NEW SOUTH WALES. 257 



The mail leaves Sydney once a week for Wellington Valley. There 

 is some difficulty in procuring a seat, and the fare is thirty-two dollars 

 and fifty cents ; a very exorbitant charge considering the mode of con- 

 veyance, which was a two-wheeled vehicle, with seats for five persons. 

 It had no top, and was in all respects a very uncomfortable convey- 

 ance. 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 lip. 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 boundary 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 consists 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 followed through 



vol. ii. W2 * 33 



