NEW SOUTH WALES. 179 



positive knowledge has yet been obtained. The prevailing opinion 

 appears to be, that an extensive desert extends throughout it; and 

 this opinion is supported by citing the dry and scorching character 

 of the winds which blow from the west. The greatest distance to 

 the westward which has been explored, is only four hundred and 

 fifty miles, which is not a fourth part of the distance to the western 

 coast. It will thus be seen that a vast field of discovery is still open, 

 which will no doubt be ere long explored, under the auspices of the 

 British government. 



To the southwest of Sydney the same compact limestone seen at 

 Bathurst makes its appearance at Argyle, also about one hundred 

 and twenty miles distant from the former place. This stone yields 

 lime of good quality, and is also a valuable material for building. 



According to the best accounts, the range of granite appears to 

 begin in Van Diemen's Land, and after being interrupted by Bass's 

 Straits, runs through New South Wales in a broad belt. Near Bass's 

 Straits it rises into a lofty group of mountains, called the Australian 

 Alps, the only snowy ridge known in Australia, and continuing 

 thence northward, it forms the dividing range of the waters. 



The basaltic ridges of this southern region are said occasionally to 

 reach a height of four thousand feet, and a limestone similar to that 

 of Argyle and Bathurst, which contains many fossils, extends to the 

 " Limestone Plains," where it is succeeded by the usual sandstone. 

 How far this limestone extends to the southward has not been 

 ascertained. The finest districts in this southern section are those of 

 Port Philip, Argyle, Bass, and Bong-Bong. 



To the northward, beyond the Hunter river, the country is inter- 

 sected by basaltic ridges, which increase in number until they merge 

 in the Liverpool Mountains, of which many of them are spurs. 

 Between these ridges, and to the north of the Goulburn branch, 

 sandstone again prevails, and forms a great extent of barren country ; 

 but the smaller valleys being generally bordered by ridges of basalt, 

 are for the most part fertile. 



The Liverpool range of mountains, although it has been traced for 

 many miles in an east and west direction, is said by Major Mitchell 

 to be a prolongation of the range which runs parallel to the coast- 

 According to him, at the distance of one hundred miles inland, 

 the range trends to the northward, and thence pursues a course to the 

 northeast. 



To the northward of the Liverpool range, plains of considerable 



