144 ADVANTAGES OF PORT ESSINGTON. 



with the assistance of Chinese or Malay lahourers. 

 Wool, the staple commodity of Austraha^ would 

 not grow there^ and the country is not adapted for 

 the support of cattle to anj^ great extent. 



Yet the Httle settlement at Port Essing'ton has 

 not been altogether useless. The knowledg'e of 

 the existence of such a military post^ within a few 

 days' sail of the islands in question, together with 

 the visits of Commander Stanley in the Britomart, 

 had completely prevented a repetition of the out- 

 rag-es formerly committed upon European trading- 

 vessels at the various islands of the group extending- 

 between Timor and New Guinea. The crews and 

 passengers of various vessels TNTCcked in Torres 

 Strait had frequently found in Port Essington a 

 place of shelter^ after six hundred miles and more 

 of boat navigation, combined ^ith the difficulty of 

 determining the entrance, owing to the lowness of 

 the land thereabouts, which might easily be passed 

 in the night, or even during the daj, if distant more 

 than ten or twelve miles. I have myself been a 

 witness to the providential rehef and extreme hos- 

 pitality affijrded there to such unfortunates. StiU, 

 as a harbour of refuge, it is obvious that Cape York 

 is the most suitable place, situated as it is within a 

 short distance of the spot where disasters by ship- 

 -n reck in Torres Strait and its approaches have been 

 most frequent. 



tropical productions thrive well ia one of the two gardens, there 

 is no field for their growth upon a remunerative scale. 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



