Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia Volume I Part 19

We soon arrived at Parramatta, where I obtained the loan of a good chronometer from Mr. Dunlop at the observatory. Having noted various important memoranda and suggestions, and partaken of an early dinner, I bade my scientific and obliging friend farewell, and pursued my journey along the western road.

WESTERN PART OF c.u.mBERLAND.

I arrived in a few hours at Emu ferry, on the river Hawkesbury, the boundary there of the county of c.u.mberland. I had traversed the county in its greatest width by this western route; and thus crossed by far the best portion. Unlike the northern sandstone district, where the road towards Wiseman's ferry could be made only by following one continuous ridge, the surface being intersected by deep and precipitous ravines, we were enabled here, the surface rock being trap, to travel along a perfectly straight road over a gently undulating surface. The soil in this district is good, consisting chiefly of decomposed trap. The land is wholly in the hands of individuals, and, in a climate sufficiently moist, would answer well for cultivation. The road pa.s.ses near Prospect Hill, which is the most conspicuous eminence in the county, and is cultivated to the summit. The rich red soil derived from the subjacent trap-rock produces crops as abundantly now as when it was first tilled, upwards of thirty years ago.

Nearly the whole of the western portion of this county consists of soil equally good; but it remains for the most part occupied by the original wood. It is however very generally enclosed by substantial fencing, and affords good pasturage. There is some rich alluvial land on both banks of the Hawkesbury, and some of it, near this road, is let for as much as 20 shillings per acre.

The mansion of Sir John Jamieson, situated several miles above Emu, commands an extensive view over that n.o.ble stream, the rich margins of which are hemmed in, on the west, by the abrupt precipices of the Blue mountains. The intermediate s.p.a.ce beyond the ford is called Emu plains.

At the inn near this ford I pa.s.sed the night, being desirous to cross the Blue mountains next day.

April 1.

At daybreak we crossed the river in the punt. The Hawkesbury is 130 yards broad at this ferry, being the broadest freshwater stream known in Australia before the discovery of the Murray.

COUNTY OF COOK.

We now entered the county of Cook, so named by me in considering that its lofty summits must have been the first land that met the eye of the celebrated navigator on his first approach to the eastern coast.

THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.

Here again we meet with that precipitous, inaccessible kind of country which distinguishes the sandstone formation, so extensive in Australia.

This arenaceous deposit, for a long time, confined the colonists within the line of the Hawkesbury, and until the want of fresh pastures during dry seasons compelled them to explore these rocky regions. One party succeeded in penetrating the country to the westward by following the continuous line of high land which separates the ravines of the valley of the river c.o.x on one side from those which belong to the valley of the Grose on the other. In this direction the road to the interior country was accordingly opened by Governor Macquarie; and the ravines on each side are too deep and precipitous to admit of any extensive alteration of the line, although it has recently been much improved, especially in the ascent to these mountains above Emu, and in the descent from them to the interior country. These were the chief difficulties in making the original road across this mountain ma.s.s, as the old pa.s.ses of Lapstone Hill and Mount York still testify. The upper region being once gained, it presents considerable uniformity of feature, at least along the connecting ridge. The rise is gradual from a height of about 1000 feet above Emu plains to 3,400 feet, its maximum, near King's Tableland, 25 miles further westward.

WEATHERBOARD INN.

This ma.s.s of sandstone is intersected by ravines, deep in proportion to the height of the surface, until the profound depth of the valleys adjacent to the Weatherboard Inn and Blackheath, enclosed by rocky precipices, imparts a wild grandeur to the scenery, of a very uncommon character.*

(*Footnote. Not less remarkable is the fact that the outlets or mouths of these stupendous and extensive valleys on each side, are extremely NARROW; as is evident on the general map of the colony. What can have become of the matter so scooped out? See Chapter 3.15 Volume 2.)

ROADS AND ROCKS.

