Western Coasts.] INTRODUCTION. lxvii 
As to the soil and vegetable productions upon several points near Conclusive 
the sea, from Rottenest, northward to i6|, there was tolerably 
good general information; the inhabitants, also, had been seen; 
and, at one place, communication with them had been obtained. The 
accounts did, certainly, not give any flattering prospect, that much 
interesting knowledge was likely to be acquired under these heads, 
unless a strait, or inland sea, were found ; but the accounts were 
not only confined as to place, but, with the exception of Dampier's, 
were very imperfect ; and the great extent of the coasts, in the richest 
climates of the world, excited hopes that a close investigation would 
not only be of advantage to natural history, but would bring to light 
something useful in the mineral or vegetable kingdoms. 
In the case of penetrating the interior of Terra Australis, whether 
by a great river, or a strait leading to an inland sea, a superior 
country, and perhaps a different people, might be found, the know- 
ledge of which could not fail to be very interesting, and might 
prove advantageous to the nation making the discovery. 
