Page:An account of a voyage to establish a colony at Port Philip in Bass's Strait.djvu/186

( 161 ) the beach, where ducks, teal, and swans are found in abundance.

The timber, within five miles of the beach, is chiefly the she-oak, which is only fit for cabinet work; the trees are open, and the country is entirely free from under-wood, except in the swamps, which are always covered with an impenetrable brush. The other kinds of timber trees are very thinly scattered within the above limits; they are the blue-gum, stringy-bark, honeysuckle, box, and a kind of pine; of these the three first grow to a large size, and when sound, would probably be useful in ship-building. From the lightness of the soil, as well as its want of depth, the trees shoot their roots horizontally, and having no hold of the ground, are blown down