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 NORTHERN TERRITORY 
 
 AS IT IS 
 
 O WDttfil,
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES

 
 THE 
 
 IRTMN TERRITORY 
 
 AS IT IS. 
 
 A NARRATIVE OF THE 
 
 SOUTH AUSTRALIAIJ PARLIAMEmEI PASTY'S TEIP, 
 
 AND FULL DESCRIPTIONS OF 
 
 JHE NORTHERN TERRITORY; 
 
 ITS SETTLEMENTS AND INDUSTRIES. 
 
 BY WILLIAM J. SOWDEIH. 
 
 WITH AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING REPORTS ON THE GENERAL 
 RESOURCES OP THE TERRITORY HY PROFESSOR TATE, P.G.S. 
 
 W. K. THOMAS & CO., GKENFELL STREET. 
 
 1882.
 
 Da 
 
 TO THE 
 
 HON. J. LANGDON PARSONS, M.P., 
 
 MINISTER FOR THE NORTHERN TERRITORY, 
 
 AND 
 
 HEAD OP THE PARLIAMENTARY PARTY 
 
 WHO VISITED THE TERRITORY, 
 
 THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 RV KIND PERMISSION. 
 
 822287
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 The writer offers no apology to his readers, for to such of them 
 as were salf-sacrificing enough to follow his sketches, published 
 in the South Australian Register, detailing the movements of the 
 Parliamentary Party in the Northern Territory, is due the appear- 
 ance of this little book. They asked for it, knowing what they 
 were committing themselves to ; and they have it. Those who 
 have read the descriptions of the Northern Territory as they 
 appeared in the Register, reading these also will find some additions 
 and a good deal of re-arrangement. If they discover, more- 
 over, a little revision let them not marvel. An occasional verbal 
 inaccuracy crept into the original pubHcation ; and that there 
 were so few and that these few were so trifling — these are legiti- 
 mate grounds for wonder. Consider, pray, that a good deal of the 
 " copy" was written on shipboard when gale-tossings caused cabin 
 furniture to turn somersaults; or — worse than that — in odd corners 
 of some bush publichouse, 'midst sweltering heat and in an atmos- 
 phere thick with insect life ; the writer enlightened by the feeblest 
 of feeble candles, and entertained by the strongest of strong 
 festive demonstrations from elated patrons of the host ; that it 
 was written, too, on paper which was suffering from the effects of 
 frequent wet-season soakings, and which ever and anon reduced a 
 folio crammed full of facts and figures to a hopeless smear. Con- 
 sider what legibility the copy would be likely to retain by the
 
 2 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 time it recached Adelaide, after it had run these gauntlets, and 
 then say, prompted by your conscience, that the printer has not 
 excelled himself and excited your astonishment. For one very 
 valuable addition the courtesy of the Hon. J. Langdon Parsons, 
 Minister for the Northern Territory, must be acknowledged. That 
 addition is the official report presented to the Parliament by 
 Professor Tate, F.G.S., which Mr. Parsons permitted me to 
 include in the Appendix. To that honourable gentleman I am 
 indebted for his permission to allow me to dedicate this little book 
 to him. To make that dedication was my duty as it was my 
 pleasure, for Mr. Parsons as official head of the Parliamentary 
 party was as energetic as he was courteous and affable as a private 
 gentleman. I acknowledge too, my obligation to the Editor and 
 Proprietors of the Register, who generously gave me the copyright 
 of these sketches, which were written whilst their writer was 
 representing the Register in the Northern Territory as its Special 
 Reporter there. Of the history of the Northern Territory itself 
 nothing need be said here. Of the Pai'liamentary visit thither 
 there follows detailed information. Let it be sufficient to preface 
 it by saying that the idea of the trip was first made public by the 
 Minister when he brought down the Northern Territory Estimates 
 in 1881, and when he was able to announce — what not one of his 
 predecessors had had the good fortune to announce — that the 
 accounts of that Territory showed a balance on the right side. 
 It was on the last day save one of January, 1882, that the 
 Minister, with Messrs. H. E. Bright, L. L. Furncr, and J. H. 
 Bagster, left Port Adelaide, after their fellow-workers in Legis- 
 lative harness had bidden them a hearty good bye. It was on the
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 6 
 
 thirteenth day of April that they were welcomed back again to 
 the colony. AVhat they did in the meantime the following pages 
 reveal. What I saw of the country after the Party left they also 
 show. If the reader who shall plod faithfully through them be not 
 too overpowered by the relief which comes with a sense that a 
 disagreeable task has been overcome, he will be convinced that 
 that extreme nox'thern country of ours, which we have called by 
 courtesy the Northern Territory, but too often, with bitterness, 
 our White Elephant, is a rich possession which other colonies well 
 might envy us. And if he be not convinced of this, the fault 
 is mine, and not the country's. 
 
 W. J. S.
 
 CHAPTER L— EN ROUTE. 
 
 Adelaide to Melbourne. — Meleofrne to Sydney. — Deputations and 
 Entertainers. — A Trip Round Sydney Harbour. — A Practical 
 Opinion Thereanent.— The Beginning of the Real Voyage. — 
 The Unconquerable Mat. de Mer. — A Storm. — What Obient- 
 ally-Manned Ships are Like. — The First Anchorage. 
 
 'HE purpose in this partial republication is not so much to 
 slavishly follow in the lines of the original reports of the 
 movements of the Parliamentary Party as to describe the 
 more interesting and least known of the points along the 
 route. The reader, confronted or affronted with this 
 warning, will therefore not expect more than a passing reference to 
 the sister metropolitan cities, Melbourne and Sydney, which were 
 necessarily visited. At the first the Party arrived on February 1, 
 leaving it after having been formally deputationized and informally 
 interviewed by representative men, intent equally upon doing their 
 visitors honour, and with true Victorian business promptness 
 getting information from them respecting the Northern Territory, 
 which, truth to tell, they more highly accounted than South 
 Australians did at that time. Sydney was reached on February 4, 
 after the 571 miles' dreary ride along the two railway lines which, 
 except for a gap of three miles, give unbroken and rapid communi- 
 cation between the two capitals. We wei'e introduced to Sydney 
 proper when that City was in a sullen humour, and when we felt 
 travel-weary. We saw it from the railway station at early morn, 
 amidst a light, vapoury rain, which made the streets cloggy, and a 
 heat which, with the humidity, gave the sensation of a vapour-bath. 
 The cabmen were quarrelling over the luggage ; bustling people 
 were pounding away at our corns ; we had not had breakfast ; news- 
 boys were thrusting papers in our faces ; the street we could see 
 some distance into gave us a perspective of steaming dreariness ; 
 the hansom, going to the hotel, threaded through so many 
 windings of the road that we were more than half-inclined to be- 
 lieve that the driver had gone mad, and was trying to describe 
 with his cab wheels some intricate crochet pattern. And we felt 
 savage. But a change came. Personally T had discovered au 
 honest cabman — a man who asked me only double what the fare- 
 list in my hand authorized him to ask. I was soothed. I felt 
 that I had not come to Sydney in vain. A subsequent study of
 
 b EN ROUTE. 
 
 the excelleucies of an early breakfast-table strengthened the con- 
 viction. A quiet inspection of the city led to a revision of the first 
 hastily-formed estimate of it, and brought to light many beauties 
 to compensate for the numerous uglinesses — the uglinesses princi- 
 pally of marvellously crooked streets, some with gradients too fear- 
 ful to be contemplated by the nervous. 
 
 " We're slow — r-a-a-thcr, I grant," drawled a prominent New 
 South Welshman with whom 1 entered into conversation — " Yes, 
 we're slower than even you Adelaide folks ; but, leaving alone our 
 harbour, we've got peculiarities — advantages, too — about our 
 streets that you don't own." 
 
 " And they are % " 
 
 '■' Well ; so confoandedl;.' up-and-down that each end has a 
 different climate. F-a-c-t ! " 
 
 But the harbour was unanimously voted by the Party — as indeed, 
 it must be of right — the chief glory of Sydney. Our travellers, 
 moreover, saw it under especially auspicious circumstances, from a 
 special launch, specially fitted, on a specially fine day, with a 
 special company, headed by a no less distinguished personage than 
 the veteran Sir John Robertson, who " runs " New South Wales in 
 the absence of Sir Henry Parkes. 
 
 I shall not attempt to detail the many beautiful sights Sir John's 
 South Australian companions saw. As practical ]\Ir. Bright said when 
 asked by his entertainer for an opinion : — " Words and pictures 
 can't give a correct idea ; people must see it." An almost per- 
 fectly land-locked bay, Port Jackson ; its entrance guarded by 
 cannon sufficient to make irondust and splinters of the biggest 
 war-vessel which ever floated or aye will float. Within, for many 
 miles, vista upon vista of beautiful PJiiue-like scenery. Trees 
 clothing numerous glacial hills. Atop of many of these and 
 likewise on their sides rise jutting crags, flint-like and sombre, 
 throwing out in strong relief the pretty wee white cots, the 
 ponderous towering mansions and the gleaming land-marks (guides 
 to the incoming mariner) which alternate with tliem. If all the 
 indentations of the bay from head to head were measured, the 
 distance would be proved to be considerably more than a thousand 
 miles, and ia tlie area that represents you get some of the grandest 
 natural graving docks to be found in the world ; in that harbour 
 you could float in perfect safety vessels of all sizes, and in number 
 practically unlimited. A grand place altogether this Port Jackson 
 — beautiful as Naples — useful as any port in the world. Where 
 Watson's Bay laps the shore at the foot of Baron iiaclay's Bio- 
 logical Laboratory the Party landed and rambled awhile. Calling 
 at the Baron's quarters, they discovered that the enthusiastic 
 scientist had gone away, leaving his card beneath his knocker.
 
 EX ROUTE. 7 
 
 Each of the visitoi's left his also, and took a lively satisfaction in 
 imngining the model of astonishment the Baron's face would be 
 when he next I'fted that knocker, and let the distinguished card- 
 shower fall iipon him. 
 
 Sydncj" was left early on the morning of Wednesday, the 8th 
 February, and from that time till the night of the 11th, the 
 voyage was of such a nature that it will doubtless long be 
 remembered — by the members of the Parliamentary j)arty, at any 
 rate, for they were particular sufferers. At one time, and that a 
 long one, it seemed as though history would repeat itself — that 
 the ]\Ienmuir disaster would be a companion for the Gothenbiirg 
 catastrophe, when so many honoured public men and prominent 
 officials of South Australia went down beneath the surging waters ; 
 for the oldest navigator along the coast avowed that he never 
 experienced there before such a continuance of baffling winds and 
 waves as we had. When the Menmuir had got outside the Sydney 
 Heads at about 10 o'clock on Wednesday morning, she was met 
 by a raging host of waves each with the white-cap mischief-badge, 
 and as they were safely buffetted, others — perfect swells — spray- 
 wreathed by a strong east wind, had to be contended with. They 
 worked themselves up during the next few hours into mad fury ; 
 they leapt on deck and knocked about the movables ; they rushed 
 impetuously from side to side : they dashed themselves to pieces 
 against the vessel's gunwales ; and then, shattered, plunged into 
 the sea again to make room for more vigorous successors. All 
 day the wind had howled around the ship in strong intermittent 
 squalls, and rain had poured down in a pheet with fully tropical 
 violence. The hencoops had to be kept on the poop to save their 
 occupants from drowning, and several of the sheep died from the 
 effects of the weather. Towards midnight on Friday the storm 
 began to work up to its climax, and two or three hours afterwards 
 was at its height. The passengers, to most of whom the pleasures 
 of the table had been for days a memory only, had to hold on 
 by the sides of their bunks, and after the Parliamentary party 
 had done this awhile a new subject of attention came in the shape 
 of an inundation of sea-water from a particulai'ly strong wave ; 
 and then — a truce to dignity ! The legislators of all shades of 
 opinion manifested an instant desire to cross over to the other 
 side of the House, and did so ; and while they listened to the 
 howling of the storm, and maybe cogitated on the form in which 
 their obituaries would appear, the propeller of the ship suddenly 
 ceased to move, and on the instant there began a he?vy bumping 
 sound. This aroused the other passengers, and the cabin, with 
 almost perpendicular floor and swaying fixtures, presented a spec- 
 tacle which, repi'oduced, would make a reputation for a smart
 
 8 ■ EN ROUTE. 
 
 caricaturist, but the compouent parts of which had at the time 
 certainly no thought of comic journahsm. 
 
 " The vessel has struck !" 
 
 This was the popular verdict. All the time the bumping had 
 continued, and the screw still ceased from work, and at last a few 
 eager delegates went on deck to ascertain the wherefore, and found 
 that their trepidation, though excusable, was really unwarrantable, 
 for the bumping was caused by a large boat (lashed amidships) 
 which had parted from one end of its fastenings ; and the strain on 
 the other had bent the thick iron davit like a rush, and warped 
 and split the big wood beam. The stern had then got into the 
 water, and with every lurch of the vessel it thumped against her 
 side with almost force enough to start her plates. The order to 
 cut adrift was of course given, and its execution was well-nigh 
 marked by a tragedy, the chief olhcer being dragged overboard by 
 the boat; but instantly a big wave came and washed him back 
 close to the gunwale, and j^ist as it was retreating a seaman on the 
 deck grasped him by the heel and pulled him in. The stormy 
 weather continued thus till Saturday at noon, when a haze even 
 thicker than the mist we had had before came u]3. The wind veei-ed 
 round to the south-west and blew in violent gusts, bringing with 
 it torrents of rain. The sea ran high, the sun had not been visible 
 for several days, and the view all round was bounded by the haze 
 beyond a hundred yards. The coast was dangerous, and no land- 
 marks had been seen since Moreton Island had receded on the horizon. 
 The vessel was kept on changing courses, at dead slow speed, and 
 the position was a critical one. The captain's calculations were 
 so perfect, however — his allowances for the strong tide-currents so 
 exact — -tliat at 8 o'clock at night, precisely as he had predicted, 
 the light on Bunker's Head was seen, and he and all the company 
 were naturally much relieved, as the vessel steamed past the light 
 where two poor fellows drag out their lives in perfect solitude, 
 through the Capricorn and into the Barrier Passage which leads to 
 calm water sheltered from storms by the famous Reef. 
 
 Then the members of the Parliamentary Party began to gather 
 strength again. From the first two hours at sea till the beginning 
 of the fifth day some of them in common with less distinguished 
 travellers were very, very limp, and full of regret that they had 
 been induced to leave their cosy liomes to sail the stormy sea at 
 a season when it is in those latitudes at its very worst. But 
 henceforth till we reached the northernmost point of tiie continent, 
 we got along pleasantly enough, for we were inside the Passage, 
 with a balmy, tropical breeze, a lightly cloud-veiled sun, a smooth 
 sea, good provisions, and prodigious appetites. 
 
 On the ^Menmuir we had an opportunity of seeing how the Celes-
 
 EN ROUTE. 9 
 
 tials work. The crew were all Orientals — the qiiartei'-m asters 
 Malays, and the men Chinamen. The latter also act as cooks and 
 waiters. The sailors work as hard as any British tar, and do their 
 duty quite as cheerfully. The cooks are fully equal, to say the 
 least of it, to an average English kitchen knight ; and the waiters, 
 compared with Europeans in their line, are deficient only in 
 superciliousness. Take this ship altogether, with its coloured 
 crew, including its black firemen, and, try to find another of its 
 size more efficiently manned without respect to numbers, and I 
 promise you will have to own to failure. 
 
 As we advanced still further northward the record was — " We 
 are getting into tropical regions now, and silk coats and cool covers 
 are in request. The sun strikes down in thorough business fashion, 
 and the air with each degree becomes less balmy and more furnace-like. 
 We are passing almost constantly close between the difterent 
 islands of the southern part of the Barrier Reef. Some of them 
 are no larger than a haystack, others boast trees, and rocks, and 
 vegetation, but very few so far have much of natural beauty or 
 any population whatever (though they are occasionally visited by 
 wandeiing tribes of blacks). These are promised us ahead. As I 
 write we are within pistol shot of the sunken rock on which the 
 Singapore gi'ounded on Ell Island four years ago. It was ixnknown 
 
 till she discovered it, and her first discovery was her last 
 
 It is interesting and cheering to contemplate the solicitude which 
 the fact that the Pai'liamentary party were doomed to go through 
 the tropics caused some Adelaide and provincial chemists to manifest. 
 A representative man sent to various members samples of all sorts 
 of medicaments for curing all manner of ailments ; and as I see a 
 portly, well-esteemed honourable member making himself good- 
 naturedly an envelope for each compound day after day, I am 
 almost tempted to give the ingenious makers of these medicines a 
 free advertisement. But our anchor has just introduced itself to 
 the muddy bottom off Townsville, and mail carriers are inexorable, 
 you know ! "
 
 10 EN ROUTE. 
 
 CHAPTER IL— EN ROUTE. 
 
 TowNSViLLE. — The Beauties of the Barrier Islands. — Monuments to 
 Captain Cook. — The Value of the Barrier Reef. — Mount 
 Cook.— CooKTOWN. — A Discriminating Celestial. — One Advan- 
 tage of Obesity. — The Chinese Trade with New Guinea. — 
 Levees by an Alligator. — The Scenery of the Passage. — An 
 Heroic Lady. — Two Dusky Interviewers. — Albany Passage, 
 Somerset, and the Extreme North. — The Prince of Wales 
 Group. — Thursday Island. — The Aborigines. — Pearl 
 Fisheries. — How, where, and by whom Conducted. — The 
 Absorbent Qualities of the Conductors. — Beche de Mer and 
 its Preparation. — A "S^old" Gloee-Trotter.— The Prostitu- 
 tion OF THE Black Women. — A Lonely Post Office. — Booby, 
 Melville, and Bathurst Islands. — The Arrival at Port 
 Darwin. — A Deserved Compliment. — "Dry Lightsh !" 
 
 ^HE arrangements for boarding upgoing steamers at Towns- 
 ville were not absolutely perfect. The people were too 
 meditative, perchance. Tlie authorities, moreover, mani- 
 fested a faith pleasing to contemplate when they omitted to 
 send oft' a medical officer to enquire whether passengers 
 leaving smallpox-infected Sydney were well or not. This lack of 
 inquisitiveness saved a good deal of trouble, and in this instance,^ 
 as we landed half a dozen of our company at Townsville, it indis- 
 putably demonstrated the possession of a confiding nature by 
 Townsvilleans. Of course we did not land ; and so we lost the 
 pleasure of a close inspection of the lions of the place, just as we 
 had missed overnight a sight of the beauties of the most romantic 
 scenery along the route — the scenery on either side of Whitsunday 
 Passage, with its lonely but " stately " lighthouse, pioneering other 
 habitations. Seen two miles off", however, the part of the township 
 Avhich the hills hide not looks pleasant enough, though it straggles 
 over the ground like a distorted centipede. It stretches itself 
 along the sea, which shallows near it ; and towering high above it 
 on either hand are overhanging crags of respectable altitude. 
 Away in the background is a wooded range, cloud-capped on this 
 occasion, and decked with a changeful border of light haze, now 
 white, now bluish-grey, and, when the sun shone out, looking more 
 like a congregation of pale-faced rainbows than anything else 
 deponent wots of There seems to be an anchorage at some little 
 distance from Townsville ; and within easy sail are pretty little 
 islands, perennially intensely bright-verdure-clad, and some with 
 neat white-sand beach-fronts, but most with rocks and undergrowth 
 constantly lapped by the water, which generally speaking is 
 shallow, and, when wc saw it, at dift'erent points was streaked with 
 earth colour, marking the presence of freshets from the swollen 
 rivers which have their outflow thereabout. We remained two
 
 EN ROUTE, 11 
 
 hours off Townsville, and then woighecl anchor, steaming till 7 at 
 night through narrow winding passages, with smooth sea and no 
 sun. Old Sol's face had almost all along been hidden by a thick 
 veil of cloud and mist, and generally the beauties of the islands 
 peered out at us through a vapour bath, which began to make iis 
 fear our sight was becoming defective. Occasionally, however, 
 the sun's I'ays glint on the rocks and trees ; and, though the hills 
 are scai'cely high enough to warrant the adornment, their tops are 
 covered with a cloud-hood, frayed out into delicate irregular edges, 
 and looking surpassingly beautiful. At 7 o'clock we anchored. 
 It is not safe to steam all night, unless the moon shine 
 brightly out ; and during the trip there might as well have ■ 
 been no moon at all, for heavy tropical downpours paled its 
 light. With the first glow of dawn next day, we were under 
 way again, and passed all day through the same kind of 
 scenery as wo had seen before. There is a wearying sameness 
 in the landscape during this part of the trip. Before you reach 
 Cooktown, however, you notice points which have an interesting 
 history. After the beautiful Fitzroy Island — till recently the 
 Cooktown Quarantine Station, and before the head-quarters of some 
 beche-de-mer collectors — there is Cape Tribulation, for instance, 
 aptly named by its great discoverer as the point at which a notable 
 gale arose ; and just beyond yovi see the reef on which Captain 
 Cook's good ship Endeavour came near her end in the same gale, 
 only escaping by the adoption of the advice of one of the middies 
 that a tarred sail should be passed around her hull to stop the 
 leak which a bump on the reef ;had caused. 
 
