156 
SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL 
1819 . 
Feb. 
19 — 21 . 
21 — 24 . 
and were much pleased with their visit, and grati- 
fied with the presents which Mr. Kelly gave them. 
On the 21st, with a breeze from the N.W., we 
got under weigh and passed through Kelly’s Chan- 
nel ; but at eleven o’clock the wind fell, and we 
were obliged to anchor upon the edge of the 
bank off River Point; we had not, however, to 
wait long, for the breeze freshened up again, and 
we arrived at Pine Cove in time to land and exa- 
mine the place before sunset. 
On our way to the shore in our boat, we dis- 
turbed two flights of black swans, who flew away 
at our approach. Having landed at the bottom 
of the cove where the Sophia had obtained her 
cargo, we found the Huon pine-trees, interspersed 
with many others of different species, growing 
in great profusion, within three yards of the edge 
of the water, upon a soil of decomposed vegeta- 
ble matter, which in many parts was so soft that 
we often suddenly sank ancle-deep, and occa- 
sionally up to the knees in it : this swampy 
nature of the soil is to be attributed to the 
crowded state of the trees ; for they grow so close 
to each other, as to prevent the rays of the sun 
from penetrating to the soil. 
The ground is also strewed with fallen trees, 
the stems of which are covered with a thick coat 
of moss, in which seedlings of all the varieties of 
