462 CHARLES DARWIN 



stone plateau has here attained the height of 3400 feet; and 

 is covered, as before, with the same scrubby woods. From 

 the road, there were occasional glimpses into a profound 

 valley, of the same character as the one described ; but from 

 the steepness and depth of its sides, the bottom was scarcely 

 ever to be seen. The Blackheath is a very comfortable inn, 

 kept by an old soldier ; and it reminded me of the small inns 

 in North Wales. 



i8th. Very early in the morning, I walked about three 

 miles to see Govett's Leap; a view of a similar character 

 with that near the Weatherboard, but perhaps even more 

 stupendous. So early in the day the gulf was filled with a 

 thin blue haze, which, although destroying the general effect 

 of the view added to the apparent depth at which the forest 

 was stretched out beneath our feet. These valleys, which so 

 long presented an insuperable barrier to the attempts of the 

 most enterprising of the colonists to reach the interior, are 

 most remarkable. Great arm-like bays, expanding at their 

 upper ends, often branch from the main valleys and pen- 

 etrate the sandstone platform; on the other hand, the plat- 

 form often sends promontories into the valleys, and even 

 leaves in them great, almost insulated, masses. To descend 

 into some of these valleys, it is necessary to go round twenty 

 miles; and into others, the surveyors have only lately pen- 

 etrated, and the colonists have not yet been able to drive in 

 their cattle. But the most remarkable feature in their struc- 

 ture is, that although several miles wide at their heads, they 

 generally contract towards their mouths to such a degree 

 as to become impassable. The Surveyor-General, Sir T. 

 Mitchell,* endeavoured in vain, first walking and then by 

 crawling between the great fallen fragments of sandstone, 

 to ascend through the gorge by which the river Grose joins 

 the Nepean; yet the valley of the Grose in its upper part, 

 as I saw, forms a magnificent level basin some miles in 

 width, and is on all sides surrounded by cliffs, the summits 

 of which are believed to be nowhere less than 3000 feet 

 above the level of the sea. When cattle are driven into the 

 valley of the Wolgan by a path (which I descended), partly 



* Travels in Australia, vol. i. p. 154. I must express my obligation to 

 Sir T. Mitchell, for several interesting personal communications on the 

 subject of these great valleys of New Soutn Wales. 



