80 NEW HARBOUR ON THE N.E. COAST OF AUSTRALIA. [March 12, 1860. 



Cape York to the great Barrier Eeef. Though the ship to which he was 

 attached missed this particular port, yet he could give them as much informa- 

 tion respecting the physical geography of the coast as any person present. He 

 therefore hoped Mr. Jukes would state what facts he knew, and at the same 

 time communicate some of the knowledge he possessed respecting the formation 

 of these remarkable coral reefs. 



Mr. J. Beete Jukes said that he had been on board H.M.S. Fly^ under 

 the late Captain Blackwood, when the outer edge of a large part of the Barrier 

 Reef, that great coral reef which ran along the north-east coast of Australia, 

 was being surveyed. The survey was conducted by officers specially appointed 

 for that service, marine surveyors, officers of the Fly, one of whom, his friend 

 Mr. Evans, was present, and who, he must add, was the very person to whom 

 the accuracy of the survey of the Barrier Eeef was chiefly due. Mr. Evans 

 had recalled to his recollection several facts connected with the particular part 

 of the coast in which this harbour occurred, which, perhaps, the meeting would " 

 allow him to mention. It was a very interesting spot for a good harbour. 

 There were already one or two harbours in that immediate neighbourhood. 

 One called Port Mole was known long ago, and was discovered, he believed, by 

 Flinders in the first instance. H.M.S. Fly lay in it for several days, while 

 Captain Blackwood and some of the officers explored the neighbourhood in 

 boats. He generally accompanied one or other of the boats. So far as he 

 could make out, this particular harbour was in a bight of the coast which the 

 boats did not happen to visit ; therefore they were not lucky enough to dis- 

 cover it. They did, however, find several other indentations in the coast, just 

 south of Port Mole, which were tidal harbours. There was one fact which 

 made the situation of this harbour exceedingly important, not mentioned in 

 the paper : it was this, that the rise of tide upon just that portion of the 

 coast was much greater than upon any other part of the eastern coast of 

 Australia. The rise and fall of tide amounted in some places to as much as 

 30 feet — vertical rise and fall ; while in scarcely any other part was the rise 

 and fall more than 6, 8, or 10 feet, at the outside. This, it would be seen, 

 Avas a very important fact in connection with harbours, because the rise and 

 fall of tide would facilitate all kinds of operations connected with the building 

 and repairing of ships. That point was sufficiently obvious. It was also 

 important in connection with another curious fact — that this was, he believed, 

 the only part of the coast, certainly the only part of the north-eastern coast, 

 where there was good ship timber. The timber of Australia in general sunk 

 when it was put into the water ; it was too heavy and too brittle, for the 

 most part, for shipbuilding. Just in that particular part of the coast from 

 Port Bowen northwards up to Cape Upstart, there were large forests of pine, a 

 species of araucaria called Cuninghamii, a species of the same genus that the 

 Norfolk Island pine belonged to ; and so far as he could judge, it was a very 

 good ship timber. Some parts of the Fly were repaired from this timber. 

 These two facts, taken in connection, made the existence of a good land-locked 

 harbour there exceedingly important. When they were there, it struck them 

 that that particular part of the coast, between Broad Sound and Cape Upstart, 

 was by far the best bit of coast they had seen anywhere round the whole cir- 

 cumference of Australia. Mr. Evans had also recalled to his recollection that 

 in the account of the voyage of H.M.S. Fly, which was published in 1847, this 

 fact was noted : that after going twice round the whole of Australia, and visit- 

 ing parts of the coast on every side, they came to this conclusion, that this was 

 the very best bit of land anywhere to be found so near the margin of the sea. 

 Of course they could only judge from what they were able to see of some two 

 or three miles inland. AH the country round about Port Bowen and Port 

 Curtis was exceedingly barren and rocky in comparison with the country he 

 was speaking of. Farther north there seemed to be a considerable stretch of 

 comparatively fertile land along the coast. The hills themselves, instead of 



