GREAT CLIFF-BOUNDED VALLEY, 223 



and throwing down a stone can see it strike the 

 trees in the abyss below. So unbroken is the line 

 of clift', that in order to reach the foot of the water- 

 fall, formed by this little stream, it is said to be 

 necessary to go sixteen miles round. About five 

 miles distant in front, another line of cliff extends, 

 which thus appears completely to encircle the val- 

 ley ; and hence the name of bay is justified, as ap- 

 plied to this grand amphitheatrical depression. If 

 we imagine a winding harbour, with its deep water 

 surrounded by bold cliff-like shores, to be laid dry, 

 and a forest to spring up on its sandy bottom, we 

 should then have the appearance and structure 

 here exhibited. This kind of view was to me quite 

 novel and extremely magnificent. 



In the evening we reached the Blackheath. The 

 sandstone plateau has here attained the height of 

 3400 feet, and is covered, as before, with the 

 same scrubby woods. From the road, there were 

 occasional glimpses into a profound valley, of the 

 same character as the one described ; but from the 

 steepness and depth of its sides, the bottom was 

 scarcely ever to be seen. The Blackheath is a 

 very comfortable inn, kept by an old soldier ; and 

 it reminded me of the small inns in North Wales. 



18tk. — Very early in the moraing I walked 

 about three miles to see Govett's Leap : a view of 

 a similar character with that near the Weather- 

 board, but perhaps even more stupendous. So 

 early in the day the gulf was filled with a thin blue 

 haze, which, although destroying the general effect 

 of the view, added to the apparent depth at which 

 the forest was stretched out beneath our feet. 

 These valleys, which so long presented an in- 

 superable baiTier to the attempts of the most en- 

 terprising of the colonists to reach the interior, are 

 most remarkable. Great ann-like bays, expanding 



