The first plain, or flat, as it is called,
contiguous to the river, commencing at Point Fraser, is formed of a rich
soil, and appears, by a deposit of wreck, to be occasionally flooded to
a certain extent. Here are several extensive salt marshes, which Mr.
Fraser thinks are admirably adapted for the growth of cotton. The hills,
though scanty of soil, are covered with an immense variety of plants;
among others, a magnificent species of Angophera occupied the usual
place of the Eucalyptus, which, however, here as on the eastern side,
generally forms the principal feature in the botany of the country,
accompanied by Mimosa, Correa, Melaleuca, Casuarina, Banksia, and
Xanthorea. The brome, or kangaroo glass, was most abundant. On a more
elevated flat, a little further up the river, the botanist observes that
the "magnificence of the Banksia and arborescent Zamia, which was here
seen thirty feet in height, added to the immense size of the Xanthorea
near this spot, impart to the forest a character truly tropical." He
says that about five miles to the eastward of the river, there is an
evident change in the character of the country: extensive plains of the
richest description, consisting of an alluvial deposit, equalling in
fertility those of the banks of the River Hawkesbury in New South Wales,
and covered with the most luxuriant brome grass.
Pages:
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61