Читать книгу The Genesis of Queensland. - Henry Stuart Russell. - Страница 4

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For not this man and that man, but all men make up mankind, and their united tasks the task of mankind. How often have we seen some adventurous and perhaps much-censured wanderer light on some outlying, neglected, yet vitally momentous province, the hidden treasures of which he first discovered, and kept proclaiming till the general eye and effort were directed thither, and the conquest was completed; thereby, in these his so seemingly aimless rambles, planting new standards, founding new habitable colonies in the immeasurable circumambient realm of nothingness and night.—Carlyle. (Sartor Resartus).

How fast within our first half century did the necessities of New South Wales, with respect to the classification of her criminals, and the infliction of secondary punishment, compel her in her apparently dismal destiny's fulfilment to work out under such degrading associations her sad course; blindfolded to all considerations but those by which she could render service to the old home by relieving it of the presence of outcasts and ne'er-do-wells. The establishment of these very depots of guilt became the direct guidance to the exploration of this land. Let us see. Newcastle was the first affiliated prison-house; but on the 11th of September of 1823 the Government cutter "Mermaid"—which plays so frequent a part on the north coast henceforth—sailed with stores to Newcastle, from which dependency about forty prisoners were to be transferred to that of Port Macquarie, as the former is to be no longer considered a "place of banishment" for our felons; and on the 16th of October, the Surveyor-General, John Oxley, had received instructions from Governor Brisbane, upon the advice of Commissioner Bigge, "to proceed northward as far as Port Bowen, Port Curtis, and Moreton Bay; to examine them, and report as to forming in each spot, if fit for the purpose, a new settlement, to which all the convicts not usefully employed on the old settlements, as well as the refractory and incorrigible, were to be removed, and employed in the clearing and cultivation of land, &c., with the view, further, of removing to them, or any one of them, the prisoners then stationed at Port Macquarie, which from the excellence of the soil, the fineness of the climate, and its convenient distance from Sydney, the Governor was desirous of throwing open to free settlers."

And so, accompanied by Uniacke, the Surveyor-General proceeded to Port Macquarie, which they found flourishing after its two years' occupation; a town laid out in "streets of straight lines, handsome esplanade, barracks for 150 soldiers, neat commodious officers' quarters, comfortable huts of split wood, lathed, plastered, and white-washed, for prisoners, garden attached to each; fruit trees, maize, and sugar-cane growing very luxuriantly," and natives of exceptionally fine mould mixing with the whites in a most friendly manner, who in consideration of being "victualled from the King's store", perform very efficient duty as a constabulary, especially in pursuing and bringing back runaways "dead or alive."

Their next visit was to Port Curtis; here they were not so well pleased: harbour difficult, vegetation scanty, timber none but what would do for firewood. They found no fresh water nearer the shore than twelve or fourteen miles, in a rapid river which they named the Boyne, up which they came to a succession of rapids, the banks "highly picturesque, the hills covered with wood, and the plains well grassed. The result, however, was that the place was unsuitable, and that convict labor there would be wholly thrown away."

So, on return, they entered Moreton Bay, discovered by Cook, and visited by Flinders. Dropping anchor, a number of natives rushed down to the shore, among them one who appeared much larger in frame and lighter in colour than the others, who, advancing to a point opposite to the "Mermaid", hailed her in English. A boat was sent off, and as it drew towards them, the natives showed many signs of joy, hugging this man, and dancing wildly around him. He was perfectly naked, daubed all over with white and red ochre. He was soon discovered to be an Englishman, and so bewildered that little could be made of him that night. However, on the morrow Uniacke took down his narrative in writing, and this is by far the most curious and interesting paper in Barron Field's collection. His name was Thomas Pamphlet; had set out with three others—Richard Parsons, John Finnigan, and John Thompson—from Sydney in a large open boat for Illawarra or the Five Islands (at that time the popular name for that place) to get cedar; met with a violent gale which lasted live; days, which drove them, as they imagined, to the southward as far as Van Dieman's Land. Under this delusion they kept to the northward, suffered terribly from want of water for twenty-one days; John Thompson died of thirst; then were wrecked on Moreton Island, which they still believed to be to the south of Port Jackson. Parsons and Finnigan insisted some six weeks before upon another attempt northwards for Sydney; he had gone with them about fifty miles, become too foot-sore to proceed, but got back to this tribe—Parsons and Finnigan having quarrelled, the latter also had returned, but was away at present on a hunting excursion with the chief. Parsons had not since been heard of.*

[* It will be seen, however, that in January of next year Parsons was discovered.]

Finnigan came in the following day; and, guided by their information, Oxley proceeded in the whaleboat to examine the mouth of the river which both had assured him ran into the south end of Moreton Bay. By sunset of that day they had ascended this river about twenty miles. The next day the satisfaction they had at first felt increased. Oxley felt "justified in believing that the sources of this river were not to be found in a mountainous country, but rather that it flows from some lake which will prove to be the receptacle of those interior streams crossed by me," he observes, "during an expedition of discovery in 1818."

In a review upon three works which were published in London in 1826, viz., by W.C. Wentworth (1824), Edward Curr (1820), and Barron Field (1825), appears the following: "The name given to this important river is the Brisbane. That it derives its waters from the lake or morass into which the Macquarie falls, and from those numerous streams which were crossed by Oxley in 1818, all running to the northward, seems a very reasonable supposition. He was able to trace its course forty miles from its mouth, and he could see in the same direction, viz., in the south-west, the abrupt termination of the coast range of mountains; and the distance from Moreton Bay to the lake or morass of the Macquarie is not more than 300 miles. The discovery of this river may cause those to hesitate who so positively assert that none of any magnitude fall into the sea from New Holland. Captain Cook discovered Moreton Bay; it was well known to Captain Flinders, who anchored his vessel both above and below the mouth of this river, and passed it twice in his boats, but it was concealed from him by two low islands."

