At fourteen miles from Goulburn I came upon that part of my new line of great road where the works had not been impeded by those for whose benefit the road was intended;* and here I found that the iron-gangs had done some good service.  I had now the satisfaction of travelling along a road every turn of which I had studied previous to marking it out after a most careful survey of the whole country.

(Footnote.  One of the most palpable consequences of the interruption my plan experienced was that it interfered with the prospects of an innkeeper whose inn had already been half built of brick in anticipation of the opening of the new line.)

BERRIMA BRIDGE.

On Crawford’s creek I found that a bridge with stone buttresses had been nearly completed.  I had endeavoured to introduce permanent bridges of stonework into this colony instead of those of wood, which were very liable to be burnt and frequently required repair.  We had among the prisoners some tolerable stonecutters and setters but, until I had the good fortune to find among the emigrants a person practically acquainted with the construction of arches, their labours had never been productive of much benefit to the public.  The governor had readily complied with my recommendation to appoint Mr. Lennox superintendent of such works; and on entering the township of Berrima this evening I had the satisfaction at length of crossing at least one bridge worthy of a British colony.

BERRIMA.

This town is situated on the little river Wingecarrabee, and was planned by me some years before when marking out the general line of road.  The eligibility of the situation consists chiefly in the abundance and purity of the water, and of materials for building with the vicinity of a small agricultural population.  I found here, on my return now, Mr. Lambie of the road branch of my department, under whose immediate superintendence the bridge had been erected.  The walls of a gaol and courthouse were also rising, and a site was ready for the church.

TRAP RANGE.

November 2.

A remarkable range consisting chiefly of trap-rock traverses the whole country between the Wollondilly and the sea in a south-east direction extending from Bullio to Kiama.  The highest part is known as the Mittagong range and, in laying down the new line of road, it was an object of importance to avoid this range.  Bowral, the highest part, consists of quartz or very hard sandstone.

SANDSTONE COUNTRY.

On leaving Berrima the road traverses several low ridges of trap-rock and then turns to the south-east in order to avoid the ravines of the Nattai; for we again find here that ferruginous sandstone which desolates so large a portion of New South Wales and, to all appearance, New Holland, presenting in the interior desert plains of red sand, and on the eastern side of the dividing range, a world of stone quarries and sterility.  It is only where trap or granite or limestone occur that the soil is worth possessing, and to this extent every settler is under the necessity of becoming a geologist; he must also be a geographer, that he may find water and not lose himself in the bush; and it must indeed be admitted that the intelligence of the native youth in all such matters is little inferior to that of the aborigines.