WILSON'S PROMONTORY

southernmost point of the Australian mainland, in Victoria, 110 miles (177 km) southeast of Melbourne. A granite peninsula, 22 miles long with a maximum width of 14 miles, it projects into Bass Strait and is almost an island, being linked to the mainland by beach ridges. From a spectacular scenic 80-mile coastline, it rises to a mountainous interior; its highest point is Mount Latrobe, at 2,475 feet (754 m). There is a lighthouse at its southern tip. The vegetative cover, which tends toward the xerophytic (adapted to a dry climate) on the west, is periodically swept by fires. Visited in 1798 by the English explorer George Bass, the promontory was first called Furneaux Land, after a member of Captain James Cook's second (1772) expedition. It was renamed for Thomas Wilson, an English merchant. In 1905 the entire promontory was made a national park. It is notable for its beaches, fern gullies, more than 700 species of plants, and a variety of animals, including emus, koalas, and wombats. Tourist access is gained with some difficulty via the South Gippsland Highway.