Chapter III: Part 3

"An inspection of the map of New Holland will show that the streams
which rise from the eastern side of this mountain ridge (aback of
Sydney) have but comparatively a short course to the sea; moreover,
from this side of the ridge the descent to the sea is steep and
difficult. The ports north of Sydney are Moreton Bay, the Clarence
River, and Port Macquarrie; south of Sydney, Bateman's Bay, Twofold
Bay, Port Phillip, and Portland Bay. Whilst, therefore, the remote
interior, on the opposite or western side of this mountain ridge, can
have no other exit to the sea, eastward than the above-mentioned
ports, accessible only by a long, expensive, and difficult
land-carriage, it is obvious that the export of wool could not, beyond
certain limits of distance, be continued with profit, because of the
difficulty and cost of transport to its places of shipment: and this
limit to the wool-producing region becomes practically the terminus of
the squatter's enterprise--the boundary of the location of
Europeans--the end of the war on the wilderness; because the beginning
of a solitude untenanted by civilised man. But, when we again revert
to the map, and view the western side of this mountain ridge, it is at
once perceived that there is a remedy for this arrest of the progress
of settlement. The waters of the Darling River, after a long
circuitous course, unite themselves with the River Murray, and,
reinforced with other tributaries, maintain continuous course to the
Southern Ocean, near Port Elliot. The great trade, then, which is
likely to result from the steam navigation of the River Murray,
comprises all that present and future pastoral produce on the western
side of the mountain ridge, aback of Sydney, which it will be
difficult and costly to send for shipment to the enumerated ports on
the coast line of New South Wales and Port Phillip."

Speaking of Port Elliot, in the enclosure to the same Despatch (No. 77), his Excellency continues:--

"With respect to Port Elliot, the criticisms which have been passed,
in doubt of its capaciousness and safety, are such only as new and
untried ports frequently receive until they become better known. Until
this experience shall have been gained, it is satisfactory to know
that Captain Lipson, R.N., the Naval Officer of the Province, after
frequent visits to it, and enquiries respecting its character, reports
two vessels of from 500 to 1,000 tons may lie at the existing
moorings, which are in six and four fathoms of water respectively,
sufficiently sheltered by the breakwater to be considered in a safe
anchorage; that, after the port is better known, five or six large
ships may anchor there; and that it would probably prove safe to
extend the anchorage, for large ships, much farther out. A remarkable
verification of this last-expressed opinion has recently been
furnished to Captain Lipson in the case of the Ameer, a vessel of 400
tons, which in a gale of wind, blowing in on the shore, came to anchor
outside the moorings, and beyond the shelter of the breakwater, where
she remained safely, although greatly underhanded, both as to the
number and the efficiency of the crew. Ever since the Colony has been
founded, coasters have been in the habit of going in and out of Port
Elliot, at all seasons of the year, whenever freights have offered,
and no accident has ever happened, or has any vessel ever been driven
on shore, although furnished, as they generally are, with very
inferior ground tackle. The holding ground, then, being thus proved to
be so good, even outside of the moorings, it is only necessary to
place additional moorings beyond the site of the present ones,
whenever the exigencies of commerce may require this accommodation.
The trade of Port Elliot will, however, probably for a long while, in
connection with the River Murray, not require more tonnage than can,
at any one time, at present safely find anchorage there. Of the
readiness with which mails may be landed at Port Elliot, as compared
with mails to be landed (especially in winter time) in Gulf St.
Vincent, and of the great use, to vessels bound to Port Elliot, of the
Sturt Light, on Cape Willoughby, Kangaroo Island, it is only necessary
that I should refer you to Captain Lipson's report, published in the
Government Gazette of the 10th February last:"--

_Extracts from the Report of Captain Lipson on Port Elliot._

"Harbour Master's Office, Port Elliot.

