TERRA AUSTRALIS. 
421 
Wilhems Plains .] 
found the country to be stony and not very fertile, the roads bad 
and irregular, with several places in them which must be impracti- 
cable in the heavy rains ; here and there, however, we were grati- 
fied with the view of country houses, surrounded with fruit trees and 
well watered gardens ; and once turned out of the road to see a 
water fall made by a considerable stream down a precipice of at least 
a hundred feet. The cultivated fields seemed to be generally planted 
either with sugar cane, maize, or manioc, but we were often in the 
shade of the primitive woods. 
M. Plumet had passed many years in India, in the service of 
Scindeah, the Mahratta chief, and spoke some English ; he received 
us so kindly that we remained with him until the following after- 
noon, and his habitation being within my limits, he invited me to 
visit him afterwards. From the time of quitting the port we had 
been continually ascending ; so that here the elevation w r as probably 
not less than a thousand feet, and the climate and productions were 
much altered. Coffee seemed to be a great object of attention, and 
there were some rising plantations of clove trees ; J found also 
strawberries, and even a few young oaks of tolerable growth. A 
vast advantage, as well as ornament in this and many other parts of 
the island, is the abundance of never failing streams; by which the 
gardens are embellished with cascades and fish ponds, and their 
fruit trees and vegetables watered at little expense. 
Quitting M. Plumet in the afternoon of the 26th, we rode in 
intricate paths and crossed various plantations to get into the direct 
road. In these, besides sugar cane, coffee, maize, and manioc, some 
fields were totally covered with a creeping plant bearing a heart- * 
shaped leaf; this was the patate, or sweet potatoe, a root of great 
utility to the nourishment of the slaves ; and in the higher parts of the 
island, where it succeeds best, is a favourite object of cultivation, 
being little subject to injury from the hurricanes. As we advanced 
the streams became smaller and more numerous, and the uncleared 
woods more extensive ; the country was still partly covered with 
