A US TRALASIA ILL USTRA TED. 



The sea-port of the Richmond is Ballina, a small place at present, the land on the 

 lower part of the River being poor and sandy. The bar is both difficult and dangerous, 

 hut an Act has now passed Parliament for improving the entrance by the construction 

 of training-walls, to be extended, if necessary, as breakwaters. If the scheme proves a 

 success the entrance will be made as good as that of the Clarence. The latter is the 

 larger river of the two ; its entrance is already the more available, and its improvement 

 has also been sanctioned by Parliament. In each case the designs have been made by 

 Sir John Coode. The basins of the two rivers put together constitute one of the fairest 

 and richest provinces of New South Wales ; their great want is better communication with 

 the metropolis. In the valley of the Orara, one of the tributaries of the Clarence, is a 

 magnificent timber forest, and when transit facilities are provided by railway, a large and 

 profitable industry will be developed. When the trees have been removed the highly 

 fertile soil will be valuable for farms. 



Grafton is the capital of the Clarence District, and indeed may be regarded as the 

 queen city of the North. It is the head of navigation for large vessels, but small 





CASINO, ON THE RICHMOND. 



craft can ascend fifty miles higher ; the town is laid 



out on both sides of the River, which at this point, 



forty-five miles from the sea, is half a mile in breadth. 



It is in the centre of a sugar-growing district, while 



behind it lie prosperous squattages. In the creeks and 



mountains in the background many indications have been 



found of mineral wealth. Grafton, which with Armidale is the see of an Anglican bishop, 



is practically 'The City" for a large number of people for whom the great metropolis is 



too far off. Hither they come to see and to be seen, to buy their stores, to spend their 



surplus, and to enjoy life. The surveyors laid out the town with streets of a width 



sufficient to allow of their being shady avenues as well as convenient routes for traffic. 



s have been planted, and are already well grown; they give grateful coolness in the 

 hot summer months, and contrast pleasantly with the glistening fronts of the buildings. 



these the Court House is the most considerable, although the banks are built sub- 

 stantially, and taken as a whole the city is not unworthy of its fine surroundings. The 



