Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay

Front matter

AUSTRALIA,

FROM

PORT MACQUARIE TO MORETON BAY;

Preface

PREFACE.

In consequence of the unexampled depression which has now for so long a time paralysed the colony of New South Wales, in common with the other Australian settlements, and the melancholy truth that few occupations can now be profitably carried on there; many persons in England have arrived at the conclusion that the state of Australia is quite hopeless.

Having made a visit to my native country, after a residence of five years in New South Wales, during which time I had been engaged, either in surveying for the Government a district beyond the limits of location, in the north-eastern part of the territory, or in farming pursuits, I found that many of my friends, who took an interest in the colony, were very desirous of knowing whether there was any truth in the statement, that the natural resources of that part of Australia, were not of a nature to admit of the colonists advantageously competing with other countries, in any one article of production.

As this notion seemed to be very prevalent among those who have suffered from their connection with New South Wales, I have been induced to write the following pages during my limited stay in England, in the hope that they might not prove altogether useless to those persons who desire to know the present state of that colony, and how far her natural resources will be henceforth available for the production of articles of export.

As the north-eastern part of the territory of New South Wales, from Port Macquarie northward, as far as the country has been explored past Moreton Bay, is of a very different character to the other parts of the colony, with regard to its geological structure, soil, vegetable productions, and climate, I have given a description of it; partly with a view of shewing its adaptation for the culture of many of the productions of tropical countries, and partly to endeavour to rectify the prevailing opinion of many persons, that all parts of New Holland are distinguished by a scantiness of vegetation, and aridity of soil, exceeding that in any other country.

The only central part of New South Wales, which bears any resemblance to the north-eastern part of the territory, is the isolated district of Illawarra, which has always astonished those who have visited it, by the wonderful luxuriance and tropical aspect of its vegetation. The cause of this unusual aspect is entirely attributable to the vicinity of high ranges near the coast, and their peculiar geological formation. The rich soil, covered by luxuriant jungles, of the north-eastern part of the territory, is also more owing to analogous causes, than to the warmer climate. Although the dense vegetation which covers the rich soil in this part of the colony, entirely precludes all possibility of its ever being made use of for the ordinary colonial productions, yet the time might arrive, in some future generation, when much of this kind of land might be checquered with plantations of rice, tobacco, indigo, cotton, sugar-cane, and mulberry trees.

I have divided this work into four parts. The first contains a description of the MacLeay river, and two smaller rivers, between that stream and the Clarence; these rivers being included in the district I was ordered to survey, I have been rather prolix in my details concerning the geological formation of the surrounding country, and its influence on the climate, soil, indigenous vegetation, and objects of culture, which I was able to see displayed, as I possessed a share in a station on the banks of the MacLeay, where we successfully cultivated a large tract of land for some years.

In the second part, I have described the river Hastings, and the Port Macquarie district, the Clarence, Richmond, and Tweed rivers, and the country in the vicinity of Moreton Bay and the Brisbane river.

The third part contains an inquiry into the causes of the depression, and monetary panic, which have so long afflicted the colony of New South Wales. I have also examined whether any future profit will attend the investment of capital in flocks and herds, when considered as only valuable for the exportable articles of tallow, wool, or hides; and have annexed some calculations on the subject. Agriculture, carried on for the production of wheat, maize, &c.—and the cultivation of the vine, with a view to the production of wine and brandy, are next analysed in the same manner, in order to ascertain whether these occupations can be profitably carried on with a view to the exportation of their products, independent of any colonial demand for them.

The last part contains a few desultory observations on Australian field-sports, and the incidents of a bush life, with anecdotes of the Aborigines, &c. &c.

In offering to the public this work, which will not be published until I am again traversing the ocean on my return to Sydney, I must crave the reader's indulgence for the defects which it may contain; for being engaged in many other affairs during my limited stay in England, I have not been able to find time to render it as complete as I could have wished.

Part 1

NEW SOUTH WALES.

PART I.