The whole ma.s.s consists of a coa.r.s.e, ferruginous sandstone, composed of angular or slightly worn grains of quartz cemented by oxide of iron.

There is scarcely a patch of land along the line of road fit for cultivation. One solitary spot, rather better than the rest, has been wisely appropriated for an inn, and at a point very convenient for travellers, being about halfway across these mountains. This inn is about 2,800 feet above the sea, and the clouds and temperature give it the climate of England. Potatoes of an excellent quality grow there, also gooseberries; and a fire is as frequently agreeable as in the lat.i.tude of 52 degrees North.

MOUNTS HAY AND TOMAH.

The only summits which meet the traveller's eye above the common horizon are Mounts Hay and Tomah, situated about twelve miles northward of the road--the river Grose pa.s.sing between them. These heights consist of trap-rock and grey porphyry, and like Warrawolong,* are crowned with lofty trees.

(*Footnote. See above.)

RIVER GROSE.

Some idea may be formed of the intricate character of the mountain ravines in that neighbourhood from the difficulties experienced by the surveyors in endeavouring to obtain access to Mount Hay.

EARLY ATTEMPTS TO TRACE IT UPWARDS.

Mr. Dixon, in an unsuccessful attempt, penetrated to the valley of the Grose, until then unvisited by any European; and when he at length emerged from ravines in which he had been bewildered four days, without reaching Mount Hay, he thanked G.o.d (to use his own words in an official letter) that he had found his way out of them. (See the accompanying View of the Grose; also a general view of the sandstone territory, in Volume 2 Plate 38.)

Mr. Govett was afterwards employed by me to make a detailed survey of the various ramifications of these ravines by tracing each in succession from the general line of road; and thus by a patient survey of the whole he ascertained at length the ridge connected with Mount Hay, and was the first to ascend it. Guided by Mr. Govett I was thus enabled to place my theodolite on that summit. I found the scenery immediately around it very wild, consisting of stupendous perpendicular cliffs, 3000 feet deep, at the foot of which the silvery line of the Grose meanders through a green valley into which neither the colonists nor their cattle have yet penetrated. Having looked into this valley from the summit of Tomah also in 1827, I was tempted soon after to endeavour to explore it by ascending the river from its junction with the Hawkesbury near Richmond; but I had not proceeded far in this attempt, accompanied by Major Lockyer and Mr.

Dixon, when we were compelled to leave our horses and, soon after, to scramble on our hands and feet until, at length, even our quadrumanous progress was arrested in the bed of the river by round boulders which were as large as houses, and over or between which we found it impossible to proceed.

INTENDED TUNNEL.

The object which I had then in view, with the concurrence of the Governor, was to carry the western road along the valley of the Grose, and by cutting a tunnel of about a mile through a ridge at the head of it, to reach the vale of Clywd, and so avoid the mountains altogether.

The ascent to them from Emu, and the descent from them at Mount York, were both then extremely bad; so much so indeed, at the latter pa.s.s especially, that a grant of land was publicly offered by the Government to whoever could point out a better. Both these obstacles have since been overcome.

Pa.s.s OF MOUNT VICTORIA.

The pa.s.s of Mount Victoria, named by me after the youthful Princess and opened by Governor Bourke in 1832, descends at an inclination of 1 in 15 (where steepest) and avoids the abrupt descent by Mount York.

ADVANTAGES OF CONVICT LABOUR.

The new road from Emu plains, which is still less inclined, has been made during the government of Sir Richard Bourke, and relieves the Bathurst teams from the difficulties of Lapstone hill, the ascent of which cost them a whole day. The value of convict labour to a young colony is apparent in these new pa.s.ses, cut in many places out of the solid rock; and this advantage will be permanently recorded in these works and others now going forward in different parts of this mountain road, which must finally make it one of the best in the colony.

COUNTRY OF MULGOEY.