 The place where the Endeavour refitted — Cooktown — was our 
 next stopping place. We anchored early on the 15th, and, while 
 the health authorities were deliberating for some time when it 
 would suit their convenience to come off" to us, we had an oppor- 
 tunity of seeing by the effect on the sea of a break in the Barrier 
 Reef, of how great value that reef is to the mercantile interests of 
 the colonics. Inside it ships can always ride safely, even when the 
 sea outside is in its stormiest temper. Till the last few years it was 
 considered unnavigable. The water at Cooktown is generally in a 
 rage. It was in a mild one while we were there, but beautiful 
 Mount Cook, standing half its body higher than the average of the 
 hills along the coast, had a white bandage round its head, and 
 frowned down grimly on us. You can't see much of Cooktown from 
 the offing — only (besides some iron stores) a handsome snow-white 
 villa, belonging to the steamer's agent, and the end of a respectable 
 jetty near the Endeavour River, which flows pretty deeply twelve 
 miles or so beyond the town and brings down in barges the station 
 produce of the country through which it passes. These were
 
 12 EN ROUTE. 
 
 interesting objects of inspection for a while, but they were filhng 
 after the first liour. So most of the passengers fell to fishing, 
 and caught between them a piece of floating gunnybag and mildly 
 chaffed each other on the catch, till by-and-by the Customs people 
 and the doctor came, and guaranteed their healthfulness. After- 
 wards the saloon passengers, headed by the Parliamentary party, 
 went ashore in a body to see a famous Queensland settlement. 
 That settlement — Cooktowu, of course — is not so bad as it is possible 
 for a town to be, but it works hard for the distinction, and will 
 probably gain it by-and-by. With one long street it has made a start 
 with three more on each side at right angles ; but they are not bril- 
 liant successes. The people cultivate a healthy grass crop in the main 
 thoroughfare,andflourishing luxuriantly right down to the footpath's 
 edge ai'e beautiful white and pink Vinca and gorgeous red Hibiscus, 
 growing in profusion they never can attain in lower latitudes. 
 There is indeed on every hand a wealth of greenery, amongst it 
 plantain and palm and other tropical growths. The buildings are 
 almost as unsightly as the poorer erections of Sydney; they are 
 all of wood, and the Town Hall is fixed on high piles which the 
 tide plays with when at the full. All that the Cookites have to 
 do Avhen a ratepayer becomes obstreperous at the municipal 
 election meetings is to let the troublesome party down into the river 
 through a trap door in the floor. There was no Cooktown before 
 1873, when the discovery of the Palmer diggings caused it to 
 spring up like a mushroom. Three years ago their partial failure 
 closed the greater number of the thirty or forty hotels the town 
 held, and shut up some of the stores. Those left, however, find a 
 a good deal to do; for the escorts bring down gold still, and the 
 beche-de-mer fishers have since last March sent away thence 
 between 300 and 400 tons of fish. This at from £85 to £110 a 
 ton means a good deal of money. The visitors had a melting time, 
 for a hot place is Cooktown, and rather given to fiery trials if one 
 may judge from the number of ash-covered blanks in the street- 
 line. There are two newspapers published there. The editors vary 
 the monotony of things in their little sphere by tilting at each 
 other with somewhat less than Eatanswillian relish, let us hope ! 
 There are Chinamen and Chinese women in Cooktown — a good 
 many of them storekeepers, sleek, good-humoured-looking fellows. 
 We met one old gentleman, who strutted along under a thorough 
 cloud of white canvas, and an umbrella like a buggy-hood. He 
 austerely omitted to recognise the salutation of a thin member of 
 our procession. To a very stout one he bowed profouudly and 
 threw at him a really hearty " Good morning." In China the fat 
 men are Mandarins. This Celestial thought the rule held good 
 with us, no doubt. Just before we came in there arrived from
 
 EN ROUTE. 13 
 
 New Guinea a gay-looking junk, built by Chinamen in Cooktown ; 
 and it brought a host of "geological, ornithological, and mineral- 
 ogical wonders," as the paper phrased it. Very good ones some of 
 them, and valuable, too, the Chinese think. Thirteen shillings was 
 what they asked us for the skin of a bird of paradise, which bore 
 unmistakable marks of having been in its time a chronic dyspeptic — 
 its feathers drooped so. It is plucky of these Chinamen to go to 
 New Guinea and get curios— more plucky than it was in D'Albertis 
 to explore the island, because that gentleman knew the Papuans 
 had in war council assembled reluctantly decided that he would be 
 rather too tough eating to make it worth their while to kill him 
 except for amusement, and that even that was risky fun. The Chinese 
 have no such consolation. Before they began a connoisseur near Port 
 Moresby assured them, and also a friend of mine who has a pearl 
 station thereabout, that roasting-cuts of plump Celestial in prime con- 
 dition, not opium-tinged too gi-eatly, are worth some pence per pound 
 more than the best joints of European. The latter tastes too much 
 of tobacco, they say. Having shipped beche-de-mer and pi'ovisions, 
 it was nearly noon when we saw the last of the mangroves, as the 
 august visitors passed the Mayor of the municipality incog, at the 
 head of one of the streets— a street, by-the-by, where a noted 
 alligator named Big Ben holds annual levee. On board again, we 
 continued our twelve-knot spin northwards with a sea smooth 
 almost as a mill-pond, running along a channel bounded on either 
 hand by bright green islets and low reefs, with the sun glaring 
 down fiercely from the blue sky unchequered by a single cloud ; 
 with the Parliamentary party quite recovered from their mal-de- 
 mer ; and " all going merry as a marriage bell," if I may be 
 allowed to invent a figure. Indeed, the voyage was now 
 beginning to partake more of the nature of a yachting excursion 
 than a sea trip. We never lost sight of shore — ot land exceedingly 
 beautiful, standing out against the waters. The mainland was 
 too distant for observation in this the most highly favoured bit of 
 country passed in the whole journey ; but we constantly saw 
 on our beam, big islands, with palms and other vegetation, and 
 pretty little islets. This scenery, even enthusiastic Scots say, has 
 no superior in their own bonny Highlands. If it were ten 
 thousand miles away we would go probably into rhapsodies 
 about it ; as it is at our doors we take it quietly and, 
 following the fashion, make Continental tours for recreation. 
 Seriously, however, this sceneiy — perhaps least known of all the 
 Aiistralian coastline — is the most beautiful, and there is no more 
 pleasant excursion for a fagged-out colonial than a voyage to China 
 along our eastern coast — a voyage which, including thi-ee weeks in 
 the Celestial land, occupies only three months and costs compara-
 
 14 EN ROUTE, 
 
 tivcly but a trifle. Through the whole six thousand miles the ship 
 is never more than two days ovit of sight of laud. At dusk we 
 passed Lizard Island, where poor Mrs. Watson and her attendant 
 Chinese servants were attacked recently by the blacks, who came 
 in canoes from the mainland and ravaged her husband's sealing 
 station ; and a few minutes afterwards we left behind the barx*en 
 little islet whither the heroic lady floated in an open tank with her 
 little baby at her breast, and where she (after displaying a heroism 
 beyond all commendation) and her wee char'ge died for want of 
 water. At night we went within a hundi'ed yards of the lightship near 
 Cape Melville, which was twice attacked by the natives in their 
 canoes ; and. in a part of the passage dangerous for navigation in 
 even a night so gloriously starlit and so calm we dropped anchor 
 for a couple of hours, proceeding again with the first blush of 
 dawn. During the day we passed several of the jaunty little 
 lightships, on each of which, away from the mainland, alone in 
 the midst of the waste of waters, three solitary men drag out the 
 weary months. About noon there appeared by the steamer's bows 
 a canoe, paddled swiftly along by two natives, from one of the 
 adjacent islands. The fellows (who wore only a hideous smile, and 
 who were of a coppery-black, and as fierce-looking as it should be 
 jDOSsible for mortal to be), clamoured loudly for " bacca " and 
 bread. The ofiicers threw them some trifles, which they picked up 
 nimbly enough and put into their canoe, the while yelling for 
 further favours. The natives, like Oliver Twist, ever yearn for 
 *' more." Give thern two hundred pounds of flour, and they will 
 importune you for the bag ; or pipe and tobacco, and they will plague 
 you for a lucifer. It was wonderful how nimbly these two fellows 
 — strong, athletic, and more intelligent apparently than those of 
 the southern latitudes — managed their canoe, and how swiftly they 
 sent it through the water in our wake. The canoe is the frailest 
 of frail cockle-shells, but it is almost impossible to overturn 
 it, on account of its being balanced by a wide but light out- 
 rigger. Most of these little craft, I believe, are made in 
 New Guinea and sent down to the natives on the Queensland coast. 
 At 9 at night we anchored till daybreak near the Hannibal 
 Islands, not far from where the steamer Somerset rubbed her back 
 on the reef some time ago. It is about 140 miles from Thursday 
 Island. Next morning we proceeded on our northward course 
 past the 10th degree of latitude, amidst the very fervent heat 
 which alternately fires and boils and steams everything there ; 
 iDast York Island, to the north of the extreme northerly point of 
 Australia ; and so to anchor by the hulk opposite Thursday Island, 
 about 30 miles from Cape York and three days' sail from Palmer- 
 ston. On the way various places were pointed out as note-
 
 EN ROUTE. 15 
 
 "worthy on account of their being the scenes where many years 
 since shipwrecks occurred, and shipwrecked folk were killed and 
 eaten by the natives. Twenty years ago these savages were so 
 fierce, and the passage of the Straits was so beset with dangers, 
 that shipmasters loading at Sydney for the route were wont 
 to wait for each other and to sail in company. One of the most 
 interesting parts of the natural scenery near the northernmost end 
 of Australia is the vast congregation of large ant-hills, some 
 five or six feet high and more, and looking for all the world like 
 gravestones of redgum and Gothic architecture. Then you see 
 Albany Island, opposite where so many orgies and native fights 
 occurred in the old times. The island is divided from the conti- 
 nent by a very narrow channel, where the current runs at the rate 
 of six knots an hour. You see, too, the remains of the old 
 settlement at Somerset, the ruins mostly hidden beneath the 
 luxuriant foliage. You are shown explorer Kennedy's monument, 
 and the first of the northern pearl stations ; and then you pass 
 the jagged bodkin point. Cape York, which pushes itself of all 
 continental Australian territory farthest northward, and looks as 
 though it were trying to hook the York Islet, which is separated 
 from it by only a little deep passage, with a rock in the very 
 centre, washed by a stream which flows through at a terrific 
 rate. And so on to Thursday Island, where the party were wel- 
 comed by Mr. Chester, virtually the monarch of the place. 
 
 The island is one of the Prince of Wales Group, and there are 
 six others ; but it is the centre. Three or four years ago 
 what was known as the settlement (which was kept up by the 
 Bi'itish, the Queensland, and the New South Wales Govern- 
 ments as a harbour of refuge for shipwrecked folk when Torres 
 Straits had more storm-victims than it now boasts) was 
 removed to Thursday Island from Somerset, Cape York. 
 Of course the first purpose of the settlement has almost ceased 
 to operate, and the troops who in the early days formed 
 the most important part of it have been withdrawn. The officials 
 on the island now have little to do with native or shipwreck 
 troubles. There is first Mr. Chester, the resident Police Magistrate, 
 finding enough to do to exercise, in addition to discharging his 
 magisterial functions, oversight over the duties of collector of 
 customs, shipping master, and postmaster. There are under his 
 command a looat and crew, the police sergeant, the pilot, the 
 signal master ; the Government schooner Pearl, carrying two 
 Armstrong guns and cruising about with no end of pomp for the 
 protection of fishers in the Straits ; and lastly a Government cutter, 
 ■which is used as a pilot boat. The officials' residences and offices 
 occupy the eastern end of the island, and besides private houses
 
 16 EN ROUTE. 
 
 on other parts of it there are two stores and two hotels. (One of the 
 keepers recently took over the bar in one day not less than £200 
 for retailing liquors to the pearl fishers. You have only to re- 
 member tlie extent of the population to have a due respect for 
 their absorbent qualities.) The island has not yet risen to the 
 dignity of churches or schools, or a gaol. The European popula- 
 tion all told is about forty. The island is not a desirable place of 
 residence. Its mosquitoes and its sandflies challenge competition 
 for provocation to profanity. Its vegetation is not too prolific, and 
 just of the ordinary island kind, yet the jAace is picturesque. A 
 few bananas are cultivated in the gardens of the various pearl 
 stations, and sweet potatoes are being grown, but the industry is 
 only in its infancy yet. The aborigines are very friendly, though 
 they were none too amiable when first interviewed. They differ 
 from their sable and savage brethren of the mainland in that their 
 hair is woolly, if I may make a statement apparently so anomalous. 
 In personal beauty they resemble the Cape York tribes and — well, 
 and a disfigured Guy Fawkes. Thursday Island has the shipping 
 port for all the Straits. It was free till recently, and cost the 
 Queensland Government a trifle to maintain, but now they collect 
 taxes on almost everything and book a yearly revenue. There 
 /""were a gi'eat many pearling stations in the Straits at one time (the 
 industry has been established about eight years), but two-thirds of 
 them amalgamated, and the number is now reduced to seven. All 
 save one belong to Sydney owners. The first cost of a station is 
 rather heavy. The working expenses on one which has seven boats 
 average £200 a month. Connected with it on shore there are 
 several buildings. The one I saw at Friday Island (Captain 
 O'Hagen's), which may be taken as a sample of the average, con- 
 sists of the manager's residence^the assistant manager's quarters, 
 and those of the shore gang, a shell-house, a store-room, a boatshed, 
 and a place in which the shell-cleaniug operations are conducted. 
 For all these, and the use of their portion of the island, the cap- 
 tain and his partner pay a license fee of about £10 
 yearly to the Queensland Government. This, with a charge 
 of £3 a year for each large boat, has only been imposed 
 since the passage of the Fisheries Act of last year. At 
 first the fishery was conducted by swimming divers, but now 
 scientific appliances are universally employed. Then Torres 
 Straits natives wei'e engaged to dive, and Europeans had charge 
 of the boats, but the former were found to be hopelessly lazy, and 
 the latter (who also when the diving apparatus was first introduced 
 used it) act mostly as managers. ^low the work is done by 
 Malays, Polynesians, Manila men, a few negroes, and fewer 
 aborigines. The fishing plant includes for each party a sailing
 
 EN ROUTE. 17 
 
 boat of about eight or ten tons register and very sti'ongly made, 
 and with each of these a dingey; in every boat diving apparatus, 
 with long air tubes and engines and other fixings. The crews 
 have six men each, and the diver is in command. Each boat is 
 provisioned for three weeks, and the diver may fish wheresoever 
 he will in the whole of the Straits. The duration of the absence 
 is, however, hardly ever more than a fortnight. Sometimes the 
 boat returns laden with shell, and at others (very rarely, though) 
 with none. On its return it is emptied, and the shell consigned 
 to the shore gang for cleaning. This cleaning is a very easy 
 operation, and when it is concluded the shell is packed in cases, 
 and sent either direct to Sydney, where it is worth about £13o a ton, 
 or to England, where it brings from £1G0 to £200. The average 
 weight of each shell is 3| lbs. without its contents, which are not 
 used for food except sometimes by the boatmen. The men who 
 brave the seas to get it lead an eventful life, the divers especially. 
 The latter see some strange sights down below the ocean — plant 
 life and creeping things and sharks innumerable; but the sea- 
 lawyer fortunately invariably takes fright at the diver's dress, and 
 rapidly puts as much space as possible between it and him. A 
 few weeks ago one of the divers saw an immense octopus, and 
 immediately came up to report an interview with the Father of 
 Lies in piscatorial shape — his idea (poor ignorant soul) of our 
 civilized Beelzebub! The divers generally remain four hours 
 below without returning to the surface, if they are on a good bed. 
 Each takes down with him a small bag. which, when he fills it 
 with shells, is hauled to the surface by the people in the boat, who 
 then lower others as they may be needed. The shells are generally 
 found in big patches — some are many miles long and containing 
 scores of tons, but there are numbers of smaller ones. It is a 
 singular fact that only a few inferior pearls come to the masters' 
 hands, while they are constantly being bought from the men in 
 Sydney at high prices. Ckie sold whilst I was there is worth about 
 £1,000. The explanation is that the boatmen treat them as 
 perquisites, and sell them when they go down south at the ex- 
 piration of their term of engagement. Notwithstanding the seem- 
 ing danger of their work, only very few of the boatmen are lost. 
 One of the pearl-station owners says that he has missed only 
 one diver during the last seven years, and not more than four 
 or five boatmen. Two of the latter were killed by blacks, 
 near Somerset, on the mainland, and the rest were drowned. 
 The divers get from £200 a year for the best men, and 
 the boatmen about £3 a month with rations. All are paid in 
 commission on the value of their catch and partly in wages. In 
 stormy weather when they cannot fish (aboutfourdaysof every week)
 
 18 EN* ROUTE, 
 
 the crews belonging to the various stations shelter under some 
 headland, and while the storm rages, or on ordinary nighty when 
 they can manage it, and whole days sometimes, play cards for 
 hours, gambling like gentlemen ; tune up the flutina, of which 
 they are passionately fond ; and sing and dance and shout and 
 generally enjoy themselves. 
 
 There are 102 pearling-boats in the Straits, and thirty-one 
 employed by " b^che-de-merers." These represent £400 a year in 
 licence fees to the Government of Queensland. There are 800 
 coloured people and fifty whites engaged in both fisheries, and last 
 year there were 3!J2 tons of pead, and abtmt 90 
 tons of beche-de-mer exported from the island as the 
 produce of the fisheries in the Straits. Pearl shell at .£130 and 
 beche-de-mer at X90 (average) — ^Figure up the total, please ! This 
 year up to the end of March, the fishers took from an extraordinary 
 bed, 29 miles long, 290 tons of shell which, however, was worth 
 only £100 a ton. 
 
 But now a word about beche-de-mer, the industry second in 
 importance in the Straits, and flom-ishing most along the eastern 
 coast. The profits are not so large as those the pearlers book, 
 because the trouble is greater, and there are possibilities of the 
 catch being spoilt by bad management. The collecting of the 
 fish is a simple operation. The black-piidding-like sea-slug clings 
 to the reefs, and the fishers float their boats close in , at half-tide, 
 and anchor so that when the water goes out they are fast aground. 
 They then collect the beche-de-mer, and fill the boat with it. 
 When the tide floats their craft they sail away to the station, and 
 hand over their catch to the cleaners. These first, after necessary 
 cleaning, parboil the fish, and then put it in a smoke-house to dry. 
 This drying is an operation necessitating great care and watch- 
 fulness. Three diff"erent temperatures have to be brought into 
 play, and the least neglect sometimes spoils the whole of the fish 
 being treated. The article in a marketable condition looks like 
 sole leather or thick bark. It nearly all goes to China, where it is 
 esteemed as the main ingredient in a soup, second only in 
 deliciousness — the Chinese say — to birds' nests or plump piijjpy 
 dogs. You get it sometimes on Straits steamers. I have tried it, 
 and cannot speak enthusiastically of it. Its taste is that of a very 
 feeble mock-turtle. Perhaps our cook did not put forth his best 
 eff'orts in its preparation, however. 
 