"I know, from long experience of this coast, that the strong winds,
which prevail during the winter, are from south-west, west, and
north-west, and that when the wind shifts to south it invariably
moderates; and being assured, by all the masters of whalers in that
district, that the south or south-east winds were only during the
summer months, and that the shelter from the Murray beach prevented
any fetch into Port Elliot, I feel assured that, after a time, it will
be found quite safe to extend the anchorage for large ships further
out. * * * * * * *

"Port Elliot lies in lat. 35° 32' 45" south, and long. 138° 43' 15"
east, and is about six miles from Rosetta Head. The new lighthouse on
Cape Willoughby, Kangaroo Island, is situated in lat. 35° 49' 20"
south, long. 138° 43' 15" east; and, with respect to it, Port Elliot
bears north 55 east, twenty-nine miles. I do not consider it necessary
to give any particular sailing directions for making this port, as
there is nothing remarkable with regard to headlands, &c., to point
out to the attention of mariners. As a port of refuge from south to
north-west, which are our usual winter winds, I have never met a
person who did not acknowledge the safety and ease of riding under the
island. In proof of this, ever since the Colony has been founded, our
coasters have been in the habit of going in and out at all seasons of
the year, whenever freights have offered, and no accident has ever
happened, or has any vessel ever been driven on shore, although
furnished, as they generally are, with very inferior ground tackle."

Referring to the eligibility of Port Elliot as a mail-station, Captain Lipson's report thus concludes:--

"It must be well known to those who are in the habit of trading
between Adelaide and the different ports along the coast, that, now
there is a good light on Cape Willoughby, with the west and northwest
gales which blow so frequently during the winter season, they may go
into Port Elliot, and oftentimes back again, either to Van Diemen's
Land or Port Phillip, in less time than they could beat through
Backstairs Passage; besides the difficulty of returning down the Gulf
against the south-west gales. I have no hesitation in saying, that two
mails may easily be delivered at Port Elliot, for one at Port
Adelaide, during the winter months, &c.

"I have, &c.,
"THOS. LIPSON,
"Naval Officer and Harbour Master.

"Hon. the Colonial Secretary."

NAVIGATION OF THE MURRAY.

Message No. 24, from His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor to the
Legislative Council.

Lieutenant-Governor Sir Henry Young has the gratification to announce to the Legislative Council the arrival, at the Goolwa, of the first river-borne wool, the produce of the vast basin of the Murray.

In congratulating the Council on this auspicious commencement of the steam navigation and commerce of the great River Murray, the Lieutenant-Governor is happy to state that Captain Cadell's voyage reached to one hundred and fifty miles beyond Swan Hill, a distance of about fourteen hundred and fifty miles from the sea; and was also extended to sixty miles up the Wakool--an important branch of the Murray. The first cargo comprises wool of the Murray, the Darling, the Murrumbidgee, and the Wakool Rivers.

H. E. F. YOUNG, Lieutenant-Governor.

On board the _Lady Augusta_ steamer,
Goolwa, October 14, 1853.

Address of the Legislative Council to his Excellency the
Lieutenant-Governor.

To His Excellency Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, Knight, Lieutenant-Governor of Her Majesty's Province of South Australia, &c. &c.

May it please your Excellency--

The Legislative Council has experienced sincere gratification in the announcement made to it by your Excellency, of the arrival, at the Goolwa, of the first river-borne wool, the produce of the vast basin of the Murray.

The opening up of the navigation of the Murray has long been anxiously desired; and your Excellency's earnest and undeviating exertions to promote that important object well deserve the warmest thanks of this Council and of the Colonists of South Australia.

Your Excellency's personal superintendence of the first practical experiment--which has resulted in demonstrating that that great river is navigable by steam, for commercial purposes, for at least fourteen hundred and fifty miles of its course--must necessarily connect the name of your Excellency with that successful enterprise; and the Council think that so great a public service should be appropriately acknowledged.

