ILLAWARRA. 251 



associations connected with it — I am quite serious, 

 though the expression may raise a smile on some 

 of my readers' lips — the tract of country best worth 

 seeing in the neighbourhood of Sydney, is Illawarra, 

 commonly called the Garden of New South Wales. 

 By a change in the formation from sandstone to 

 trap, a soil is here produced capable of supporting 

 a vegetation equal in luxuriance to any within the 

 tropics. In the deep valleys that intersect the coun- 

 try, the tree-fern attains a great stature, and throw- 

 ing out its rich spreading fronds on all sides forms a 

 canopy that perfectly excludes the piercing rays of 

 even an Australian sun. It is impossible to describe 

 the feelings of surprise and pleasure that are ex- 

 cited in the mind of the traveller as he descends into 

 any one of these delightful dells : the contrast in 

 the vegetable kingdom strikes him at once; he 

 gazes around on the rich masses of verdure with 

 astonishment, and strongly impressed with the idea 

 that enchantment has been at work, involuntary 

 rubs his eyes and exclaims, " Am I in Australia or 

 in the Brazils ?" 



Few only of the aborigines of the neighbourhood 

 of Sydney are now to be seen, and these are gene- 

 rally in an intoxicated state. Like most savage tribes 

 they are passionately addicted to spirituous liquors, 

 and seek to obtain it by any means in their power. 

 Out of a sugar bag, with a little water, they manage 

 to extract a liquor sufficient to make half a dozen of 

 them tipsy; and in this condition, as I have observed. 