 Thursday Island, by the-way, has been a great place lately for 
 •' globe trotters." Mr. Chester tells us an edifying little story of 
 one of them. An European traveller the man was, intent on writing 
 sketches of the places he visited or saw through a telescope, and not 
 wholly unacquainted with guide-books. At Thursday Island the
 
 EN ROUTE. 19 
 
 steamer was for some reason or other not boarded by Mr. Chester ; 
 but there came off a well-known, exceedingly stout, very rough, 
 unkempt sea captain, owning one of the pearl stations. He intro- 
 duced himself for a joke to the "trotter" as " The High Commis- 
 sioner, &c.," and the jest was taken in earnest. The scribe pub- 
 lished his notes recently, and in them appeared the astounding- 
 sentence : — " I was introduced to Mr. Chester, the Government 
 Resident at Thursday Island. He looks more like a fierce bucca- 
 neer than the representative of law and order ! " There is some 
 perplexity as to who is hit hardest by the joke. ]\Ir. Chester, in 
 point of fact, is no more buccaueer-l:ke than Sir Henry Parkes or 
 Sir William Jervois. And the mention of the latter's name 
 reminds me that an old associate of Sir William's — Colonel 
 Scratchley — left Thursday Island a few days before we visited it. 
 His object there was to see whether the place could be made into 
 a coal depot for the Imperial Government. His report is 
 favourable, and it is understood that he will recommend the con- 
 struction of a battery on the big hill over the Residence. The 
 position is admirable. Thursday Island is the key of the Pacific, 
 and the batter}', if erected, will command the only really con- 
 venient entrance in the North to the inner passage of the Barrier 
 Reef. There are great things in store for the place, which at 
 present is literally a one-horse settlement. There is only one 
 noble steed thereabout, and the owner is more of a charger than 
 the horse is. 
 
 You cannot speak on general subjects with old residents of 
 Torres Straits, and more especially the mainland abutting on 
 them, without being impressed with the existence of a great evil 
 there. The evil is the prostitution of the black women. It is a 
 delicate subject to refer to, I know ; but it ought to be spjken of 
 and written about more than it has been. When men calling 
 themselves by the name of Britons shamelessly abuse the female 
 relatives of the blacks — buy the hateful favour by bribing father 
 or brotlier, or take the woman by force against her own and her 
 friends' wish ; when these men keep the poor creatures they 
 take as long as they think fit and then turn them loose again ; 
 when through- their disgraceful conduct they bring down the ven- 
 geance of an infuriated tribe of blacks upon them, and then, 
 because they are the stronger, shoot the poor wretches down like 
 dogs — when these things have been done, it is surely not the 
 time for meal^'^-mouthedness. The evil has decreased of late ; so 
 have the blacks. And Christian Governments and Christian men 
 take very little account of the shooting of the natives. The latter 
 murder a man — perhaps a man who, in most of the cases, had 
 brought their just vengeance upon liim, or suffered for some one
 
 20 EX UOUTE. 
 
 else who had — and a " revenge party" is forthwith organised to 
 visit the murderers with retribution. The first camp they come 
 to they fire upon, regardless of the fact that the natives they 
 shoot may know no more of the crime than Queen Victoria does. 
 The Government " ofiicial" revenge force may be more discrimi- 
 nating ; I speali of what occm-red on the York Peninsula some 
 years ago. Even now it is considered a joke all along the coast 
 beyond Cooktown in many quarters to shoot down black- 
 fellows by way of retaliation, and some men pride themselves on 
 the " row of stiff'uns" they have made in their time, and others talk 
 pleasantly of " black-crow shooting." The Europeans certainly have 
 difficulties to contend with in their dealings with the natives, but 
 the most successful man now in the Straits never shot one of 
 them, though he has been the pioneer visitor to some of them. I 
 do fervently believe from my experience in other places, and from 
 what I liear on good authority here and also of New (luiuea, that 
 if the whites had had one-half the provocation which they had 
 given the blacks the blood-guiltiness of some of them would have 
 increased considerably. But the weakest goes to the wall. Oh ! 
 we Christianize the natives, we Europeans ; we initiate them by 
 baptism into the mysteries of religion, but the baptism too often 
 is a baptism of blood. Mr. Macfarlane's Straits and New Guinea 
 Mission, the people say, has not been very successful as yet. How 
 can it ever succeed whilst he and his helpers are so seriously 
 handicapped 1 — they propounding a doctrine of peace and goodwill, 
 and others of their colour trading upon the vices and the lusts of 
 the natives '? There is ample room for other missionaries — mission- 
 aries to the whites — on the northern coasts of Queensland, and 
 the staple text should be " Thou shalt do no murder." 
 
 We left Thursday Island on Friday afternoon, February 18, and 
 the only land passed thence to Port Darwin was Booby Island, 
 which is now uninhabited, but which was some jeavs ago known 
 as the "Torres Strait Post-Office." There was a postbox there, and 
 there Avas also a provision store, and ships passing by used to laud 
 letters and deliver any which they found addressed to ports to which 
 they were bound. They replenished the store with provisions for 
 shipwrecked people who might be cast on the island. After a 
 while, however, it was found that natives Irom the islands, as well 
 as unprincipled Eurcjpeans, were in the habit of stealing the food 
 so charitably left ; and so the ships ceased to call, and the Torres 
 Straits Post-Ofiice suspended operations. 
 
 Early on Monday morning, February 26, w^e had our first glimpse 
 of the Northern Territor}^ — the point off Port Essington. The 
 entrance to the adjacent inlet is seven miles wide, and the land 
 being low on either side the port is difficult to make, and somewhat
 
 EN ROUTE, 21 
 
 dangerous on account of the Orentes Reef (so called because a 
 vessel of that name was wrecked there), which lies off the 
 entrance. Port Essington was "settled" in 1831 by Sir 
 Gordon Bremer for the Imperial Government as a military 
 post and harbour of refuge for shipwrecked sailors. It was 
 abandoned nineteen years afterwards, and the only remains of the 
 settlement now are ruined building3 and an enormous tamarind 
 tree, the wonder of the place. There are numbers of buffalo, 
 the descendants of herds turned loose by the settlement party 
 many years ago. A speculator owning land in the neighbourhood 
 tried some time since the experiment of hunting these cattle, and 
 jerking their iiesh for sale ; but he was not very successful, owing 
 mainly to circumstances which could be controlled in future. A 
 number of Adelaide capitalists are about to take the industry in 
 hand. Then you get a glimpse of the Cobourg Peninsula, where 
 a cattle station is, but where little has been done. But chiefest of 
 all sights is that of Melville Island, about thirty-four miles, as the 
 crow flies, from Port Darwin, and separated by Clarence Straits 
 from the mainland about fourteen miles. The island is seventy- 
 five miles long and thirty-eight miles broad. It is said to be 
 fertile, and to possess several good harbours. I was fortunate 
 enough to interview one of the very few Europeans who have 
 visited it, and he assured me that the reports as to the character 
 and number of the blacks there are fully sustained. The island is 
 overrun with them, and they ai'e as fierce as the bulky mosquitoes 
 that congregate in the thick mangrove-lined coasts. For these 
 reasons scarcely any whites have visited the island since 1840, 
 when the military post of Fort Dundas on King Cove was aban- 
 doned after having been kept up sixteen years, during which time 
 there were several affrays with the natives. The country for the 
 gi'eater part is low, thickly wooded, and in a great many places 
 fronted by rocks. The highest elevation is 320 feet. The trees 
 and undergrowth stretch down to the coast, and there arc two or 
 three rivers on the island — one navigable for a short distance. 
 Separated by Apsley Straits (nearly a mile broad) from jNlel villa 
 Island is another named Bathurst, which is about thirty miles in 
 extent, and which has a grand natural harbour in which a fleet 
 might float. The soil almost exactly resembles that of the adjacent 
 land. In the more open parts the sago, fan-palm, bandana, gum, 
 and other trees grow, and everywhere almost there is evidence of 
 fertility. I have described these islands at such length because 
 they are absolutely unproductive bits of South Australian territory, 
 supporting no one but the swarming tribes of blacks. The hostile 
 Melville natives had better make the most of their opportunities ; 
 ere long we shall have begun to civilize them. If, by-thc-way,
 
 22 EN ROUTE. 
 
 there is a missionary to spai-e in South Australia or elsewhere, 
 hei'c is a good opening for him. But he must bo hardy and 
 plucky 3 as bold in demeanour as in opinion. 
 
 At 1 o'clock on Monday, February 21, we passed the entrance 
 to the Adelaide River opposite the Vernon Islands, where the 
 passage is intricate and difficult of navigation, and where the 
 efflux from the river discolours the sea water. We arrived at our 
 destination shortly before 6 o'clock in the evening, when the sun 
 shone brightly and the Aveather looked as unlike the wet season as 
 it could possil3ly be. A pei'fcct cloud of vari-coloured flags went up 
 over the Government Residence in sign of welcome, and the lead- 
 ing townsfolk, headed by Mr. Price, S.M., the Government Resident, 
 as soon as possible came off to the vessel, and expressed the 
 welcome gracefully. Mr. Price imparted the cheering infoi'mation 
 that the District Council and a host of supporters had been 
 marshalled for some time on the beach, to the end thac they might 
 fire off an address of welcome to the distinguished travellers ; but 
 the Minister decided not to go off that night, and consequently the 
 eager crowd had to nurse their complimentary sentiments till next 
 morning. The Government Resident remained on board only a few 
 minutes, and soon after he returned on shore bonfires blazed out 
 from various places along the beach, and there was for hours a 
 ruddy glow from the pole which indicates where the end of the 
 jetty is when the sea hides it from view, as it always does when 
 the tide is at the full. In the meantime a grand banquet — the 
 principal incident in connection with which was the presentation of a 
 purse of sovereigns to Captain Ellis in recognition of his conduct 
 dm-ing the gale — was proceeding in the saloon. There was so 
 much that was complimentary to be said that it was midnight ere 
 the proceedings closed. It would appear that there was some fes- 
 tivity ashore; for in the early morning there came off to the ship a 
 prominent resident to ask for a light — 
 
 " Can't get s-s-hingle dry light 'shore rainy season," was his 
 plaint, "All lightsh damp Deshcmber to (hie) to May — fact, wholly 
 depen'ent shteamers for lightsh !" 
 
 He got a light, and as he went away gravely applying it to the 
 side of the bowl of his pipe, a cynic made some reference to the 
 potency of Northern Territory liquors.
 
 PALMERSTON. 23 
 
 CHAPTER III.— IN THE TERRITORY. 
 
 The Official Reception. — A "Dolce Far ^iente." — The Start for 
 THE Interior. — Southport. — Gorgeous Cloud Effect.s. — The 
 Eeceptiox at the Jetty. — National Characteristics. — 
 "Three Cheers for thb Plucky Minister." — A Musical 
 Melange. — Choice Specimens of Horseflesh. — The Muster. — 
 "Behold the Party Mounted." — The Blocks. — Largesse. — 
 "One Big, Big Fellow Feed." — The Start Inland. — Narrow 
 FscAPE FOR Mr. Bagster — Tumbling Waters. — Collett's 
 Creeiv. — A Sunstruck Packhorse. — The Kains. — The Eiver 
 FiNNiss. — Argument Flat. — P^um Jungle. — A Distance gauge: 
 The Price of Limejuice. — Peculiar Ant-hills. 
 
 ten o'clock on the morning of the 21st February the 
 (Jovernment Resident came off to the ship in the official 
 cutter, and conducted the Parliamentary party to the 
 shore, where they were received by the leading residents. 
 After an inspection of the Government Residence, they 
 proceeded to the Courthouse, where the principal officials and 
 about a dozen other folk (Northern Territory musters are not over- 
 large) had gathered in the hall to witness the presentation of an 
 address to the Minister by the District Council of Palmerston, 
 represented by Messrs. P. R. Allen, Joseph Skelton, V. L. Solomon, 
 Jas. Pickford, and J. G. Kelsey. The address was graceful enough, 
 and sufficiently in conformity with tradition not to need republica- 
 tion ; and what more need be said 1 The ceremonial trouble was 
 soon over, the Minister by a thoroughly hearty little speech 
 winning at once the regard of the Palmerstonians. That regard, 
 to their honour be it said, they freely extend to all eligible 
 strangers in the most practical manner. The next three days the 
 party spent in preparations for the exploration of the interior, and 
 in a deserved dolce far niente, if the dolce qualification may be 
 allowed by the critical reader, when consideration is given to the 
 fact that eager deputations of sandflies and mosquitoes made with 
 embarassing importunity the most perplexing demands. There 
 were demands, too, by human deputationists, the most tempting- 
 being that the party should attend a " welcome " banquet ere they 
 entered upon their adventures ; but the Minister bravely resisted 
 all their blandishments, deciding to do the work first and the 
 feasting afterwards. 
 
 Well ; the start was made on the 23rd. The heavens were 
 sullen and wept copiously as the Parliamentary party accompanied 
 by Mr. J, G. Knight (Special Magistrate, Goldfields \Yarden, Clerk 
 of the Court, and a dozen other things besides) and Mr. David Lind- 
 say (Government Sui'veyor) left the apology for a jetty in Palmerston 
 and boarded the steam-launch which was to convey them to South-
 
 24 TO SOUTHPORT. 
 
 port, amidst the cheers of the Government Ecsident and his 
 satelhtes from the shore. To reach Southport the steamer had to 
 go straight down the centre of the harbour and through the Middle 
 or South Arm, which is the most extensive of the inlets from Port 
 Darwin, Its entrance is about three miles wude, but an islet two 
 and a-half miles south makes it bifurcate. The branch we followed 
 trends south-east eight miles from the inlet and seven miles nearly- 
 due south, w^hen the channel narrows down to a mere creek at its 
 end, dignified by the name of the Blackmore River, on which the 
 township of Southport is situated, about twenty-six miles from Pal- 
 merstou. We did the distance in less than three houi'S, but then 
 we had a swift current with us. There is nothing particularly 
 insj)iring about the trip. Save for a little patch of open land and 
 one hill 250 feet high or thereabout, you see little change from 
 swampy flats densely covered with mangroves ; though when — 
 after an hour's broiling below, backs to the engine-boiler to escape 
 the rain — we came on deck well-steamed to sizzle in the sun, a few 
 verdure-clad hills were overlooking us in the distance. The water, 
 which varies in de^Dth from six to thirteen fathoms, was muddy 
 but salt, and carried a heavy timber drift, which stuck in the roots 
 of some of the mangroves rising a long way from the water's edge 
 like tangled stake fences. Sheets of galvanized iron stuck between 
 some of them were the official notifications of the presence of rocks 
 or reefs, but a more unmistakable intimation at one point was the 
 top of the mast of the Dawn, a small vessel which foundered off 
 the Channel recently. The best sight of all — and that was poor 
 enough, in all conscience^was Storm Point, about eight miles 
 in a straight line from Southport. It has a few sickly trees upon it, 
 and it deserves lots of credit for having kept tliem alive so long under 
 such discouraging circumstances. Though it seems absurd to talk of 
 cultivating any of this boggy, swampy land, when you come within 
 half a dozen miles of Southport you are at once struck — if you 
 have any of the utilitarian element about you, and if you are 
 not too disgusted by the eternal sameness of the mangroves 
 to draw upon it — you are at once struck with the thought 
 of what a grand provision Nature has made for future wharf- 
 owners. The river for a very long distance thence varies from two 
 to three chains in width, and the depth of water in many places 
 is as great as that in the new dock at Port Adelaide at ordinary 
 low tide. All that would be needed, besides population, to make 
 this a great shipping place, would be to dj'ive down piles and re- 
 claim a little land. Vessels of three hundred tons could come 
 down and take away without lightering the produce of all the 
 plantations and tlie output of every factory the circumjacent 
 land is likely to contain for half a century. Speculations were
 
 SOUTHPORT. 25- 
 
 being uttered in glowing terms and pat periods on the future of 
 this river, when the smoke of many factories should begrime the 
 scores of thousands of toiling mechanics, etcetera., when an 
 enthusiastic sky-gazer called attention to one of the most beautiful 
 cloud eifects to be seen anywhere. It was not gorgeous, but 
 the combination of colour was gTand. Minarets of light-blue 
 cloud shot above a mass of chocolate-and-slate and red-and-brown, 
 all ever inter-blending ; and athwart the whole two rainbows 
 glanced. And as they paled away and gradually lost themselves 
 the sun retired to rest, and the clouds first modestly blushed at 
 the performance, and then fast-coming dai'kness kindly put a 
 veil upon their faces, and the lamps came out in the sky ; and a 
 ferocious horde of mosquitoes imitated them on the laud ; and 
 whilst their allies, the sandflies, scratched the surface of our skins, 
 they dug beneath and gorged themselves with blood. Thus 
 were we when we saw towering over our heads the water-end of 
 Southport Jetty, and heard thereon, and from the land the whizz 
 of rockets and the clatter of Chinese crackers, the while our nos- 
 trils were offended with the odour of the powder. We clambered 
 up the substantial jetty some fifteen feet or so — for it was low 
 tide — with the aid of ladders, and as our heads emerged above the 
 highest piles a loud harsh jabber and an unmistakable guttural 
 apprised us of the pi'eseuce of blackfellows and Chinamen 
 — mutual antagonists — and a good round oath pronounced the 
 nearness of some of the sons of old John Bull. All had, to do 
 the party honour, drawn themselves in two lines, leaving the 
 centre clear for the passage of the visitors, and as the courtesy 
 was accepted there rose the cry " Three cheers for the plucky 
 Minister." The cheers were given. Did you ever hear black- 
 fellows, Chinamen and Europeans cheering together 1 In this case 
 you could " analyse" the sounds readily. They were mixed so. 
 
 "Y-e-e-ah! Y-a-h!" Thus the blacks. T/iey didn't know what 
 on earth all the fuss was about, but felt that anyhow they must 
 help in the business going forward. 
 
 "E-e-ep — eep — o-o-ol-a-ay!" Thus the Celestials, with memories 
 of the cheering of Californian diggers, most of them, and all with 
 that mysterious inability to articulate the letter "11." A Chinaman 
 could no more say "Rogue" than some of them could help being 
 one imder auspicious circumstances. 
 
 The Europeans, of course, gave voice to the inspiring old " Hip, 
 hip, hooray ! " which no one knows the origin or age or meaning of,, 
 but everybody so likes to hear given heartily. 
 
 Mix oil these sounds and try to realise the ear-wounding product- 
 But though the audible tokens of welcome were mixed, the feeling
 
 26 SOUTHPORT. 
 
 •they were born of was very warm and respectfully appreciative — 
 much more so than even that displayed by the purely European 
 gathering who met the Minister at Palmerstou. Mr. Parsons at 
 once won their hearts by starting a sonorous " Three times three 
 for Southport," which we visitors gave with full lung-power, though 
 with not half the effect the welcoming cheers had. The opposite 
 party had the advantage in numbers, you see. Nevertheless the 
 Chinamen with that aforetime-refcrred-to notion about Mandarins, 
 looked humbly — aye, even wistfully — at Mr. Bright, as that good- 
 hearted, portly gentleman put in his share of our cheer. The 
 party then, followed by the still cheering little crowd, went under 
 other rockets and through more powder-smoke to host Hopewell's 
 hotel, and had a dinner, which, though laid so far from civilization, 
 was lit to feast an epicure upon. But there was a drawback after- 
 wards. As the party lounged beneath the verandah enjoying the 
 cool breeze from the river, and waging warfare against the mos- 
 quitoes, there came from out the bar-room the sounds of revelry 
 by night — of music. I say " music," because I have the authority 
 of the host for calling it by that name. The intention was good, 
 doubtless, but the effect with invisible choruses from outside was 
 a " sweet commingling," which was confounding — a commingling of 
 the protests of a bad fiddle against a worse fiddler, the notes of a 
 bass singer trying to achieve " Come into the garden, Maud" an 
 octave too low, the croak of bullfrogs, the tinkle of horse-bells, the 
 gurgle of a Chinese melody, and the profanity of some hilarious 
 teamsters near at hand. 
 
