THE TOWNS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



2/7 



Berrima one month for every year of their term, and the name has a terrifying effect 

 on evil-doers. Four miles from the town a seam of coal is being successfully worked. 

 Just beyond Mittagong the railway passes by a tunnel under the Gibraltar Ridge 

 and comes out on Howral, which in the hot 

 weather is a popular resort for the tired and 

 jaded workers from the city, the plateau on the 

 Southern Line beiiiij the rival of the Blue Moun- 



tains as a summer 

 these advantages 

 that a given 

 elevation is ob- 

 tainable within a 

 shorter distance 

 from the metro- 

 polis, that the rail- 

 way ascends a 

 thousand feet 

 higher, and that 

 they are freer 

 from the salt sea- 

 breezes ; on the 

 other hand, the 

 land traversed by 

 the southern 

 route is more 

 open and fertile, 

 provisions are ob- 

 tained with less 

 difficulty, and 



retreat. The latter have 



there are greater opportuni- 

 ties for extended excursions. 

 Wide tracts of rich volcanic 

 soil abound, and the 

 scenery, although neither 

 grand nor imposing, is 

 varied and beautiful. The 

 atmosphere is dry and ex- 

 hilarating, and the fresh 

 breeze blows over open ver- 

 dant leas and undulating 

 slopes which remind the 

 traveller of many an En- 

 glish county. Around Bow- 

 ral and Moss Vale are a 

 number of interesting 

 drives, a journey of about 

 two hours, proceeding in 

 an easterly direction, bring- 

 ing the tourist to the first 

 cataract of the Fitzroy 

 Falls. Here, in rainy sea- 

 sons, a large volume of 

 water flows over a bluff at 

 the head of a gorge which is half a mile in width, one thousand feet in depth, and main- 

 miles in length in general outline somewhat similar to those famed and picturesque chasms 



THE FITZROY FALLS, MOSS VALE. 



