THE TOWNS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



237 



The mineral enterprise of the New England District finds its larger developm.-nt 

 more to the north in the neighbourhood of Glen Innes, Tenterfidd ami Inv,r,ll. the 

 two former towns being along the route of the railway to the Qur.-nshmd border. 

 Inverell lies to the 

 west of Glen Innes, 

 and is to be con- 

 nected with the main 

 line by a branch rail- 

 way. Many settlers 

 from the Scottish 

 Highlands were at- 

 tracted to this district 

 by the congenial 

 climate, and have 

 fastened on the coun- 

 try some old familiar 

 names Ben Lomond, 

 Oban, Glencoe. Ben 

 Lomond is the sum- 

 mit of the range, the 

 railway track reaching 

 at this point an eleva- 

 tion of four thousand 

 five hundred feet ; 

 after passing the sum- 

 mit the line runs down 

 to Glen Innes, a pros- 

 perous town of two 

 thousand people, in a 

 fine invigorating 

 climate. Tin -mining 

 has added greatly to 

 the prosperity of the 

 place, the metal hav- 

 ing been discovered 



in large quantities at Vegetable Creek, twenty-eight miles in a northerly direction. Many of 

 the deposits were profitably washed out by the primitive appliances of the first discoverers, 

 but "claims" more difficult to deal with have since been successfully worked by elaborate 

 machinery. Inverell is also the centre of a tin-producing district, and the country lying 

 between it and the town of Glen Innes contains a large breadth of agricultural land. The 

 vine flourishes here, and is extensively grown. Where the soil invites to farming and the 

 climate is favourable, mining often leads to permanent settlement. The mineral is the 

 magnet that draws the people ; who, searching for subterranean treasure, are struck by 

 the richness of the easily-worked soil, and many adventurers throw aside pick, shovel 



THE WALLAMUMBI FALLS. 