The entrance of the MacLeay River—Trial Bay—Granite headlands—A digression on the nature and appearance of the alluvial jungles or brushes, on the banks of some of the coast rivers of New South Wales—Probable causes of the tropical aspect of the vegetation, and the inexhaustible richness of the soil, which characterise these brushes, especially in the northern districts—Extensive swamps near the estuary of the MacLeay—Successful experiment with rice—Agricultural stations of the squatters—Cedar sawyers— Prevalence of ague at the lower MacLeay—Village of Kempsey—Dongai Creek—Beautiful fertile ranges—Their geological formation the most favourable of any for vineyards—Limestone caverns—Rich fertile well-watered country on the south side of the MacLeay—Densely wooded lofty mountains—Tremendous cataracts and basaltic precipices—Extraordinary altitude of the bed of the MacLeay above the level of the sea, between the cataracts and its sources—Fine table land country of New England—Coldness of the climate from the great elevation of the country—The Nambucca River—Survey of its navigable arms—Murderous attacks of the native Blacks on the Cedar sawyers—Coohalli Creek—First appearance of Pine here, in about 30½° S.—The Bellengen River—Journal of an excursion over the mountains towards its sources—Journal of subsequent examination of the country in the vicinity of its mouth.

The MacLeay River, and the adjacent country to the north of it, having been the districts allotted to me, by the Colonial Government, to explore and survey, I will commence my observations on the northern part of the territory of New South Wales, by a minute description of that river; especially noticing those peculiarities in the geological formation, soil, and botanical productions, which distinguish the MacLeay from the rivers in the south country.

The general character of the country on the banks of the other rivers, north of Port Stephens, viz.: the Manning, the Hastings, the Clarence, the Richmond, the Tweed, the Brisbane, &c. being, with some little variation, nearly similar to that at the MacLeay, a more brief notice of their natural features will suffice.

The MacLeay river disembogues in Trial bay, lat. 30° 40′ S. The entrance is obstructed by a bar of sand, the position of which is not unfrequently altered by floods and other causes; it has, however, generally sufficient water on it for vessels drawing eleven feet. Trial bay is a good roadstead, being completely protected from all winds but those between north and east, from which quarters the winds are seldom strong. The basis of the country in the immediate vicinity of the mouth of the MacLeay river, is a pink granite, overlaid occasionally by dark-coloured rock of trap formation; a few miles west of the bar, this granite rises abruptly to an altitude of nearly two thousand feet in the Yarra-Hapinni range; which is the termination of the range dividing the basin of the MacLeay river from that of the Nambucca river to the north of it. Mount Yarra-Hapinni is densely wooded to the summit, with an almost impenetrable forest of gigantic trees, but its spurs towards the sea descend in beautiful verdant park-like declivities to the beach, the grass growing luxuriantly, even within reach of the salt spray of the ocean. At the south extremity of Trial bay, the granite again rises in a lofty conical grassy forest hill, to which I gave the native name of Arakoon; its gullies are enveloped in brushes of bangalo palms, cabbage palms, and gigantic ferns.

In ascending the MacLeay river, from its entrance, the first objects which meet the eye on both banks are extensive mangrove flats, with thickets of myrtle, palm, and swamp oak, which, a few miles farther on, are superseded by dense alluvial brushes, rising like gigantic green walls on both sides of the river.

I must here make a digression to attempt to convey to the English reader some idea of the very peculiar appearance of that kind of vegetation to which the colonists have assigned the unmeaning name of brush. It grows on the richest alluvial land, and consists of trees of almost endless variety, and very large dimensions, totally differing in appearance from the ordinary Eucalypti and Casuarinæ, which grow on the common open forests of Australia, for the brush trees in general possess a rich umbrageous foliage of bright shining green.

The popular names of the most remarkable brush trees are as follow:—Red Cedar, White Cedar, Mahogany, Tulipwood, Rosewood, Ironwood, Lightwood, Sassafras, Corkwood, the Australian Tamarind, Box, the numerous and elegant varieties of trees of the Myrtle genus, the Australian Palms, and the Brush Fig-tree, which, from being originally a mere creeper, requiring the support of another tree, gradually envelopes it, and attains occasionally such a size, as to cause it to rank among the largest vegetable productions in the world. But the peculiar appearance of the brush is principally caused by the countless species of creepers, wild vines, and parasitical plants of singular conformation, which, interlaced and entwined in inextricable confusion, bind and weave together the trees almost to their summits, and hang in rich and elegant flowering festoons from the highest branches. The luxuriant and vigorous character of the brush, on alluvial land, in the northern part of the territory of New South Wales, cannot be surpassed in any tropical region. When this brush land is cleared, and cultivated, its fertility seems inexhaustible. For even in the old settled parts of the colony, near Sydney, the productiveness of the thickly wooded alluvial flats is most wonderful; thus, on the banks of the Hawkesbury, there is some land of this description, which has now been cultivated for forty years, without intermission, and without any renovating application to the soil; and it has been observed by Mr. Wentworth, the present member for Sydney, in the New Legislative Council, that, on the banks of that river, the same acre of ground has been known to produce, in the course of the same year, fifty bushels of wheat, and a hundred bushels of maize, and yet the settlers have never any occasion for manure. I have also been informed of fourteen successive crops of wheat having been reaped off the same piece of ground at Illawarra, without manure, and on ground, too, out of the reach of flood.