 Southport is pleasantly situated, considering the character of 
 the surrounding country. It will not be on the route of any 
 intercolonial or other railway, probably, but it will ever be the 
 port of shipment for the south-western hundreds — Clyde and 
 Milne and Hughes at least. In j)viblic institutions it boasts a 
 Telegraph Office, a Police Station, and a cemetery. The Tele- 
 graph Station is one of those in connection with the overland line, 
 and its keeper is Mr. J. W. Johnson, who has also to act as Post- 
 master and Sub-Collector of Customs. There are two public- 
 houses and a couple of stores— branches from the importing 
 establishments at Palmerston. The only other English places are 
 the smithy and the saddler's shop. Twelve stores are owned 
 by Chinamen, of whom there are about a hundred in the town- 
 ship — more than three times as many as the European total. 
 There are a good mauy blacks — Wilwonga and Larrakeeyah. 
 There is neither doctor nor chemist. There are a few flourishing- 
 Chinese vegetable gardens, and plenty of fish — rock cod and a 
 sort of bream, mostly — is got in the river, which has a tidal rise 
 and fall similar to that at Palmerston. Public religious services
 
 SOUTHPORT. 27 
 
 are unknown in the township, and private dittos almost so, I 
 should judge ; and there is no school in which the children can 
 be educated. But in the dry season Southport — though in the 
 wet a dull, shambling, dingy, fifth-class, disordered, common- 
 place little village — is an actively important centre. Thence all 
 the diggers' supplies go down to the goldfields, and thither comes 
 all their gold. The horse and bullock teams, that do no work 
 from December to April, make it their terminus, and the mail 
 contractor has his head-quarters there, getting the post-bags from 
 Palmerston by steamer, which runs down one day and returns the 
 next. The farthest Post-Office south is Pine Creek, but the 
 Catherine, further still, will soon probably be the final point at 
 which the mailman will call. By the coach in the dry season, and 
 by it and pack-horses in the wet, a weekly mail is carried between 
 the terminal point and Southport. 
 
 The previous day the pack-horses provided for the convenience 
 of the party arrived at Southport, and next morning the first 
 grand muster came off by the Telegraph Station. Altogether, 
 there were twenty-two horses in the cavalcade ; and the order was^ 
 they must only he loan^ed I Arab steeds are not plentiful there ; 
 and our collection — though one of the best to be had for love or 
 money, or anything else in the Territory at short notice — would 
 rather have impelled a retired bone-mill owner to reminiscences 
 than have inspired a horse-jockey with pleasure. Mr. Lindsay — 
 indefatigable as a white ant — superintended the selection, if selec- 
 tion you may call a purchase where there is no choice. They "were 
 knock-kneed and lame, and bruised and spavined, and flea-bitten, 
 and — in short, everything but what they should be. The half a 
 dozen roadsters for the party stood proudly out from amidst the 
 rest like Hercules amongst pigmies ; but even then before we 
 mounted we had to seriously wrestle with the suggestion that our 
 horses, like another worthy's, would be constantly wanting to lean 
 up against something or to lie down and roll upon us ; our only 
 consolation was that, with the thermometer at 97° in the shade — 
 equal to 116° in Adelaide — they would not have energy enough to 
 do either. 
 
 Behold the party mounted ! The ^Minister in a slashed slouch- 
 hat with veil — a la bushrangei' — light tweed trousers, with singlet, 
 black umbrella, and long white oil leggings, on (as was fit) the 
 best horse of the lot — a horse that, judging by an occasional caper, 
 evidently indulged sometimes in youthful reminiscences ; Mr. 
 Bright (with his seventeen stone distributed over a dishcartened- 
 looking nuggetty roadster), with a wideawake brown hat, a tight 
 light singlet, trousers and brown leggings, and a light umbrella ; 
 Mr. Bagster like the Minister, save for a dustcoat ; Mr. Furner
 
 28 SOUTIIPORT. 
 
 ditto, with slight deviations ; the Professor with laggings which 
 left a white blank above his shoe-tops, and buccaneer-like in look 
 but for a good-humoured semi-cynical smile ; and Mr. Knight some- 
 what like ]\lr. Bright. And each laughing heartily at the grotesque 
 appearance of the other ; and all immensely amused at the sight 
 and sound of the cavalcade, with its halting packhorses, their vocife- 
 rous drivers, and the loud crack and wild flourish of the stockwhips, 
 which oft and again interviewed the steeds' raw backs and sides. 
 Thus the auspicious start. 
 
 I should have recorded before an interesting event — the dis- 
 tribution by the visitors of largesse to the blacks, in public half- 
 circle assembled in front of the hotel. The gift was in the shape 
 of floui' — next to tobacco the best-esteemed native luxury — 
 doled out in a grocer's scoop in anything but grocer fashion by 
 Mr. Knight. The sight was cei'tainly the most intei'esting seen 
 •on this trip. Oh, such degraded specimens of humanity ! — less 
 manlike some than a grinning and chattering monkey looking 
 at them from the hotel door. I question whether, on the whole, 
 any beings bearing the semblance of humanity could be found 
 more low-sunk than these. Physically the men were well- 
 made, though disproportionately light of tibia ; but the women 
 were lank and puffy and distorted, and, for the most part, ugly as 
 the Father of Mischief. Some few, however— the young ones — 
 were well-looking comparatively. 'Twas pitiful, though still 
 amusing, to see these people as they came for flour — came with 
 old tins, and bits of dirty paper, and rags, and leaves. First au 
 old lubra (unanimously voted a living skeleton — thin and wizened 
 and dried beyond belief), holding a chubby child on her 
 shoulder ; then an obese woman — the only stout one I had seen 
 here yet ; then a matron with twin children, the one cross-legged 
 upon her shoulder, the other affectionately supported by the neck 
 under her arm ; then an " angular parallelogram" in the shape 
 of a man 6 ft. 4in. high ; then some of these sneaking back again 
 for more ; and at the end an ugly woman with a pretty child, 
 who grabbed a handful of the flour and made its face a 
 perfect piebald, and rubbing it into its eyes and crying with the 
 pain caused little milky rivulets to flow adown its nose. And then, 
 quarrelling over the food as pigs quarrel over a bone, and quite as 
 thankless to the donor, with a profuse spitting (not to have seen a 
 tobacco-chewing native salivate is something to be thankful for !) 
 and a screeching and jabbering and a discordant whirr like the 
 alarm-note of a quail, but more discordant — the dusky crowd 
 moved off to their camp to put their different lots of flour together 
 and to have for once, at least, " one big, big fellow feed," the while 
 their benefactors went upon their journey. That journey began at
 
 TUMBLING WATERS. 29 
 
 about 10 o'clock on the morning of the 24th, when the sun shone 
 down with great fervency. The horses bore the infliction with 
 great fortitude for the first hour, which was engaged in going- 
 through rather poor-looking flat country, little different from an 
 ordinary bush landscape in South Australia pi'oiDer, in point of 
 vegetation, save that the grass was higher and more rank, and the 
 road bore deep water-channels — mementos of recent wet-season rains. 
 At the end of that time Mr. Bagster's horse determined to stand 
 the conveyance of that honourable gentleman no longer, and 
 without any notice took the bit between its teeth and galloped off 
 the road in amongst the thickly -planted trees, winding in and out 
 in such an erratic fashion, and so nearly colliding with them that 
 it was by nought else but a miracle that the Parliamentary party 
 were not under the necessity of leaving one of their number behind 
 them. The first sign of civilization besides the road met with on the 
 journey was Tumbling Waters, as to which its name is the most 
 romantic feature. A little body of water attempts a feeble fall 
 thereabout, and hence the high-sounding title. The only visible 
 erection is a small house to the right of the road — a house in which 
 is vended limejuice, with copious aqueous dilutions, at 7 Id. the 
 tumbler. Just beyond this aspiring place is a little rivulet, clear 
 as crystal, which runs down and gives a hand with that ponderous 
 waterfall ; and a mile further on there stands a solitary bark hut, 
 whose proprietor this wet season loses money, and in the dry when 
 teamsters are about makes some, by selling limejuice and baking 
 bread for the Chinamen in the neighbourhood. There is a vein of 
 quartz cropping iip here, and the Tumbling Waters Gold Mining 
 Company started a few years ago had good prospects, but stopped 
 at that, of course. Most gold companies do. 
 
 Thence to Collett's Creek, and indeed from Southport thither, 
 the country is of an uninteresting and, I should say, a com- 
 paratively unfertile character for the most part. The road in the 
 main traverses with wearisome levelness a formation of ironstone 
 conglomerate, which, worn by traffic, forms light gravel or nodules, 
 which make a road- surface equal to macadam. At Collett's Creek, 
 eighteen miles from Southport, the travellers stopped for a sort of 
 siesta and a lunch. A picturesque little place, watered excellently, 
 with a light-brown loam — notable in history chiefly because a white 
 man was murdered by the blacks there for too great attention to a 
 lubra. There was an hotel in the palmier days of the Territory, 
 but it now serves as a private habitation. Some Chinamen have a 
 lai'ge and flourishing garden in which they grow all sorts of 
 vegetables. "The soil will gTOw anything," the oldest resident 
 assured me as the result of his experience. There is little doubt 
 that Collett's Creek will be the westernmost point of the trans- 
 continental railway.
 
 30 RUM JUNGLE. 
 
 Ere wo had reached this point on our journey the heat had 
 struck down one of the packhorses, and (so uncertain is the climate) 
 while the poor beast was rolling about in the blaze of the sun 
 there came down a tremendously heavy rainstorm, which, though 
 it lasted only about half an hour, put in so much work in that 
 time that the journey crs found themselves wet to the skin when 
 it ceased. And as they left Collett's Creek it was pouring in 
 torrents, converting trees into trickling fountains, and the roadway 
 into a rapid river bed. Seeing much of the country right past 
 Mount Fitch and Burton up to the eastern branch of the Finniss 
 was, under these circumstances, impossible. The land, however, is 
 more elevated, and the most prominent geological features are 
 the vast boulders and "runs" of granitic rock. As granite 
 country is generally associated with tin ore, it is not unlikely that 
 there. may be rumours of tin discoveries there some day. Just 
 before dusk — following the course of the telegraph line — we forded 
 the east arm of the Fiuniss, which ran rather swiftly, the water in 
 the centre being about three feet deep. Of course its volume was 
 swollen by the floods. Over the river the country changes some- 
 what in character. Instead of the tall not too succulent grass is a 
 more dwarfed and richer herbage, and in place of the poorer soil is 
 a rich chocolate, which is fit for anything in the way of cultivation. 
 The misfortune is that, so far as I can learn, there is not very 
 much of it. Till dark we saw ourselves surrounded by this kind 
 of level country, only broken at rare intervals by an unpretentious 
 ridge or two. As we went over Argument Flat — a rather sodden 
 flat, by the way, and called by so odd a name because of the 
 camping teamsters disputing there in the dry season — a thunder- 
 storm, with fierce lightning, came up; and on jogged the dispirited 
 horses, staggering under the weight of the weary bedraggled party, 
 with no sign of habitation or habitant to cheer them, till the lights 
 of the Rum Jungle public-house infused some little hope into them. 
 The jungle had its peculiar prefix because an overland telegraph 
 party fell foul of a cask of rum secreted there. 
 
 Next morning, dressed in a robe of bright green raindrop-sprinkled 
 verdure, the place looked picturesque enough. The jungle on the 
 west is, when the sun comes out in the early morning, beautifully 
 checkered with lights and shades such as you cannot see much 
 lower south. The only habitation in the place — the public-house, 
 though unpretentious, and indeed dingy, sets off the view; and its 
 proprietor has added to the effect by establishing a small planta- 
 tion in which he grows a little sugarcane and some sweet potatoes, 
 both of whicli yield plentiful crops. 
 
 We gauged our distance from hotel competition by the price of 
 limejuice. It was a shilling a 'nobbier here — 50 per cent, advance
 
 THE ANTHILLS. 31 
 
 in twenty miles. Those little public-houses must, in the dry 
 season, make enormous profits. They pi'ovide, generally speaking, 
 only a mockery of accommodation, and in the place here — and this 
 was one of the fair ones— an honourable member, waking in the 
 morning, found that the population of his sleeping place had been 
 increased during the night by one blackfellow, a Chinaman, a dog^ 
 and a pig. Society was decidedly promiscuous, you observe. I have 
 left till the last mention of one of the most peculiar features of the 
 scenery passed through so fav, and continuing throughout — I mean 
 the anthills. For hundreds of miles the landscape is relieved by 
 these erections. The busy little ants are fond of fantastic 
 designs. The Gothic they follow most. The forms are of six or 
 seven turreted columns, triple pinnacles, gables twenty feet high, 
 sugar-loaves of two feet, and apparently shapeless masses, yet 
 perfect in their mathematical proportions. One was almost 
 exactly like a bust of Shakespeare, only the immortal Will's face, 
 thus portrayed, looked as though the cast had been taken after he 
 had been battered somehow. Others of the hills run in nearly 
 regular succession due north and south, and the builders of these 
 are called the magnetical ants. Their houses are an imerring 
 guide — a compass to the travellei'. The anthills are so hard that 
 they are used, when the position is convenient and the inside is 
 scooped out, as chimneys, and it takes a great deal of heavy 
 battering to break them in, though the shell be not thicker than 
 your palm. The ants mortar together the different lumps of clay 
 of which the hill is composed with a glutinous substance, which 
 hardens more rapidly and effectively than the most valuable coagu- 
 lation which ever quack puffed. Outside the hill you find only a 
 few hundreds of blackish ants — doing very little ; on 'Change when 
 shares are at a discount, I should say, judging by their leisurely 
 look ; but break a piece off it, and you see myriads of the oft- 
 cursed white ants in a section of what looks like nothing else so 
 much as a huge rough sponge. The white ant is a puffy, fat, 
 contented little creature, with a round head like the pink top of 
 a lucifer match ; and collectively you will see him in this broken 
 section, after he has cooled down his disgust at your intrusion — 
 you will see him sitting in council in the cosiest, cleanest little 
 cells or rushing to others — the granaries — to protect his wet- 
 weather stock of grass-seeds and stalks, and other food. Then, if 
 you wait an houi", you will be a witness to the readiness with which 
 he sets about repairing the damage you have done to his tenement. 
 Some of the ants, instead of building independent houses for 
 themselves, cut their way into the heart of trees ; raise a tiny 
 mound outside and sometimes a little way along the trunk, and 
 then actually eat nearly the whole of the firm wood of the tree,
 
 32 THE ANTHILLS. 
 
 leaving as they advance higher and higher, earth deposits in heu 
 of the timber. By-and-by the tree falls, and then it naakes, and is 
 used as, a capital water-duct. This is one of the effects of the ant 
 nuisance. When I come to describe Palmerston, you shall hear a 
 much worse account of them.
 
 THE INTERIOR. 33 
 
 CHAPTER IV.— THE INTERIOR. 
 
 Rum Jungle to the Stapleton-.— PacH Soil. — Batvyan Creek. — The 
 Difficulties of Road-Travel — Paqualin's Hump. — Irox Ore. 
 — Stapleton Creek. — A Flowering Bamboo kew to Science. — 
 The Township of Stapleton. — The first of the Gold Country. 
 — The Virginia, Dean's, and Terrible Mines. — A Versatile 
 Cockatoo. — Mounts Shepherd ant) Carr. — The Adelaide Rr-er. 
 
 — A Disappointment: "No Crocodiles." — Some Studies in 
 Natural History. — Animal Life and its Variety. — The 
 Difficulties of the Special Reporter ! — Mr. Bright Over- 
 come. — A Natural Recreation Ground. — Curious Thunder- 
 storm. — BuRRELi.'s Creek. — Bridge Creek : the Reception. — A 
 Celestial Cracker Fusilade. — A second Eden. — The Howley. 
 — Yam Creek.— Port Darwin Camp. — A Corroboree, — Femi- 
 nine Black "Boys." — Port Darwin Camp to the Twelve Mile. 
 
 — ECCE3S1TRIC Mile-posts. — A "Pre-Adamite Fossil." — The 
 Inevitable Deputation. — A Tremendous Memorial. — From the 
 Twelve-Mile to Pine Creek. — The Turning Point ii^ the 
 Journey. — Peculiar Geological Formation. — The McKinlay 
 River. — The Record of the Trees. — Copperfield and it.s 
 Copper. — Liberal Gift to the Minister. — Gold Deposits Ex- 
 traordinary. — Fine Creek and its Plucky Pioneer. — 
 Sanders's Rush. — The Rainfall and its Effects. — One Scribe 
 the Less : Almost. 
 
 ■^^E were disappointed next morning. The latest recollec- 
 tions of the most sleepless of the party on Friday night 
 were of rain pouring down as rain pours only in the 
 tropics, and the prophecy was a flood for the morrow. 
 But when the time came, as we left the ramshackle 
 public-house at Rum Jungle the sun was frowning witheriugly 
 upon us as though he intended to grill us offhand. The profuse 
 jungle vegetation, rain-sprinkled, glittered like diamond rests ; a 
 select few of the comparative scarcity of birds — the jungle 
 pheasant, the pigeon, tlie bower bird, the cockatoo, a sort of 
 magpie, and others — piped out cheerily, those that could pipe ; 
 and gaudy butterflies — bright-yellow, and mauve-and-black, and 
 one like an animated pansy, and a good pansy at that — fluttered 
 gaily about atop the long dazzling white seeding grass. 
 Nature-lovers in the party were moved to music, and for once the 
 prospect was that the trip would be a pleasure excursion. Just 
 behind the starting-point the telegrapli poles begin to alternate — 
 wood and iron — the intention being to make them all of metal 
 eventually. They arc burnt down now very often in the dry sea- 
 son, when the natives and the teamsters periodically fire the 
 grass to secure a succulent growth immediately after the late 
 rains and to make it possible to walk through it. The soil for 
 some distance beyond Rum Jungle is a rich brown loam, sprinkled
 
 34 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 "with ironstone gravel in places — soil similar to that on McKiunon 
 and Poiett's plantation, three miles due west. The country is 
 beautifully fertile and undulating, and there are some pretty peej)S 
 of scenery ; the grass tall, but less rank and more succulent ; the 
 trees stringybark, ironbark, white gum, and other kinds of 
 eucalypti, as well as the sci'ew palm, all twined round with 
 different members of the convolvulus family. All the way 
 along the road — and also as far as I could cross it while the 
 other horses were perforce going along at a walk — the countr^^ is 
 of the sort which would make the fortune of a stockowner holding- 
 stock in it. It is grandly watered and grassed, and, of course, is 
 thickly dotted with anthills. This holds good more particularly 
 witli regard to the land north of Banyan Creek. Beyond, we 
 had an experience of the difficulties of vehicle traffic on the road. 
 Half a dozen Chinamen, with five hoi'ses attached to a small 
 dray, were struggling to extricate their property from the 
 boggy road — a light stiff clay. They had only about eight 
 hundredweight of rice, and they had been six days coming thirty- 
 six miles from Southport. When the bogs cease the country be- 
 comes rugged and stony ; less useful for pasturage or tillage, and 
 more valuable minei-alogically. Several quartz-reefs crop up, 
 and there ai'e ironstone and greenstone in plenty. The most 
 striking upland is Paqualin's Hump — two miles from Stapleton. 
 On it good iron ore has been got, and from its crest you see one of 
 the best views along the whole road. Surrounding hills form 
 an almost perfect amphitheatre, and in the perspective are other 
 elevations rising higher and higher till the last bounds the horizon. 
 The descent of the Hump is long, stony, and winding. Just 
 below its foot is a somewhat pretentious Chinese garden, in which 
 are grown principally the peanut, from which the Chinamen have 
 begun to manufacture oil; the sweet potato, which has been 
 grown luxuriantly after early failures through ignorance of the 
 proper season in which to plant it ; and Chinese beans. 
 Then you come to Stapleton Creek — named after poor Stapleton, 
 who was killed by the blacks at one of the telegraph stations — 
 which sometimes foams down more than a quarter of a mile wide, 
 but now rippled over an area of only a few yards in width. The 
 grass all round for some distance has been eaten down, and former 
 rankness has become toothsome herbage. There are high-towering 
 hills around the incipient township of Stapleton, and on the creeks' 
 banks grow, besides bright hibiscus, numerous screw-palm and a 
 thiclc grove of tall bamboo, which Professor Tate proclaims new to 
 science — a bamboo which flowers periodically on a high stalk, but 
 was not in bloom when we saw it. The township of the future 
 consists now of one public-house, in which wines and spirits and
 
