TOPOGRAPHY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



125 



successive reefs ; and 

 it is easy to under- 

 stand why Cook gave 

 the name of Point 

 Danger to that shel- 

 ving cape beyond the 

 breakers. Casting a 

 glance inland we see 

 a range of high 

 mountains the Mac- 

 pherson Range with 

 blue -tinted peaks 

 rising nearly four 

 thousand feet into the 

 sky; it is this range, 

 sweeping down to the 

 plain, that forms the 

 headland of the 

 Point. After having 

 gradually descended 

 to the sea-level, it 

 runs under water a 

 long way out to sea, 

 forming the treacher- 

 ous Danger Reefs. 

 Once safely round 

 Point Danger, the 

 coast of New South 

 Wales is left behind, 

 and that of Queens- 

 land begins ; the bold 

 and rugged Macpher- 

 son Range, a lateral 



spur of the Big Divide, running almost at right angles to the main chain and termina- 

 ting on the coast, forms part of the northern boundary-line of the former colony. ' 



MOUNTAINS. 



The mountains of Australia are not remarkable for altitude, being all below the 

 perpetual snow-line; and they have no active volcano to enhance their interest. In some 

 far distant ages their height may have been proportionate to their gigantic bulk, and in 

 some dim future they may possess a history and a romance as thrilling or inspiring as 

 those lingering like familiar spirits about every crag, peak and ravine of Europe and of 

 Asia. A tremendous geological age, and an absolute babyhood of human interest and 

 effort, are characteristic of Australian mountains, as of everything else on Austral earth. 



WENTWORTH FALLS, BLUE MOUNTAINS. 



