Nov. 22, 1858.] AND THE AUSTRALIAN DESERT. 89 



tion to the advantage of possessing a perfect harbour, with a peninsula, the 

 neck of which is only eight miles in width. Why we have not retained pos- 

 session of that coast is to me extraordinary. I entirely agree with my friend 

 Sir Charles Nicholson about Cape York ; and, putting the Gulf of Carpentaria 

 on one side, I must say I think Port Essington the best site along the whole 

 coast. It is well watered for Australia. Had we not been there in 1838 two 

 French frigates would probably have taken possession of it. They arrived 

 two months after us. We held it for twelve years, and then abandoned it. 

 The proved advantage of Cape York as a place of refuge for the frequent 

 wrecks among the Barrier Keefs and Torres Straits is, among other considera- 

 tions, of great importance. 



Rear- Admiral FitzRoy, f.r.g.s. — May I venture to remark that this seems 

 to be one of those great questions that might fairly be taken up by the 

 Government. I apprehend that the exploration of Australia has never yet 

 been undertaken in a thoroughly efficient manner. There has been the utmost 

 daring, energy, perseverance, and good management on the part of those 

 engaged, but the undertakings have been in detail rather than comprehensive, 

 and by comparatively private expeditions. 



How strange it would appear to an Arabian or an African if we were to ask 

 him to undertake an excursion across the vast deserts of Africa with ponies or 

 horses, or even bullocks ! How is it that we have never taken the camel — 

 "the ship of the desert" — from those countries where it is indigenous, and 

 transported it to those of our colonies which are in such want of it ? We have 

 in Australia an enormous extent of country which in all probability is a com- 

 parative desert. There may be steppes, there may be a great inland sea — 

 perhaps fresh, perlmps salt — who can say with certainty ? The probability is 

 that there are no very high ranges of mountains, and no very great rivers, but 

 a great extent of barren and unfertile country, with perhaps an extent of inland 

 water. No desert has yet been found in any part of the world in which there 

 is not an oasis. There may be such a space in the interior of Australia — not 

 only a fertile and valuable district, but one in which there may be tribes who 

 have never yet seen the white man. When we consider that we have hundreds 

 of thousands of our countrymen spread round the borders of that continent 

 (for such it is), surely it is worth urging the Government to undertake an 

 expedition into the interior upon a scale worthy of this great country. 



It may be naturally asked, how should it be done ? One very simple course 

 occurs to me — somewhat military it may be — that of first establishing a base 

 of operations as far within the country as one can yet go with security, and 

 making there a temporary settlement, perhaps for two or three years ; and 

 then from that basis working inwards. 



One expedition might be set on foot from the eastern coast, another from 

 the south, another from the west, and another from the north — all carried out 

 under Government, by experienced colonists, with such aids as I have alluded 

 to, particularly the camel — emphatically, I repeat, " the ship of the desert." 

 Apologising for this interruption, I conclude by earnestly pressing for the 

 introduction of the camel to Australia. 



Lord A. Churchill, f.r.g.s. — 1 would venture to make one or two ob- 

 servations with regard to the great importance which would result to this 

 country, and to the whole of the Australian continent, from the formation 

 of a succession of settlements on the north-east coast. I believe the region 

 in question would be found very favourable for the production of the 

 cotton-plant. I am told it has been known to flourish there, and can be 

 produced in sufficient quantities to supply the English market, and from its 

 peculiar nature likely to bear a high value. It must, therefore, be a matter 

 of the highest concern to this country to be enabled by means of these 

 settlements to secure the production of cotton for ourselves, and thus in some 



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