XXX 
CONNECTION BETWEEN THE 
often when I placed my foot on what appeared 
externally to he the solid trunk of a tree, I have 
found it yield to the pressure, in consequence of 
its decomposition into absolute rottenness. But 
such is not the case in New South Wales. There, 
no such accumulations of vegetable matter 
are to be met with; but where the loftiest 
tree of the forest falls to the ground, its figure 
and length are marked out by the total want of 
vegetation within a certain distance of it, and a 
small elevation of earth, resembling more the 
refuse or scoria of burnt bricks than any thing 
else, is all that ultimately remains of the im- 
mense body which time or accident had pros- 
trated. Thus it would appear, that it is not less 
to the character of its woods than to the ravages 
of fire that New South Wales owes its general 
sterility. 
Whilst prosecuting my researches in the in- 
terior of the colony, I could not but be struck 
with the apparent connection between its geo- 
logy and vegetation ; so strong, indeed, was 
this connection, that I had little difficulty, after 
a short experience, in judging of the rock that 
formed the basis of the country over which I 
