ACCOUNT OF THE 184 ENGLISH COLONY [*799-
and are tolerably well watered by chains o f ftriall ponds, or occa-
fional drains, which empty themfelves into the river by a cove
or creek.
One mountain to the weft, lying about three miles from the
water, and fo remarkably confpicuous as to be feen from every part
o f the Derwent and its vicinity, Mr. Bafs afcended ; and he was
much furprifed to find it abounding with fine tall gum-tree timber
uncommonly ftraight.
The Ihore on the eaft fide of the river, proceeding up, is covered
with a good but fhallow foil, and lightly wooded ; cultivable for the
greater part with any kind o f grain, and the whole fit for pafturage,
though, perhaps, not fufficiently watered for large cattle which require
much drink-.
On the weft fide the country rifes too fuddenly into ftoney hills to
be in general fo good as in moft other places. It would, however;
afford tolerable pafturage ; and a few patches o f eighty or one hundred
acres each were excellent arable land.
The fhore here, as in many other parts o f the river, exhibited
figns o f internal or fubterraneous difturbance. . The ftrata o f cliffs
were broken and disjoined, lying Hoping in different directions.
Near a fmall point feveral pieces of petrified wood, and lumps of
ftone o f every kind and every fize, were enveloped, or rather ftuck
into the matter of the rock, which, although in colour much like a
yellow tinged clay, yet had the ufual rough porous furface peculiar
to fubftances that have been in a ftate o f fufion. It was here, as in
other places, hard, but did not fcintillate with fteel, and was divided,
by lines o f a ftill harder iron-tinged ftone, into fquares and parallelograms
o f various fizes. From one o f thefe interfeCting lines, Mr.
Bafs took a fmall lump o f this ferruginous ftone, that feemed to have
bubbled up, and to have hardened in the form o f an ill-fhaped bunch
o f fmall grapes. Some o f the neighbouring cliffs, for feveral yards,
were formed into bafaltic columns.
In
J anuary.] OF NEW SOUTH WALES. i8 j
In walking acrofsone o f the fteep heads between two fmall bay6,
he met with a large deep hole in the ground, that appeared to have
been occafioned by the falling-in o f the earth which had formerly
occupied its fpace. Its extent was about twenty-two yards by feven-
teen ; its depth perhaps fixty feet. The fides were not excavated,
but rather fmooth and perpendicular. They were rocks o f the fame
yellow tinge as thofe of the fhore. A little fiurf that wafhed up
within it fhewed a communication with the river, by a narrow fubterraneous
paffage-of fome ten or fixteen feet in height, and, according
to the diftance of the hole from the edge o f the cliff, about thirty-
five yard? in length. Appearances feemed to agree, that the period
at which this earth fell in could not be very remote.
Continuing on the weft fide from Foint William to Shoal Point,
(places named by Mr. Hayes,) the land is too ftoney upon the hills
for cultivation, but is proper for pafturage. The vallies are, as
ufual, adapted to grain.
The land round Prince of Wales’ s Cove is rather level, and frequently
clayey : the worft o f it produces excellent food for cattle,
even up to the foot o f the high mountain lying at its back. Being
a ftiff clofe foil, it is perhaps adapted tothe growth o f grape vines,
rather than o f grain. About three hundred acres o f open ground,
called by Mr. Hayes King George’s Plains, (could this have been in
derifion ?) feero well calculated for this purpofe, and for this only.
The land at the head of Rifdon creek, on the eaft fide, feems
preferable to any other on the banks o f the Derwent. The creek
runs winding between two fteep hills, and ends in a chain o f ponds
that extends into a fertile valley o f great beauty. For half a mile
above the head of the creek, the valley is contra&ed and narrow;
but the foil is extremely rich, and the fields are well covered with
grafs. Beyond this it fuddenly expands, and becomes broad and
flat at the bottom, whence arife long grafiy Hopes, that by a gentle
but increafing afcent continue to mount the hills on each fide, until
vol. 11. B B they