, Hume
that it was Port Phillip. Hume expressed the utmost contempt for
Hovell's ignorance; Hovell retorted with sarcasms on Hume's dogmatism
and conceit; and the rest of the journey was embittered by so great an
amount of ill-feeling that the two explorers were never again on
friendly terms. Hume's careful and sagacious observa