The chain of mountains at some distance from the coast, known by the name of the Australian Alps, separates New South Wales from the interior of the Australian continent. For twenty-five years this chain formed a barrier against all communication with the country beyond; but now, thanks to the energy of Governor Macquarie, the barrier has been removed. A zigzag road has been cut in the rock, thus opening the way to the colonization of wide spreading plains watered by important rivers. The loftiest summits of this chain, nearly 10,000 feet in height, are covered with snow even in the middle of summer. Whilst the elevation of the principal peaks, Mount Exmouth, Mount Cunningham, and others was being taken, it was discovered that so far from Australia possessing only one large watercourse, the Swan River, it had several, the chief being Hawkesbury River, formed by the confluence of the Nepean, the Grose, and the Brisbane; the river Murray not being yet known. At the period under notice a commencement had been made in the working of coal-mines, slate quarries, layers of solid carbonate of iron, sandstone, chalk, porphyry and jasper; but the presence of gold, the metal that was to effect so rapid a development of the young colony, had not as yet been established. The nature of the soil varies. On the sea-coast it is barren, able only to support the growth of a few stunted trees; but inland the traveller meets with fields clothed with a rich vegetation, vast pasturages in which here and there rise a few tall shrubs, and forests where giant trees entwined with an inextricable growth of underwood, defy all attempts to penetrate to their recesses. [Illustration: An Australian farm near the Blue Mountains. (Fac-simile of early engraving.)]