104 
SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL 
i8is. to decrease ; and, at the furthest part we reached. 
May 8. the depth at high water was two and a half 
fathoms. The banks, which were in most parts 
thickly lined with mangroves, and in no part 
more than three feet above high-water mark, 
are formed of soft mud, which rendered landing, 
except at high water, impossible. The country on 
all sides presented a low level plain, the monotony 
of which was occasionally relieved by a few 
wooded hills, and some groups of trees, among 
which the palm-tree was conspicuous, and tended 
in a trifling degree to improve the view, which, 
to say the best of it, was unvaried and heavy. 
The low land, at least that part over which the 
fires had not passed, was covered with a thickly 
matted broom-grass; and, where it was burnt 
off, the soil was observed to be composed of a 
hard and stiff clay, the surface of which bore the 
appearance of having been frequently inundated, 
either by high tides, or, more probably, by freshes 
in the rainy season. 
We saw very few birds, and those were 
chiefly cockatoos; but alligators were as nu- 
merous as in the other river, whence the name 
of Alligator Rivers were bestowed upon them. 
The water where we landed was fresh enough 
to be nearly drinkable, and, probably, would be 
quite sweet at half ebb. 
