PECULIARITIES OF THE VALLEYS 5 



forests ; there is nearly always room to move freely about 

 among the trees, and the best herbage often grows under 

 arboreous shelter. 



There is a certain amount of drainage into the valleys, 

 but it is not sufficient to make any part of them marshy. 

 Brooks are occasionally found, but the waters of these 

 scantily-fed channels rarely find an outlet through the 

 environing cliffs, and in the few instances in which they 

 do, the passages are narrow and choked with masses of 

 rock, and show no signs of extensive water erosion, a 

 pretty certain indication that the valleys have never been 

 the channels of large rivers. The valleys, indeed, have 

 the appearance of enormous rents in the cliffs, often 

 narrowing at each end into rifts so confined that even a 

 dog cannot force a way through them, though the enclosing 

 walls are perhaps three or four hundred feet in height. It 

 may be positively asserted that these rifts do not owe 

 their formation to water action. Water never runs 

 through them in sufficient quantity, not even after heavy 

 rains, to wash away any of the soil or rock, and they have 

 probably existed for ages without modification of size 

 or form. 



Rills of water in many places run over the cliffs and 

 fall, as pretty cascades, into the valleys beneath. Govett's 

 Leap is one of the best known and most often referred to 

 of these cascades, but none of* them have a sufficient body 

 of water to entitle them to be considered " falls." They 

 are, nevertheless, much thought of by Australians, and 

 many of them are the constant resort of holiday folks. 

 Barriers, to prevent accidents, have been erected round the 

 edges of the cliffs, and lordly hotels have been built for 

 the accommodation of visitors — additions which are not 

 always appreciated by lovers of unshorn Nature. The 

 lover of Nature, however, need not despair if he is a man 

 not averse to using his legs, and risking his neck, in an 

 arduous climb. There are plenty of hidden spots, too 

 difficult of access, and likely to remain so for many years, 

 to be visited by any persons except those of a resolute 

 and daring courage. There are spots in the mountains 