 THE INTERIOR. 35 
 
 boots and stores apparently are sold, and the place seems to be a 
 smithy too. Thi re is a cemetery — the only fenced cemetery on the 
 goldfields, I am told. About twenty feet square it is, enclosed by 
 a two-railed fence; the graves now covered six inches with water, 
 and at time of flood submerged altogether. The place is grass- 
 grown and neglected. There is no care taken of God's Acre here. 
 Death is lightly esteemed in the locality. The dead are irreverently 
 called " worm banquets." On the hill to the east is the first of the 
 claims marking the actual commencement of explored gold country 
 in the ISTorthern Tei-ritory. The mine is the old Virginia, which 
 has a twelve head battery, and which an English Company has 
 purchased. There are two or three other claims — Dean's and the 
 TeiTible — but of them all, and also of the absence of the alluvial, 
 I shall have more to say by-aud-by. The party lunched at the 
 public-house, after one hon. member had bathed in the future 
 main street of tlie future town, under the gaze of the pioneers of 
 the future inhabitants. A most extraordinarily talented cockatoo, 
 got from the local bush, beguiled the time — a cockatoo that can 
 write and talk profanely, beat a demagogue in hi'falutin, and do 
 everything but speak civilly to the half-dozen Woolwongas who 
 lazily lounge about the place. From the Stapleton to the 
 Adelaide River the road runs over mountainous country, with huge 
 outcrops of ironstone and mica slate. A pretty bit of scenery is 
 jDi-esented at Peter s Creek, and there is at least a suspicion of 
 grandeur about Mounts Shepherd and Carr, the latter of which 
 overlooks the Adelaide River. This land, if used at all for 
 aught but minerals, would be more suited for pasturage than 
 cultivation ; but close to the Adelaide the soil is rich 
 enough for anythino- as far down as I coald trace it. The 
 river was another disappointment. The party were told it was 
 to be at high flood ; and that if they did not get drowned trying 
 to cross it they would be snapped asunder by alligators or eaten 
 up by mosquitos. But the stream was at most only three feet 
 deep at the strongest running channel, aiid just as we 
 entered it, not knowing this, but bracing ourselves for a fearful 
 struggle, our horses, in the very swiftest of the swift waters, 
 deliberately stopped and drank. We humbly drove on to the little 
 hotel on the bank, consoling ourselves with the knowledge of the 
 fact that not many days before the water was sixteen feet deep, 
 and that sometimes it is forty. Then the mails have to be slung 
 over on wires. It was a sore blow to ]\Ir. Knight, our worthy chief 
 of the commissariat, ile had been woi-king up the agony the 
 whole way along, assuring us he had left behind him an eloquently 
 couched will and explanatory document concluding: — 
 
 Qieti bg tiroionins far Ijis cauntrs's gootj.
 
 3G THE IXTERIOR. 
 
 This was rather ambiguous ; and he corrected hi. s first deposition 
 by saying that he meant to leave the document. The situation of 
 the little public-hov;se, which, with the exceedingly well-kept police 
 station, make up the little Crown-grant township on the south 
 bank of the south-westerly arm of the Adelaide, is very picturesque. 
 It is on a modest elevation, and around it are foliage-clad hills and 
 abundance of vegetation, with a fine clear view of the stream 
 flowing all the year round. When the railway shall have been 
 made this place, fifty miles from the seaboard, will be one of the 
 most important along its course — a centre f^r the export of 
 plantation produce from the banks of the river, and gold from the 
 surrounding countiy. I freely prophesy that land in this locality 
 will ten years hence be sold at £10 a foot ; but the railway must 
 be made within the next five years. 
 
 We had plenty of time — for we remained there over Sunday on 
 the downward trip — to rest and look about us. Professor Tate 
 had a special commission for the collection of botanical specimens, 
 duplicates of which were sent to France, and he availed himself of 
 his leisure to pursue his investigations. He was successful. 
 Twenty different heads of grass found he in an area of a few yards, 
 and of his natural history treasures time and space would fail me 
 to speak ; for despite annual devastating fires, the woods are rich 
 in the mantis of many kinds, bugs of various sorts galoi'e, dragon- 
 flies, and other insects in great force. Amongst animals there are 
 the kangaroo, the emu, the native companion, the dingo and 
 several smaller ones. In the river, besides alligators and crocodiles, 
 there are, according to the residents, stingrays or cat-fish, mussel, 
 crab, bream, and turtle 10 or 12 lb. weight. We were to have 
 seen an alligator, but, of coiu-se, were disappointed. We had no 
 luck at all — absolutely none whatever ! 
 
 At night, animal life is — well, various. As I write, iuaroom whence 
 you c^n see all the visible celestial luminaries, thei'e comes from 
 the river the croaking of frogs without number and of hoarseness 
 unparalleled. Plaintively mingle with it the cackling of wild geese 
 disporting in the stream, and the shrill notes of curlews looking at 
 the geese, and of an unknown bird, with a voice which would be 
 most like a frog's but that it equally resembles a magpie's. 
 Mosquitoes come in numericnl strength, but they seem too sleek 
 and well-behaved to sting. They simply hum harmoniously, and 
 watch the curious beetles and the pretty moths — one of which, 
 crawling out of the ink-bottle, blotting the writing, has close kinship 
 to the death's head — battering themselves to death against the 
 lampglass, A vampire bat flies overhead, the crickets chirp, and a 
 packhorse with hobbles and a bell pokes his head within the open 
 door, and looks enquiringly round with the hungry gaze of a
 
 THE INTERIOR. 37 
 
 baffled special reporter. The idlers of the party loll about in 
 pyjamas, -which are just a little more tangible than the atmos- 
 phere ; and when they go to rest they lie on hammocks strung up 
 to the fence outside or under the verandah, or else in bedrooms 
 built of the evei'-uscful bamboo, with apertures through which the 
 wind plays almost uninterruptedly. At home, in the morning the 
 pyjamas are the dress, and in the evening and at noon the dress is 
 the pyjama. Indeed, the problem in this heat with most people — 
 personally I found it less oppressive than that of Adelaide — is how 
 to observe decency with the least possible burden of clothing. 
 The staple salutation is in effect the Egyptian : — " How goes the 
 perspiration 1 " '• Do you sweat copiously ? "■ — and there are nine or 
 ten ditto. Poor Mr. Bright could stand the journey no longer, 
 and no wonder, for it was a rather hard time for unaccustomed 
 physically inactive men. He was counselled not to start, but his 
 pluck was more developed than his endurance ; and so at tlie 
 Adelaide River he fell slightly ill and turned back. A horseman 
 riding nineteen stone is not the man to go through a rough journey 
 in the tropics at such a time of year. 
 
 Early on Monday morning, Februaiy 27, all the party, save Mr. 
 Bright, who returned by easy stages to the Government Residence 
 at Palmerston, continued their journey, with tlie sun shining out 
 rather too fervently to be pleasant, but with blessed puffs of cool 
 balmy air, honestly doing all they could to moderate his rays. 
 Almost immediately after starting we found ourselves crossing the 
 Adelaide Plains, which, low-lying, and in the wettest season quite 
 submerged, were now only moderately spongy and slopp}-, and 
 opposed but little inconveniences to travel. The country is 
 capitally grassed, and about a couple of miles on the com-se of the 
 road from the river is one of the prettiest sites for a recreation 
 ground which can be found all Australia over. The ground is a 
 dead level, well drained, big enough for two racecourses, and all 
 round the country viudulates easily, being " stopped short " 
 presently by a rugged semicircle of hills, each trying to stretch its 
 head above its brother's, till the tallest, when the clouds are low, 
 is capped with fleecy head-gear. 
 
 A group of hills at front and the general ignorance of their 
 names even by experts in the party induce a reference to the 
 elaborate maps and charts, which disappoint us as they have done 
 before. A Northern Territory map is quite in keeping with the 
 place and many ot the people — it is rough, superlatively rough. 
 Whilst names of leading ranges are not given, surveyor's memos, 
 or akin to that, are reproduced, in imitation of the Nicaraguau 
 chart on which appeared the note by the compiler — 
 
 " I have forgotten the name of this place."
 
 38 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 And so we csolicwed the maps, and when we crossed a creek or 
 skirted a hill unknown, we named it Parsons' Rill, or Bagster's 
 Creek, or Furner's Mount, or Parliament Hill. There are some 
 dozens of each already. Beyond the plains some steep ridges are 
 passed and crossed. Further huge outcrops of mica, slate, and 
 sandstone, and on the roads more ironstone ; anthills thicker than 
 ever, giving a faithful idea by their colour of the diflFerent kinds of 
 surface soil. Then the country becomes better drained, and the 
 couch-grass in patches springs luxuriantly. Crossing one of the 
 tributaries of tlie Adelaide — independently named by us with due 
 propriety Snake's Creek, because not far from it lay a decapi- 
 tated white-bellied reptile eight feet long — we come into still higher 
 and more rugged country. Big hills rise up on either hand, and 
 the road winds on the floor of a defile bet^veen them. The hills 
 are capped with crags, and their surfaces are strewn with slate and 
 sandstone and a little quartz and greenstone. Beyond the defile 
 are more well-grassed plains, which make the rising ranges (not 
 thickly timbered, but clad with tall grass waving in the bi'eeze) 
 look like corn-fields, suspended in mid-air. This on one side; 
 and on the other rugged rises, rocky, and with gnarled but not big 
 timber. At noon we had our second expei'ience of a fussy thunder- 
 storm and a heavy rainfall. We look for our thunderstorm every 
 afternoon as we look for our river-bath each morning and evening. 
 On this occasion the clouds came up with great suddenness ; peal 
 after peal of thunder — like the falling of a hundred tons of chain a 
 dozen miles upon thick sheets of iron— rattled overhead ; and 
 presently we heard amidst the trees ahead of us a mighty, rastling, 
 rushing noise, and a thick " section" of rain passed by us and 
 "whistled through the pass, leaving us untouched. A minute more, 
 and another section hurtled over us, and in five minutes our 
 horses were cowering under a falling sheet of rain, and we were 
 drenched and being further drenched. In an hour the storm had 
 subsided and we were on a dry road. So partial is the rainfall 
 here. 
 
 We camped at Burrell's Creek, ten miles from the river, and 
 took possession of a deserted bamboo hut, close by the spot ou 
 which a man sometime ago had his life beaten out by the blacks 
 one night whilst sleeping, and about two miles from a new alluvial 
 rush — No. 1 Depot — on which, however, less than half a dozen 
 men were working then. The land here, like that passed the last 
 three miles or so, is swampy but well grassed. The grevillia and 
 the screw pine everywhere abound. Having lunched under 
 dripping trees and other difficulties, the party crossed the creek 
 and pursued their journey, first passing through strongly marked 
 mineral country — slate, quartz, and iron intermixed, and indica-
 
 THE INTERIOR. 39 
 
 tive of gold. All the ridges have strong out-crops of slate. 
 Further on the ground is thickly strewn with quartz pebbles, and 
 further still several well defined reefs cross the road. A swamp 
 200 yards in width leads up to Bamboo Creek, There are as 
 many bamboo creeks in the Territory as there are colours in the 
 plumage of the strange-looking little mite, no bigger than a 
 humming-bird, which here and elsewhere inquisitively eyed us. 
 From this point to Bridge Creek the land is nicely grassed, but 
 ■when we crossed it had had no rain for some days. It is capital 
 pastoral country, watered by Sandy, Bridge, and Downey's Creeks, 
 and divided from the other country by Paqualin Mount, at the 
 foot of which good gold is being got. The party marched into 
 Bridge Creek in cavalry form — riders in the van, led by Warden 
 Knight, and the Minister's packhorses in the rear, fronted by our 
 Celestial factotum, Ah Sam. As we approached the bridge — 
 named so by an excess of courtesy — we perceived a hundred China- 
 men drawn up in line before a tripod, and immediately afterwards 
 there burst upon our vision a long eccentric triangle of fizzing 
 lights, and our tympani gave audience to a perfect fusilade of 
 crackers — a fusilade so ear-piercing that our horses were inspired 
 to make a sickly attempt at shying. This was the Chinese reception. 
 The Chinamen throughout have been more demonstrative tlian the 
 Europeans, and after the Minister had acknowle igel this coui'tesy 
 in graceful pigeon-English, thry invited him to a Chintse banquet, 
 ■which he promised to attend on the return journey. Bridge Creek 
 is one of the nearest gold-fields. Its township has had an existence 
 only twelve months, and some of the gold-fields ai'ound are not much 
 older. There are of course, an hotel, a general store, withaPost-Office, 
 and several Chinese stores ; but the whole place looks as though it 
 had been set up hastily by an unconscientious contractor, and as if it 
 were in a hurry to get down again. The police camp is a bell tent, 
 which may be removed at a moment's notice. The village 
 is situated near a chain of billabongs, which exhale a malarial 
 atmosphere fruitful of fevers, prolific in deaths. The place is 
 as luihealthy as the Eden of " Martin Chuzzlewit." If the hotel- 
 keeper may be believed, thirty-seven out of ninety people who 
 first came to the gold-field had this fever — a slow, intermittent, 
 prostrating affection, unfitting a man for exercise and robbing 
 him of all energy — and many of them died. He has had 
 eighteen patients lying in and round his house at once, and no 
 doctor has ever visited the i^lace. The poor fellows have no kind 
 nurses to attend to them. The main store — Griffiths'a — has the 
 onl}' locally known specific for the disease — tincture of iron, 
 quinine, and the ubiquitous painkiller, not to mention the "drops" 
 of the enterprising Cross, of Gawlcr — and even the strongest man
 
 40 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 in the place has lustreless eyes floating in a sea of j^ellow. A 
 dozen Chinese gardeners round about ward oli' the scurvy by 
 plentiful growths of vegetables, and others counteract the good 
 by selling opium in stores distributed round the various camps. 
 There is not a white woman in the place — we have only seen two 
 since we left Palmerston — for those who have lived there have had 
 their health impaired, and there is no attraction for the un- 
 fortunate dwellers save the excitement of shooting some of the 
 geese and ducks and other waterfowl which swarm upon the billa- 
 bongs. 
 
 We left Bridge Creek on Tuesday morning, February 28, and, 
 ascending the hill at the foot of which the pestilential little place 
 nestles, came upon the first alluvial diggings we had passed on 
 the course of the road. The ground certainly looks promising 
 for gold, and the best proof that it contains the precious metal 
 is that it has been found there in large quantities. The scenery 
 grows less and less tropical, though it has never been much so. 
 The land is higher and drier, and there is an absence of screw- 
 pines and other indications of a wet soil. The road is covered 
 with quartz and iron pebbles, and the hills show the eternal slate 
 formation. There is here almost the first kangaroo grass we 
 have noticed, and there is also a frequent " intrusion of the 
 diorite." An intense heat filtering through no clouds made the 
 gentle fresh zephyrs which came every few minutes welcome as a 
 cool draught to the thirsty, and a few bright-green Chinese 
 gardens gave a home look to a place otherwise wild. Presently 
 we came to a sluggish creek, or chain of billabongs, and halted at 
 the Old Howley hostelry — the most respectable-looking place in a 
 town which seems to have for some time made an effort at respec- 
 tability of appearance, but to have given it up long since as not 
 in its line. The principal population is a big herd of wiry- 
 looking goats that were successfully reared after many failures. 
 They now thrive well, and are welcome residents in a country 
 where a milch cow is as raie as a sovereign in a church plate. 
 Teams and abandoned drays were drawn up in the township 
 awaiting the return of the dry season, when they 
 might work again, and we had another instance of the par 
 tiality of the rainfall in the finely-powdered dust which 
 strewed the roads. The Howley (which is near to the Glencoe 
 cattle station) has been a moi'e important place than it is now. It 
 is not particularly healthy, though it is pleasantly situated on 
 the slope of a gentle acclivity, crowned by a huge quartz " blow." 
 Round about are a few low hills. In a place where screw-palms 
 in plenty and a good loam proclaim rich soil for cultivation, we 
 camped for luncheon, near a puddled waterhole, and, in the ab-
 
 THE INTERIOR. 41 
 
 sence of shade trees, baked in the sun for an hour or so, and then 
 began to drench with one of the heavy rains which fall here 
 with such embarrassing lack of notice. Thus, over country- 
 growing higher and higher, and more broken up, and thicker and 
 bigger timbered, with good wide runs of quartz in all directions, 
 we approached the Port Darwin Camp. We crossed the Mar- 
 garet Creek with its alluvial flats, and Yam Creek with, on its 
 banks, the first diggings, forming part of this " centre." Past 
 the racecourse — for the Territorians attempt races between the 
 animated clothes-horses dubbed equines here — you come to Sailor's 
 Gully, which has been worked out into fragments, and has given 
 up all its gold at shallow depths. Then you pass Stuart's, and 
 other gullies of which the same may be said, and over slaty and 
 sandstony ground and a soft road you come to the Port 
 Darwin Camp, sheltered by a very high hill almost worthy the 
 appellation of mount. 
 
 The party drew up, as usual, in cavalry order, and met with a 
 hearty bvit informal reception under a clothes-line supporting a 
 flag which, shot-riddled, semced as though it had braved a 
 thousand years the battle and the breeze, &c., and looked all the 
 worse for it. The verandah-posts, clad with greenery, made the 
 otherwise homely publichouse look almost romantic. The place 
 is prettily situated on a flat with hills all round, and thick timber 
 upon them. It is an important mining centre ; it contains the 
 ordinary stores, and Chinese merchants' places, and has — unlike 
 any other place in the Territory south of Palmerston — a medical 
 attendant and a Justice of the Peace. In the night the local tribe 
 of aboriginals — the Woolwongas — got up a corrobboree in honour 
 of the Minister, and to earn a good supply of flour and tobacco. 
 The display was not particvilarly exhilarating, for not more than 
 fifty of the blacks turned out. The laen are fine stalwart 
 fellows, and their clothing would hardly cover an area sufiicient 
 for a mosquito to exercise himself upon. Most of the women wear 
 a little square of cloth from their loins, and at this corroboree two 
 appeared in the full glory of white Princess robes with gorgeous 
 bright-hued clouds. But when they were asked to enter for a 
 race tbey did not require many calendar seconds to appear almost 
 in ante-Fall costume. The boys and girls, of course, were in 
 pu7'is naturalihtts. Their principal characteristic is a wonderful 
 protrusion of abdomen. AH of this tribe are circumcised when 
 young ; in this respect differing from many of the others. The 
 Master of the Ceremonies — the King — appeared in all the import- 
 ance of the position and an old battered stovepipe hat and a pair 
 of plaid trousers. The faces of all were streaked with white, and 
 their bodies were striped skeleton pattern. Their appearance
 
 42 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 altogether would have been savage if it had not been so supremely 
 ludicrous. Well; for hours they danced and yelled around a fire 
 of barrel staves, and shouted war whoops, and trod it lightly and 
 in capital time to the music of a bamboo-pipe — in sound resembling 
 a declining blast-furnace — and a couple of sticks beaten kettledrum 
 fashion. At times their performance was to imitate the wind 
 whistling through the leaves, and the effect was certainly weird. 
 But the spear-throwing — propelled from the woomerah, for they 
 use not the boomerang — was not the best of spear-throwing. 
 There was one intelligent young fellow, however, with a head like 
 Byron's, who never missed the mark. As to the others, why, even 
 Professor Tate, catching up a spear and hurling it haphazard, was 
 almost as bad as them ! 
 