Pamphlet said that nothing could exceed the kind attention paid by the natives to the shipwrecked seamen; they lodged them, hunted and fished for them, and the women and children gathered fern root for them, painted them twice a day, and would assuredly have tattooed their bodies and "bored" their noses but for their dislike to the process. Not only did these Moreton Bay natives deal with them so kindly, they met with similar treatment among all the tribes with whom they had met in their wanderings to the north. Of the habit of boiling water they all seemed to be ignorant. Pamphlet had saved a tin pot, in which, on one occasion, he had heated some water; it began to boil, and the anxiously-watching savages took to their heels, shouting and screaming. They would not draw near again till he had poured it away; nor were they, in his sojourn, ever reconciled to the operation. Each aboriginal had the cartilage of the nose pierced; many wore large pieces of bone or stick (supplanted in after days by the white man's pipe) thrust through it. The women, as at Sydney, had all lost the first two joints of the little finger of the left hand, but the adults had not, as at Port Jackson, one of the front teeth extracted. The women were daily busied in getting "dingowa", fern root, for subsistence, and making bags of network from rushes. The men made the fishing and kangaroo nets from the bark of the kurrajong (hibiscus heterophyllus). The fishing stations and grounds of each tribe were some few miles apart; and they would change from one to another as the fishing or game began to fail. Their huts were of wattle bent into an arch, interwoven with boughs, covered with the bark of the tea tree (melaleuca armillaris) and impervious to rain. Some would hold ten or twelve persons. Pamphlet declared that during a sojourn of seven months he never saw a woman struck or ill-treated! The men would quarrel—their fights were frequent, often ending fatally. The common usage was for a champion on either side to fight it out fairly in a ring made for the occasion. He saw one, he said, of these duels. At a spot chosen was a circle about twenty-five feet in diameter, three feet deep, and surrounded by a palisade of sticks. The two combatants entered it, parleyed awhile with violent gestures, plucked their spears from the ground; one was pierced through the shoulder; he fell, and was carried off by his friends, the lookers-on departing with loud shouts on all sides. Reconciliation succeeded, and that again was hailed with loud shouts, dancing, and wrestling, after which they all joined in a general hunt for a week.

Instrumental in the discovery of the river Brisbane, these white castaways have thus appeared upon the scene. Let us now return to Port Jackson. We shall, for the first time, hear of one whose name became a household word, not only in this colony, but through his sons, in years afterwards, on Darling Downs. In the person of Sir Francis Forbes, the bench attained the honour of a Chief Justice who, by the brilliancy of his talents, shed new light upon its records, as his estimable character and broad philanthropy did upon the darker pages of the history of New South Wales. It was the beginning of a new era in colonial being. Captain Johnson, in his good ship the "Guildford", did deliver upon these shores our first Chief Justice, his wife and family, on the 5th of March, 1824. The same day the formal promulgation of His Majesty's New Charter of Justice for the Colony of New South Wales took place at the Government House, the Court House, and the Market Place of Sydney, and the Chief Justice took his seat on the bench. The 11th of the August following proclaimed—as effacing what may be termed the martial control—a Legislative Council, established by Royal sign-manual, as being in existence under the hand and seal of the Governor-in Chief; and in the same month was hailed the advent of the first Solicitor-General and Commissioner of the Court of Requests, John Stephen, with his family, in the "Prince Regent", and the first Master-in-Chancery, John Carter, with his family, in the same ship.

Another spurt Northward, Ho! through Torres Straits this time, encircling Queensland and all that she contains, commemorates the month of August, 1824, for H.M.S. "Tamar", commanded by Captain Bremer, C.B., accompanied by the "Countess of Harrington", taking a civil and military establishment, sailed for the north coast of "Terra Australis" on the 24th, for the purpose of founding a new settlement in the vicinity of Melville Island, which, with Port Essington, becomes so much identified with a Queenslander's retrospect, that the energies expended upon that spot should not, with the settlements themselves, be abandoned through exhaustion. Who can forget that Port Essington, at least, was Leichhardt's refuge?

Pending the Melville Island expectations, let us see again what part Moreton Bay is preparing to take in our Australian programme.

In September we find our indefatigable Surveyor-General, John Oxley, again at work. He has sailed in the brig "Amity" with a civil establishment, prisoners, and stores, to plant a new settlement somewhere in Moreton Bay. As a guard, a detachment of the 40th regiment, the officer in command Lieutenant Butler. The Commandant-elect, Lieutenant Miller of the same regiment; his suite completed by a storekeeper, subordinate officers of various designations, and a number of volunteers. The King's Botanist, Cunningham, accompanies the Surveyor-General. Upon John Oxley falls the responsibility of fixing upon the site most eligible for this new dependency.

What says October of 1824 to the credit of our country? Liberty of the Press! thanks to Sir Thomas Brisbane. The publication of an independent weekly newspaper—the Australian, on the 14th.

Trial by jury on the same day obtained in the Quarter Sessions Court.

Did these boons follow in the Chief Justice's train?

Its 21st day brought back our brig "Amity", Captain Penson, with the Surveyor-General and King's Botanist. Our new settlement was established for the while on the very shores of Moreton Bay, at a spot called Red Cliff Point, on its northern margin. It was deemed peculiarly eligible, although it had drawbacks from want of safe anchorage. Oxley went thence up the river about forty miles beyond the place he had ascended it in December last. He then gave his opinion that the river communicated with the interior waters, and it was to be regretted (it was then said), that no proof of that being a fact had been yet obtained. However, his party found fish hitherto known only in the western shed, and that circumstance afforded a strong presumption of the surmised communication. The tree now known as the "Moreton Bay" Pine (Araucaria Cunninghamii), was much noticed. The King's Botanist, Cunningham, made extensive collections, and it is remarkable "that most of the plants were of genera hitherto supposed to be exclusively tropical."

It will be remembered that by the cutter "Mermaid" last year had been rescued two men wrecked on Moreton Island, and that they had spoken of one, Parsons, who had left them, and not re-appeared. About a month before the arrival of the "Amity" on this occasion, this man had returned to his old friends at the mouth of the Pumice Stone River. He had been wandering among the tribes of Hervey's Bay and the coast north of Moreton Bay ever since he had left his comrade in misfortune. For two years his dwelling among the blacks was an interesting story. In all respects he declared he had been well and kindly dealt with.

Upon her return the "Amity" passed through the southern passage into Moreton Bay, which took its name as the "Amity Point Entrance", she being the first craft to make use of it. The discovery of this approach shortened the distance by about fifty miles to the river Brisbane.*

[* Until the loss of the steamer "Sovereign", in 1847, it was the usual entrance, except in very heavy weather; after that catastrophe it was for many years "tabooed".]

The colony must have made a fresh start on the 1st of November, when the first Court of Quarter Sessions was held in Sydney; and Moreton Bay must have been on "tip-toe" in the expectation of a vice-regal visit, for on the 11th the same staunch brig "Amity" conveyed His Excellency the Governor-in-Chief (Sir Thomas Brisbane), the Chief Justice, and the Surveyor-General to sea en route to the new settlement, followed by her tender, the "Little Mars". Captain John Macarthur and Francis Stephen, Clerk to the Council, completed the pleasant party; pleasant, doubtless, in spite of the weather, which in a fit of ill-humour kept them fourteen days on the passage. The heavy gales and thunder-storms were spoken of as terrible day after day, and night after night. They entered the Bay by the north passage. The Governor and Chief Justice went up the river some twenty-eight miles, were much struck by the size of the trees on the banks, and pleased by what they saw. The natives were beginning to be troublesome at Red-Cliff Point, by continual thefts of tools, &c. Sir Thomas had decided upon removing the settlement to a spot about nine miles up the river, which would be more convenient for shipping. The Chief Justice had named the new site Edenglassie (Brisbane?). The "Amity" went to sea by the southern passage, and returned to Port Jackson in four days, on the 4th December.

