effluvium of one set of men shut up for some time together was
poisonous when inhaled by others; and possibly more so, if the men be
of different races. Mysterious as this circumstance appears to be, it
is not more surprising than that the body of one's fellow-creature,
directly after death, and before putrefaction has commenced, should
often be of so deleterious a quality, that the mere puncture from an
instrument used in its dissection, should prove fatal.
17th.--Early in the morning we passed the Nepean in a ferry-boat. The
river, although at this spot both broad and deep, had a very small body
of running water. Having crossed a low piece of land on the opposite
side, we reached the slope of the Blue Mountains. The ascent is not
steep, the road having been cut with much care on the side of a
sandstone cliff. On the summit an almost level plain extends, which,
rising imperceptibly to the westward, at last attains a height of more
than 3000 feet. From so grand a title as Blue Mountains, and from
their absolute altitude, I expected to have seen a bold chain of
mountains crossing the country; but instead of this, a sloping plain
presents merely an inconsiderable front to the low land near the coast.
From this first slope, the view of the extensive woodland to the east
was striking, and the surrounding trees grew bold and lofty. But when
once on the sandstone platform, the scenery becomes exceedingly
monotonous; each side of the road is bordered by scrubby trees of the
never-failing Eucalyptus family; and with the exception of two or three
small inns, there are no houses or cultivated land: the road, moreover,
is solitary; the most frequent object being a bullock-waggon, piled up
with bales of wool.
In the middle of the day we baited our horses at a little inn, called
the Weatherboard. The country here is elevated 2800 feet above the
sea. About a mile and a half from this place there is a view
exceedingly well worth visiting. Following down a little valley and
its tiny rill of water, an immense gulf unexpectedly opens through the
trees which border the pathway, at the depth of perhaps 1500 feet.
Walking on a few yards, one stands on the brink of a vast precipice,
and below one sees a grand bay or gulf, for I know not what other name
to give it, thickly covered with forest. The point of view is situated
as if at the head of a bay, the line of cliff diverging on each side,
and showing headland behind headland, as on a bold sea-coast. These
cliffs are composed of horizontal strata of whitish sandstone; and are
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