ame rule. In several parts of the sandy beaches,
and sand hills near the sea, we found purslain, and a kind of bean that
grows upon a stalk, which creeps along the ground: The purslain we found
very good when it was boiled, and the beans are not to be despised, for
we found them of great service to our sick: The best greens, however,
that could be procured here, were the tops of the coccos, which have
been mentioned already, as known in the West Indies by the name of
_Indian kale_: These were, in our opinion, not much inferior to
spinnage, which in taste they somewhat resemble; the roots indeed are
not good, but they might probably be meliorated by proper cultivation.
They are found here chiefly in boggy ground. The few cabbage palms that
we met with were in general small, and yielded so little cabbage that
they were not worth seeking.

Besides the kanguroo and the opossum that have been already mentioned,
and a kind of pole-cat, there are wolves upon this part of the coast, if
we were not deceived by the tracks upon the ground, and several species
of serpents; some of the serpents are venomous, and some harmless: There
are no tame animals here except dogs, and of these we saw but two or
three, which frequently came about the tents to pick up the scraps and
bones that happened to lie scattered near them. There does not indeed
seem to be many of any animal except the kanguroo; we scarcely saw any
other above once, but this we met with almost every time we went into
the woods. Of land-fowls we saw crows, kites, hawks, cockatoos of two
sorts, one white and the other black, a very beautiful kind of
loriquets, some parrots, pigeons of two or three sorts, and several
small birds not known in Europe. The water-fowls are herns, whistling
ducks, which perch, and, I believe, roost upon trees, wild geese,
curlieus, and a few others, but these do not abound. The face of the
country, which has been occasionally mentioned before, is agreeably
diversified by hill and valley, lawn and wood. The soil of the hills is
hard, dry, and stony, yet it produces coarse grass besides wood: The
soil of the plains and vallies is in some places sand, and in some clay;
in some also it is rocky and stony, like the hills; in general, however,
it is well clothed, and has at least the appearance of fertility. The
whole country, both hill and valley, wood and plain, abounds with
anthills, some of which are six or eight feet high, and twice as much in
circ