Page:Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.djvu/141

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116
SETTLEMENT OF VICTORIA,

the upper part of which forms the quarters of the store-keeper and linguist, the lower part of which is the spirit room; there are three good store-houses, one of which is the ordnance store; the foundation being of brick work, the sides of wood. The roofs of all these buildings are of shingles. There is another store-house or building used as such, having a thatched roof, which is supported by wooden posts, the sides formed of the same material as the roof. There is a house also made of wood, and thatched with reeds, formerly occupied by Captain Stanley, and used by him as an observatory; there is also the ruins of a church, built of wood, it was blown down by the hurricane, and has never since been repaired; the rest of the buildings are small huts formed for the most part of reeds, twenty-nine in number; the greater part of them are occupied each by two marines, gardens are attached to each of them, which are very productive, and very well kept; these huts form a square in the centre of which is a well. At the distance of about half a mile southward of the square there are two gardens, one near the beach, the soil of which is sandy, and in the wet season saturated with moisture; the other stands upon higher ground, more to the west, and is a better soil; they are about an acre and a half each in extent, and are extremely well kept by three of the marines; of the plants now growing in the gardens, the pine-apples, (part of one I have tasted), are esteemed to be the best, and are improved, as is the cotton, by being transplanted hither; the lemons