ABUNDANCE OF FRESH WATER. 131 



of fresh water at the very close of the dry season. 

 In Evans' Bay it may always be procured by dig'- 

 g'mg- belimd the beach^ especially at the foot of 

 some low w^ooded hillocks^ towards its western end. 

 Native wells were met with in most of the smaller 

 bays^ and the size of the dried up watercourses 

 indicates that during* the wet season^ a considerable 

 body is carried off by them from the flats and tem- 

 porary lag'oons. 



Were one inclined^ from interested motives^ to 

 extol the natural capabilities of the immediate 

 neig-hbourhood of Cape York^ it would be very easy 

 to speculate upon^ and at once presume its peculiar 

 fitness for the g-rowth of tropical produce. Thus^ 

 any swampy land mig'ht at once be pronounced 

 pecuHarly adapted for paddy fields^ and the re- 

 mainder as admirably suited to the g'rowth of 

 cotton^ coffee^ indig-o^ &c. With the exception of a 

 piece of rich soil^ several acres in extent^ on the 

 eastern marg"in of a watercourse^ leading* from the 

 small lag'oon behind Evans' Bay^ and which would 

 be a g'ood site for a larg*e g*arden^ I did not see 

 much g-round that was fit for cultivation. Very fine 

 rich patches occur here and there in the brushes 

 removed from the coast^ but in the belts of brush 

 along* the beaches the soil^ despite the accumulation 

 of veg-etable matter^ is essentially poor and sandy. 

 It may be added that the value of the g-arden land 

 above alluded to^ is much enhanced by its proximity 

 to a constant supply of water^ to be procured by 



K 2 



