52 POET CURTIS. 



from the Wide Bay district must^ ere long'^ call 

 Port Curtis into requisition as a harbour^ and thus 

 enable the settlers to obviate the necessity of a long* 

 and expensive land carriage to Wide Ba}^^ the 

 nearest place resorted to by the small coasting* 

 vessels^ communicating* with Brisbane and Sydney. 

 In illustration of this important subject^ I cannot 

 do better than quote portions of a despatch from 

 Colonel Barney to Sir Charles Fitzroy, dated 

 Sydney^ 20th July^ 1847^ published in a return 

 ordered by the House of Commons. 



*' The extent of land fit for agriculture, within a {ew miles of 

 the coast, far exceeds the expectations I had formed on my first 

 visit. Timber for dwelling-houses and for shipbuilding is abundant, 

 and of the best description, and within five miles of South Shore 

 Head (the best site for a settlement) there is to be found pipeclay, 

 brick-earth, ironstone, freestone, granite, trap, slate, indications 

 of coal ; and independent of a great supply of shells for lime on 

 the immediate site, there is at the head of one of the navigable 

 salt creeks a fine fresh-water stream running over a bed of lime- 

 stone ; a second creek, in which the ' Lord Auckland ' of 600 

 tons, is hove down, also navigable for ten or twelve miles, termi- 

 nates in extensive water-holes ; indeed within the port there are 

 four inlets or creeks, navigable from ten to fifteen miles for vessels 

 drawing eight or nine feet of water, each terminating in fresh 

 water. 



"The position and extent of Port Curtis, which I take to be 

 the third harbour in importance in these seas, inferior only to 

 Port Jackson and Hobart Town, must shortly lead to an establish- 

 ment on its shore, offering security to numerous whaling vessels, 

 which are now compelled to proceed to Sydney for repairs and 

 supplies ; it must also become an important depot for supplying 

 steamers on passage to India with coal, which I have reason to 



