nine o’clock
Next morning very early , they took leave of the young squatters , with hearty thanks and a positive promise from them of a visit to Malcolm Castle when they should return to Europe . Then the wagon began to move away , round the foot of Mount Hottam , and soon the hospitable dwelling disappeared from the sight of the travelers like some brief vision which had come and gone . For five miles further , the horses were still treading the station lands . It was not till nine o'clock that they had passed the last fence , and entered the almost unknown districts of the province of Victoria . AN immense barrier lay across the route to the southeast . It was the Australian Alps , a vast fortification , the fantastic curtain of which extended 1,500 miles , and pierced the clouds at the height of 4,000 feet . The cloudy sky only allowed the heat to reach the ground through a close veil of mist .