Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

412 AUSTRALASIA.most densely peopled districts in New South Wales. Newcastle, -n-hich occiipies atriangular promontory on the south side of the estuary, is the second city in thestate, and some 20 miles higher up stands Maitland, another busy centre oftraffic,comprising two contiguous communes on the banks of the Hunter, which isnavigable to this point.Newcastle, as well as the neighbouring borough of Wallsend,owes its name to the rich coal-mines which have been opened on the banks ofthe Hunter, and which both in quality and abundance compare favourably withthose of the north of England. The export coal trade, which represents abouttwo-thirds of the total production in Australasia, yearly attracts to Newcastle over athousand colliers.Thanks to this industry the traffic of Newcastle, a place foundedbut yesterday, already exceeds that of many European cities, such as Nantes andCadiz.Near the coalpits several factories have sprung up.Port Stephens, Port Macquarie, and the other seaports following northwards inthe direction of Queensland are little frequented.Along these coastlands the onlyplace of any importance is Grafton, which owes its prosperity to the neighbouringplantations, and to its deposits of gold, copper, antimony, and especially tin. Ofthese the Vegetable Creek or Emmarille mines are the most productive. On theopposite slope of the water-parting in the pastoral district of New England a fewsmall towns occur at long intervals. Of these Tamworth is the chief intermediatestation on the railway connecting Sydney with Brisbane. Bathurst, on anotherline running from Sydney north-eastwards in the direction of the Darling, is a stillmore active centre of trade. Lying 2,300 feet above the sea in an upland valleyof the Blue Mountains draining westwards to the Darling through the MacquarieRiver, Bathurst has the as^Ject of an English agricultural town surrounded by cornfields,pastiire lands, and scattered clumps of trees. Farther on the main line iscontinued across a region of the same a^Dpearance through Orange,Wellington, andBuhbo to Burlie, which stands on the Darling at the head of the navigation duringthe floods. Here this watercourse is known by the name of Riverina or the" Australian Mesopotamia."Other railwaj^s, branching ofE from the trunk line between Sydney and the BlueMountains cross the affluents of the Murray and the Murray itself, touching at severalmining or agricultural centres and riverain ports. Of these places, all recentlyfounded, the most important are, Forbes, on the Lachlan ; Gundagai and Wagga-Wagga, on the Morrumbidgee ; and Albiiri/, on the Murray. Albury esiJeciaUy hasmade rapid progress as a station midway between Sydney and Melbourne, and asthe centre of extensive tobacco plantations and vinej'ards jdelding a wine of excellentquality. At this point the Murray is crossed by a long bridge. Eastwards,beyond the course of the Darling, occur the silver and lead mines of Silverton,which are frequently designated by the name of Wileannia, from a town on thebanks of the river.South of Sydney the ports of Wollongong, Kiama, Nowra, and Slioalhnven do alittle traffic in coal and agricultural produce.But in this part of New South Walesthe chief commercial and industrial centre is the inland town of Goulburn, whichstands on an uj^per affluent of the Hawkesbury, 2,180 feet above sea-level. The