'/'///: TOWNS OF NEW SOUTH WALKS. 



243 





payable quantities. The geographical feature of the country is Mount Seaview, rising six 

 thousand feet, and it is the proximity of this great cloud-gatherer that makes Port 

 Macquarie one of the rainiest townships on the coast. 



South of the Hastings lies the valley of the Manning not so populous as the 

 country to the north, but of a somewhat similar character. There is fine timber in the 

 district, and there are some mineral indications, but as yet no profitable mines. A 

 number of settlements lie along the course of the Manning, among the more important 

 being the towns of Croki, Cundletown, Taree, Tinonee and Wingham, the last-named, 

 which stands at the head of navigation, being the centre of a rich and prosperous agri- 

 cultural district. These little centres have populations ranging from two to six hundred. 

 The inlets on this coast, especially that at Camden Haven, are famous for their oysters. 



A large district of which Port Stephens, with its town of Carrington, is the natural 

 outlet lies south of the Manning. Along the shore are the extensive Myall Lakes, on 

 the banks of which are 

 valuable forests. 

 Stroud, the principal 

 town, has a large saw- 

 milling industry ; far- 

 ther north is Glouces- 

 ter, and to the north- 

 west the gold-mining 

 settlement of Cope- 

 land. In the county of 

 Gloucester is the great 

 property of the Austra- 



lian Agricultural Com- 



O 



pany, but no corres- 

 ponding development 



of the country has justified the policy of making such large grants. One or two small 

 gold-fields have been discovered, but as a whole the district has not been progressive. 



These northern rivers in the coast district between Port Stephens and the northern 

 border of the colony, constitute a very valuable portion of New South Wales, but as 

 the communication with them is almost wholly by sea, and as all the rivers are bar-bound 

 and demand a large expenditure to open them to navigation, progress has been greatly- 

 checked. A coast-line of railway has been proposed, and should this be carried out the 

 chain of settlements along the northern coast will greatly increase in importance. 



It is customary to regard the whole of that part of the colony which lies north 

 of Sydney, and extends as far as the Queensland border, as the Northern District, although 

 this area really embraces three districts. The first of these is the Hunter River District, 

 which falls away from the Liverpool Range and constitutes the water-shed of the Hunter. 

 This stream finds its ctnbonchiirc in the port of the same name, and upon it stands 

 the coal-city of Newcastle, which thus makes a focalizing point for the trade of 

 the district. The Northern District proper has its base on the Liverpool Range, falls 

 away east and west from the Moonbi, and the main chain which runs parallel to the 



THE COURT HOUSE AND THE POST OFFICE AT GRAFTON. 





