272 NEW SOUTH WALES. 



five persons. It had no top, and was in all respects a very uncom- 

 fortable conveyance. Formerly more commodious coaches were 

 employed ; but the government, finding that the contractors, in their 

 anxiety to obtain passengers, were accustomed to delay the mail, 

 ordered that none but two-wheeled vehicles should be used. The 

 party left Sydney about 5 p. m. Three miles from town is an inn 

 at which the mail-carts from all parts of the country meet, so as to 

 enter the city in company at 8 a. m. For every minute of delay 

 after this hour, the penalty of a shilling is exacted. 



The post-office department is now under excellent regulations ; the 

 number of miles of mail route travelled in the colony, is nearly three 

 hundred thousand, and the gross revenue amounts to eight thousand 

 three hundred and ninety pounds, being two thousand pounds more 

 than the expenditure. The rate of postage is high, especially on ship- 

 letters. The post was established in 1828, and at the end of the first 

 year only eight post-offices were opened. In 1839, there were forty, 

 showing the great increase of population and business. 



The route towards Wellington Valley lay through Paramatta ; and 

 about 11 p. m. Penrith, thirty-six miles from Sydney, and on the 

 Nepean, was reached. The mail left Penrith at four o'clock in the 

 morning, and crossed the river on a raft. The Nepean, on its course 

 towards the sea, assumes the name of Hawkesbury, and becomes the 

 largest, stream in the eastern part of the colony. At Penrith it is 

 about one hundred and fifty yards wide, and forms the eastern boun- 

 dary of the Emu Plains, — an interval of level ground, five or six miles 

 broad, between the river and the Blue Mountains. 



These mountains are the dividing range between the lands of the 

 coast and the interior, and were, for many years after the establishment 

 of the colony, considered as impassable, although many unsuccessful 

 attempts to cross them were made previous to the administration of 

 Governor Macquarie. During his administration, he sent out many 

 expeditions by land and sea, and in 1814, a passage was effected, and 

 the plains of Bathurst were discovered. 



On reaching this part of the country, one is no longer surprised 

 that these mountains were considered impassable. The barrier con- 

 sists of a broad belt of mountainous country, about fifty miles in 

 width, and varying in height from one thousand to three thousand 

 five hundred feet, according to Mitchell. The route which was fol- 

 lowed through them was about eighty miles in length, and for the 

 whole distance there were not more than five or six miles of level, and 



