Of the natural meadows which Mr. Cook
mentions near Botany Bay, we can give no account; none such exist about
Port Jackson. Grass, however, grows in every place but the swamps with
the greatest vigour and luxuriancy, though it is not of the finest
quality, and is found to agree better with horses and cows than sheep. A
few wild fruits are sometimes procured, among which is the small purple
apple mentioned by Cook, and a fruit which has the appearance of a
grape, though in taste more like a green gooseberry, being excessively
sour: probably were it meliorated by cultivation, it would become more
palatable.
Fresh water, as I have said before, is found but in inconsiderable
quantities. For the common purposes of life there is generally enough;
but we know of no stream in the country capable of turning a mill: and
the remark made by Mr. Anderson, of the dryness of the country round
Adventure Bay, extends without exception to every part of it which we
have penetrated.
Previous to leaving England I remember to have frequently heard it
asserted, that the discovery of mines was one of the secondary objects
of the expedition.
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