676 NORTHMOST AUSTRALIA 



He surveyed the parts of the line for which Healy and Paterson 

 were not responsible. On the blue prints furnished by the P. and 

 T. Department (now administered by the Federal Postmaster- 

 General), the surveys of the existing line have been laid down on 

 Bradford's maps, showing his route. The route and line have both 

 been embodied in the 8-mile maps herewith. 



The PASTORAL OCCUPATION of the country adjoining the Tele- 

 graph line had progressed northward to Langi cattle station 

 before the construction of the line was complete. The holdings 

 attached to Langi, Rokeby and Lalla Rookh (SEE MAP C) had been 

 taken up on account of the markets promised by the Coen Goldfield. 

 The Brothers Glen and Charles Massy took up LALLA ROOKH, on 

 the Stewart River, in 1882, and ROKEBY, on the South Coen, in 

 1884. CHARLES was KILLED BY THE BLACKS. LANGI, on the 

 Archer River, was taken up by Ebenezer Knott in 1883. Further 

 north, BERTIE HAUGH, on the Ducie River (SEE MAP B), was taken 

 up by Frank Jardine soon after the completion of the line (say 1 888). 

 MERLUNA, on the Watson River (SEE MAP C), was occupied by the 

 Watson Brothers in 1888. One of the brothers (Edwin) was KILLED 

 BY THE BLACKS. YORK DOWNS, on the head of the Mission River 

 (SEE MAP D), was taken up by Robert Sefton and others in 1885. 

 J. T. Embley, Licensed Surveyor, found it convenient for the work 

 on which he was then engaged to make the station his headquarters, 

 and subsequently acquired an interest in it. In 1891, he took up, 

 further to the north, THORNBURY station, on Black Gin Creek, 

 near Red Island (SEE MAP A). LOCKERBIE and GALLOWAY 

 STATIONS, near Somerset, were taken up by Frank Jardine about 

 1892 and 1895 respectively. 



" PINE CREEK " (SEE MAP C), near Mein Telegraph Station, was 

 taken up by Patrick Fox in 1887, while the line was under con- 

 struction. 



Apart from its primary and obvious use as a Telegraph line, 

 putting the whole of Australia in touch with the Far to Australia 

 the Near East, the line, which is also officially a stock route, hi 

 been of incalculable service to prospectors and others, itself as ai 

 infallible guide, and each of its stations as a point d'appui or city oi 

 refuge. The occupation of the various stations led to a knowledge 

 of all the accessible " oases " in the desert. 



The STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE of the Cape York TELEGRAPH LINE, 

 if Australia is to continue to hold and develop the island continent, 

 is self-evident, and there are many who believe that a RAILWAY LINE 

 is an essential condition of progress. For his persistent advocacy 

 of this policy, in season and out of season, the late JAMES DICK, 

 of Cooktown, deserves grateful recognition, although the scheme 

 has often been derided as visionary, or at best a pious aspiration. 



The HON. JOHN DOUGLAS,* a man of wide views, who was once 



1 Past and Present of Thursday Island and Torres Straits. Outridge, Brisbane, 1900. 



