288 2Vi:W SOUTH WALES. 



the inaiafaration of responsible Government in tlie Colony. Since 

 that time the Government liave been actively eng-ag-ed in improving 

 tlie roads already in existence, and opening new means of communi- 

 cation to meet the demands of the increasing population. As an 

 illustration of what has been done, it may be pointed out that since 

 the year 1857, the large sum of £10,546,160, has been expended on 

 road and bridge works alone. To give anything like an adequate 

 statement of the immense amount of road work that has been carried 

 out would be impossible in the limits of a short article like this, and 

 reference can, therefore, only be made to some of the most important 

 of them. 



The Great Dividing Range which runs almost parallel with the 

 coast, with the spurs running out from its eastern and western slopes, 

 gives rise to formidable obstacles which have to be surmounted in 

 order to establish communication between the coastal districts and 

 interior. One of the earliest works of this nature which was under- 

 taken was the Western Road running over the Blue Mountains to 

 Bathurst. The difficulties of passing over the mountain range were 

 very great, but they were eventually overcome, and the road was 

 opened to Bathurst in 1815, convict labour being employed in its 

 construction. This road with some slight alterations from the route 

 originally selected, is still maintained as the main trunk road running 

 westward into the interior. As a main road proper it now extends to 

 Warren, a distance of 342 miles. The other main roads are the Main 

 Southern Road from Sydney to Albury, 365 miles ; which is part of 

 the highway between the two capitals of Sydney and Melbourne, and 

 passes through some of the most important pastoral and agricultural 

 centres of the Colony, such as Goulburn, Wagga Wagga, Albury, 

 &c. ; and the Main North Road running from Sydney through the 

 Hawkesbury and Wollombi districts, and giving access to the rich and 

 fertile districts of the Hunter River and Liverpool Plains, and thence 

 to the north and north-western parts of the Colony. A large amount 

 of money has been expended on these main arteries, and as roads 

 they would do credit to much older and more populous countries. 

 They are macadamised for nearly the whole of their lengths, and are 

 fully bridged, so that communication is always open. The southern 

 table-land of the Colony has been tapped at various points from the 

 coast. A road from Eden, Twofold Bay, gives access to the Monaro 

 district, and passing through Cooma and Kiandra (which is the highest 

 town in the Colony, being 4,640 feet above sea-level) leads to Tumut 

 and Gundagai, where it strikes the Southern railway system. One of 

 the first roads to be constructed, hoAvever, in this direction was that 

 from Clyde River (Nelligen) ascending the tableland to Braidwood, 

 the centre of an important mining and agricultural district. It is 

 about 17 miles long, the mountain pass in side cuttings being 3 miles 

 long at a gradient of 1 in 12. This road abounds, as do all these 

 coast roads, in great natural beauties. From Moruya, situate about 85 

 miles north of Eden, there is another road giving access to Braidwood, 

 r\(\ Araluen, formerly the seat of a large gold industry. North of 

 this is the fertile district of Shoalhaven, the chief road from the 

 centre of which (Nowra) runs over the Cambewarra Range, crossing 

 the Kangaroo Valley, and ascending the Barrengarry Mountain to the 



I 



