Page:The Visit of Charles Fraser to the Swan River in 1827.djvu/19

 admirably adapted to the growth of cotton. This has already been produced at Sydney, and pronounced by the ablest judges in Britain to be of very superior quality. There can be no question but that, both as to soil and climate, the banks of the Swan River would prove better adapted to the cultivation of this plant than Port Jackson, and the seed that should be tried is that of Sea Island Cotton.

"The hills on the bank of the river are exceedingly barren, resembling those of Port Jackson, but producing a magnificent species of Angophora, which seems to assume the same situation in the botany as the genus Eucalyptus does in that of Port Jackson. Banksia grandis was here seen to attain the height of fifty feet, and its trunk frequently exceeded two feet and a half in diameter.

"Amongst the new botany of this tract may be enumerated a species of Metrosideros of great elegance, forming thickets on the flats, and intermingling with two other species of the same genus, but of less beauty; its flowers of the most brilliant scarlet ; the general height of the tree, 6 feet. There were also a pink-flowered handsome species of Centaurea, a remarkable dwarf species of Hakea, two species of Daviesia and Dryanda Armata.

"I observed a species of Psittacus, in large flocks, whose