Victoria, smallest in area of the members of the Australian Commonwealth, yet comes near New South Wales in population and commerce. The S.E. coast was sighted by Captain Cook in 1770; the harbour of Port Phillip was discovered, in 1801, and an unsuccessful attempt to form a settlement on its shores was made by Lieutenant-colonel Collins in 1804. But it was not till 1835 that the country around the harbour which gave its name to the whole district was colonised by Batman and Fawkner, and the neighbourhood of Portland Bay by Edward and Francis Henty, all of whom had crossed Bass Straits from Tasmania. The natural grasses were found to be unusually well suited for the growth of fine wool; large areas of land were taken up by sheep-farmers from the neighbouring colonies and Great Britain, and the seaport towns of Melbourne, Geelong, and Portland were founded. From 1836 till 1851 Port Phillip was administered by the government of Sydney, but in the latter year the district was constituted into the colony of Victoria, with a separate executive and legislature. Its boundaries, which have not been altered since they were originally determined upon, are, on the N. and N.E., the Murray River from the point at which it enters South Australia in 141° E. long. to its source; on the W., the colony of South Australia; on the S., the ocean; and on the E., a line drawn from Cape
Howe to the source of the Murray. Victoria occupies the south-east of Australia, and has an extreme length from east to west of 420 miles, while its greatest breadth is only 250, and its least only 150; its coast-line is 600 miles, and its area 87,884 sq. m. or 56,245,760 acres. Gold was discovered in 1851, and attracted a large number of immigrants; the first railway was opened in 1854; responsible government was introduced in 1857; in 1862 additional facilities were given for the acquisition of land for agricultural purposes; and in 1865 a protective policy was initiated with the object of stimulating local manufactures.
The geographical position of Victoria and the mountainous nature of a large portion of its area have made its climate generally cooler than that of any other colony on the mainland, with the exception of the mountains and high tablelands of New South Wales. A chain of varying height, the Dividing Range, traverses the greater portion of the colony from east to west at a distance of from 60 to 80 miles from the coast; the eastern portion, termed locally the Australian Alps, divides the watershed of the Murray from Gippsland, and has many peaks with an elevation of from 6000 to 6500 feet. Farther west the height of this mountain-range is much less—although there are isolated summits, such as Macedon, 3324 feet high. In some places, as in the neighbourhood of Ballarat, it dwindles into elevated plains of little more than 2000 feet above the level of the sea, surmounted by occasional hills 500 or 600 feet higher. Farther west the range is better defined, and is known locally as the Pyrenees and Grampians, the highest peak, Mount William, having an altitude of 3824 feet. A few miles beyond this lofty eminence the mountains cease altogether, and are succeeded by extensive plains; in addition to this main range there are many isolated mountains and hills scattered all over the colony.
Most of the rivers rise in this Dividing Range; those on the north find their way into the Murray, which has a total length, including bends, of 1300 miles, 980 of which form the northern boundary of the colony. The principal streams flowing north (going from east to west) are the Mitta Mitta, 175 miles long; Ovens, 140; Goulburn, 345; Loddon, 225; Avoca, 163; and Wimmera, 228; the last mentioned losing itself in Lake Hindmarsh. The southern streams are the Snowy, 300 miles long (180 of them in New South Wales), which flows into the ocean a few miles west of Cape Howe; the Latrobe, 135, falling into the Gippsland lakes; the Yarra, 150, into Port Phillip; the Hopkins, 155; and the Glenelg, 281, into the Southern Ocean. Many of these rivers are in the summer season mere chains of water-holes, and only the Murray and Yarra are navigable, although others, such as the Goulburn and the Snowy, might easily be made so. The principal lakes are Victoria (45 sq. m.), King (24), Reeve (6), and Wellington (54), in Gippsland, all navigable and communicating with the ocean, Corangamite (90; salt), in the Western District, and Hindmarsh (47; brackish) and Tyrrell (66; salt), in the Wimmera or North-western District.
The principal ports and harbours are Port Phillip, area 800 sq. m.; Western Port; Portland Bay, near the South Australian border; Port Fairy and Warrnambool, between Portland Bay and Cape Otway; and Port Albert in Gippsland. The principal headlands, going from west to east, are Wilson Promontory, in 39° S., the most southerly headland in Australia; Cape Patterson; Cape Schanck; Cape Otway; Cape Nelson; and Cape Bridgewater. The only islands of any importance are Phillip and French Islands in Western Port.