Page:An account of a voyage to establish a colony at Port Philip in Bass's Strait.djvu/183

( 158 ) us into the most delusive dreams of fruitfulness and plenty.

The soil (except in a few places where marle is found mixed with vegetable mould,) is invariably sandy, and its blackness proceeds from the ashes of the burnt grass, which has every where been set fire to by the natives. The proportion of sand varies, and in some spots the soil may be sufficiently strong to produce vegetables, and, perhaps, Indian corn; but it may safely be asserted, that (excepting a few acres at the head of the port) no spot within five miles of the water will produce wheat or any other grain that requires either much moisture or good soil. On some of the highest elevations an arid sea-sand is found, giving nourishment to no other vegetable