ABSTRACT
On leaving Aberdeen a long, trim, iron suspension bridge carried authors high across the Hunter, which was ill supplied with water, and the train stopped at a massive tin water-tank to take on water and coal. The authors then passed through skeleton forest which was occasionally interrupted by poorly cultivated fields or conspicuously barren pastures. Small villages occasionally emerged which seemed desolate, neglected and half-deserted. The mountains became more majestic. About two miles from Scone some well-kept farms were noticed, especially Mr Cook’s, which was surrounded by an attractive forest. Hot winds blew from the west. The sky was clear but hazy with heat. At 12.45 the authors stopped at Scone railway station, 680 feet above sea level, 167 miles north of Sydney, and 96 miles north of Newcastle. Scone is situated in mountainous surroundings at the foot of a hill on the banks of the Kingdon Ponds, which carried little water.