Facts such as these will appear almost incredible to the English, or even the Canadian agriculturist; several causes may be assigned for this more than ordinary richness in alluvial soils in some situations on the east coast of Australia. First, the more than ordinary quantity of renovating substances which have been deposited on them during heavy floods. For in those districts in which we find the most of this rich brush land, (the Illawarra country, the Williams and Paterson rivers which join the Hunter, and all the northern rivers), the mountain ranges are eminently formed, from their height, steepness, and narrow shelving ravines and gullies, to effect the rapid transportation of rain-water to the lower grounds; and as the Australian climate is characterised by long intervals of fine weather, followed by sudden and violent rains, the decayed vegetation on the ranges becomes desiccated and pulverized by the heat during the dry weather, or else is reduced to ashes by the frequent bush fires, and is therefore in a state most favourable for being easily washed away by heavy rains, and subsequently deposited on the alluvial lands.

The geological formation of the basins of different rivers in Australia, exercises also a most marked influence on the comparative fertility of the soil of their respective alluvial lands. For instance, in examining a well dried handful of alluvial soil, taken from the banks of the MacLeay river, with a microscope, I saw in it minute particles of felspar, and quartz, and little thin laminae of mica; thus at once indicating, that in the basin of this river there is a preponderance of primitive rooks. Now soil containing minute particles of these kinds of rocks, would, of course, have different qualities from soil in which particles of other kinds of rock, such as sandstone, predominated.

Professor Jameson has made the following apposite remarks on the different qualities of alluvial soils produced from this cause.—"The varieties of transported soil depend chiefly upon three circumstances: first, the nature of the rocks from which they are derived; 2ndly, the quality and effect of the moving powers; 3rdly, the changes which they may have undergone after their formation. The origin of the materials, which enter into the composition of transported soil, has already been considered. From their difference may be easily explained why soil generated from the debris of primitive crystalline rocks, has different qualities from soil which has been derived from strata of sandstone."

There is, indeed, scarcely any country where the surface rocks exercise so great an influence on the fertility of the soil, and the aspect of the vegetation, as in Australia. Thus, sandstone, the all-pervading rock of the central part of the colony, and of which the Blue Mountains are composed, from the Shoalhaven to the Liverpool range, except in a few places where it is overlaid by whinstone, is always indicative of barrenness and sterility; whilst nearly all the varieties of trap, with the clay slates, (so frequently met between the Hunter and Moreton), limestone and granite, are generally accompanied by good soil, and a more luxuriant vegetation. Thus the richness and tropical aspect of the isolated district of Illawarra, is principally attributable to the whinstone, of which the abrupt range, which separates it from the surrounding country, is composed; whilst a few of the higher summits near Sidney, such as Hay, Tomah, and Warrawolong, which consist of trap, are crowned with lofty trees, and stand conspicuously prominent amidst the miserable sandstone ridges around them. Sir Thomas Mitchell, in the valuable dissertation on the geology of the eastern part of New Holland, given in his interesting work, has observed, that, "by a little attention to the geological structure of Australia, we learn how much the superficial qualities of the soil and productions depend upon it, and where to look for arable spots amid the general barrenness." He also frequently alludes to the sterility of the country wherever sandstone occurs, whilst he observes, that trap forms an excellent soil on decomposition. Captain Sturt, also, was much struck with the apparent connection between the geology and vege of Australia; and he observes, that this connection was so strong, that he had little difficulty, after a short experience, in judging of the rock that formed the basis of the country over which he was travelling, from the kind of tree or herbage that flourished in the soil above it.

