466 
NEW SOUTH WALES 
CHAP. 
the valley ; and hence the name of bay is justified, as applied 
to this grand amphitheatrical depression. If we imagine a 
winding harbour, with its deep water surrounded by bold cliff¬ 
like shores, to be laid dry, and a forest to spring up on its 
sandy bottom, we should then have the appearance and 
structure here exhibited. This kind of view was to me quite 
novel, and extremely magnificent. 
In the evening we reached the Blackheath. The sandstone 
plateau has here attained the height of 3400 feet; and is 
covered, as before, with the same scrubby woods. From the 
road there were occasional glimpses into a profound valley of 
the same character as the one described ; but from the steepness 
and depth of its sides, the bottom was scarcely ever to be seen. 
The Blackheath is a very comfortable inn, kept by an old 
soldier ; and it reminded me of the small inns in North Wales. 
1 8 th .— Very early in the morning I walked about three 
miles to see Govett’s Leap : a view of a similar character with 
that near the Weatherboard, but perhaps even more stupendous. 
So early in the day the gulf was filled with a thin blue haze, 
which, although destroying the general effect of the view, added 
to the apparent depth at which the forest was stretched out 
beneath our feet. These valleys, which so long presented an 
insuperable barrier to the attempts of the most enterprising of 
the colonists to reach the interior, are most remarkable. Great 
armlike bays, expanding at their upper ends, often branch 
from the main valleys and penetrate the sandstone platform ; 
on the other hand, the platform often sends promontories into 
the valleys, and even leaves in them great, almost insulated, 
masses. To descend into some of these valleys, it is necessary 
to go round twenty miles ; and into others, the surveyors have 
only lately penetrated, and the colonists have not yet been able 
to drive in their cattle. But the most remarkable feature in 
their structure is, that although several miles wide at their 
heads, they generally contract towards their mouths to such a 
degree as to become impassable. The Surveyor-General, Sir 
T. Mitchell, 1 endeavoured in vain, first walking and then by 
crawling between the great fallen fragments of sandstone, to 
1 Travels in Australia, vol. i. p. 154. I must express my obligation to Sir T. 
Mitchell for several interesting personal communications on the subject of these 
great valleys of New South Wales. 
