To Blunt Its Acrid Qualities,
It Is Usual To Combine It With Opiates.
The nature of the soil is various.
That immediately round Sydney Cove
is sandy, with here and there a stratum of clay. From the sand we have yet
been able to draw very little; but there seems no reason to doubt,
that many large tracts of land around us will bring to perfection whatever
shall be sown in them. To give this matter a fair trial, some practical
farmers capable of such an undertaking should be sent out; for the spots
we have chosen for experiments in agriculture, in which we can scarce be
supposed adepts, have hitherto but ill repaid our toil, which may be imputable
to our having chosen such as are unfavourable for our purpose.
Except from the size of the trees, the difficulties of clearing the land
are not numerous, underwood being rarely found, though the country is not
absolutely without it. 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:
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