Begging the reader to pardon this long digression, I will now continue the description of the MacLeay river. It is navigable for vessels of fifty or sixty tons, to a distance of thirty-four miles from its bar, the water being of a good depth, except at Shark and Pelican islands, where sand flats extend across the river, which can be passed by vessels only at high water. The reaches of the river are long and straight, averaging about a quarter of a mile in width, and flanked on both sides by huge walls of the dense brush I have just now described. These borders of alluvial brush land on the banks of the river, are generally half a mile, or a mile wide, and are then backed by extensive swamps of many thousand acres in extent, whose verdant sea, of high waving reeds and sedge, stretches away to the base of the distant forest ranges. There are several lagoons in these swamps, and stagnant water is very generally diffused over their surface. Their soil is very good in some parts, and rice would probably grow in them very well; for Richard Oakes, Esq. the late Commissioner of Crown Lands for the MacLeay river, planted a small quantity of rice at his station, situated on the verge of Clybucca Swamp, and the experiment was very successful. The continuous brush renders the aspect of the lower part of the MacLeay very monotonous to the admirer of picturesque scenery; however, an occasional glimpse of the azure tinted peaks of the distant mountain ranges, with green islands covered with palms, now and then varying the uniform sameness of the reaches of the river, not to speak of the air of cheerfulness imparted to the scene, by the large flocks of aquatic birds, of wonderful variety, all busily engaged, and fish leaping out of the water in every direction, renders an excursion on the waters of the MacLeay pleasant enough.

At the distance of twenty miles from the mouth of the river, and from thence to the point where the river ceases to be navigable, the brush land is interspersed with small alluvial plains, clear of trees, and varying in extent from fifty to a hundred acres. These clear patches of ground possess all the exuberant fertility of the brush land, and have now been cultivated for several years by squatters, (the MacLeay river being beyond the boundaries). This part of the river, however, has the great drawback of giving ague to those residing there, which is not to be wondered at, when one considers the immense extent of the surrounding swamps. This disorder was particularly prevalent among the cedar sawyers, who lead a life, compared with which, the life of the lumberers, or wood-cutters in Canada, is civilization itself. These men are generally convicts, who have become free by servitude; they live in pairs in the dense dark brushes; their habitation being merely a few sheets of bark temporarily piled together, as they are continually moving in search of fresh cedar. Here they live exposed to the myriads of noxious insects with which the brush abounds, whilst not a breath of air can reach them through the entangled mass of surrounding vegetation.—The cedar dealers furnish them from time to time with salt provisions, flour, tea, and sugar; and every three or four months the sawyers travel down to the cedar dealers, who live at the mouths of the rivers, for a settlement of their accounts. As these latter individuals are not remarkable for delicate scruples of conscience, they generally settle the balance due to the sawyers in a very summary way. They take care to have a good assortment of clothing, tobacco, &c. in their huts, with which they furnish the sawyers at an advance of about three hundred per cent, on the Sidney prices: this, with a cask or so of rum and wine, to enable the sawyers to have a fortnight's drinking bout, generally balances their accounts. The scenes I have witnessed at the MacLeay river, on these occasions, surpass all description. Men and women, (for many of the sawyers have wives), lying day and night on the bare grass in a state of intoxication, and only recovering to renew their orgies; casks broken in, and the contents passed round in buckets; men fighting; native blacks, who have been supplied with liquor, yelling and screeching like demons, under the influence of alcohol. Such are a few of the accompaniments of the cedar sawyers' drinking bouts. At length, when they have drank enough to balance their account, they wend their way once more to the brushes with their rations, there to remain until the next time of settlement.

The cedar is cut in square logs, on which the cedar dealer strikes his initials with a branding hammer; the logs are then launched into the water by the aid of bullocks, and afterwards rafted down to the vessels to be conveyed to Sydney. The cedar is employed in Sydney for every purpose to which deal is generally applied; and is also used for all kinds of cabinet work, as it is of a handsome grain and colour.

Twenty-eight miles from the mouth of the MacLeay, is the small village of Kempsey, on the south bank of the river, at the termination of the northern boundary of the county of Macquarie. It consists of several good brick-built cottages, an inn, a store, and police station. Mr. Sullivan has established a very fine fruit garden here. The fruit trees, of all descriptions, have arrived sooner at maturity, and grown with greater luxuriance, than in any other garden I have seen in the colony. Not far from Kempsey is the station in which I lately possessed a share; the portion of alluvial plain that we cultivated, has now been under the plough for upwards of six years, producing two crops a year;—maize, followed by either wheat, potatoes, sugar loaf cabbages, or swede turnips. Our crops of cabbages and turnips, which we cultivated for the pigs, were nearly twice as abundant as good crops in England. Our potatoes were large, and the crops always abundant; but the quality was very indifferent, as they possessed a strong earthy flavour, the ground evidently being too rich for them. Wheat yielded good crops in dry seasons; but when the spring was moist, it grew as luxuriantly as reeds, and consequently there was not much grain. Maize, whether the seasons were wet or dry, was a never failing crop. The greatest quantity harvested on the plain we cultivated, was at the rate of seventy-five bushels per acre; other settlers, however, in the neighbouring Port Macquarie district, have informed me that they have had one hundred bushels per acre. The cause of our crops not being greater, was probably owing to our planting pumpkins between the rows. The ground was twice flooded during the time that I lived at this station, but the floods did not occasion much detriment to the standing corn, our only loss being a few cabbages and turnips.

