ABUNDANCE OF FRESH WATER. 131 



of fresh -neater at the very close of the dry season. 

 In Evans' Bay it may alwa3's be procured by dig^- 

 ging behind the beach, especially at the foot of 

 some low wooded 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 

 neighbourhood of Cape York, it would be very easy 

 to speculate upon, and at once presume its peculiar 

 fitness for the growth of tropical produce. Thus, 

 any swampy land might at once be pronounced 

 peculiarly adapted for paddy fields, and the re- 

 mainder as admirably suited to the g-rowth of 

 cotton, coffee, indigo, &c. With the exception of a 

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

 eastern margin of a watercourse, leading from the 

 small lagoon behind Evans' Bay, and which would 

 be a good site for a large garden, I did not see 

 much ground 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 vegetable mattei", is essentiall}- poor and sandy. 

 It may be added that the value of the garden land 

 above alluded to, is much enhanced by its proximity 

 to a constant supply of watei', to be procured by 



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