Mount Elephant is a conical breached scoria cone formed by a

dormant volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

, located 1 km from the town of Derrinallum in southwestern

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

. It is a prominent landmark that forms the eastern gateway to the

Kanawinka Geopark The former Kanawinka Geopark is situated along a structurally controlling geological fault of the same name that extends from the Naracoorte Caves in South Australia into Western Victoria, before disappearing offshore at Portland. Descripti ...

from the

Hamilton Highway Hamilton Highway is a rural highway in western Victoria, Australia, linking Geelong and the town of Hamilton, through the localities of Inverleigh, Cressy, Lismore, Derrinallum, Darlington, Mortlake, and Penshurst. Glenelg Highway links Ha ...

at Derrinallum.

Formation and history

Scoria cones are small volcanoes with relatively steep sides, usually formed as the result of a single major episode of volcanic activity. Lava lakes often form in the centre of scoria cones; if the lava in such a lake breaches the side of the cone, the result is a breached scoria cone, such as Mount Elephant. The volcano first erupted approximately 184,000 years ago, within a tolerance of 38,000 years, according to argon-argon dating research first published 21 February 2017. There are approximately 200 breached scoria cones in Victoria. During early European settlement, the mountain was known as "Swagmans Lighthouse" or the "light house of the western district". Mount Elephant was once quarried for its red/black scoria, and evidence of the quarry is visible at the base of its cone. The first of three quarries began on the north slope in 1910 and closed in 1913. The second quarry, known as the 'old commercial pit' operated from the 1950s and closed in the 1990s. The last mining operations were undertaken by the Corangamite Shire and have now stopped. The scoria that was quarried from Mount Elephant was used to make many of the roads and buildings in and around the town of Derrinallum. The mountain was privately owned until 2000, when it was purchased by the Trust for Nature and the local community. The aim is to revegetate the area and promote local tourism.

Aboriginal history

The language group of the Aboriginal people whom lived nearest to Mount Elephant is called

Djargurd Wurrong The Djargurd Wurrong (also spelt Djargurd Wurrung) are Aboriginal Australian people of the Western district of the State of Victoria, and traditionally occupied the territory between Mount Emu Creek and Lake Corangamite. Language The Djargur ...

, and the mountain stands close to the border of other language groups, including

Wathawurrung Wadawurrung, also rendered as Wathawurrung, Wathaurong or Wada wurrung, and formerly sometimes Barrabool, is the Aboriginal Australian language spoken by the Wathaurong people of the Kulin Nation of Central Victoria. It was spoken by 15 clan ...

Gulidjan The Gulidjan people (perhaps originally Kolidjon,), also known as the Kolakngat, or Colac tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian tribe whose traditional lands cover the Lake Colac region of the state of Victoria, Australia. They occupied the grassl ...

, and

Girai wurrung The Girai wurrung, also spelt Kirrae Wuurong and Kirrae Whurrung, are an Aboriginal Australian people who traditionally occupied the territory between Mount Emu Creek and the Hopkins River up to Mount Hamilton, and the Western Otways from the ...

(Clark, 1990). During European colonisation in the 1830s, Mount Elephant was located within the territory of the clan ''Teerinyillum Gundidj'', part of the larger

Djargurd Wurrung The Djargurd Wurrong (also spelt Djargurd Wurrung) are Aboriginal Australian people of the Western district of the State of Victoria, and traditionally occupied the territory between Mount Emu Creek and Lake Corangamite. Language The Djargu ...

language group. The

name for the mount, ''Djerrinallum'', means "nest of sea swallows, terns" (Dawson, 1881). A slightly earlier source (Porteous, 1878) had stated the name to mean "a hill of fire... and is also the name of a local clan Djerrinallum gundidj". In the notes to his 2011 translation of the dreamtine story ''Derrinallum ba Buninyong'' however, Joel Wright says that the name ''Derrinallum'', means "home of sea swallows or terns frequenting neighbouring marshes", in the

(called by him "Keerray woorroong") language. According to James Dawson, "The Mount Shadwell tribe and its language are called 'Kirae wuurong,' 'blood lip.' with Kuurndit member of"affixed for a member of the tribe. Its territory commences at the Hopkins Hill sheepwash on the

Hopkins River The Hopkins River, a perennial river of the Glenelg Hopkins catchment, is located in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. Course and features The Hopkins River rises below Telegraph Hill near , and flows generally south, joined by twe ...

, and extends to Mount Fyans, Mount Elephant, Cloven Hills, Minninguurt, Mount Noorat, Keilambete Lake, Framlingham aboriginal station, and up the east side of the Hopkins River to starting point." The photographer Fred Kruger (1831–1888) took a photograph of the Derrinallum Aboriginal man King Tom in 1877, while he was at

Coranderrk Coranderrk was an Aboriginal reserve run by the Victorian government between 1863 and 1924, located around north-east of Melbourne. The residents were mainly of the Woiwurrung, Bunurong and Taungurong peoples, and the first inhabitants chose ...

. Kruger's photograph was made into a lithograpic print around 1880, included with "portraits of surviving leaders of Aboriginal tribes of Victoria, originally taken at various times between around 1866 and 1878" published under the title "Album of the kings & queens of Victoria" He was painted by

Robert Hawker Dowling Robert Hawker Dowling (1827 – 8 July 1886) was an Australian colonial artist. Biography Dowling was born in England the youngest son of Rev. Henry Dowling and his wife Elizabeth, ''née'' Darke. He was brought to Launceston, Tasmania with hi ...

(1827–1886) in 1856. The painting, entitled ''Aborigines in a Bark Hut: King Tom of the Mount Elephant Tribe'', is in the collection of the National Library of Australia. Tom lived at Meningoort Station, ource missingabout 25 km south-west of Mount Elephant, north of Camperdown and west of Lake Bookaar. Meningoort Station still exists in Corangamite Shire and has remained in the McArthur family since Scottish immigrant, Peter McArthur, squatted on the land in 1837.See "Meningoort Homestead (Heritage Listed Location) on http://www.onmydoorstep.com.au/heritage-listing/193/meningoort-homestead, retrieved 4 July 2013. ink broken, source needed

References

External links

Mount Elephant, Derrinallum, Revisited 2022

Kanawinka Geopark, Victoria & South Australia

Derrinallum, Revisited 2022

New site for Mount Elephant Community Management Inc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elephant, Mount Cinder cones Volcanoes of Victoria (Australia) Mountains of Victoria (Australia) Inactive volcanoes

Formation and history

Aboriginal history

See also

References

External links