NEW SOUTH WALES. 245 



through which the sea forces a passage to the distance of one hundred 

 yards or more, sweeping along at a furious rate; and when the noise 

 of its progress has nearly died away, loud thunderings are heard 

 rushing through its vaults. The Blow-Hole of Kiama Point is already 

 a place of some celebrity, and it merits to be so. A subterranean 

 passage of about twenty feet broad by eighteen high, receives the 

 advancing wave, which passes quietly along for two hundred feet. It 

 then meets a basaltic wall, against which it dashes with a sullen roar, 

 and passes upwards through a narrow opening above, rising at times 

 to a height of one hundred feet, throwing off innumerable jets in all 

 directions, and which fall around in ever-changing forms. 



Some of the basaltic scenery about Kiama, will bear comparison 

 with the far-famed Giant's Causeway, and the rocks of Staffa, if it does 

 not surpass them, united as it is with the luxuriant and splendid forests 

 of palms, tree-ferns, and the woody creepers of the tropics. 



About Shoalhaven is one of the largest and finest farming and 

 grazing districts in the colony. Its scenery is extremely picturesque, 

 particularly when viewed from the summit of Coolomgata. The broad 

 Shoalhaven river is seen to the southward, flowing through rich 

 meadows and farms, enclosing a delta ; wdiile the deep and sinuous 

 bays with which the coast is indented, and which enclose innumerable 

 islets, appear like a crowded cluster of lakes. 



To the north, a wide verdant plain extends to a mountain bluff, 

 called Broughton's Head. Through this the Broughton river winds, 

 and beyond it is seen the Illawarra mountain range. 



On a wide platform around Woolongong Point, are to be seen at 

 high-water mark, globular concretions, that resemble cannon-balls in 

 appearance. They vary in size, from one inch to four in diameter, 

 and are very compact and tough. They generally contain some foreign 

 body, and in about a third of them, Mr. Dana found a single fossil 

 shell in a beautiful state of preservation. For a full detail of the 

 geological structure of this district, which is exceedingly interesting, I 

 must refer to the Geological Report. 



Mr. Hale and Mr. Agate made a jaunt to the Hunter river, and 

 thence to Lake Macquarie, to the establishment of Mr. Threlkeld, the 

 missionary employed among the aborigines. 



The passage to Hunter river, a distance of eighty miles to the north 

 of Sydney, is made in a steamer. The boat was small and ill-adapted 

 for the sea. 



Leaving Sydney just before dark, they reached Newcastle, at the 

 mouth of the Hunter river, about noon the next day. They, however, 

 had a head wind and much sea to contend against. 



V2 