In August of the year 1824, Captain—afterwards Sir James John Gordon Bremer—in command of H.M.S. "Tamar", and accompanied by the "Countess of Harcourt", Captain Bunn, left Port Jackson for the north coast of Australia, and established the first settlement thereon at Fort Dundas on Melville Island.

Melville Island and Raffles Bay were the outcome of this attempt for a few years, and afterwards Port Essington. The idea of such an extension may be best expressed by the concluding paragraph of Major Campbell's journal in the appendix. Clothed in such an opinion, common sense, which thus weighed the probabilities of the future, would find herself much out-at-elbows in these days of democratic hatred of Indian, Chinese, or Islander service. If she were suffered to look at herself in the glass, she would hardly recognise her own features, and would shrink from the ugly mask which some "larrikin-spirit" hand has bedaubed them with during her long nap.

We know how spasmodically—spasms of mercantile and monetary panics—the eyes of Sydney used to be fascinated by the enticement to hook on to the chain-trace which nature has stretched across the Indian Ocean from our neighbours in the hemisphere opposite.

To Queensland the existence of a settlement on the Cobourg Peninsula has been, I think, an unappreciated boon as yet. Not embraced by the area of her possessions, yet in reviewing the track by which she came to where she is, Port Essington becomes much identified with her career.

It was the suggestion of a direct overland connection with it which at times so highly stimulated the appetite for its realisation. The occupation of Darling Downs by Patrick Leslie gave fresh strength to the desire: the question of such a consummation became lively in town and bush. Port Essington was the northern magnet of which the attraction energised the gallantry of many an ambitious heart. Leichhardt would not, I think, have so promptly tempted the intervening wilderness but for the refuge ready for him at the end of his way.

So, out of Patrick Leslie's hands sprang the baby colony into the cradle of Leichhardt's chevaleresque design; that design was sketched perspectively through the focus which concentrated Port Essington's distinctness of welcome. The Cobourg Peninsula may yet have a grand part to play for the benefit of the land of the south.

It was admitted that the object of the Government of that day in despatching this expedition was "to open and preserve an intercourse with the Malay coast, so as to encourage and facilitate the spice trade." The latitude of the proposed dependency was about 12 deg. S., and 130 deg. E. To be conveyed thither by Captain Gordon Bremer were Captain Barlow of the 30th Regiment (Buffs)—upon whom the superintendence was eventually to devolve—Ensign Everard, twenty-four non-commissioned officers and privates of the same regiment; Dr. Turner, medical officer; George Miller, commissariat clerk in charge of the duties of that department: George Wilson, whose assistant was George Tollemache; and forty-four prisoners of the crown as workmen and mechanics. The Government colonial brig "Lady Nelson",** John, master, accompanied the "Tamar" and "Countess of Harcourt".

[** The "Lady Nelson" was a brig of 60 tons, brought from England by Lieutenant Grant, R.N., in 1800; built with sliding keels, came out of Deadman's Dock, London, on January 13th, 1800; laden at Gosport on February 9th, had freeboard but 2ft. 9in., and looked so small for such a voyage that she got the name of His Majesty's "Tinder Box".]

In the following March, 1825, the "Philip Dundas" from Mauritius, brought news to Sydney that the "Countess of Harcourt", after landing her stores at Fort Dundas, Melville Island, had called at the Isle of France, en route to England; had reported "all well" with Captain Gordon Bremer and the new settlement so far. Houses sent in frame from Sydney had been put together, a fort finished and seven guns mounted, soldiers and prisoners well "hutted", the commissariat officer Miller, getting a store completed. The official despatch from Captain Gordon Bremer gave the following particulars: "Having completed everything necessary for the expedition, sailed from Port Jackson on the 24th of August, 1824, the ship 'Countess of Harcourt', and the colonial brig 'Lady Nelson' in company. On the 28th, passed Moreton Island with a fair wind; from this period running down the east coast, anchoring occasionally, until the 17th of September, when we passed Torres Straits, and on the 20th at Port Essington, of which port and the coast between 129 deg. and 130 deg. east longitude, I took possession in the name of the King. On the 21st, at daylight, began examining the surrounding shores of Port Essington, and despatched four boats in search of fresh water. On the east side the country was much burnt up, the soil sandy and thickly interspersed with red sandstone rock, probably containing iron; trees of no great height, mostly like those of New South Wales; no water found this day. On the 22nd the search was again unsuccessful, but on the western side the soil was better, the country more open, and the trees of magnificent height. On Point Record a hole was found fenced round with bamboo, containing a small quantity of thick or rather brackish water, evidently the work of Malays, as the bamboo is not indigenous in New Holland.* Traces of natives were also found everywhere, but none made their appearance. Our parties had penetrated in various directions considerably into the country, but never found any water; however, there is no doubt that by digging deep wells it might be obtained, yet the present apparent scarcity much diminished the value of Port Essington.

[* In the seventh chapter of Explorations in North Australia, which appears in the Sydney Morning Herald of the 7th May, 1887, by the Rev. J.E. Tenison-Woods, mention is made of bamboo as indigenous, "which," however, "only grows on a few Northern rivers," he observes.]

"It is, nevertheless, one of the most noble and beautiful pieces of water that can be imagined, having a moderate depth, with a capability of containing a whole navy in perfect security, and is well worthy of His Majesty's Government, should they be pleased to extend their establishment to this coast. On the 23rd, as water had not been met with, and the season was advancing, weighed and made sail for Apsley's Strait. On the 24th, made Cape Van Dieman, and on the 26th entered the Strait and anchored off Luxmore Head, when formal possession was taken of Melville and Bathurst Islands. On the 27th, 28th, and 29th, boats were despatched in search of water, other parties sinking wells on both islands, without success. The wells produced a small quantity muddy and slightly brackish.

"On the 30th I had the good fortune to find a running stream in a cove about five miles to the southward of the ship, the south-east point of which presented an excellent position for the settlement, as it was moderately elevated and tolerably clear of timber. The ships were immediately moved down to this cove, which was named 'King's Cove', after the first discoverer of the straits and islands; the point determined on to form the settlement 'Point Barlow': and the whole anchorage 'Port Cockburn', in honour of Vice-Admiral Sir George Cockburn, one of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.

"On the 1st of October parties were sent on shore to clear the ground and lay the foundation of a fort; and as it was probable the Malays would visit the place in great numbers, and as much hostility might be expected from the natives, who were, as we could judge from the number of their fires on both sides, very numerous, I was determined to render the fort as strong as the means of the expedition would admit. Thermometer 84 deg. to 88 deg.