 At the Port Darwin Camp there was brought under notice a 
 custom which is too much in vogue amongst people who drive 
 cattle over from Queensland. We met one of them who had a 
 little black, dressed in boy's clothing, travelling with him as servant. 
 It transpired that this little fellow was really a girl, and what her 
 life may be I know nothing of. In the particular case I refer to 
 I suppose it may be comfortable enough, for I believe the master 
 is a good-hearted man, but in most cases these feminine boys are 
 the victims of their masters' debasing passions. That is the fact, 
 and I do not see why the matter should be minced. There has 
 been too much mincing of it already. Some of these thoughtless 
 bushmen have, in the stealing of their black servants, had 
 " brushes" with the male relatives of the latter and shot them down. 
 The natives make reprisals, and sometimes kill guilty and at other 
 times innocent men. The whites resident in the district then 
 have a "revenge" party, and shoot down a score blacks or so, and 
 call it Englis^h justice. The Queensland Government can scarcely 
 be blamed for this, because in the sparsely-populated districts 
 they cannot get at the offender. Whether they can prevent the 
 practice of females going about the country clad in male attire is 
 another q;iestion. Whether we cannot do something in the w\ay 
 of missionary enterprise is also a question which I will simi^ly 
 dismiss with the comment that half that we give to foreign mis- 
 sions would suffice for the work, in the way of which at present 
 there is absolutely nothing done. These blacks live and die like sheep, 
 only that their lot is even more degraded. And the whites degrade 
 if. Experienced men throughout both colonies tell you that they 
 never knew a so-called native trouble arise but that a lubra w^as at 
 the bottom of it, and the conscientious will not take part in 
 "revenge" engagements. How long is this blot on our civilization 
 to remain? And there is just one more suggestive query — Where 
 do all the half-caste children gol They are born: the women
 
 THE INTERIOR. 43 
 
 remain with their Euglish masters after they are born. Where are 
 the children ] You can't see half-a-dozen the Northern Territory- 
 over. Why 1 
 
 Wednesday, March 1, witnessed the departure of the party from 
 Port Darwin Camp midst the hearty congratulations of the biggest 
 crowd of spectators that the thriving little place could raise. The 
 country first passed through began gradually to grow higher and 
 higher, until little hills became rough basaltic broken ranges of 
 about equal altitude, with deep gullies, bearing marks of heavy 
 •ffaterwashes, and even now sodden and spongy. The horses off 
 the course of the road sank knee-deep in rich alluvial flats of bi'owu 
 soil, and on the road itself were frequent outcrops of sandstone and 
 quartz, varied occasionally by the diorite. All this untried. Then 
 the grass grew higher and more rank, and the stringybark prepon- 
 dei'ated amongst the trees. The anthills disappeared over a wide 
 area with their fellow-indicators of water — the screw-pine — and 
 by-and-by both reared their heads again, where the country is 
 more flat and less thickly timbered, and where the hard stiff grass 
 makes way for the toothsome " kangaroo." Six miles or so from 
 the Camp we trod on a strong rich lode of iron ore crossing the 
 road. Going on beyond the creek we came at once upon land not 
 even moistened by the rain — upon hills more rugged and precipi- 
 tous than any we had hitherto met. On one of those hills were 
 curious stone erections, marking boundaries of natives' tribal 
 territory — queer cairns, and symbolical geometrical figures "under- 
 standed" no doubt by the blackfellows, but hopelessly perplexing 
 in their fulness to any white I yet have seen. Then across 
 McMiuu's Creek, with rich soil on either side, producing the first 
 yams we had yet seen on the trip. These yams bitten by anyone 
 when pulled from the ground cause the unlucky one's lips to swell 
 almost polony-size, and his tongue to throw a detachment out of 
 mouth ; but when they are cooked after burial underground 
 the natives consider them a great delicacy. Houschildt's Creek 
 and its surroimdings are as pretty at this season as is Knight's 
 Creek with its at present wide, dry, flinty bed as void of moisture 
 as the man who gave it name is void of affectation, but with water- 
 marks bearing indisputable testimony to the undisputed fact that 
 when it rains here " pour" is its other name. 
 
 *' Dry, drier, driest," are the exclamations as the three last mile- 
 posts leave us past Maggy (with a "y") Jane's Creek, and the fourth 
 finds us enjoying a sight of the pleasant verdure of the banks of 
 the McKiulay River. The mile-plates along this road, by the way, 
 are the only ones in the Territory, and they are pecuilar. They 
 are fixed on trees mostly, and their author and finisher had a free- 
 and-easy way of arranging them. The desideratum seemed to be
 
 44 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 to make a good display of the plate by putting it on a tree of 
 aldermanic girth, and if tliat upgrowth did not happen to occur at the 
 end of 1,7G0 yards, well, the figure went up where itcZtiioccur. That 
 saved trouble ; and it was really done, unless reputedly veracious 
 persons were "dilating." The party thought it not improbable that 
 they were, and the Minister's jocular assurance that Northern 
 Territory miles boasted 2,000 yards each soothed them, as after a 
 hard day's work they drew up greeted by the clatter of a battery — the 
 first they had yet heard — and the cheers of the residents at Tennaut's 
 store, the stopping place at the Twelve Mile, the most important 
 gold-mining centre at present. Within the half-hour the party — 
 grave and gay alike — were bobbing about in the limpid stream 
 which runs beside the town, the while Professor Tate eagerly 
 rummaged on the bottom for geological treasures, and presently 
 holding up a nondescript hard piece of blue slate, shouted in all 
 earnestness : — 
 
 " Hurrah ! Look ! Why, here's a genuine pre-Adamite flint 
 FOSSIL ! " And he put it with the rest of his treasures. 
 
 When the night shades had accomplished their accustomed 
 poetic precipitation the party placed themselves on public exhi- 
 bition at " gratis " per head, as a miner described it, in an open 
 canvas tent, and whilst they dissected from their perches on candle 
 boxes (for chairs don't come so far south) the inevitable sucking 
 pig, which has all the way through acted as deputy for the fatted 
 calf, they breathed in the pure oxygen of a high elevation, and 
 watched the diggers quoit-playing, and witnessed the usual nightly 
 thunderstorm, the principal feature of which is the pi'odigality of 
 fuss and the dearth of work. And then came trouble. Forth to 
 the airy tent marched a group of miners, with the old unmis- 
 takable hungry deputationist look. These pinned the Minister at 
 the head of the table,- ranged the members on either side, and 
 forthwith began the fire with effective ammunition, taking the 
 shape of the longest memorial I have yet seen — a memorial 
 stretching itself over sixteen pages of foolscap ; and yet so well- 
 compiled as to be interesting reading matter. It was a statement 
 of grievances which have already had sufficient circulation, and 
 need not be repeated here. The Minister's reply was marked by 
 great tact, and it was received enthusiastically, cheers being 
 heartily given for him and his companions, the deputationists 
 keeping up quite a fusilade of acclamation. 
 
 There was little time for rest between the late hour at which 
 the importunate deputation with its appalling memorial had 
 finished interviewing the Minister at Twelve-Mile the previous 
 night and that at which the party began their march to Pine Creek 
 on Thursday morning, IMarch 2. But the journey once well begun,
 
 THE INTERIOR. 45 
 
 the curious road scenery absorbed attention and put an end to 
 lugubrious looks. You pass first the Bamboo Creek — the tenth 
 separate and distinct watercourse of that name we have seen — and 
 then go along a rich alluvial flat from which many Chinese have 
 taken gold, and in which a few are at present doing so. Passing a 
 quartz claim on which two poor fellows with small resources are 
 trying to do great work with the inevitable result of simply 
 scratching the soil to keep the cupboard stocked, we came to the 
 McKinlay River, and crossed it without difficulty, though a few 
 days before a police-trooper was washed some distance by its swift 
 cun-ent, swollen by heavy high-land waterfalls. The McKinlay is 
 partly a torrential stream, and at this point it laps the feet of 
 high craggy hills. These hills bear by far the strongest evidences 
 of minerals that we saw. The formation of the country is most 
 peculiar. Huge outcrops of hard slate, broken up into shingled 
 masses, bound the road on either side and cross it again and again, 
 and in scores of places are thrown out big quartz excrescences 
 from the metamorphic slate. All this land would be of no use 
 for cultivation and of little for pastoral purposes ; but if it does 
 not produce tin and gold in quantities which shall astonish even 
 people w*ho are not over-susceptible to the emotion of surprise, I 
 beg to be put down as a false j)rophet. Gold it is yielding now to 
 several reef-fossickers, but they will never lance deeply enough the 
 "million golden veins" with which the "bursting earth" is 
 blessed. Capital and skilled labour must do the business. Then 
 we proceeded over greener hills and verdant deep-soil plains, until 
 we were in the midst of capital land, fit for any kind of cultiva- 
 tion, for grazing, or for gold if its wet -season face does not belie 
 it. In this region waterlilies — rather sickly-looking, it must be 
 confessed — adorn the surface of the marshes. Crossing the Lady 
 Alice Creek, we lunched under the shade of a spreading bloodwood 
 tree, overhung almost by a peaked promontory of slate and sand- 
 stone, within the boimdary of the Lady Alice Mine. And here let 
 me say that Professor Tait carried out his entomological and 
 botanical collecting with great zest ; and the moment we halt and 
 take our cans and pannicans out we detect in one or other some 
 uncanny-looking insectivorous mite or monster that he has 
 imprisoned within them. Turning to the Professor to remon- 
 strate, we descry him on a clifl:top or in the grass gleefully 
 administering cyanide to some unfortunate specimen — a Tatii 
 amongst them, is the general hope, in deference to the collector's 
 enthusiasm. Ere we struck camp the initials of the distinguished 
 journeyers had been deeply graven in the impervious bloodwood, 
 and the 
 
 p. JF. B. E.
 
 46 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 (Mr. Bright being absent was not thus honoured) will boldly con- 
 front the traveller for generations, if only the woodman and the 
 lightning will spare that tree. Hitherto we had passed several 
 candle-box holes and trenches, called by courtesy gold-mines, and 
 each worked by one or two men ; and almost immediately after 
 starting we found ourselves in rather extensive alluvial gullies, 
 tried by only a few Chinamen — virtually abandoned, indeed. In 
 their time they were rich, and the ground was so valuable 
 that even the roadway has been washed by the irrepressible Celes- 
 tial — washed in spite of police watchfulness ; for though, as the 
 roads are not surveyed, the law cannot prevent their partial 
 demolition, the policemen justifiably bounce the diggers into 
 protecting them. On the rising ground the surface has been 
 washed in places, and the scene altogether — the vegetation and 
 the physical conformation — is not at all up to the tropical 
 standard. Scaling the Union Hill we come to the Union Claim, 
 of which more hereafter. The place is decaying, though the 
 ground is popularly supposed to be some of the richest in gold in 
 the Territory. A once-flourishing township has dwindled down to 
 about a dozen Chinese barkand-bamboo habitations and a store or 
 two. The party entered one belonging to the famous Ping Quee, 
 and were received with fully Celestial etiquette by a sleek, 
 well-fleshed, intelligent Chinaman, who obsequiously weighed the 
 gold specimens the Minister bought, and showed — well, to put it 
 mildly — tliat he had his own ideas respecting gold-weighing. 
 Leaving the Union after an acknowledgment of the courteous 
 bows of all the Chinamen they passed, the party caught their 
 first sight of the striking headland known as Mc Minn's Bluff", with 
 its surrounding peculiar high broken table-land, flat-topped, and 
 with an immense natural wall bordering its crest all round. Still 
 patches of slate and plentiful ironstone nodules, relieved by verit- 
 able oases — as gardens all abloom with vegetation, fostered 
 by Celestial care — in plain English, cabbage and sweet potato 
 gardens. Indeed, almost all the way over the watercourse called 
 Caledonian, after a local abandoned mine, down to Pine Creek, the 
 level land is fit for agriculture or pasturage, and the hills 
 for mineral work as well. We entered Pine Creek at a hand-gallop, 
 painful alike to horses, riders, and onlookers. This settlement is 
 fast declining. It was a very important centre once, and its 
 crumbling and burnt buildings were tenanted and busy with life. 
 But surface-scratching ceased to be paying, and there remain only 
 eighty representatives of the hundreds of Chinamen who some 
 years ago resided there, and contributed many victims to the 
 miasmatic diseases which took so great a comiDany, and to fear of 
 the blacks, who killed one of them and thirsted for others. In-
 
 THE INTERIOR. 47 
 
 stead of two hotels there is only one, languishing, but fairly 
 kept. The Telegraph Station has been abandoned for some time. 
 A trooper combines police with postal duty, and yet survives and 
 fattens. And no wonder, considering that in and all round the town 
 there are only eighteen Europeans, and that for some of them to 
 write or read a letter is as likely as that a bullfrog might thread the 
 windings of the Asses' Bridge, or that a grasshopper might repeat 
 the Litany. The blacks give him but little trouble, and that little 
 comes from the Alligator tribes, who are affected by kleptomania 
 occasionally, and have to submit to a binding dose of iron. 
 
 Before breakfast on Friday morning the party started on horse- 
 back to inspect the country, and particularly the copper deposits 
 which the district boasts. Crossing Pine Creek, which had been 
 heavily flooded over-night, and plunging into bog after bog — 
 so deep that the riders had repeatedly to jump off the horses and 
 help to pull them through — they were confronted by a deep gorge 
 and a big range of castellated rocks, wall-like, marking almost the 
 terminal point north of a vast central Australian stretch of peculiar 
 country geologically, and the begiuning of a granite formation 
 extending west almost to the Daly. Plentifal quartz outcrops 
 were seen ere we reached Copperfield Creek with its Agrigoolha 
 Camp — some rows of paper-bark mia-mias thrown together anyhow. 
 The generally dribbling watercourse ran deep and clear as we 
 marched through it out of many grievous bogs, and as we reached 
 the ground we were all admonished by fierce brain-protests that 
 hard travel day by day, late retiring, early rising, and no break- 
 fast are not the best "things for luxurious members of the Legis- 
 lature, or their more humble followers. Copperfield is distant from 
 Pine Creek seven, six, five, four, four and a-half, and three miles, 
 according to the distance-expert 3'ou happen to ask. AVe had all 
 these figures given oracularly, and to this day I don't know which is 
 correct. The Copperfield, as such, is very much in nuhihus. About a 
 fortnight's scraping had been done on a couple of strong lodes, which 
 look like " blows," but are not. No trial has been made to test 
 the promise of permanency which the lode gives. The ore to be 
 seen I shovdd value roughly at 40 per cent., and it includes, 
 besides the green carbonates, steel-grey, and red oxides, a little 
 "malleable," and more iron. 
 
 In the afternoon the party sallied out to inspect the gold reefs, 
 traversing on the way the shallow alluvial bed, which is nigh worked 
 out in the best known places, andon whichnotaEuropeanisengaged. 
 The first mine visited was that of Manning and Hingham, who 
 work the famed Old Clu-istmas Lead. They perform tlie stupen- 
 dous task of development themselves, unaided, and they have 
 attained unto the astonishing depth of 72 feet. They have pecu-
 
 48 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 liar hard, mottled, blue-and-wliite quartz, mixed with iron gossan^ 
 aud their average yield is two ounces. Strictly speaking, hardly 
 any trial has been made of the gi'ouud. The prospects are 
 good. The next claim is Michael ]\Iidlane's, which is on the south 
 end of the Christmas. With a staff consisting of one whole 
 Chinaman, he has paddocked out about 14 feet, and had 
 two crushings, with a two-ounce average. Scarcely more de- 
 veloped is John Hughes's pi'operty, hard by, in w^hich, generally- 
 speaking, the like results have been obtained. Really it seems 
 almost irony to use the word " mine" in speaking of any of these 
 claims. They are not developed, and the men working them, 
 living from hand to mouth, cannot open them out — must have the 
 gold at once. Capital and skilled labour must be the 
 watch-word for the Territory. Besides these claims and Jansen's, 
 to which we paid a lengthened visit, the only one working, in how- 
 ever small a way, is the old Edel Maria, which is down about forty 
 feet, aud from which four men are getting a crushing. This 
 is the furthest gold-seeking south, excepting the alluvial rush at 
 Sanders's Creek, twenty-five miles away, worked by 300 or 400 
 Chinamen, who are making good wages, and who have in 
 prospect, when they shall have scratched up the surface gold, 
 another place not far distant. Much further down, the country 
 has not been prospected at all, on account of the blacks and other 
 palpable sources of difficulty. On arriving at Mr. Jan- 
 sen's, we heard the welcome thud of his battery of 15 heads, 
 with shank-room for five more. It works well comparatively, for 
 we did not find over-much quicksilver below the blanketings. 
 There was not much pyrites in the stuff being crushed, however, 
 or the loss might have been greater. The miners tell us that they 
 lose fully one-half of their gold ; but we shall see later on. Mr. 
 Jansen, however, considers it necessary to get pulverizers and buddies. 
 Meantime, after most courteously entertaining the party in his 
 office, he drew out fully £100 worth of beautiful gold specimens and 
 presented the Minister with thebest, a magnificent one valued at .£50. 
 This grand stone and the otliers in the collection were taken from 
 JNIr. Jansen's claim — the old Telegraph and the Eleanor. The 
 former he has purchased about two years. The battery — the 
 Standard — originally cost altogether £14,000 or £15,000, and Mr, 
 Jansen bought it and the 10-headat Pine Creek from the Telegraph 
 Company for £2,000. What two Companies dared not do, a single 
 man — and he not so rich then as he has deservedly become since — 
 was plucky enough to undertake, and he has had his reward. The 
 Standard battery was the one we found working — it crushes for 
 the public as well as for the owner, and employs Chinamen. The 
 other had been idle for some time, but it will probably resume
 
 THE INTERIOR. 49 
 
 work soon. So the Standard forms comparatively a busy scene, and 
 the owner intends to make it still more busy with a plantation or 
 maize, and so on, and a residence adjoining it. For Mr. Jausen is a 
 thoroughly practical man, and he sees that while he has to pay £1 
 a bushel for maize and oats he cannot expect to make a fortune 
 very rapidly out of his horses. Even now ho runs a sawmill, and 
 with new buildings he has just replaced the old ones which the 
 ants ate down. Of his two mines, the Eleanor is at present 
 the principal. It is charmingly situated on the side of a high hill, 
 below which in the alluvial over 15,000 ounces of gold has been got. 
 You here obtain a grand view of the romantic-looking broken table- 
 land on the one side, and of the whole of the prettily undulating 
 country for miles round. Comparatively a good deal of work has 
 been done on the mine, bat the workings had 200,000 gallons of 
 water in them then. From the surface down for forty feet 
 the ground had been stoped at an angle of about 1 in 3 on the 
 course of a rich shoot. Vei-y good returns have been got from the 
 numerous little leaders, and on the slate and sandstone " floor" 
 of the shoot we saw several nuggetty pieces of gold. The reef has 
 yet to be found, and when that consummation shall have been 
 achieved Mr. Jansen's joy will be complete — conditionally, of 
 course, on the reef being rich. Meanwhile the country opened out 
 is the most j)ecui!ar I have ever seen, and the Professor confessed 
 almost as much. I might write a column about it, but the general 
 reader would only skip it. Of the Telegraph Mr. Jansen has great 
 hopes. There is a strong reef cropping up for 250 yards. The 
 " country" is the ordinary sandstone and quartz. The sinking is 
 easy, and payable gold has already been got. The reef is about 
 fifteen inches thick on the average, and when the crushing comes 
 Mr. Jansen expects to be a much richer man. And he deserves 
 to be, for a more hard-working, energetic, practical, liberal gentle- 
 man I never met. He gave the fullest information — even showing 
 stones of tin, and saying where he got them ; he speaks too of 
 something like galena being found in the neigbourhood. From his 
 books he furnished the following return of the public crushing at 
 his battery during the first two months of this year : — First, 20 
 tons, 28 oz. ; second, 38 tons, 96 oz. ; third, 50 tons, about 100 oz. 
 The average is satisfactory. The gold is worth £3 5s. an oimce at 
 Pine Creek. Five pounds a week is given to the Em-opean 
 miners, and £2 to £2 5s. to Chinamen, in both cases for eight 
 hours' labour. The Celestials feed the battery, and some of them 
 do drill work, and do it well. And this is all tliat need be said of 
 Pino Creek, the old great centre. To mako it so again for reefs 
 and not so much alluvial will be easy. The moans, capital properly 
 spent ; but first^tlie railway.
 
 so THE INTERIOR. 
 