The Council, therefore, requests your Excellency to cause three Gold Medals to be engraved, with suitable device and inscriptions--commemorating the auspicious opening up of the steam navigation and commerce of the Murray, and the first arrival at the Goolwa of river-borne wool. And the Council requests that--as the Lieutenant-Governor of South Australia, whose personal exertions promoted this great enterprise, and in whose administration it originated and has been successfully accomplished--your Excellency would be pleased to receive one of the said Medals.

And the Council further requests that your Excellency will be pleased to cause one of the said Medals to be conferred on Captain Francis Cadell, who completed the first commercial voyage, as owner and commander of the _Lady Augusta_ steamer and _Eureka_ barge, with a cargo of Murray wool; and the remaining medal may be deposited with the records of the Legislature of South Australia, under whose sanction the necessary pecuniary aid was voted in encouragement of the steam navigation of the River Murray.

JOHN MORPHETT, Speaker.

Legislative Council Chamber, Adelaide,
21st October, 1853.

Reply of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor.

Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen--

I receive with great gratification the Address which you have presented to me.

In conformity with your request, I shall cause Medals of South Australian Gold to be struck, in commemoration of the opening up of the commerce and navigation of the river Murray.

I shall have great pleasure in conferring on Captain Cadell the Medal by which the Lieutenant-Governor and Legislature desire to distinguish him with honour, in having successfully accomplished the first commercial steam voyage on the river Murray.

I concur with you in deeming this important event to be worthy of permanent record in the annals of South Australia; and I shall cause a commemorative medal to be placed conspicuously among the public archives.

I shall not fail to seek Her Majesty's gracious permission to accept from the Legislative Council the honour of one of the Medals for myself, as a memorial of the happy fortune by which I have been privileged to be a co-operator with the Council in opening up the steam navigation of the river Murray, and thereby establishing a bond of commercial and social union between three prosperous Colonies of Australia.

H. E. F. YOUNG.

Government House, October 24, 1853.

PROCLAMATION

By His Excellency Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, Knight, Lieutenant-Governor of Her Majesty's Province of South Australia, and Vice-Admiral of the same, &c. &c.

(_L S_)
H. E. F. Young.

Whereas, in order to provide for the interests of future settlers, and the probable course of future settlement along the banks of the now-ascertained navigable waters of the River Murray, it is expedient, that as respects the River Murray, and its Lakes Alexandrina or Victoria and Lake Albert, in South Australia, there should be adopted and applied the principles recognised and acted upon in the Royal Order in Council of the 9th March, 1847, by which it was declared that in New South Wales and Victoria there shall not be included in leases for pastoral purposes any lands lying and being within the distance of three miles from the sea coast, and within the distance of two miles from either of the opposite banks of certain rivers then named in the above-mentioned Royal Order: And whereas, for these and other purposes, it is expedient that the portion of the Province of South Australia hereinafter described should be created a Hundred: Now, therefore, I, the Lieutenant-Governor, in the name and on the behalf of Her Most Gracious Majesty, by virtue of the powers and authorities in me vested, do, by this my Proclamation, declare and appoint that the several parts of the said Province of South Australia, hereinafter more particularly described, and which are in part bounded by the shores of Lake Alexandrina or Victoria and Lake Albert, and by the banks of the River Murray, shall, from and after the first day of July next ensuing the date of this Proclamation, be, and I do by this my Proclamation constitute the same a Hundred of the same Province by the name of the "Hundred of the Murray:" And I do by this my Proclamation further proclaim and declare that--All those lands which lie within the distance of two miles from either of the two opposite banks of the River Murray, within the Province of South Australia, together with all those lands which lie within the distance of two miles from the north shore of Lake Alexandrina, between Salt Creek Trigonometrical Station and the Murray, and two miles from the east shores of Lakes Alexandrina and Albert, and also all the land in the County of Russell lying west of Lake Albert, as the same are respectively delineated in the public maps deposited in the office of the Surveyor-General of the Province, shall be within and shall constitute the said Hundred.