"On the 8th, began a pier for the purpose of landing provisions, guns, &c. From this period up to the 20th the various works were carried on with such zeal, that the pier, one bastion, and the sea-face of the fort were completed, and I had the satisfaction, on the 21st of October, of hoisting His Majesty's colours under a royal salute from two nine-pounder guns and one twelve-pounder carronade mounted on 'Fort Dundas', which I named in honour of the noble lord at the head of the Admiralty. The pier is composed of immense heavy logs of timber and large masses of sandstone rock; it is sixty-four feet long, eighteen wide, and thirteen high at the end next low-water mark, and from the solidity of the materials will probably last many years.

"On the 25th of October I had been several miles up a small river in Bathurst Island, and on my return, near the entrance, was surprised by the sudden appearance of ten natives, who had waded—it being low water—across the river nearly to a dry sandbank situated in its centre. They were armed with spears, and at first seemed disposed to dispute the passage with us. On our approach they retired towards the shore, which was thickly covered with mangroves, and throwing down their spears, spread their arms out to show us they intended nothing hostile, accompanying the action with great volubility of tongue. I rowed towards them, but they hastily retreated. However, after some time they gained confidence, and advanced so near as to take a handkerchief and some other trifles from the blade of an oar, which was put towards them. I called the river, consequently, 'Intercourse River', and the point 'Point Interview'.

"The same afternoon two of our men, cutting timber and reeds, were in an instant surrounded by a party of the natives, who seized them, but offered no other violence than wresting their axes from them. They had probably been watching some of our parties in the wood, for they appeared to have a correct idea of the value and use of the axe. As soon as our men were at liberty they ran towards the fort—an alarm was given—the soldiers seized their arms, and the savages would have suffered had they not hastily retreated. I immediately went on shore with Captain Barlow, and after going some distance, came up with the natives, in number eighteen or twenty, with whom we soon established communication by making signs of peace. They threw down their spears and came forward with confidence; they, nevertheless, kept some of the youngest in the rear, whose duty seemed to be to collect the spears ready for action. We offered them handkerchiefs, buttons, and other trifles, which they accepted without hesitation, but after having satisfied their curiosity they threw them away. They made many signs for axes, imitating the action of cutting a tree, and accompanied it with loud vociferations, and almost inconceivable rapidity of gesture. They were given to understand they should have axes if they came to the settlement, and so drew them near the fort, but no inducement could get them into the clear ground or inside the line of cottages. They had, I found, stolen three axes, but as we were anxious to establish friendly relations, no notice was taken of the theft; and three others were given to them, at which they appeared highly pleased, especially the chief, to whom a broader one than the rest was given, and who immediately examined the edge, and with much delight showed his fellows that it was sharper than theirs. They retired, and made their fire about half a mile from us.

"On the 27th the same party re-appeared, accompanied by a youth evidently of Malay origin, but even lighter in colour than those people generally are. In his manners he was exactly like the rest, and most probably had been taken by them when very young. They seemed very anxious that we should notice him, thrusting him forward several times when near us. I found they had surprised two of our men, and taken from them an axe and a reaping hook. These articles were of some value to us; our stock was limited, and it became necessary to check the disposition for theft. Therefore, on their making the usual signs for axes, they were given to understand that we were displeased and that none would be given.

"The young Malay, having the reaping-hook in his hand, it was pointed to, and after some hesitation was given up; but the axe was gone. I retired towards the fort. Finding they could, not get the only object that they seemed to value, and our sentinels being on the alert with fixed bayonets, of which they were much afraid—they retired; but it was evident from their brandished weapons they were dissatisfied and probably meant mischief. We saw nothing of them until the 30th, when our boat at the watering-place was surrounded by some twenty who sprang from the bushes, but hesitated to attack on seeing the arms the crew had. At the same moment another party equally numerous suddenly appeared at a cottage in a garden which had been made by the officers at a small distance from the water. It appeared that only one of the young gentlemen and a corporal of marines were in the house. They attempted to retreat, but were opposed by the natives. The affair began to look serious, and they preparing to throw their spears the corporal fired over their heads—(I had given positive orders that except in cases of absolute necessity they should not be fired upon)—upon which they drew back and offered an opportunity for retreat. The corporal loaded as he ran, firing repeatedly until the young gentleman reached the boat, when a shower of spears were thrown from both parties of the natives, some of which went into the boat, and one grazed the midshipman's back. For the sake of sparing bloodshed which would have followed another discharge of spears, the corporal then selected the chief for punishment, and fired directly at him; he Immediately fell or threw himself on the ground—which several others Instantly did on seeing the flash—but it was most probable that he was struck, for he did not rise so quickly as the rest, and the whole party ran Into the wood. None have since been seen in the neighbourhood.

"These people were above the middle height, their limbs straight and well-formed, possessing wonderful elasticity; not strongly made, the stoutest had but little muscle, their activity was astonishing, their colour nearly black, their hair coarse but not woolly, tied occasionally in a knot behind, and some had daubed their heads and bodies with red or yellow pigment. They were almost all marked with a kind of tattoo, generally in three lines, the centre one going directly down the body from the neck to the navel, the others drawn from the outside of the breast and approaching the perpendicular line at the bottom. The skin appeared to have been cut in order to admit some substance Into it, and then bound down until It healed, leaving small raised marks on the surface. The men were entirely naked, but we saw at Bathurst Island two women at a little distance who had small mats of plaited grass or rushes round the body. Their arms were the spear and waddy. The former is a slight shaft well hardened by fire, about nine or ten feet long; those we saw generally had a smooth sharp point, but they have others which are barbed—deadly weapons. One of them was thrown at us, and I have preserved it; it is very ingeniously made, the barbs being cut out of the solid wood; they are seventeen in number, the edges and points exceedingly sharp; they are on one side of the spear only. As they had no iron implements or tools it is wonderful that they can contrive to produce such a weapon. We saw but few of these barbed spears, and it is probable that they cost so much labour in making that they are preserved for close combat or extraordinary occasions. They did not use the wommerah or throwing-stick, so general in New South Wales. The waddy or short pointed stick was smaller than those seen in the neighbourhood of Sydney, and was evidently used in close fight as well as for bringing down birds or animals for food. They throw this stick with such wonderful precision that they never fail to strike a bird on the top of the highest tree with as much certainty as we could with our best fowling pieces. In their habits these people much resemble the natives of New South Wales, but they are superior in person, and if the covering of the women is general it is a mark of decency and a step towards civilisation perfectly unknown to the inhabitants of the east coast. The hallowing and decoration of a sepulture is such an acknowledgment of a supreme power and a future state that it appears evident that the notions of this people on this subject are by no means so rude and barbarous as those we have been accustomed to find amongst the New Hollanders generally.

