1S36.] A SHEEP FARM. 433 



of an open sea, on an irregular bottom ; and that the 

 valley-like spaces thus left unfilled have their steeply 

 sloping- flanks worn into cliffs, during a slow elevation 

 of the land ; the worn-down sandstone being removed, 

 either at the time when the narrow gorges were cut 

 by the retreating sea, or subsequently by alluvial 

 action. 



Soon after leaving the Blackheath, we descended from 

 the sandstone platform by the pass of Mount Victoria. To 

 effect this pass, an enormous quantity of stone has been 

 cut through ; the design, and its manner of execution, 

 being worthy of any line of road in England. We now 

 entered upon a country less elevated by nearly a thousand 

 feet, and consisting of granite. With the change of rock, 

 the vegetation improved ; the trees were both finer and 

 stood farther apart ; and the pasture between them was a 

 little greener and more plentiful. At Hassan's Walls, I 

 left the high road, and made a short detour to a farm 

 called Walerawang, to the superintendent of which I had 

 a letter of introduction from the owner in Sydney. Mr. 

 Browne had the kindness to ask me to stay the ensuing 

 day, which I had much pleasure in doing. This place 

 offers an example of one of the large farming, or rather 

 sheep-grazing, establishments of the colony. Cattle and 

 horses are, however, in this case rather more numerous 

 than usual, owing to some of the valleys being swampy 

 and producing a coarser pasture. Two or three tlat pieces 

 of ground near the house were cleared and cultivated with 

 corn, which the harvest-men were now reaping : but no 

 more wheat is sown than sufBcient for the annual support 

 of the labourers employed on the establishment. The 

 usual number of assigned convict-servants here is about 

 forty, but at the present time there were rather more. 

 Although the farm was well stocked with every necessary, 

 there was an apparent absence of comfort ; and not one 

 single woman resided here. The sunset of a fine day will 

 generally cast an air of happy contentment on any scene ; 

 but here, at this retired farmhouse, the brightest tints on 

 the surrounding woods could not make me forget that 

 forty hardened, profligate men were ceasing from their 

 daily labours, like the slaves from Africa, yet without 

 their holy claim for compassion. 



Early on the next morning, Mr. Archer, the joint 



