is a very pretty sea-port town, and the harbour is undoubtedly
good. The bay is large enough to hold a number of ships, and is secure
from all winds, being almost completely land-locked. The water inside
moreover is smooth, since the bay is protected by a long spit of sand,
whereby the roughness of the outer sea does not affect it, and vessels
consequently lie there during heavy weather without any apparent motion.
It is to be regretted, that, with such advantages, Kingscote Harbour
should have any drawback, but when we have given credit for its
capabilities as a harbour, we have done all, and even as a harbour,
sailors are divided in opinion, whether or not American River, or a small
bay, five miles to the south-east of it, are not to be preferred. In
Nepean Bay there is a deficiency of water, which is not the case in
either of the last mentioned places. The soil is equally good in the
neighbourhood of all three, but Kingscote having been occupied, the
ground has been cleared of the dense brush that grew on it in a state of
nature, and some of the most productive gardens in the Province are to be
found there. It is astonishing what quantities of the finest onions are
sent from Kingscote, with other produce, to Adelaide. The island is,
however, so generally and so heavily covered with brushwood, that
although the soil is good in many places, it has been found impracticable
to clear. On the general character of Kangaroo Island, I would observe,
that, from the reports of those best acquainted with it, nine-tenths of
the surface is covered with dwarf gum-trees, or heavy low brush, that
there are no plains of any consequence, no harbours excepting those I
have already mentioned,--that water is generally scarce, and the best
land is most heavily wooded and perfectly impenetrable; but, if it is
thus useless and unavailable for pastoral and agricultural purposes,
Kingscote, being so short a distance from Adelaide, holds out every
inducement as a watering-place to those who, desiring change of air and
sea-bathing, would wish to leave the heated neighbourhood of the capital
during the summer months. It is a disadvantage to them that there are few
places on the shores of St. Vincent's Gulf, on which bathing places could
be established, but the change of air at Kingscote would be as great a
benefit as sea-bathing itself, for hot winds are not felt there, but a
cool and refreshing breeze is almost constantly blowing. As a
watering-p