The difference between the lower country on the Hawkesbury and the region which I have endeavoured to describe is very striking. The rocks are also different, for on the side of c.u.mberland they consist of trap, and on the other or that of the mountains, of sandstone.

EMU PLAINS.

The course of the Hawkesbury above Emu plains presents a singular feature in forcing its way through a very steep-sided ravine, and thus cutting off a portion of the mountain ma.s.s after its channel has previously bordered on the lower country of c.u.mberland where no such obstruction is opposed to its waters, which might there pursue a more direct course to the sea. The river takes this remarkable turn near the junction of the Nepean, and there we find in the bed of the stream (at c.o.x's Basin) a dark-coloured trap-rock, apparently containing steat.i.tic matter, and doubtless connected with one of the disturbing operations to which this fractured country has been exposed.

Beyond the ferry the road crosses Emu plains, a level tract, here about a mile in width, and intervening between the river and the base of the mountains. This flat consists chiefly of gravel--composed of large pebbles, for the greater part quartzose; and in sinking a well, a bed of them was found in which many were nearly spherical.

TOWNSHIP.

A township has been marked out at the ascent of the new road, the question as to the most eligible situation for a town on Emu plains having led to the construction of the new pa.s.s. The growth of towns depends very much on the direction of great roads, and must be more certain, and the allotments consequently more valuable, when the most eligible line of thoroughfare is ascertained and opened, in the first instance. Such works of public convenience should precede, as much as possible, the progress of colonisation. The plan at least should be well considered before the capital, or the labour, which is the same thing, is applied. Buildings and other improvements can then be commenced with greatest certainty of permanent value.

GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES.

"Les depenses utiles sont economie," said Guibert, but in new countries the economy will much depend on the permanent utility of works for which, in most cases, the necessity should be foreseen. With the example of so many old countries for our guidance, obstructions to the spread of population in a new one should be removed, according to plans of general arrangement, keeping in view the best distribution of towns with respect to local advantages, and the best sites for all public buildings requisite for the towns still in embryo. The most advantageous general lines of direction should be ascertained for the roads--that the public means may be applied with certainty to their substantial improvement by removing obstructions and building bridges. On good roads there is greater inducement to individuals to erect inns; and in well arranged streets to build good houses--than where uncertainty as to the permanent direction of the one, or irregularity in the plan or line of the other, discourage all such undertakings.

It has been my duty to keep these objects in view as sole commissioner for the division and appropriation of the territory of New South Wales; and as head also of the department of roads and bridges I have, as far as lay in my power, applied the means at my disposal, only to works of a permanently useful character, guided as I have been in my judgment respecting them by a general survey of the country.

THE MOUNTAIN ROAD.

My ride along the mountain road presented no object worth describing; but I have frequently found that the most dreary road ceases to appear monotonous or long after we have acquired a knowledge of the adjacent country. The ideas of locality are no longer limited like our view by the trees on each side. The least turn reminds us that we are pa.s.sing some antre vast, or lateral ridge, occupying a place in the map which thus determines our position. In crossing these mountains an extensive knowledge of the localities relieved the monotony of the road to me and, being inseparable from it in my mind, the digressions in this part of my journal will, after this explanation, perhaps appear less objectionable.

Twilight overtook me as I was giving directions to Subinspector Binning for the completion of the pa.s.s at Mount Victoria; and I halted for the night at a small inn at its foot.

April 2.

Although some heavy rain had fallen at Sydney and yesterday during my ride across the mountains yet the gra.s.s in this valley, which at other times had appeared green and abundant, was now parched and scanty. A swampy hollow across which a long bridge had been erected was quite dry, and the whole surface bore a brown and dusty aspect.

VALE OF CLYWD.

This lower country to which we had descended from Mount Victoria was named by Governor Macquarie the Vale of Clywd from its supposed resemblance to the valley of that name in Wales. It is enclosed by other heights named Mount York and Mount Clarence, and is watered by a small stream called the river Lett.*