Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 2 (Stockdale).djvu/18

12 down we perceived springs of clear water, creeping out at several places, and running into a lake, where I saw some pelicans; but unfortunately I was able to fire at them only from a great distance. This lake is in the midst of a large plain, the soil of which, in the lowest parts, consists of clay thoroughly drenched with water, and covered with roots of different plants, which form a bad kind of turf on a shaking bottom. Through this are openings in several places a few feet broad, displaying a very thin mud, covered with water. Near these bogs, I had the pleasure of collecting a great number of plants, among which I remarked several new species of calceolaria and drosera, (sun-dew.)

Continuing our walk, we soon had a vegetable mould under our feet, which I found the same at more than half a yard deep throughout the whole breadth of the valley. The temperature of the climate would be extremely favourable to the cultivation of most of the vegetables of Europe; and a few trenches, dug in proper places, would give a sufficient discharge to the water, to drain almost all the marshes found there, and convert them into fertile soil.

As night approached, we had reached the spot where we landed, and saw there several heaps of oyster-shells, brought by the natives, which had induced