52 PORT CURTIS. 



from the Wide Bay district must, ere long-, call 

 Port Cui'tis into requisition as a harbour, and thus 

 enable the settlers to obviate the necessity of a lon^ 

 and expensive land carriag^e to Wide Bay, 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 few 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 iiaTigable 

 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, ofiering 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 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