Directly the tide loses its influence in the river it ceases to be navigable any farther, even for small boats; and it now assumes the appearance of a rapid stream flowing over beds of shingles, a quarter of a mile wide, composed of pebbles of granite, limestone, beautiful crimson jasper, greenstone, basalt, quartz, &c. The alluvial brushes on its banks are now frequently superseded by park-like forest ground, verdant rocky eminences, and luxuriant grassy flats of the greatest richness, lightly timbered with Apple trees, (Angophora lanceolata,) whose gnarled branches, and light green foliage, resembling that of the English oak, render it the most picturesque forest tree in Australia. Several small tributary streams now begin to join the river. The first we meet, on the south side, is Dongai Creek. In the narrow valley of this stream, the land is of the richest quality possible, consisting of a narrow border of alluvial flats, covered with broad-bladed grass, growing breast high, and with a few large blue gum trees scattered so far apart as to offer no impediment to immediate tillage. All the squatters on this stream have, in consequence, brought patches of ground under cultivation. Dongai Creek is hemmed in on both sides by fertile ranges, well clothed with grass, and lightly wooded; apple trees being the predominating trees on their lower slopes. The scenery is often very pleasing; the ranges rise in smooth round cones, and their sloping sides, covered with bright green verdure, contrast strongly with the dark glistening green of the brush vegetation, which occasionally invades some of the hills. The stream itself, of crystal brightness, rushes rapidly through the glen, over a bed of large pebbles, and frequently forms diminutive cascades over opposing rocks; this, with the magnificent trees, and beautiful flowering creepers, forming natural arches, with a glimpse of distant hills, softened and blended with the deep azure of an Australian sky, cannot fail of affording gratification to any one who can admire nature unadorned by art. The ranges of hills in the neighbourhood of Dongai Creek, are principally composed of clay-slate, and other soft slaty rocks. Granular limestone and marble frequently occur, which formation contains numerous caverns encrusted with stalactites. Some of the ranges were composed of a rock which I thought might be porphyritic trap. The limestone ranges are generally covered all over with brush, bearing a great resemblance to that on alluvial land, the trees being of large dimensions, and interwoven with creepers; turpentine, (Tristania albicans,) iron bark, (Eucalyptus resinifera,) box, and myrtle trees, being the prevailing timber.

The soft slaty ranges just mentioned, are very general in the basin of the MacLeay, especially on the south side of the river, the strata form a considerable angle with the horizon, and their edges are almost in every instance more than usually disintegrated and decomposed, forming, in consequence, a rich loose soil, on which the grass is generally comparatively better than on ranges of other formations. The clay-slate ranges rise in smooth, round, waving summits; they are not in general thickly wooded, and would be pre-eminently suitable for the growth of the vine. It is well known that scarcely any thing exercises so much influence on the quality of wine, as the nature of the rocks and soils among which vines are planted. According to the best authorities, clay-slates seem peculiarly favourable for vines. Thus Albertus Magnus has observed, "that the vines thrive well in earth which is mixed with fragments of black roofing slate." And Humboldt remarks, "that the vines which grow upon the mountains of the valley of the Rhine, consisting of black clay-slate, afford a most excellent wine." Dr. Adam, in his remarks on the rocks and soils of the celebrated Constantia vineyards at the Cape of Good Hope, notices also how well the vine thrives in a soil produced by the decomposition of clay-slate, and mixed with the fragments of it.