Given under my hand and the public seal of the said Province, at
Adelaide, this ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, and in the seventeenth year of
Her Majesty's reign.

By command,
B. T. FINNISS, Colonial Secretary.
God save the Queen!

Colonial Secretary's Office, Adelaide, Nov. 9, 1853.

The margins of Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert, and each bank of the River Murray, for two miles inland, having been constituted and proclaimed the "Hundred of the Murray in South Australia:"

Notice is hereby given that applications will be received by the Surveyor-General for the survey of sections on the said lands, in blocks of 10, 80, and 640 acres, according to the wishes of intending purchasers.

Access from the back lands to the water, and necessary roads for the convenience of the public, will be reserved in the usual manner.

Purchasers of land will have the customary privilege of commonage within the Hundred, according to the regulations.

By His Excellency's command,
B. T. FINNISS, Colonial Secretary.

Footnotes

[1]This poor man was unfortunately drowned, September 30th.

[2]According to Balbi, the course of the Murray is nearly 3,000 miles.

[3]This calculation can only be approximate.

[4]Expeditions into the Interior of Australia: 2 vols.

[5]The return of supplies taken each trip up the river, it is
calculated, will be equivalent to about one-half the value of the
cargo brought down; the orders for goods amounting already to £3,000
and upwards.

[6]The dimensions of the _Lady Augusta_ (so called in honour of Lady
Young), are as follows:--Extreme length on deck, 105ft.; extreme
length of keel, 98ft. 6in.; depth of hold, 5ft 6in.; breadth of
beam, 12ft.; on the cross guards, 21ft. She is built altogether upon
the American principle and model, and cost about £5,000. Her
engines, furnished from Sydney, are of twenty horse power each, and
of best workmanship. Her total tonnage, including engines which
weigh thirty tons, is ninety-one tons. Her beams and planking are of
New Zealand pine, and her timbers are of honeysuckle. She draws 3ft.
water when full, and 2ft. 4in. when light. She possesses
accommodation for sixteen first-class passengers and half as many
second. There is also accommodation in the _Eureka_ barge, which
tows alongside.

[7]The _Eureka_ launch is built of blue gum below, her upper planks of
New Zealand pine, and her decks of Baltic deal. Entire length on
deck, 106 feet; entire length of keel, 96 feet; breadth of beam, 12
feet; breadth of cross guards, 21 feet; depth of hold, 8 feet. Her
dimensions were:--Estimated measurement tonnage, 87 tons; draught of
water, with cargo, 3 feet; draught of water, without cargo, 13 to 15
inches. The deck, which is covered with an awning, is, from her
peculiar construction, large enough for a vessel of 300 or 400 tons.

[8]This man, for want of evidence, was released, and sent back from
whence he came.

[9]From those lakes, salt, in considerable quantities, is gathered and
transported into the interior, or to the nearest towns.

[10]October 4th, above Euston, three emus or cassowaries were observed
swimming across the river. Amongst the Australian aborigines there
has been an evident desire to preserve this gigantic bird, and for
this purpose its flesh is forbidden, it is said, to their young men.
The Europeans, however, hunt it down without any consideration,
unless it be for the sake of its feathers or for a steak of its
flesh. An emu, we are told, with a kick can kill a dog or break a
horse's leg, and to judge from the size of their claws (some of
which we have on board) this can be no exaggeration. Dogs are,
however, trained to seize them by the neck, and, in this way,
overpower them easily.

[11]The Darling, during more than half the year, would, it appears, be
navigable for upwards of 150 miles from its junction with the
Murray. A few years ago indeed, it was settled as far as Lake
Minindie, a Government Reserve, 200 miles from the mouth; but the
outrages of the blacks--the distance from an available market--or
other causes--led to the abandonment of these runs. It has now only
50,000 sheep upon its banks; but would, it is said, depasture four
times that number, and might be occupied up to Fort Bourke, 500
miles from the junction. The waters of the Darling, at times
fordable, begin to rise about July, and subside again in February.