"On Bathurst Island we found the tomb of a native; the situation was one of such perfect retirement and repose that it displayed considerable feeling in the survivors who placed it there; and the simple order which pervaded the spot would not have disgraced a civilised people. It was an oblong square open at the foot, the remaining end and sides being railed round with trees seven or eight feet high, some of which were carved with a stone or shell, and further ornamented by rings of wood also carved. On the tops of these posts were placed the waddies of the deceased; the grave was raised above the level of the earth, but the raised part was not more than three feet long. At the head was placed a piece of a canoe and a spear, and round the grave were several little baskets made of the fan palm leaf, which from their small size we thought had been placed there by the children of the departed. Nothing could exceed the neatness of the whole; the sand and the earth were cleared away from its sides, and not a scrub or weed was suffered to grow within the area.

"The pier having been finished on the 21st, the party employed on that service and the whole strength of the expedition was directed to the fort, and completing the different works.

"On the 2nd of November commenced building a magazine. On the 7th the Commissariat store-house was finished; and by the 8th the whole of the provisions, stores, and necessaries were landed from the 'Harcourt', and properly secured therein. This store-house is built of wood, well thatched, and fully equal to the occasion until a more regular and substantial one can be built. It contains nearly eighteen months' provisions. The fort, which commands the whole anchorage—the shot from it reaching across to Bathurst Island—was completed (with the exception of the ditch) on the 9th of November. It is composed of timbers of great weight and solidity in layers live feet in thickness at the base; the height of the work inside is six feet, surrounded by a ditch ten feet deep and fifteen feet wide; on it are mounted two nine-pounder boat guns to shift on occasion, and to be put on board the 'Lady Nelson' when it is necessary to detach her to the neighbouring islands or for other purposes. Those guns are provided with fifty rounds of round and grape, and are part of the upper-deck guns of this ship. The fort is rectangular, its sides being seventy-five yards by fifty: in this square are the houses for the commandant and the officers of the garrison, and a barrack for the soldiers is to be put into immediate progress. The soldiers and convicts have built themselves good and comfortable cottages near the fort.

"The climate of these islands is one of the best that can be found between the tropics: the thermometer rarely reaching 88 deg., and in the morning at dawn sometimes falling to 76 deg. Nothing can be more delightful than this part of the twenty-four hours. I was obliged, by necessity, with the whole of the ship's company, to be constantly exposed to a vertical sun, but fortunately few have suffered, and none very severely.

"The soil of this island appears to be excellent. In digging a deep well for the use of the settlement we found a vegetable mould about two feet deep; then soft sandstone rock, occasionally mixed with strata of red clay, until the depth of thirty feet, when we came to a vein of yellow clay and gravel through which an abundance of water instantly sprang, and rose to the height of six feet.

"It is probable that this soil is capable of producing most—if not all—the tropical fruits and shrubs of the Eastern Islands. The plants brought from Sydney flourish luxuriantly, particularly the orange, lemon, lime, banana, and sugar-cane. Melons and pumpkins spring up immediately, and the maize was above ground on the fourth day after it was sown.

"We found the stream of water first discovered to run into several ponds near the beach—which affords to ships an easy mode of watering—and, no doubt, valuable rice plantations may be formed in their neighbourhood.

"Amongst the trees, some of which are of noble growth, I found a sort of lignum vitae, which, probably, will be valuable for block-sheaves; and several others, which appear to be calculated for naval purposes. The forests are almost inexhaustible. A sort of cotton tree was also found in considerable numbers, but not being certain of its produce being valuable, I have sent a sample to England for inspection. We likewise found the bastard nutmeg, and a species of pepper highly pungent and aromatic. The trepang has not been found here. The fish taken in the seine are mullet, a sort of bass, and what is most abundant is that which seamen call the 'Old-Wife'. Our supply of fish is very precarious, being sometimes a week without taking sufficient for everybody. At Port Essington, on the contrary, we always filled the seine at a haul.

"The animals we have seen on this island are the kangaroo, the opossum, the native dog, the bandicoot, the kangaroo rat, and the flying squirrel. The birds are pheasants, quail, pigeons, parrots, curlews, a sort of snipe, and a species of moor-fowl. The venomous reptiles are few: some snakes have been found, which, from the flattened head and fang, were evidently poisonous; centipedes, scorpions, and tarantulas are by no means numerous. The mosquito, as is usual in all new and tropical countries, is exceedingly active and troublesome; and a sandfly not larger than a grain of sand is so extraordinarily venomous that scarcely anyone in the ship or expedition has escaped without bites from these insects, which have in many instances produced tedious and painful ulcers.

"Port Cockburn Is one of the finest harbours I ever saw, and is capable of containing almost an unlimited number of shipping of any draught of water, and is completely secured from every wind that blows.

"On the 10th of November, the defences of Fort Dundas being quite equal to an attack from much more formidable enemies than the natives of Melville Island, I determined to proceed in the further execution of the orders I had received from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. I gave charge of the settlement to Captain Maurice Barlow, and placed Lieutenant Williamson and his detachment, of Royal Marines under the command of that officer.

"Weighed and dropped into the fair-way, and was saluted by fifteen guns from the garrison, which was returned from this ship.

"On the 11th and 12th employed getting ready for sea, and finally sailed from Port Cockburn on the 13th, the ship 'Countess of Harcourt' in company: the latter for Mauritius and England: H.M.S. 'Tamar' for India."

I may here gratify myself at least by bearing witness, through documents of authority, to the value of an old friend in the public service, whose merits—at so great a distance from the seat of authority—were so tardily and scantily acknowledged; and when acknowledged, were so shabbily waived. Smith, of London, had better friends there than George Miller, of New South Wales.

Extract from "General Orders."

"Head Quarters, Sydney, Tuesday, 17th August, 1824.

"The following appointment in the Commissariat Department will take place from this date:—

"Mr. George Miller, Commissariat Clerk (Treasury Appointment), is to take charge of the Government duties of the settlement about to be formed at the north-west coast of New Holland.

"R. Snodgrass, Major of Brigade."

"Commissariat Office, Sydney, New South Wales,

"30th November, 1825.

"Independently of the above considerations I beg to recall their Lordships' attention to my letter of the 28th March last, No. 301, in which, without being apprised of their intentions, I had taken the opportunity to recommend that that gentleman (George Miller) should be promoted to the rank which their lordships rightly deem befitting the office to which such a station is entrusted. The sentiments of approbation which I expressed upon the occasion have been strengthened by every account that has been received since; and, if opportunity offered, would, I feel assured, be confirmed by the testimony of Captain Barlow, the Commandant. I respectfully request permission, therefore, to renew my former solicitations in Mr. Miller's favour, and to add that my confidence in his integrity still remains unshaken.

"W. Wemyss, Deputy Commissary-General.

"George Harrison, Esq.,

"Treasury Chambers, London."

"Sydney, 13th October, 1828.

"The Lieutenant-General is pleased to direct that Mr. George Miller, Treasury Clerk, shall proceed by the first opportunity to relieve Mr. Smith * in the charge of the Commissariat at Port Macquarie.

"By command,

"C. Sturt, Acting Major of Brigade."

