GOVERNMENT SETTLEMENT AT WESTERN PORT 65 



not possess sufficient capabilities for colonisation on a large scale ". 

 The perplexity of Governor Darling, created by such conflicting 

 accounts, must have been intensified when later on he received the 

 voluminous and elaborate report of Captain Wetherall, in which 

 that gentleman proceeded to demolish the favourable impression 

 which his previous letters had created. "The occupation of the 

 islands cannot be entertained," he says, " on account of the inter- 

 ruption of carriage between them and the surrounding country; 

 the land near the eastern passage is unavailable for commercial 

 purposes from the intricacy of the harbour, the shoalness of the 

 foreshore, and the severity of the western gales which beat upon it ; 

 while the western channel offers no shelter for ships, and the swell 

 there is so great that few ships could ride to and no boat live in it." 

 The north coast above French Island had no redeeming features, 

 and the only glimpse of comfort is in the statement that " there is 

 abundance of good land to the eastward, if we may credit Mr. 

 HovelTs last report". 



These unfavourable opinions were duly transmitted from 

 Sydney to the Colonial Office, and Governor Darling, while ex- 

 pressing his belief that the situation was not favourable for a 

 penal settlement, refrains from committing himself to a recom- 

 mendation of its withdrawal, until he is informed of the result 

 of a further examination, then being made by Mr. Hovell, who 

 was probably anxious to redeem his reputation by finding the 

 " Iramoo " downs adjacent. Meanwhile, bearing in mind the military 

 nature of the occupation, Captain Wetherall had cleared a site 

 on a flat-topped hill on Phillip Island commanding the entrance, 

 erected a flagstaff, and had a couple of six-pounder guns from the 

 ship placed in position ; over which he formally hoisted the Union 

 Jack, and christened the tiny battery by the imposing name of 

 Fort Dumaresq. He also cleared a track across the island nearly 

 three miles long, and thus laid out the first military road. 



Hovell made his first exploration in an easterly direction, 

 towards Cape Liptrap, where he found some considerable areas 

 of good land, but an insufficient supply of fresh water. Like 

 others who had visited the district, he lays great stress on the 



importance of the valuable coal deposits at Cape Paterson, a site 

 VOL. i. 5 



