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A USTRALASIA ILL USTRA TED. 



the Plains end the mountains at once begin. In the old coaching-days there were little 

 more than road-side inns all the way until the mountain was descended on the other 

 Mik-, when agricultural and pastoral occupation once more began. But since the railway 

 has been at work some coal-mines have been opened up, hotels have been built, and 

 little townships have sprung up, . such as at Springwood, Katoomba, Blackheath and 

 Mount Victoria. The older road, which was superseded by a better one clown Mount 

 Victoria, made its descent into the western country at Mount York ; but the railway 

 engineers decided on going west and making the descent, not into the Vale of Hartley, 

 but into the Valley of Lithgow. The line, therefore, after passing Mount Victoria, keeps 

 its elevation for some distance, running along the Darling Causeway the dividing ridge 

 hctut-cn the head of the Grose and the Valley of the Lett. On the left is a branch 

 constructed by the Hartley Kerosene Company ; the line makes a steep descent into 



the Vale of Hartley, the trucks 

 being drawn up by a rope. 



After all the rugged gorges 

 at the head of the Grose have 

 been passed, the point of junc- 

 tion with Bell's Line of road 

 is reached at Mount Wilson 

 Station. The railway then tun- 

 nels under Mount Clarence and 



A^A^^K ** > I. i emerges on a spur looking 



down upon Lithgow. To make 

 the descent the engineers had 

 recourse once more to a "zig 

 zag" a much more difficult 

 piece of work than that by 

 which the mountain was 

 climbed on the eastern side. 

 The road down is in turn 



sidling, viaduct, tunnel and cutting. Below there are two or three points of vantage 

 whence may be seen the manner in which the line sweeps down the face of this bold 



* 



inland cliff the three ledges, one above another, being commanded in one view. 



At the foot of the "Zig-zag" are the two adjoining townships of Eskbank and 

 Lithgow. We are here at the western outcrop of the immense coal-seams which 

 underlie the whole of the Blue Mountains, and it is this which gives character to the 

 industries of the place. At several points the seams have been attacked, sometimes by 

 adits driven into the hills, sometimes by shallow shafts. A good market for the coal 

 is found along the line of railway both west and east, as well as in Sydney. The 

 existence of iron ore in the neighbourhood naturally suggested the possibility of smelting- 

 works, but the enterprise has met with many difficulties. The ore is scattered, and not 

 cheaply raised, the lime has to be brought from a distance, and colonial labour is 

 costly. It has been impossible, therefore, to produce iron as cheaply as it can be 

 imported. But the basis of the industry has been laid, and its further development only 





THK ANCI.HAN ( ATIIEDKAI, AT BATHUKST. 



