Page:Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia, Volume 1.djvu/84

 :30 9URVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL lsa two and a half fathoms, at about a quarter of a F,. 9. mile from the shore. o. The following morning, we ascended it in a boat for four miles. On our way to the entrance, which was between the reef and the shore, we had some difficulty, even with the boat, in finding a chan- nel; but when we were within the heads, we found a regular depth of from ten to twelve feet: the b_nls on either side were, for two miles, ira. Ponetrab]y lined with mangrove bushes, which bore the marks of having been torn down by' freshes or inundations. ]eyond this the banks were low and sandy, but the channel of the river was of mud. At high water we landed to ex- amine the count, and ascended a sand-hillock, the only elevation we could lind, to procure a view around; it was so low that our prospect was very limited, yet still it was sufficient to satisfy us of the aridity and poverty of the soil: the country bore the appearance of having been under water, which seemed to be occasioned by high tides, for there were large patches of salt incrustations, which could only have been caused by an inundation of sea-water. Two or three stunted bushes of a species of eucalyptu were the only trees seen, excepting the mangroves. The oil is composed of a mixture of red quartzose o,g,t,zeo by Goog[�

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