ill supply what I may have omitted, or represented
imperfectly; and his specimen of their language, however short, will be
thought worth attending to, by those who wish to collect materials for
tracing the origin of nations. I shall only premise, that the tall
strait forest trees, which Mr Anderson describes in the following
account, are of a different sort from those which are found in the more
northern parts of this coast. The wood is very long and close-grained,
extremely tough, fit for spars, oars, and many other uses; and would, on
occasion, make good masts, (perhaps none better,) if a method could be
found to lighten it.

"At the bottom of Adventure Bay is a beautiful sandy beach, which seems
to be wholly formed by the particles washed by the sea from a very fine
white sand-stone, that in many places bounds the shore, and of which
Fluted Cape, in the neighbourhood, from its appearance, seems to be
composed. This beach is about two miles long, and is excellently adapted
for hauling a seine, which both ships did repeatedly with success.
Behind this is a plain or flat, with a salt, or rather brackish lake
(running in length parallel with the beach), out of which we caught,
with angling rods, many whitish bream, and some small trout. The other
parts of the country adjoining the bay are quite hilly; and both those
and the flat are an entire forest of very tall trees, rendered almost
impassable by shrubs, brakes of fern, and fallen trees; except on the
sides of some of the hills, where the trees are but thin, and a coarse
grass is the only interruption."

"To the northward of the bay there is low land, stretching farther than
the eye can reach, which is only covered with wood in certain spots; but
we had no opportunity to examine in what respects it differed from the
hilly country. The soil on the flat land is either sandy, or consists of
a yellowish mould, and, in some places, of a reddish clay. The same is
found on the lower part of the hills; but farther up, especially where
there are few trees, it is of a grey tough cast, to appearance very
poor."

"In the valleys between the hills, the water drains down from their
sides; and at last, in some places, forms small brooks; such, indeed, as
were sufficient to supply us with water, but by no means of that size we
might expect in so extensive a country, especially as it is both hilly
and well wooded. Upon the whole, it has many marks of being naturally a
very dry count