Title

Plate 19: Moroka River Falls, foot of Mount Kent, Gipps Land. [by Eugene von Guérard].

Author

Author not identified

Source

[Not applicable]

Publication date

1868

Type

About the work

Language

English

Country of context

Australia

Full text

Plate 19: Moroka River Falls, foot of Mount Kent, Gipps Land.

In the very heart of the Gipps Land Mountains, in one of the most secluded districts of the colony, though little more than sixty miles from Melbourne, well forth the springs which unite to form the torrent of the Moroka. The artist has reason to believe that he and Mr. Alfred Howitt were the first to discover these falls, while descending from the summit of Mount Kent. Guided by the roar of a cataract, and penetrating, with great difficulty, the woody fastnesses in which it was hidden, they at length reached this romantic spot, and experienced all the gratification which attends the first sight of a magnificent object hitherto unrevealed to human eye. Issuing from the northern slopes of Mount Wellington, the Moroka, after traversing the ravine here represented, winds round the basis of the Snowy Bluff and finally empties itself into the Wonangatta at Eagle Vale. But before doing so, it breaks into numerous cascades, which, when the river is swollen by the melting of the mountain snows, under the warm breath of the spring, assume imposing proportions and fill the air with the reverberation of their angry voices.

Accompanying text, 1868.