Page:Handbook of Western Australia.djvu/61



As the geological conformation of the Colony divides it into districts distinct in character, so in connexion with their position it has determined their climate and productions. The great granitic masses of the South-West are covered by forests, the trees to the South being of gigantic growth, showing not only the fertility of the soil, but the greater humidity of the climate, of which also the greater abundance of fresh water gives sufficient proof; moreover, the forest growth prevents the great rapidity of evaporation which is experienced on the plains of the North, Centre, and South-East of the Colony; these causes determine the distribution and occupations of the inhabitants. The South-West must ultimately prove the most populous and generally