and only from the remains of
debris in the branches of the trees high above, can he judge of the
furious torrent they must occasionally contain.

This seeming deviation on the part of Nature from her usual laws will
no longer appear such, if we consider its results for a moment. The
very floods which swell the rivers to overflowing, are followed by the
most beneficent effects; and, rude and violent as the means are by
which she accomplishes her purpose, they form, no doubt, a part of that
process by which she preserves the balance of good and evil. Vast
quantities of the best soil have been thus washed down from the
mountains to accumulate in more accessible places. From frequent
depositions, a great extent of country along the banks of every river
and creek has risen high above the influence of the floods, and
constitutes the richest tracts in the colony. The alluvial flats of the
Nepean, the Hawkesbury, and the Hunter, are striking instances of the
truth of these observations; to which the plains of O'Connell and
Bathurst must be added. The only good soil upon the two latter, is in
the immediate neighbourhood of the Macquarie River: but, even close to
its banks, the depositions are of little depth, lying on a coarse
gravelly soil, the decomposition of the nearer ranges. The former is
found to diminish in thickness, according to the concavity of the
valley through which the Macquarie flows, and at length becomes mixed
with the coarser soil. This deposit is alone fit for agricultural
purposes; but it does not necessarily follow that the distant country
is unavailable since it is admitted, that the best grazing tracts are
upon the secondary ranges of granite and porphyry. These ranges
generally have the appearance of open forest, and are covered with
several kinds of grasses, among which the long oat-grass is the most
abundant.

COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND.

If we except the valley of the Nepean, the banks of the South Creek,
the Pennant Hills near Parramatta, and a few other places, the general
soil of the county of Cumberland, is of the poorest description. It is
superficial in most places, resting either upon a cold clay, or upon
sandstone; and is, as I have already remarked, a ferruginous compound
of the finest dust. Yet there are many places upon its surface,
(hollows for instance,) in which vegetable decay has accumulated, or
valleys, into which it has been washed, that are well adapted for the
usual purposes of agri