[12]According to Mr. Jamieson, Mickie had a companion; and the native
was alone.

[13]In Victoria, as much as 35s. had been demanded for one day's
stabling and food for one horse.

[14]These birds were afterwards brought on board and conveyed to
Adelaide.

[15]These "store" sheep, as they are called, are sent overland to be
fattened on the banks of the river, whence the clip is easily
transported to Adelaide.

[16]In the Wakool we found three and a-half fathoms water.

[17]As in some degree confirmatory of this last extract, it may be
mentioned that on taking in wood, at the Great Bend, we were
informed that, of the woodcutters who had been working for us, one
had been a West India proprietor, and the other the nephew of a
noble Earl, whose ancestors have borne a prominent place in Irish
history.

[18]It is worthy of remark, that the sheep on the Murray appear to be
singularly exempt from disease--neither catarrh, scab, nor foot rot,
being now known amongst them.

[19]The nearest diggings to Swan Hill are the Koorong, about 100 miles
distant.

[20]On this voyage, up the Murray, has been remarked by more than one of
our party the singular resemblance to Gothic arches presented by the
overhanging trees. It is not impossible that the idea of their
construction has thus originated; at any rate, of the notion we may,
I think, say with the Italian, _si non è vero è ben trovato_.

[21]The Company, it appears, allowed the passengers 8s. a-day during
their detention.

[22]Near this station, on the borders of a lake, is found a quantity of
a kind of gypsum or talc, perfectly transparent, which possibly may
yet be turned to some useful purposes.

[23]Strange to say, the Wakool is stated in the dry season to be quite
salt; if so, the salt springs must predominate over the waters of
the Murray, of which it receives the "backwaters."

[24]The Royal Australian Bank have two other sheep stations in the
vicinity of the Wakool, as also two cattle stations on the Neimur
and Murray; the whole being under the superintendence of Mr. Walter
Murray.

[25]It is not fair to inflict upon the public the minutiæ of one's daily
ailments; but when one has not enjoyed a day's health for five
years--have suffered partial blindness for four years--and for
nearly two years have lain down nightly with the chance of falling
into a fit--as has been my case, I think this note may be pardoned.

[26]I crave the forgiveness of these gentlemen, if I have incorrectly
quoted their opinions or their words; but am reminded, as I write,
of the witty words of Voltaire, when told that Admiral Byng had been
shot by order of the British Government,--"_C'est pour encourager
les autres._"

[27]The Captain called it a spiral rock, and I understood there is only
four feet water over it.

[28]The excellent arrangement of which (small as it is), it is but just
to say, was chiefly due to the exertions of Mr. Younghusband's
valet, groom, and coachman; for, I believe, "James" combines these
three capacities in his own person.

[29]The trees on the Murray being of large size and lofty growth, it
cannot be doubted that timber cutting and rafting in all its
branches will erelong be introduced on the stream; on parts of which
saw mills might with advantage be erected: the timber, when cut down
and sawn, being formed into large rafts, and floated down, as on the
rivers of Europe and America.

[30]The result of this expedition to the Colony of South Australia may
truly be called the discovery of the Golden Fleece; for by the
successful achievement of the navigation of the Murray by Captain
Cadell's steamer, Sir Henry Young has obtained an immediate increase
to the exports of the Province of certainly 1,000,000lbs. of wool,
of the value of about £80,000. I limit the amount to about this sum,
because, for another twelve months, I doubt the steamer being able
to carry the estimated quantity of wool even from Swan Hill--and
amounting, with two years' clip, to £162,000--unless, indeed, the
boats navigated, as is expected, from England, for the Murray,
should arrive. But when the boats are equal to the freight, I
conceive the addition to the exports of South Australia will not
fall short of £350,000.

[31]For these statistics, with much other information, I am indebted to
Mr. Jamieson, of Mildura.

Transcriber's Notes

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