Page:Extracts from the letters and journals of George Fletcher Moore.djvu/17

 Rh as yet unknown. The land to the south is more fertile than that towards the north, the atmosphere cooler, and the climate more agreeable.

About eighty miles to the south of the Swan River, is the River Colley, which, taking its rise in the Darling Mountains, flows (with two other rivers) into Port Leshenhault, an estuary sixteen or eighteen miles in length.

The banks of the Colley are said to be beautiful; there is a bar at its mouth which prevents the entrance of vessels of any considerable burthen. The soil between it and the Canning River (nearest to the mountains) is of clay or red marl, occasionally interspersed with sandy loam, like that of Shropshire, and well adapted to agricultural purposes; towards the coast, the soil is light and sandy, but producing large timber; the banks of the rivers abound in rich alluvial flats; the mountains, composed of granite, are generally rugged.

Of the country between the Colley and Cape Lewin but little is as yet known. Where it has been penetrated (as from the river Vasse) it