90 ON'THE SEARCH FOR LEICHHARDT, [Nov. 22, 1858. 



measure render us icdependent of the United States. There are other articles 

 natural to a tropical climate which might be cultivated to great advantage in 

 these provinces ; and the climate moreover is well adapted to European con-, 

 stitutions. Therefore I think it is a question which ought to be taken up by 

 the Imperial Government. 



Dr. Hodokin, f.r.g.s. — I do not expect to add anything to tlie interesting 

 remarks made by gentlemen who have been upon the spot, but I cannot allow 

 the opportunity to pass without calling attention to one point. I have been 

 informed by a friend, who spent some time on the northern coast of Australia, 

 in the vicinity of Cape York, that many wrecks occur in that neighbourhood ; 

 and his statements have been corroborated this evening by Captain Drury. 

 Considering the number and value of the shipping in that sea, independently 

 of the productions to be obtained from the land, it must be highly important 

 to take advantage of the natural harbours to be found on that part of the 

 coast, where vessels and th(3ir crews might be saved in case of injury or distress. 



Mr. J. Crawford, f.r.g.s. — I believe I can with confidence assert, that the 

 alleged fertility at Cape York, or at any place in its neighbourhood, is an 

 impossibility — for this reason : there is no range of mountains, and hence no 

 fall of rain, and consequently no adequate means of irrigation. Irrigation, or 

 an abundant supply of water within ten or twelve degrees of the equator, is 

 indispensable to fertility : the most fertile land is unproductive without water, 

 and water for perennial irrigation does not exist about Cape York. Horned 

 cattle may be reared on the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria, but there is no 

 market for them. Sheep could not thrive there, and they would produce hair, 

 or something like it, instead of wool, and that would be unsaleable. Besides, 

 where are the labourers to cultivate the soil ? No European constitution could 

 stand the heat so near the equator ; and as to the Chinese, they have too 

 much good sense to go there as long as they can get to the gold-fields. As 

 to Port Essington, that was abandoned eight or nine years ago on account of 

 its insalubrity. The harbour may be good, but the climate is so unhealthy 

 that no European could live there ; and such being the result of long expe- 

 rience, the settlement was abandoned by the Government. 



Captain Byron Drury. — I do not know where Mr. Crawfurd obtained his 

 information, but I lived at Port Essington eighteen months, and I can say 

 that we grew every tropical X)roduction in the greatest luxuriance. We had ponds 

 of water about there ; and during an excursion of ten days into the interior we 

 found water wherever we went. I do not mean to say that water is as 

 abundant as in New Zealand, but we found continuous streams ; and as to 

 fertility, we raised enough to supply us in two months after we arrived there. 

 I will give another instance of the productiveness of the country. When Sir 

 Stamford Raffles left this settlement, Captain Barker turned out some cattle. 

 In 1838, when we went there, and a party of us penetrated thirty miles into 

 the country, we found a quantity of oxen wallowing in swamps ; and now 

 there are wild horses. How could they live without water ? — and yet there they 

 were living and prospering, especially the cattle. 



Mr. Trelawny Saunders. — I think the best answer to Mr. Crawfurd is 

 the statement of Flinders, who, when he explored the Gulf of Carpentaria, 

 expressed his surprise at finding an abundance of surface water at the end of 

 the dry season. Leichhardt also stated that during his long journey around 

 the Gulf, his cattle, far from being generally in want of water or vegetation, 

 fattened as they went along the road. A recent traveller has told us that the 

 country presented a dismal appearance, covered as it was with long dry grass, 

 burnt here and there by the natives. The gentleman must have forgotten 

 that the dried grass was once green, and that its growth had been fostered in 

 the proper season by sufficient moisture. Against the evidence of Flinders, 

 Leichhardt, and Stokes, I think Mr. Crawfurd's opinions must give way. I 



