Page:Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia, Volume 1.djvu/500

 43�RVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL 82o. river on either side, but they were all salt-water oct. creeks. 11--12. The rocks on the hills are formed of a close- grained siliceous sand-stone; and the ground i covered with loose masses of the same rock, with sF/n/fex growing between them; this plant is of itself sufficient to indicate the poverty of the soil. As we passed a small round islet, an alligator, which had been basking in the sun, alarmed at our approach, rushed into the water, and, as we came near the spot, rose to reconnoitre us, but instantly sunk again. The sea-breeze, being unimpeded by the in* tervention of ]and, blew so strong, *that, when the flood ceased, we were enabled to proceed for some time against the ebb-tide. It also pre- vented'our suffering from the heat, which would otherwise have been very oppressive; for the thermometer stood all day at 96 � 98 �At the distance of about seventeen miles from the basin, we were surised by hearing the noise of a fall of water; but distrusting our ears, we were not convinced of the fact, until an open- ing in the mangroves exposed to bur view a cascade of water of one hundred and sixty feet in breadth, falling from a considerable height. As the breeze still enabled us to make way against

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