[* Afterwards Sir John Smith, Commissary-General-in-Chief, in London.]

"Treasury Chambers, London,

"13th April, 1829.

"Sir,—The Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury having had under consideration your letter, transmitting a memorial from Mr. Commissariat Clerk Miller, praying for promotion, I am commanded to acquaint you that their lordships will bear in mind the testimonials which they have received of Mr. Miller's services and good conduct, but that in the present state of this department they cannot comply with his request.

"(Signed) C.J. Stewart.

"Deputy Commissary-General Laidley, "New South Wales."

In order to keep the doings on the north coast in sight, I must make a hop from 1824 to 1838. Captain Sir Gordon Bremer, in command of H.M.S. "Alligator", accompanied by Lieutenant Owen Stanley, in H.M.S. "Britomart", the latter having arrived in Port Jackson on the 15th July, 1838, had received instructions to make another effort to make a permanent military depôt at Port Essington. The gratifying intelligence was hopefully discussed again in Sydney; commercial prospects brightened.

The names attached to the address presented to the commander of the "Alligator", on the 22nd of August, may recall many a familiar face and pleasant acquaintance. Two only, perhaps, are yet amongst us. It was presented to Sir Gordon Bremer, on the quarterdeck of H.M.S. "Alligator".

"To Sir J.J. Gordon Bremer, Captain R.N., K.C.B., C.B., &c.

"We, the undersigned merchants and gentlemen, residing in this colony, take leave to congratulate you on your second visit to our shores, and to offer you our sincere good wishes for the success and prosperity of the new settlement at Port Essington, for the purpose of founding which you have been again selected by His Majesty's Government, and to express our admiration of the zeal and enterprise which have induced you, under many trying circumstances, to undertake this arduous adventure.

"We need hardly assure you of the deep interest we naturally feel in the formation and progress of another dependency in this vast continent; its welfare promoted by the auspices of our parent state, and supported by the industry and capital of Great Britain.

"But we desire to convey to you more especially our hope that the settlement which you are about to re-establish may speedily emulate in prosperity this old appendage of the British Crown, and the conviction that she will also become a very important entrepot for the products of trade with the islands of the Eastern Archipelago.

"That your health, and that of the officers and men under your command may be preserved through the trials always attendant upon the formation of a new settlement, and that you may be eventually rewarded by its complete and permanent success is the sincere wish of

"Your obedient and faithful servants and friends,

"Richard Jones, M.C.	Robert Campbell, M.C.
Alexander McLeay	A.B. Spark
H.H. Macarthur, M.C.	John Jamison, M.C.
P. de Mestre	Wm. Walker and Co.
J. Blaxland, M.C.	W. Lithgow, M.C.
Thomas McQuoid	S.A. Donaldson
Edward Aspinall	Alexander Berry, M.C.
John Campbell	Lamb and Parbury
Edwards and Hunter	William C. Botts
Samuel Ashmore	G.L.P. Living
R. Duke and Co.	R.R. Mackenzie
William Gibbes	J.S. Ferriter
J. Nicholson, Harbour Master	John Lord and Co.
A. Mossman	Geo. Cooper, Col. Customs.
Brown and Co.	John Gilchrist
A.B. Smith and Co.	Willis, Sandeman and Co.
R. Campbell, junr. and Co.	Thomas Smith
W.S. Deloitte and Co.	W. Dawes
Kenworthy and Lord	Thomas U. Ryder
P.W. Flower	Robert How
John Tooth	Ramsay and Young
Betts Brothers	George Weller
Alexander Fotheringham	Cooper and Holt
J.T. Manning	Geo. Miller
Edye Manning	Hughes and Hosking.

"Sydney, August 22, 1838."

In honor, it may be presumed, of the occasion, our old friend "Isabella" becomes wedded to the new settlement, and sails thereunto, in duty bound, as the "Essington", ahead of the squad of vessels belonging to the expedition, in September.

The most interesting (being autographical) memorial of the second attempt at consolidating an establishment at Port Essington after the abandonment of its neighbours on the right hand and on the left that I have preserved is that contained in a letter from Sir Gordon Bremer to Governor Sir George Gipps. Port Essington itself was abandoned soon after it had done one good service to the country in sheltering and resuscitating Leichhardt and his band. As soon as New South Wales had obtained the gratification of her desire of years, its object was effaced. The interest which its name once so roused lies dormant: nursing, perhaps, but the occasion to fulfil the promise which Port Essington once held out, the future may yet have that occasion in store.

"Victoria, Port Essington, March 17, 1839,

"My dear Sir George,

"You will doubtless wonder that you have been so long without accounts from me. Our communication by the 'Orontes" (the transport) on which I dwelt as a certainty, was cut off by the wreck of that ship on a reef some distance from the entrance of the harbour. As usual with these sort of craft, neither lead or lookout. The crew are still with me here. The master and his wife are departed for Coepang, en route to India. The 'Essington' schooner sails to-day for the Islands, thence to Coepang, and finally to Sydney, but as I have it in serious contemplation to visit you the moment the arrival of the 'Beagle' or any despatches will open my views a little, I forbear to send you any public letters. They must necessarily be voluminous, and I hope to be at Sydney in ten or twelve days after the schooner. I am anxious to confer with you on so many points connected with this valuable and important addition to our colonies, that I feel the necessity of personal communication. You may remember that I sailed on the 17th September; on the 20th October Cape York was taken possession of and the Queen's colours hoisted. I had always supposed this to be a barren land; I was therefore delighted to find a country actually beautiful. The summit of the Cape is about 500 feet high; on the S.E. side the ascent is rough and vegetation has as usual been stunted by the constant winds, but looking down on the western, a plain about six or seven miles wide and extending far south, presented a scene which reminded me of some of the finest portions of India; it seemed teeming with luxuriance. We landed in a beautiful bay alongside a natural pier, with three and four fathoms water—close to. The ship lay in nine fathoms about two miles off, but she might have approached ad libitum. The Albany Islands seem adapted for cattle, having even then at the very end of the dry season abundance of grass and few trees; this will ultimately be an admirable position for a settlement, in the direct route through the Straits close to New Guinea, and surrounded by a group of islands, which must possess valuable articles of export. On the 27th I reached this place, and commenced our anxious search for that indispensable requisite—water. It was also important to fix on a position suitable as to approach from ships, and for landing our guns and stores. It was not, therefore, until the 3rd November that I had finished my inspection of the harbour and decided on this spot. It is a very pretty piece of land of considerable elevation. The north head, which I call Minto Head, is seventy-six feet above the sea, with a steep rocky point. On it I have placed a battery of four eighteen-pounder guns, two mortars, and a block house of twenty feet square with a pivot eighteen-pounder. The south head is fifty-five feet high, also unapproachable from the sea; on it there are already four eighteen-pounders. These heads form the widest portion of a neck of land which gently falls towards the interior—the area which is enclosed in it is just eighty-five acres. The soil all around us is as fine as can be imagined, indeed in many parts exceedingly rich from the immense quantity of vegetable matter decomposed yearly. The trees in our immediate neighbourhood are not large, and scarcely one is perfectly sound; this I ascribe as much to the thick shade as to the effects of the white ants, which are in swarms, but we find that they diminish as we clear the ground.

