Page:Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia, Volume 1.djvu/162

 10 SURVEY Oil'THE!IrRT!OPIC,L
 * si& to decrease; and, at the furthest part we reached,

M! s. the depth at high .water was two and a'half fathoms. The banks, .which were in most parts thickly lined with mangroves, aud in no-pat 'more than three feet above 'high-water mark, are formed of soR mud, which rendered landing, except at high water, impossible. The country on all sides presented a low level plain, the monotony of which was occasionally relieved by a .few wooded hills, and some groups of trees, among which the psire-tree was conspicuous, and tended in a trifling degree to improve the view, which, to say the best of it, was unvaried and heavy. The low land, at least that part over which the fires had not passed, was covered with a thickly matted broom-grass; and, where it was burnt off, the's oil was observed to be composed of a hard and stiff clay,' the surface of which bore the appearance of having been frequently' inundated, either by high tides, or, more probably, by fihes in the rainy season. We saw very few' birds, and those' were chiefly cockatoos; but. alligators were as nu- merous as in the other river, whence the name of Alligator Rivers were bestowed upon them. . The water where we landed was fresh enough to be nearly drinkable, and, probably, would be quite sweet at half ebb.

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