 The visit to Pine Creek was nigh accompanied by a casualty 
 in which, reader, yours obediently was worsted in a struggle 
 against a frantic horse and a furiously running creek. It was a 
 narrow escape, and had he been a non-swimmer he probably 
 would liave had to " hand in his checks," and would have been 
 cheated out of a delightful revenge upon confiding readers. As it 
 was, the only loss was that of an antiquated hat and a borrowed 
 riding whip.
 
 THE INTERIOR. 51 
 
 CHAPTER v.— THE INTERIOR. 
 
 Mounts FergussonjVIs-dDouglas. — Reported Tin Country. — AFacetiotts 
 Celkstial. — Pine Creek TO the Twelve-Mile. — The Beginning 
 OFTHE Return Journey. — The Union Keeps. — Some Significant 
 Figures — The Claims Particularised. — The Extended Union. 
 — Seventy-five ounces to the Ton. — A Miniature Pandemo- 
 nium — How Sunday is Spent in a Eeef Village. — To Bamboo 
 Creek — Tin Discoveries, will tuey Pay ? — Botanical Nomen- 
 clature. — Disheartening Bogs. — ! ate's Grotto.— Green Ants. 
 — Difficulties of Travel. — Bottled Horses ! — Thirsty 
 Climbers. — An Unwonted Luxury. — A Beautiful Landscape. — 
 Spring Hill — ChineseCamps. — Valuable Gold Deposits. — The 
 Principal Mines Particularly, and the Others Generally. 
 — More Specimens for the Parliamentary Cjeinet. — A 
 Banquet, and More Importunity. — lo Mount Wells. — A 
 Beautiful Panorama. — A Disturbing Element. — Intrepid 
 Mount Climbers. — The Tin Selections. — The Prospects. — 
 Narrow Escape from a Fatality. — Port Darwin Camp. — 
 The Margaret. — Some Mines and Big Nuggets. — A Chase 
 for Corpse.s. — Butterfly Gully. — A Romantic Vale. 
 
 I^HE party were to have gone to the Fergusson River and 
 Mount Douglas — the first fifty miles from Pine Creek and 
 180 from Southport, and the other twenty-five miles east of 
 the Port Darwin camp ; but when we were at Pine Creek 
 news of heavy floods along the southern country came to 
 hand, and to have done the Fergusson would have necessitated a 
 long delay. That settled that proposal. As to Mount Douglas : 
 to get to it boggy land would have had to be crossed, and our expe- 
 rience had been that to go anywhere off the main line of road 
 involved the inconvenience of frequently leading our horses through 
 knee-deep mire. The consideration which suggested the inclusiou 
 of the two places in the programme of the route was the fact that 
 both had been taken up as tin selections ; but that, most people 
 will agi'ce, was not a sufficient reason why all the paraphernalia — 
 all the little paraphernalia, I should say ; for the turnout has been 
 unostentatious enough, in all conscience — should be conveyed over 
 wretched roads, so' that the party might by their \isit give a 
 fictitious value to these mineral leases ; and so it is fortunate that 
 the plan fell through. But, not wishing to be behindhand, I made 
 arrangements for securing a report from the Fergusson from a 
 thoroughly trustworthy source. When my correspondent returned, 
 however, all he could tell me was that only an apology for pros- 
 pecting had an existence there, \)ut that the country appeared to 
 be stanniferous, and had in a very slight degree been proved to be 
 so. Mount Douglas was taken up at a venture ; one of the chief 
 lessees told me that he had not the least idea whether there was tin 
 in his property, or whether there was not ; and two men, whom we met
 
 52 THE INTERIOR, 
 
 ou the downward trip — two men who had been specially sent out to 
 prospect — assured us that they could not find fiivourable indica- 
 tions. Why should the pai'ty seek them 1 
 
 We left Pine Creek at early morn of March 4, with horses even 
 more jaded and sorry-looking than they had been before, which is 
 almost equal to saying that a skeleton looks less than a skeleton 
 at times. Our humorous Chinese attendant — yclept Ah Sam — has 
 always had the " screws" that some one else had refused to ride 
 any longer ; and on this auspicious morn he bestrode an animal 
 with a great sore on its fetlock, through which, to quote Ah Sam, 
 " the stuffin' " came freely; out ; with more great ones on its back ; 
 w'ith a hopelessly " gone" leg ; and with all over the aroma of a 
 backslum gutter. Ah Sam was aggrieved and hurt, protesting, — 
 
 '•'If any other but Gove'ment fella ridee this boss, I think he get 
 him £5 fine Palmerson." 
 
 From the rear we could hear him remonstrating with the noble 
 steed thus — 
 
 " Lookee keah ! — you cally me hof way, I cally you udder hof. 
 —Hay ? " 
 
 And — (witheringly) — 
 
 " I say ; when you wantum lay down, you lettee me know. / 
 wantum takee my legs out." 
 
 But Ah Sam was sarcastic I fear. 
 
 W^e lunched at the Union Mines, being nobly entertained under 
 a canopy of living green by Mr. Bull, who is one of the enterprising 
 prospectors of the Territory. The Union Reefs were once about 
 the richest in the Territoiy ; but " Ichabod" has long been 
 recorded of them. The buildings at the various mines are tottering 
 to their fall ; the battery which once was heard near the adjacent 
 stream is now^ playing its tune at the Twelve Mile ; and the other, 
 which has long been silent, is about to be removed to the Extended 
 Union. Meanwhile, such of the few miners as are working who do 
 not pound their quartz in the mortav are stacking the stuff in 
 the hope of getting machinery. The Union is the generic term 
 for a number of claims which extend over a considerable extent 
 of land ; and a good deal of tunnelling and sinking has been done. 
 The best of the claims was the Prospecting Company's, which 
 gave 10 oz. to the ton on one occasion. This is the higliest yield ; 
 the lowest — from one of the smaller Companies — was 2^ dwt. per 
 ton. The prospectors alone got over 5,000 oz., and their deepest 
 point was less than 200 feet. No. 1 South Company has returned 
 as high as 10 oz. and as low as 2 oz. The maximum depth is 80 
 feet on watei', which seems to be a spring. From No. 2 South 
 (well known as Westcott's) 1,000 oz. have been taken, several 
 crushings having given 12 oz. per ton. Seventy feet is the lowest
 
 THE INTERIOR. 53 
 
 depth. No. 3 South, -where the deepest point is 40 feet, gave for 
 six or seven months' work more than 600 oz. of gold. The average 
 of the crnshings was a little over 3 oz. to the ton ; and so with 
 No. 4 South. No. 5 South is the celebrated Ping Quee's, and the 
 deepest on the Union, 260 feet. At that depth no water or 
 mundic has been reached. The average yield was about the same 
 as those of the last-named two. The best crushing from 5a South 
 was 6 oz. ; the depth 60 feet. The spare ground between 5 and 6 
 South gave 3| oz. to the ton at the last crushing. The gold is of 
 a very superior quality. No. 6 South is yielding 1^ oz. from a 
 very free stone ; and from No. 7 South an avei-age of 3 oz. stone 
 has been attained. No. 8 South had been carried down 45 feet ; 
 the last crushing from No. 1 North was 15 oz. per ton, and the 
 lowest 8 dwt. No. 2 North is very shallow — it gave 2 oz. to the 
 ton ; with No. 3 North 7 oz. and 4 oz. are the highest figures ; 
 Mr. McLean, the present owner, has for years made a living 
 pounding the stone in a mortar. No. 4 North gave an average 
 of 6 oz., and from No. 5 North 800 oz. has been taken off a single 
 patch. Nos. 6, 7, and 12 North average a little less, and in no 
 case was there the slighest approach to deep sinking. So rich has 
 been this gold-field — alluvial and quartz — that (I have it on 
 unquestionable authority) Ping Quee alone has bought and sent 
 home half a ton of gold from it and its surroundings. The 
 princijjal part of the workings now being operated upon is the 
 merged property known as the Lady Alice, which produces a pale- 
 white stone and pale-yellow gold. Eighty tons of stone are ready 
 for the stampers, but the great drawback is the absence of any 
 battery nearer than eight miles. The prospects of a satisfactory 
 yield ai*e, however, good. The other claims are leased by Com- 
 panies and held by private people ; but the place has been locked 
 up for years by the holders. With proper methods for develop- 
 ment — and they could be easily applied, as there is every con- 
 venience almost, even down to the large dam which the original 
 owners made — this property should be, from all appearances, 
 a very valuable one. "Without them it will still manage to maintain 
 its j^resent staff of half a dozen men or so, where half a thousand 
 should find ample incomes. 
 
 Going from the Union to the Extended across country we were 
 almost immediately confi'onted by a large and most curious " blow" 
 of quartz, rising like a huge wall, rock upon rock, fully 10 
 feet high. The formation of the hills — the Seven Sisters — is the 
 eternal slate and sandstone and quartz, with well-grassed flats 
 between. The Extended Union is on the ]\IcKinlay River, and 
 surmounts some worked-out alhivial gullies in which only a few 
 Chinamen now fossick. We saw one squatting on his hams panning
 
 54 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 off' liis cradliugs, and we asked him what kick he had. The 
 response, with a shake of the head and also of the dish, was the 
 " No savee," which was as good an intimation of success as one 
 could wish from a Chinaman. Messrs. Noltenius and party were 
 at the time of our visit the holders of the Extended, which has 
 since been sold. Started about eight years ago and at sundry 
 intervals allowed to remain idle since, it has given as much as 75 
 oz. to the ton from nine tons of a shoot sunk down upon from the 
 surface. The countiy is permeated by most peculiar quartz 
 leaders, some no thicker than a knife-blado, but all rich. The last 
 returns from the top ground averaged 30 dwts. to the ton, the 
 stutf being taken the w^hole width of 23 feet. In sinking the 
 course of the shoot has been followed, and as it was erratic 
 the workings also are eccentric, beginning in a huge excavation 
 and forking off" into a downright and an underlay shaft, continuing 
 inatortuous direction, and windingup with a downright ITOfeet from 
 the surface. The workings are almost full of water now, but they 
 will be drained by an engine to be erected near the main shaft. 
 A ten-head battery will also be furnished to help the five-head one, 
 a little erection which has put thi-ouuh £21,000 worth of gold. 
 That exact information respecting the broad totals might be in, 
 possession of my readers I got a statement copied from the battery- 
 books, which show that 4,000 ounces came from the Extended 
 claim, 1,177 from Lorrance's in the neighboiu'hood (average 6 
 ounces), 882 ounces from Fiveash's (average about 4 ounces), 150 
 ounces from Walker's, and 122 ounces from Stuart's— in these 
 cases the averages not given. Besides these other little claims 
 adjacent are being worked. Towards dusk we crossed the banks of 
 the McKinlay, and reaching the Twelve-mile on Saturday night 
 rested on the Sunday. The rest-day is to the people of the Twelve- 
 mile nothing but a time of pleasure, if indeed it is even that. 
 Take, for instance, the way in which it was spent on this occasion. 
 In the morning a rifle match took place, the while a smith shod 
 some horses. Then quoits w^ere thrown, in one or two cases by 
 inebriated men. In the evening many of the residents of the place 
 gathered in a little cottage not far from the quarters of the Minis- 
 terial party, and carried on a drunken orgie all through the night 
 and into the early hours of the Monday morning. The language 
 used would put an irate trooper — the ivorst swearer of the worst 
 swearing troopers, if you will — to the blush. Every third word 
 was the sanguinary adjective, and a sentence of ten syllables I 
 heard garnished with six expletives. So superlativel}' disgusting 
 did one scamp become where all his boon companions were to the 
 last degree objectionable that even a Northern Territory trooper 
 (and he was exceptionally nice, for he had not the free-and-easy
 
 THE INTERIOR. 55 
 
 notious of some of the coufrateniity), issued a summous against 
 him, and he had subsequently to travel twenty miles at his owu 
 expense and pay a £5 fine. The most curious feature about these 
 goings-on is the fact that there is no public-house within a great 
 many miles, and the storekeeper can sell only a gallon at a time. 
 Whence comes the liquor then, and on a Sunday, too ? The store- 
 keeper in an excess of charity gives it away, probably. That being 
 so, you can't blame the men much for drinking it. There is not a 
 white woman in the place, there is no society, there are no amuse- 
 ments, there is no church or any sort of religious service anywhere 
 except at Palmerstou ; and, in truth, I believe that if the one 
 righteous resident of the Twelve-mile had either to hang or find 
 another the rope would assui-edly have to be called into requisition. 
 On ]\[onday morning, March 6, the party left the Twelve-mile, 
 untrammelled by packhorses, for a visit to the site of the Bamboo 
 Creek tin discoveries. The road thither branches off to the west 
 from that to Pine Creek, and soon becomes a steep blazed track, 
 winding through on the whole fairly good land for agriculture, 
 better for pasturage, and best for minei'als. As to the latter, the 
 ruling rocks are the slate and sandstone and the various forms of 
 granite. Our first halt — leaving out of the reckoning the enforced 
 stoppages whilst the horses were being led through the mire — was at 
 the New Year's Day Claim, belonging to Messrs. WalkerandTennant, 
 and situated halfway down asteephill,tocompassthe descent of which 
 seemed a sore trial to unaccustomed cliff-climbers amongst us, men and 
 horses alike. The working on the property consisted, at the time 
 of our visit, of little more than a hole about teu feet deep, sunk 
 with doubtful judgment in the very middle of the water-course in 
 the gully. There were several leaders with gold in them, and from 
 the reef some very hard blue-mottled quartz specimens with specks 
 were taken. The "country" is a sort of laminated sandstone, and 
 Mv. "Walker, who does the work, has a good chance of success. 
 Wisely he has since begun his development in another place. Our 
 course again lay over soppy, long-grassed plains, with screw pine 
 and the Leichhardt pine, which latter is really not a pine at all, 
 but its timber is useful and almost w^hite-ant proof, and its fruit — 
 a little rough apple about the size of an apricot — makes a capital 
 pleasantly bitter tonic. Then the road wound ihrough maze after 
 maze of tall bamboo-like grass, and bamboo creeks innixmerable 
 — some of course with no bamboo at all — and altogether dubbed 
 " bamboo " in fine irony none the less. A flower, magnolia-like, 
 and called so — (it is really a myrtle) — and what the people name 
 the desert rose, but in fact a lemon-scented mallee, and the plenti- 
 ful and grateful musk-bush lined the track, and made up a queer 
 but pleasant mixture of odours. Boggy crossings many times
 
 56 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 duplicated, with consequent real hardships, made all the Parlia- 
 mentary party look lugubrious, as though they repented their 
 enterprise. But we got to Bamboo (or Snadden's) Creeek 
 at last, and on the new scene of the tin discoveries, on the 
 south-west boundary of the loO square miles radiating from Mount 
 Wells, taken up as stanniferous country. We camped at the 
 latter place, which the Minister decided must henceforth be 
 immortalized as Tate's Grotto, in honour of the Pro- 
 fessor. The creek-bed there is formed of indurated slate, 
 with mica and rocky crystals and quartz and bastard 
 granite, very much broken up. Almost all that has been 
 done in the way of prospecting for tin is the sinking of a 
 paddock twenty feet long and five or six feet deep, which was 
 nearly full of water when we saw it. It is sunk on Johnson and 
 Samper's selection, whei\ce the tin ore which caused some sensa- 
 tion down South was taken, and where the wash is two 
 feet thick and rich in tin. We also got some tin — some good tin 
 — from the hole and from the bed of the creek, where the nodules 
 are plentiful enough. Gold also is found in company with them 
 — -indeed, it was in washing for the more precious metal that the 
 less was discovered ; and a practical opinion is that enough gold 
 might be got to pay the expenses of working. No tin-lode has 
 been unearthed or seen ; but the Professor gave the confident 
 assurance that he could find one in two days, and as to its near 
 presence no doubt he was right. The tin is found higher up the 
 gully than the gold. All the ravines empty into the creek, 
 and the probability is that the fast-rising hills all round contain 
 the lode. So far what is hnoion ; what has been conjectured 
 would fill folios, but I leave it out. Downright methodical prac- 
 tical search-work is needed, and I am glad to see that it is since 
 being undertaken, with fair success already. But the full develop- 
 ment of the tin, as of the copper, mines depends, though in a 
 less degree, upon the solution of the railway question. 
 
 I must not omit a reference in this junction between two points 
 to the green ants that make their habitation in the trees. They 
 were first brought prominently under our notice by an inquisitive 
 young man — a member of the Party — who was eternally poking 
 round odd corners in the hope of finding something new. He saw 
 several green bunches like nests in tlie trees over our camp, and 
 he reached for one with a bamboo, and then took hold of it with his 
 hand. He did not retain his grasp somehow — not long. 
 
 " Jee-ee-r-r-?(-s-a-lem !" 
 
 That was his only remark, but he danced about as though he 
 were insane, or else were trying some burlesque of fancy posturing
 
 THE INTERIOR. 57 
 
 — feet describing all sorts of angles ; hands emulating a crazy- 
 windmill. 
 
 " What's the matter 1 " 
 
 " J-e-e-ee-eif-E-E-ru-salem ! " 
 
 The only answer at first was that mystic reference to the ancient 
 Jewish capital. By and by the contortions of his features became 
 a little fatigued, and retiring allowed his lips a better chance. 
 Then he shot off as though he were in a great hurry, and with 
 considerable earnestness, the words : — 
 
 "Green An Ilanff it Ants! The Oh-h-h-h / 
 
 Ah-h ! " H'i'm ! " 
 
 He had discovered that the leafy bunch was a green ants' nest, 
 and the ants had made with their usual penetration the discovery 
 that plump European is not at all bad diet for a change. He 
 pitched — pitched quite savagely, I grieve to say — the whole nest 
 — some ten inches long by eight wide — into the creek, and soon 
 after the " agglutinated umbrageous tabernacle" (vide Knight's 
 Vocabulary !) had dissolved, and the surviving ants, making rafts of 
 the sticky leaves, were floating in hundreds shorewards. And 
 that unforgiving young man fiendishly shoved each leaf-raft under 
 as it came to land ! 
 
 The return journey was made in a different direction tliroagh 
 hard granite country, with some magnificent views from hilltop of 
 undulating land, and experience of plains sticky almost as glue. 
 By the time the party reached the starting-point it was not without 
 warrant that they confessed to exhaustion, whilst the horses looked 
 so utterly melancholy, and so generally unequine, that it was 
 gravely suggested that the Professor should bottle one as a 
 curiosity in natural history. Next day also was a poser. 
 Such scrambling and walking and climbing as the party did 
 on foot, members of Parliament, as such, never undertook before. 
 After an inspection of the Twelve-Mile Battery, which does not by 
 any means save all the gold it ought to save, we started on foot on 
 a visit to the quartz claim. We first came to Lorance's 
 Creek, below Spring Hill, where we caught sight of the little 
 Chinese township and its surrounding alluvial diggings, which have 
 been very rich, but now are only moderately so. They were once 
 crowded with fossickers ; their numbers have diminished. We came 
 simultaneously to Manuel's Gully, and another and a smaller 
 Chinese camp, near which gold once was found plentifully. 
 There is not a man at work there now. Then we reached, after a 
 perilous scramble, the cosy, airy house of Captain Pilchards, 
 I'epresentiug the English (Arnhcim) Company, and had the un- 
 wonted luxury of a seltzogene, which made cloudy water taste 
 like nectar, and " crisp" limejuice resemble the best-loved
 
 58 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 draught of the gods. We went subsequently through Morgan's 
 Gully — formerly rich in alluvial gold — to the New Era Company, 
 one of four, part of which Mr. Pitcher, of Adelaide, representing 
 English capitalists, has purchased here. The four have the 
 title of the United Gold-mining Company, the name of the Com- 
 pany itself being " The Arnheim." These mines are situated on 
 the western side of the range. The original owners some time ago 
 amalgamated their interest, and half of it was purchased as indi- 
 cated. The New Era has been opened along the surface fifty 
 feet, and a shaft forty feet deep has been sunk, underlying 
 north-east and south-west on the coiu-se of the reef. This is the 
 direction nearly always here. The principal formation is sand- 
 stone, with a reef about two feet thick. Three crushings have 
 been taken from the claims. The yields per ton were — 25 tons, 
 H oz. ; 40 tons, 4 oz. ; 90 tons, a little more than ^ oz. The 
 next claim is the Clifton, in which gold has been traced 
 along the line for between 80 and 90 feet, but only one small crush- 
 ing, yielding a little over 3^ oz. to the ton, has been taken out. 
 A shaft has been sunk upon the reef 35 feet. There is 
 the usual sandstone formation, but the gi'ound is peculiarly un- 
 settled in character. The geological description would probably be 
 — "a dislocation, and the infiltration of the gold has fol- 
 lowed." The reef averages about a foot in thickness, and there is 
 a reasonable probability that the stone, which is not now rich, is 
 absolutely poor compared with that which will be found lower 
 down. There are several undeveloped gold-bearing reefs and 
 leaders yet. 
 
