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 Cox 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 mass, as the old passes 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 mass 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 mass consists of a coarse, 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 latitude 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 passing between them.  These heights consist of trap-rock and grey porphyry, and like Warrawolong,* are crowned with lofty trees.