'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from January 1847 to May 1849. Edited by the Secretary. Volume VIII.' [‎379] (488/496)

in appearance the sanguis draconis of Socotra. The bark of one of the
former species was white and friable, and intensely bitter to the taste.
The generality of the trees were high and straight, the branches however
only extending a short way down the trunk. The ground was almost
destitute of underwood and grass,—a few stunted bushes appearing here
and there. Some of these shrubs were exceedingly pretty, and one in
particular had beautiful lilac-coloured flowers hanging in clusters from the
stem, and was very like our English heath: the shores round the whole
bay were fringed with a dense jungle of mangroves, which grew close to
the water’s edge but stretched no distance inland. The soil was composed
of a lightish-coloured vegetable mould, and the rocks on the sea shore
were all of a highly feruginous nature. Some of the pebbles picked up
were exceedingly heavy, and when broken had a metallic lustre : many of
the stones, and the rocks even, seemed to have been much blistered as if by
flie action of fire, thus leading me to suppose that this portion of New
Holland must have been upheaved by some vast subterranean explosion ;
and though neither scoriae or lava could be found to prove my hypothesis,
yet there was abundant evidence in the specimens we obtained, of their
having once been subjected to an intense heat; but whether owing to
volcanic origin or otherwise, I am not able to determine,—I must therefore
leave it to the modern geologist to solve this problem. Birds of all kinds
are very numerous, especially the paroquet and cockatoo tribe. The
former were noted for their great variety and brilliancy of plumage, and
were far more beautiful than any we had as yet seen,—the latter being
principally white, with orange*coloured crests : a few black ones were also
observed occasionally, but they were shy and very scarce. Not a
quadruped, or any sort of animal, was seen during our frequent
excursions to the shore, but the natives made signs that there were
kangaroos in the interior. The old settlement was situated on the
eastern side of the Bay. A great portion of the ground around h had
been cleared, but not a vestige of a fruit tree or vegetable (which the
colonists had planted) remained; the natives had in fact burnt up and des
troyed everything as soon as this ill-fated and ill-chosen colon} was
abandoned, three or four wells, containing an indifferent supply of watei,
only indicating that this place had once been the abode of civilized man.
Havoc and ruthless devastation by the hand of the barbarous savage had
swept away all traces of cultivation, and a mass of charred wood, and a
few heaps of blackened ruins, alone served to mark the spot.