New South Wales

New South Wales, a flourishing British colony, extending along the east coast of Australia from the river Tweed, lat. 28° 10' S., to Cape Howe, lat. 37° 31' S., with a varying breadth of about 500 miles on the average. It is bounded by Queensland (separated from it in 1859) on the north, South Australia on the west, and Victoria on the south. The Blue Mountains and Australian Alps form a mountain range stretching from north and south from 30 to 50 miles from the coast, the western slope being watered by several fine tributaries of the river Darling and river Murray. On the coast there are a number of fine natural harbours, of which the principal are Port Macquarie, Port Stephens, Port Hunter, Broken Bay, Port Jackson, Botany Bay, Jervis Bay, and Bateman Bay. The rivers Hastings (flowing into Port Macquarie), Hunter, Hawkesbury (into Broken Bay), Paramatta, the Shoulhaven and Clyde (into Bateman Bay) are more or less navigable. The chief towns are Sydney (q.v.) and Bathurst. There is much fertile land, producing cereals, fruit, wine, and livestock, while the mineral riches include gold, copper, coal, and marbles.