a species of _eucalyptus_, and
being less than the fallen trees, had most probably not arrived at
maturity; but the wood is hard and solid, and it may thence be supposed
to grow slowly. With these considerations I should be inclined to fix the
period at not less than ten, nor more than twenty years before our
arrival. This brings us back to La Perouse. He was in Botany Bay in the
beginning of 1788; and if he did pass through Torres' Strait, and come
round to this coast, as was his intention, it would probably be about the
middle or latter end of that year, or between thirteen and fourteen years
before the Investigator. My opinion is not favourable to this conjecture;
but I have furnished all the _data_ to enable the reader to form his own
judgment upon the cause which might have prostrated the woods of these
islands.

The soil of that part of Kangaroo Island examined by us was judged to be
much superior to any before seen, either upon the south coast of the
continent or upon the islands near it, with the exception of some
portions behind the harbours of King George's Sound. The depth of the
soil was not particularly ascertained; but from the thickness of the wood
it cannot be very shallow. Some sand is mixed with the vegetable earth,
but not in any great proportion; and I thought the soil superior to some
of the land cultivated at Port Jackson, and to much of that in our stony
counties in England.

Never perhaps had the dominion possessed here by the kangaroo been
invaded before this time. The seal shared with it upon the shores, but
they seemed to dwell amicably together. It not unfrequently happened that
the report of a gun fired at a kangaroo near the beach brought out two or
three bellowing seals from under bushes considerably further from the
water-side. The seal, indeed, seemed to be much the most discerning
animal of the two; for its actions bespoke a knowledge of our not being
kangaroos, whereas the kangaroo not unfrequently appeared to consider us
to be seals.

The _latitude_ of the landing place near Kangaroo Head from an
observation in the artificial horizon, was 35 deg. 43' 0" south; and the
_longitude_ of our anchorage by timekeepers, 137 deg. 58' 31" east. This
last, being deduced from observations only four days after the proof had
of the time keepers having gone correctly since leaving Port Lincoln,
should be as accurate, or very nearly so, as the longitude of that port.

The _variation_ observed fr