"It is astonishing to witness the rapid change which is daily discoverable. Our Hospital, store-room, my own house, and officers' quarters are finished and inhabited; they form very pretty buildings. I have a pier extending to low water mark, 140 feet long; and it is really a surprising work. I have a dock-yard, with boat-houses, blacksmiths' shop, mast-house, and I am now getting on with a provision store. The marines have built as pretty cottages as an English village can shew; several of the officers have also their cottages, and in all I encourage the cultivation of garden ground—we have not yet derived much benefit from our public garden. I fear my botanist is too great a gentleman (in his own opinion) to grow cabbages and pumpkins, but the latter are becoming abundant in the gardens of the men. By means of the 'Essington' we have been tolerably well supplied with fresh meat. I hope she will come up to us again.

"Port Essington is certainly one of the finest pieces of water in the world. In the inner harbour the 'Alligator' lies in nineteen feet at the lowest spring tide within hail of the pier. About two miles off is the anchorage capable of containing fifty sail of the line in seven fathoms.

"As regards fresh water, we have an abundance, and of delicious quality. I have four wells already in work, which supplied us amply before the rains, and are now overflowing; there are several pretty streams within a mile or two, and the flats or meadows which almost surround us are now considerably flooded. They would produce rice in extreme abundance, while spices, cotton, and almost all tropical valuable articles, I am convinced, may be cultivated with success. The climate is certainly extraordinary; we have not had one case of actual sickness since we came here. The 'Britomart' has buried two men; one of them was consumptive when he left England, and would have died; the other went off in an apoplectic fit. The heat in the middle of the day is sometimes extreme, reaching 95 deg., but it is the least oppressive I have ever met with—it is a pure ethereal heat, while the nights and mornings are generally delicious. I write to you at half-past seven, the thermometer before me stands at 76 deg., while the last of the land wind brings its sweets from flowers, which at this season are beautiful. One large boat is constantly surveying. On her passage to Raffles Bay to ascertain the condition of the old settlement, she entered the opening between Point Smith and the N.W. point of Raffles Bay, which Captain King had not opportunity to examine. The lieutenant discovered that It is the entrance to one of the finest harbours in Australia, which has been admirably surveyed, and to which the officers have been kind enough to give my name, calling it Port Bremer. The bottom and west side of this harbour is not more than three miles from Table Head, in Port Essington, the country between them excellent. The west side of Raffles Bay is also not more than two miles from the east side of the port, so that we are as it were a continuous chain of harbours. I have no doubt that good anchorage, if not a good harbour, is to be found in Trepang Bay. In short, the capabilities of this noble place are daily developing.

"I have just returned from a most interesting cruise in the 'Britomart', having visited the islands Moa, Letti, and Kissa (I was twice at the latter). There was subject of infinite pleasure. I found the Dutch missionaries very excellent men, and apparently labouring with abundant zeal in the good cause; they are, however, grievously neglected by the Dutch Government, having been upwards of two years without the slightest communication, even with Coepang. It really was a distressing thing to witness the thankfulness with which these men—European gentlemen—received the slop shoes and stockings I supplied them with, together with wine, needles, thread, and, in short, every article of comfort I could discover they required. The population of Kissa is upwards of 7,000, 1,500 of whom are Christians. Letti contains 6,000, of whom 900 are Christians; while Moa, the largest and most beautiful of the islands, has only 500 persons of our faith. Their churches are neat little edifices, reminding me of some of the very old places of worship in the north of England.

"After leaving Kissa, I proceeded to Dilly, in Timor, where I was received by the Governor with every possible respect and attention. I was fortunate in this visit, as a vessel about to sail afforded me an opportunity of writing to Mr. Bonham at Singapore, requesting him to forward me during the N.W. monsoon all papers, letters, &c., by way of Dilly. I find the communication perfectly easy, and you will be surprised when I tell you that by means of the Singapore papers I had extracts from the London News of the 12th September, 1838, on my table here on the 1st February, 1839; this is easily accounted for by the rapid flight of letters and papers from England to Bombay, and thence to Singapore. I receive from the Dutch residents most complimentary letters and offers of service, but from private information I am led to think they view us with extreme jealousy.

"The desire for British calico goods, for brass wire, iron, and other hardware amongst the islands is astonishing. They have abundance of cattle, fruit, fowls, yams, &c., and some corn. I established a regular market. For our cotton handkerchiefs, value 6d., two fowls; for four inches of brass wire, a good pumpkin or melon; for four yards of coarse calico, a pig, and so on; but they have tortoise-shell, wax, and other valuable articles. I learned that a man saved from the schooner 'Stedcombe', wrecked on Timor coast several years ago, was seen and spoken with in February, 1838. He told the person (who was the master of a small schooner) that two Dutch men-of-war brigs had visited the island; that he had endeavoured to excite the compassion of the commanders, but they refused to listen to him although he repeatedly told them he was an Englishman. I have, in consequence, sent the 'Britomart' thither to reconnoitre the place, and have directed my first lieutenant who is in her to use his discretion in taking means to recover the man, and as the natives are very numerous and very fierce, not to hazard an attack. I will put them to rights in the 'Alligator', if necessary. The 'Britomart' then proceeds to the Arra Islands, which have probably never been visited by English vessels, certainly not by ships of war, and I anticipate a most interesting account.

"One subject of high satisfaction to me is that we have never had even an angry word with the natives; they are constantly about us in numbers, and are useful to us, bringing fish, grass, honey, and a sort of bean—their confidence in us is astonishing.

"One of them went with me in the brig, and another is now in her on her present voyage. In conclusion, my dear Sir George, I cannot but congratulate you, and myself, on the complete and perfect success of my undertaking—this place cannot fail to become most valuable; in truth, I anticipate that in a few years it will be the Singapore of Australia. I look forward with great pleasure to the prospect of meeting you. I have an infinity of important matter to discuss with you. I only await the arrival of the 'Beagle', or other vessel to determine me.

"I hope that the middle of June will afford me an opportunity of repeating that, I am,

""Dear Sir George, your Faithful Friend,

"J.J. Gordon Bremer.

"I forgot to mention that I had named my city-in-embryo: Victoria. I believe it to be the first Colony founded in Her Majesty's reign."