I have already observed that many caves are met with in the limestone formation at Dongai creek. Mr. Ralfe and myself examined a great number, which he found near the summit of a heavily wooded, brushy range, in the vicinity of Lieutenant Baxter's station. They were full of the stalactites ordinarily met with, but we could discover no traces of ancient organic remains. In the hills at the sources of Parabel brook, I examined a cave of rather singular conformation. Its entrance was in the middle of the grassy sloping hollow, the waters of which entered the mouth of the cave. The first chamber was tolerably lofty, and illuminated by a small aperture overhead, resembling a skylight, so hidden by grass outside, that if any one of us had chanced to pass that way, before entering the cave, he would have probably fallen through it. At the extremity of the first chamber, was a narrow perpendicular hole, resembling the vent of a chimney. On descending this à la ramoneur, we passed through a narrow lofty passage, fantastically adorned with stalactites, until our further progress was arrested by a perpendicular cleft, too small to get through. On breaking through the stalagmitic crust, forming the floor of the most remote passage, I found one bone evidently belonging to a recent animal, as the nature of the rock (mountain limestone) was not such as to lead me to expect the discovery of any ancient organic remains.

Tracing the MacLeay upwards, from Dongai Creek, we pass a great number of squatting stations, belonging mostly to retired officers. The country they occupy as cattle runs is abundantly watered, independently of the river, by a vast number of permanent chains of small ponds, and water-courses; the grass is good, but the country available for grazing extends but a very few miles back from the river, especially on the north side, as the ranges soon become lofty and serrated, rising one beyond the other in endless succession, universally covered with dense brushy forest, and intersected by innumerable ravines and gullies worn by torrents.

At Captain Joblin's station, a small brook joins the river on the south bank, to which the stockmen have given the designation of Hindmarshes Creek, and which Mr. Ralfe has altered to the native name, "Parabel." The land surrounding this little stream is of great richness, its physical aspect resembling that of Dongai Creek; the fertile, lightly wooded ranges which confine it are covered with a rich mould, and would be admirably adapted for vines. On this brook are several out-stations, belonging to Major Innes of Port Macquarie and Major Kemp. Beyond this stream, the ranges on the north side of the river form steep, high, rocky banks, rising abruptly from the water, and frequently attaining an altitude of several hundred feet above the river; the back country being very hilly, densely wooded, and intersected by narrow ravines, and brushy hollows, containing rugged water-courses. A few miles higher up the river a razor-backed range, covered to the summit with a dense brush of lofty trees, rises to an altitude of 3000 feet above the level of the sea, on the north bank of the river; at its base flows a large brook called Henderson's Creek, the bed of which is worthy of notice, as its pebbles and gravel consist almost exclusively of triturated quartz. Henderson's Creek is the highest point up the MacLeay river, to which, in my capacity of Surveyor to the Government, I carried the subdivision of the land into blocks and sections; the country on the north side of the river being now so mountainous and brushy as to be quite unavailable. On the south side of the river, the country, although hilly, is still good, consisting of apple tree and blue gum flats, of the richest soil, and lightly wooded, park-like mountain ranges, affording excellent pasturage for sheep. The ranges hereabout are mostly composed of clay-slate. A very soft, red, schistose rock, the strata of which are nearly vertically disposed, is very frequently met with on the river banks; the surface of this rock is quite disintegrated, and pulverized into minute, angular fragments, and these debris having become intimately combined with the vegetable mould, the result has been the formation of a rich, loose soil, well covered with grass, and which would be, no doubt, eminently suitable for vines. Between Parabel Brook, and Henderson's Creek, the bed of the river consists in several places of a hard, black rock, of trap formation. Stations continue up the river as far as Gonderang Creek, which is about thirty miles beyond Henderson's, the grazing country being confined by the mountains to the mere banks of the river, and its tributary brooks. Above the junction of the MacLeay river with the Apsley, the scenery assumes a grand alpine character; both rivers hurry along rapidly descending beds, through narrow glens of frowning precipices, 3000 feet in elevation, whilst the surrounding mountains frequently attain an elevation of 6000 feet above the level of the sea. Tremendous cataracts are of continual occurrence; at one of them the whole river has a perpendicular fall of 250 feet, and after raging in a furious torrent, half foam and vapour, along a steep, inclined plane, it again dashes down another perpendicular fall of 100 feet, the total descent of its waters in this short distance being, probably, little under 500 feet. The sublimity of these falls cannot be surpassed by the finest waterfalls of the Alps, especially when the MacLeay is swollen by rain;—the untrodden forest crowning the towering precipices, the dazzling spray, and boiling foam, and the mighty roar of the torrent, reverberating with a deafening sound through the narrow glen, cannot fail to strike the spectator with admiration.