Sir James John Gordon Bremer, K.C.B., created 1841; K.C. and Knight Bachelor, created 1836; married in 1811 Mrs. C. Glasse, of Rochester; was made lieutenant in the navy in 1805; commander in 1807; in 1812 captured the "Bon Génie", privateer; in 1813 took an American letter of marque of 280 tons; became post-captain in 1814; was appointed to the "Comus", 22 guns, in 1816, which was lost off Newfoundland in October of that year; to the "Tamar", 26 guns, was despatched to form a settlement on Melville Island; returned to England in 1827; was appointed to the "Alligator", 26 guns, on the East India station, in 1837.

So closely is Owen Stanley associated in my first recollections of Sydney with Port Essington, that I cannot keep his name apart from that of the settlement, of the prospects of which Sir Gordon Bremer makes so high an estimate in this letter.

Owen Stanley had been promoted to the rank of commander on the 26th of March, 1839, and had aided, in the "Britomart", in forming the new colony on which Sydney afterwards built such grand hopes. He was a son of the then Bishop of Norwich, born on the 13th June, 1811; entered the Royal Naval College 5th August, 1824; embarked as volunteer in the "Druid" frigate, 8th January, 1826, and in the following March was midshipman on board the "Ganges", 84, then fitting for the flag of Sir Robert Waller Otway, commander-in-chief in S. America, whence he was removed in December, 1829, to the "Tartar", 44. In January, 1830, he joined the "Adventure", sloop, Captain Philip Parker King, employed in surveying the Straits of Magellan. On his return to England the following November, he became mate to the "Belvidere", 42, and to the "Rainbow", 28—Captains, the Honourable Richard Sanders Dundas and Sir John Franklin—both in the Mediterranean in 1831; then to the "Kent", 78; the "Procris", 10; the "Malabar", 74; and the "Mastiff", 6, in succession, all in the Mediterranean. In 1836, 11th May, he was appointed to the "Terror", and on the 21st December, 1837, to the command of the "Britomart", in which he remained until the 27th April, 1843. In the interval, having aided at Port Essington, he made a track survey of the Arafura Sea, &c. He then became post-captain in 1844, on September 23rd, since when he commanded the surveying ship "Rattlesnake", in which he made many valuable additions to hydrography, especially in the examination of Simon's Bay, the inner route through Torres Straits from Dunk Island to Bligh's Farewell; his last work being the survey of the south-east coast of New Guinea and the Louisiade Archipelago. F.R.S., F.R.A.S. Captain Stanley died at Sydney on the 10th March, 1850. Before his coming into Port Jackson, he had heard at Cape York of a brother's death: on anchoring, of his father's. He was buried in the North Shore cemetery.

While lying at Cape York in the preceding October, a watering party from the "Rattlesnake" brought off a white woman and some of a tribe who had come over from Prince of Wales Island to the mainland. Upon coming on board, she could scarcely make it understood that she wished to be rescued from the natives, as she had almost forgotten the English language. Her maiden name had been Barbara Crawford, daughter of a tinman, a Scotchman residing in Sydney, who had arrived in the "John Barry" as an immigrant: had married a man named Thompson at Moreton Bay, which she left with him and some other men in a small cutter called the "American" for Port Essington, where they wished to settle. They were cast away on Prince of Wales Island, and all but herself drowned. The natives had treated her very humanely for the five years she had been with them, but refused until now to allow her to communicate with any passing vessels.

Having seen the "Rattlesnake" anchored at Cape York, she induced them to take her on board, saying she wished to shake hands with her countrymen. Captain Stanley rewarded the blacks liberally. From her much information was received as to the manners and customs of the islanders of Torres Straits.

Port Essington had been discovered by Captain P.P. King, in the cutter "Mermaid" (84 tons, 56 ft. in length, beam 18 ft. 6 in.), on the 23rd of April, 1818, and so-named in honour of the "late Vice-Admiral Sir William Essington, K.C.B."

"As a harbour," writes Captain King, in his narrative published in 1824, "Port Essington is equal, if not superior, to any I ever saw, and from its proximity to the Moluccas and New Guinea, and its being in the direct line of communication between Port Jackson and India, as well as from its commanding situation with respect to the passage through Torres Straits, it must, at no very distant period, become a place of great trade, and of considerable importance."

How little the pledges of success given by the reports made about the settlements on the Northern Coast of South Australian Territory have been redeemed, twenty-five years after the first stick had been cut and laid for Fort Dundas, on Melville Island, proved in a manner unpalatable to the promoters of the early schemes for extending trade. It remains for Port Darwin, which may claim to be one of the group, to bring about in due time the honour so long deferred to each flattering earnest. There is something to wonder at, and attract to the spot at which our Mercury takes his first sub-marine plunge upon our Australian errands. In sombre contrast with the gay colouring of Sir Gordon Bremer's descriptions do we find the shadows which had successively fallen upon each nest of dwelling-places, which spoke of the building, but from which the birds had flown, in the year 1847. On the 9th of November, Port Essington was declared by Captain Stanley—according to Macgillivray's Narrative—to be insalubrious; to give no hope nor promise of improvement: men sick; provisions bad and scanty; the site of Victoria injudicious and unhealthy. The first step had been taken by Captain G. Bremer on the 20th September, 1824, in H.M.S. "Tamar", at Port Essington. For want of water he at once had gone on to Melville Island, and founded Fort Dundas, on the Apsley Strait. Four years afterwards—31 March, 1829—this had been deserted. Government still persisting in the desire to plant firm foot in these quarters, Captain Stirling, in H.M.S. "Success", had the gratification of finding a nook in the neighbourhood which seemed to be, and proved to be free from disadvantages which had as yet impeded the progress of the past speculations. This had been at Port Raffles, and was denoted by the erection of Fort Wellington—on 18th June, and when the kernel of this Colony had begun to mature into a really flourishing state of sound health, sudden orders—unexpected and unaccountable—had been received for its entire abandonment, which had been effected by the 29th August, 1829.

Eight years afterwards Government had a fourth time resolved upon an establishment on the north coast with the twofold object of affording "shelter to crews wrecked in Torres Straits, and endeavouring to throw open to British enterprise the neighbouring islands of the Indian Archipelago." Thus had Captain Sir G. Bremer been again sent forth on the 27th October, 1837, to re-form a settlement at Port Essington, whence he wrote the letter given already. Subsequently, the "Alligator" having left. Captain John Macarthur, with a subaltern and forty men of the Royal Marines, was left in charge. The "Britomart" remained several years as a tender to the military post, and was succeeded by H.M.S. "Royalist". In October, 1845, the remains of the original party, which had been there for seven years (including also a small detachment sent down from China), were relieved by a draft from England of two subalterns, an assistant surgeon, and fifty-two men of the Royal Marines; Captain Macarthur still remaining in charge; "and now" says Macgillivray, "after the settlement has been established for eleven years, they were not even able to keep themselves in fresh vegetables." And so Port Essington was finally abandoned on November 30, 1849, when all was removed to Sydney by H.M.S. "Mœander", commanded by Captain the Honourable H. Keppel.