 Dry as this subject may be, the reader is not half so dry as the 
 inspectors were when they at infinite pain had succeeded in 
 scrambling to the top of Spring Hill. After they had assuaged 
 their thirst with material hospitably provided, they metaphori- 
 cally drank in the beauties of scenery like to that which Australians 
 travel to Switzerland to gaze upon — scenery embracing all the 
 prominent landmarks for miles and miles, and every little town- 
 ship, the alluvial diggings, upland and dale, and waving grass iu 
 white and green mosaic. Over it the graceful fern-palm, and the 
 many deep-green shrubs, and over them the beautiful white gum, 
 and silver paper bark, the blood wood, and the anthill ; and 
 throughout the verdant pattern the tributary streams to larger 
 creeks ; and overhead the deep-blue canopy, checkered with sun- 
 beams and light haze. 
 
 Our entertainers were Messrs. McGrath and Sanstrom, and the 
 locale the North-east Clifton Claim. The work done is the sinking 
 a shaft 28 feet deep and another smaller one. The works have 
 opened out on two reefs, two feet and one foot wide respectively. The
 
 THE INTERIOR. 59 
 
 stone shows a little gold — and of conrse the Parliamentary party had 
 some. Lam-ieand Mackenzie hold the nest claim. On the hilltop they 
 have been costeening a paddock, about 10 feet deep, 20 feet long 
 and 4 feet wide. In two w^eeks they raised 30 tons of good-looking 
 stone, besides a heap of washdirt. Two of the most energetic 
 men in the Territory are ^Messrs. Lauiie and Mackenzie, and they 
 stand as good a chance as I have seen of being rewarded for their 
 entei-prise. The " Parliamentary" ]\Iine they called their claim, 
 in honour of the party. Close by, on the same property, they have 
 another reef which is permeated by a peculiar black gossany 
 stone, which looks like coal-tar-painted cinders, and which stains 
 yoiu* hands like pitch. The reef is a'oout 2 feet thick, and shows 
 gold pretty freely. Turning south again — the land north has not 
 been taken up, but might fairly be — we come to the East Clifton, 
 the richest-looking mine save Jansen's, at Pine Creek, that we had 
 yet seen here. It is owned by Messrs. Magrath & Sanstrom, who 
 have found in it four gold-bearing reefs, one of which they are 
 exploring with favourable indications. Moreover they have taken from 
 a mullock leader 12 tons, and netted 72 ounces. Those muUocky 
 leaders are curious. In most fields they would not yield gold at 
 all. Mr. Furner — no tin-disher, by-the-way — dug out a pie-tiu 
 full and washed a couple of pennyweights. From his tailings I 
 got two or three grains. There is no telling how long these 
 leaders will last, however — not long, probably ; but there is 
 the i-ich-lookiug reef to fall back upon. Proceeding, we passed 
 Driscoll's Claim, which the day before had given only 16 oz. for 20 
 tons of stone, and caused the unfortunate worker a 50 per cent, 
 loss. Then we got to the third of the United Company's claims, 
 suggestively called the Pay-me-Well, which is said to have yielded 
 more gold than any other in the district. It has paid well for 
 working from the surface dow^i to about 10 feet from the present 
 depth. The leaders are not at present payable. The workings so 
 far have not exceeded 60 feet along the course of the reef. At a 
 depth of 160 feet from the top of the hill a tunnel has been driven 
 to that extent. There is a repetition of the mullock, with very 
 little quartz. The footwall is a splendid black slate with soft 
 sandstone. Then we came to the fourth of the Company's claims 
 — the Hongkong. This was one of the few reefs originally taken 
 up and worked by Chinamen, who have since returned to the 
 Celestial land. Some grand specimens have been taken from 
 leaders in the claim, and the returns have been exceedingly satisfac- 
 tory. If it be possible to make it pay now, Captain Richards is 
 the man to do it. This closes the list of the claims on Spring 
 Hill, which is certainly amongst the best auriferous country that 
 I have ever seen. Through the absurdly large area of land allowed
 
 CO THE INTERIOR. 
 
 to each prospector, already the whole Hill is held iii eight claims 
 by sixteen men, who may continue in possession for aye, or so 
 long as it shall continue to pay them to scratch the surface. As a 
 matter of fact I believe that they intend to thoroughly develop — 
 as well as poor men can develop — their properties, but they could 
 hold them without the development if they chose ; and this should 
 not be. All these claims are to the north of the battery, and the 
 ground on which they are, as well as that on which the other 
 Companies stand, has been taken np for tin-mining by Adelaide 
 Companies. Going south we first reached Quirk and Williams's 
 Claim, in which some very rich specimens have been taken from 
 the surface, or very near to the surface. The adjoining- 
 claim was worked some time but the gold was not sufficient 
 to pay c£4 per ton for carting and crushing alone, and it 
 was abandoned. It is near the battery now, and is to be worked 
 again. About a mile off is the Elizabeth Prospecting Claim, on the 
 banks of the McKinlay. There has been 140 yards opening up 
 upon the surface on a long run of gold. The returns have varied 
 from 3 to 4 oz., a crushing three months ago of 72 tons yielded 
 418 oz., and two more later 29 tons gave 100 oz., save 2 dwts. 
 Even this did not pay with the heavy charges, and the ownei^s — 
 Messrs. Clyma and Roberts — intend proceeding with the develop- 
 ment of the mine when they shall have erected a battery for 
 themselves. At present, after twelve months' work, it is sus- 
 pended. On the other side of the McKinlay is Poison's Claim, 
 which has yielded as high as 1 1 oz. to the ton of a small crushing. 
 The last gave a trifle over 2 oz., but from the stone the " eyes" 
 had been picked out and crushed in a mortar. Several Chinamen 
 are employed on the mines. Adjoining is a little claim held by Mr. 
 S. C. Smith. He has only had one crushing, which yielded 4^ oz. 
 to the ton. Then there is the Home Point, belonging to 
 Mclntyre and Delmar, and in the first great throes of the famous 
 or infamous " rush" giving remarkable returns, but abandoned, as 
 the gold was supposed to have run out. Work has been recom- 
 menced, however, and the gold has been met with again. This 
 exhausts the list of working claims in the district. Tlie whole of 
 them employ at the most fifty men, and in none of them has any 
 real trial taken place. Of the wlierefore more anon. Meantime 
 the reader is in a position to judge of the extent, and in a certain 
 measure of the i-esults of quartz-mining in this the most important 
 centre in the Northern Territory. I have merely to add that the 
 average weekly purchase of gold by the European storekeepers is 
 50 oz. What the Chinese buy there is no means of knowing. 
 
 After the arduous labours of the day, the party had, pyjama- 
 clad, stretched their weary limbs upon their hammocks, and were
 
 THE INTERIOR. 61 
 
 fast falling asleej), wlieu at ten o'clock they were aroused and in- 
 vited to a champagne supper offered by the resident miners as a 
 farewell compliment. The Chairman took the empty soap-case 
 beneath a loose canvas canopy, which from the top let in a 
 view of sections of the sky, and from the sides a fresh breeze and 
 countless mosquitoes and other winged torments. The guests 
 were ranged, in pyjamas still, on one side of the table, on low 
 lounges and benches, whilst the hosts squatted on candle-boxes on 
 the other. In speeches, tasteful enough, and yet sufficiently 
 importunate, several miners brought various wants before the 
 Minister, who promised to do what he could to meet them. And 
 when the formal proceedings closed at twelve o'clock, for a couple 
 of hours afterwards the hills resounded with song. From " Kath- 
 leen Mavourneen" to "the Donkey Eace at Hampstead Heath," 
 the changes rung, the Minister and his party good-naturedly sitting 
 up half the night to listen to the anything but dulcet strains 
 of some of the songs, and this with the necessity of rising at 
 daydawn to begin the journey to Mount Wells. 
 
 Next morning we rose as the sun was beginning the business of 
 the day, and set out for Mount Wells, the famed pioneering point 
 of the tin selections. It is about nine miles distant from the 
 Twelve-Mile, and three miles off the main road to Port Dar- 
 win Camp. And such three miles ! Morass, swamp, bog ; horses 
 led a third of the way ; constant dismounting, and walking some- 
 times knee-deep in slush. The Professor almost lost his steed in a 
 soft yam patch, and w^as himself, with others of the party, 
 utterly exhausted when camp was made at the foot of the cele- 
 brated Mount Wells. The Mount is one of the highest in the 
 Northern Territory, and it towers over its immediate neighbours 
 like Goliath over Tom Thumb. Its elevation is more than 
 a thousand feet ; and the records show not more than twelve names 
 of Europeans who have scaled it. Our party were not anxious to 
 increase the number, but with the ever-active Chief- 
 director Lindsay, I managed to get on top, though the sun- 
 heat was so excessive as to make the climb the kind of thing you 
 would like an enemy to regale himself upon. But once on the 
 summit the view was worth all the trouble, and fifty times as 
 much. Never, in any of the other colonies, have I seen such a 
 beautiful and far-reaching panorama. Standing on the remains 
 of the trigonometrical station, you see northwards the promi- 
 nent peak of jMount Douglas, and the ranges skirting the overflow 
 of the Puver Mary. To the east are caught glimpses of the high 
 table-land of the Alligator Rivers ; and south-east you see the 
 Twelve-mile Settlement, with its curling battery smoke ; the 
 Union Hill, Pine Creek, and the high laud between it and the
 
 G2 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 Katherine, the sharp-peaked hills tree-clad. Westward lies the 
 table-land forming the watershed of the Daly, and beyond you 
 can trace with the glass the track of the Adelaide, and mark 
 some of its many windings. If Mount Wells never becomes cele- 
 brated for its tin it will be a favourite resort for hill-climbers in 
 the distant future — only a patent lift must be placed on its 
 crest for the convenience of travellers. My companion, the better 
 to enjoy the sight, shinned up the old " trig." pole, and was 
 eloquently describing the watershed of the McKinlay and the fifty- 
 miles circle of vision from his place of vantage, when two March 
 flies — there are thousands on the Mount — attached themselves 
 to his person. He seemed at once to lose interest in the view, 
 and slid down the pole as if a sudden thought had struck him, im- 
 pelling him to an exclamation of intense astonishment. To 
 this day, I am not of my own knowledge aware whether he 
 was overpowered with the many beauties of the exquisite pano- 
 rama before us, or whether the March flies had imparted a pi'eter- 
 natural smartness to his thought. In support of the latter 
 notion it may be said that those same flies are very, very 
 penetrating. 
 
 There is nothing especially noteworthy in the formation of the 
 mount as tin country. I candidly confess that I prefer that at 
 Snadden's or Bamboo Creek, thoiigh this resembles in general 
 features the country near Stanthorpe and Vegetable Creek, in 
 New South Wales. There is granite not far ofi", and there are 
 indurated slate and sandstone in the course of the feeble little 
 creek which struggles along at the foot of the mount. But there 
 is not nearly so much of the stream tin as there is at the other place 
 — it is more " dredgy." Not that the fact necessarily tells against the 
 value of the country. At the first blush it does appear ridiculous 
 that 150 miles of land should be taken up for tin because a little 
 of the metal was got from a couple of holes not big enough for 
 graves for a full-sized man. We camped on Quirk, Miller, A: Tennant's 
 selection. Mr. Quirk claims to have discovered tin in a creek nearthe 
 mouut, just below a ravine, which it is believed the lode approaches, 
 in October, 1880, whilst prospecting for gold. What followed the 
 public know. The leases allowed on Mount Wells are Quirk, 
 Tennant, & Miller's, 240 acres ; Solomon's, 764 acres. These names 
 include several proprietaries. Some of whom since I was there have set 
 to work energetically to develop them. Granted a continuance of 
 this work, under proper management, the results can hardly fail 
 to be satisfactory. 
 
 It was afternoon when we left Mount Wells, with fifteen miles 
 of journeying yet to be done, and three of them over hillsides slop- 
 ing as much as the gable of a steep roof. On cue of these our ever-
 
 THE INTERIOR. 63 
 
 jovial Commissariat Conservator — Mr. Knight, the chief in 
 order — came to grief, and nearly lost his life. His horse went 
 under a lov-brauched tree, which pushed the rider off the saddle 
 and down shoidder-foremost on the stones with which the hill was 
 besprinkled. Mr. Knight rode fifteen stone, and did not fixll a 
 feather-weight, and a staved-iu helmet and a scalp wound testified 
 to the providential character of the escape. The only actual 
 injuries inflicted were those to the head, and a severe wrenching 
 of the bones and bruising. It was almost dusk when wo passed 
 over the beautiful black loam of ^Ic Minn's Creek, and night had 
 long since closed in— a dark, damp, murky night, feebly 
 illuminated by countless fireflies and numberless glow-worms — ere 
 we reached Port Darwin Camp ; and there were no deputations 
 that night. That fact was worthy of record. On Thursday 
 morning the party started for the Shackle or Yam Creek or Sandy 
 Creek ; the jDcople call it the first, the Telegraph Department the 
 second, the Local Court folks the other. It is about four miles 
 distant, and on the way Sandy Creek alluvial gold-field, employing 
 only a few Chinamen, is passed. There are beautiful Chinese gar- 
 dens on either hand, and the scenery altogether is most 
 picturesque. Anxious to inspect the famed Margaret rush and 
 the battery east of Port Darwin Camp, I made a detour of some 
 miles and got to the Shackle by a roundabout. We fii-st visited 
 the old Forbes battery of ten heads, then owned by Mr. 
 Griffiths, and since purchased by a Company. It is the most 
 substantial machinery that I have seen in the Ten'itory, and it is 
 a pity that such valuable plant — it is said to have cost altogether 
 £20,000 — should have remained idle long enough for its enclosure 
 and blanket-boxes to go completely to wrack and ruin 
 and itself to rust. The road thence to the rush trends along 
 the banks of the Margaret Creek, where the land is about the best 
 that the Territory boasts in this direction. Applications have 
 been made by the. Chinese merchants for selection of this land for 
 plantation purposes — the growth of maize, coffee, cotton, Chinese 
 tobacco, the custard apple, the lichee-nut (I had some, and found 
 them better than French prunes), and such like. Of course 
 there are several Chinese gardens along the road now, and plan- 
 tains and maize and bananas flourish. I had an interesting interview 
 with a most intelligent Chinese merchant at the Margaret — Quong 
 Wing Chong, second only in wealth and power to the 
 almighty Ping Quee. As soon as we came in sight he huiTied his 
 servants with the gin bottle and the tea ; and so soon as we had 
 dismounted he pressed his courtesies ujDon us. He seems very 
 anxious to start a plantation. He feels assured the soil would grow 
 the articles enumerated, and many more. Last year the Margaret
 
 '64 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 was the great centre of alluvial work. Big nuggets, some as heavy as 
 25 lb. and more, were got from an average depth of 4 ft. About 2,000 
 Chinamen were at 'work, and fights between the two camps were of 
 common occui'ence. Now the number of Chinamen has dwindled 
 down to eighty, and the average purchases of gold by Quong Wing 
 Chong are only 25 oz. a week. There are two reefs at work — Ping 
 Quee's, where the three Chinamen engaged got £500 worth from 
 one bucket of stone a few days before we visited them. It has 
 always been a mai'ked feature of the Margaret that the gold occurs 
 there in patches. The other claim is the Grove Hill, which is 
 being worked by tributers, who are doing well. Recently they 
 crushed ont 365 oz. in a mortar. Then they had to 
 do some dead work, as the shaft fell in, but the week before we saw 
 them they had got 28 oz. After lunching off damper and tea at a 
 diggers' camp we threaded our way at infinite trouble and some 
 danger through the abandoned grass-gTown holes of the Margaret. 
 This country — which has been pretty thoroughly turned over — 
 w^as once the scene of races between the troopers and the Chinamen. 
 The former would find a corpse lying neglected on the diggings, 
 and would chase the reputed relatives and compel them to take 
 charge of the body of the deceased. But if they got hold of the 
 wrong man, and could not quit their unsavoury find, they wonld 
 take it up and place it in the centre of the gambling house. The 
 right party to move the "trouble" would soon be found. Just 
 out of the Margaret the path loses itself in excavations and holes, 
 and Chinese gardens and grass. Consequently we had frequently 
 to pull up our horses on the bank of a great chasm and zigza,g the 
 place in delineation of a crosscut saw. Thus came we over 
 frowning crags to Butterfly Gully, where wave the biggest of fan 
 palms, and grows other tropical vegetation more profusely than in 
 any other part of our journeying. Under a bold, jagged, superin- 
 cumbent mass of cliffs are two little caves, and in the creek which 
 they overlook — another Bamboo Creek, of course ! — there seem to 
 be indications of tin. Then through stretches of grass fully 
 sixteen feet high, each separate plant short, stiff almost as a 
 rapier's point, and the seeds sharp as needles, our horses flew 
 at a gallop, and such a thwacking as our faces got with the 
 rebounding grass. It lashed us as whips lash, and ovu- cloth- 
 ing was stuck as thick as a working pincushion with the barblike 
 seeds. On the banks of another part of this creek we caught 
 sight of the broken tableland, and the huge white and granite 
 bluffs beyond the Shackle, and on the creek bank too vast granite 
 rocks were piled upon each other in fantastic confusion. At one 
 point there was a miniature Logan-stone, and looking at it you 
 would think that the shohtest touch of the lightest hand would
 
 THE INTERIOR. 65 
 
 capsize it. Aud so to the Shackle, where the rest of the party 
 had arrived long before, and where for once they rested, 
 because there was little to be seen. Towards evening Professor 
 Tate went to the Bluff — a prominent upshoot of the broken table- 
 land — and was much interested in the peculiar formation of the 
 upland, where sandstone and other ridges rise above each other 
 like tiers of huge walls.
 
 6G THE INTERIOR. 
 
 CHAPTER VL— IX THE INTERIOR. 
 
 The Shackle or Yam Creek. — Perplexing Nomenclature. — A Decav- 
 ING Place. — The oxly Young Lady.— A Cigar " ^MOKEREs.s." — 
 Lewis's Camp. — No Coal. — A Boiling Spring. — Explorers. — 
 The FoaNTAiN Head. — Some Foolish Birds and their Eccen- 
 tricities. — Some Hotel-keepers and theirs. — The John Bull 
 Mine. — A Bush Dinner.— The Goat Eaters. — Another 
 Deputation. — More About the How ley. — The Old Howley. — 
 Beetson's Battery. — A Chinese Camp. — Bridge Creek biG- 
 CJiNGS. — A Lonely Grave. — " Worm Picnics." — An Entertain- 
 ing Funeral. — I'he Everlasting "Square." — Chinese Hospi- 
 tality. — Another Copper Mine. — Bridge Creek. — A Celestial 
 B-ANQUET. — Some Linguistic Difficulties. — A Ludicrous .*^ITUA- 
 TioN. — A Word OR TWO about Bridge Creek. — No. 1 Depot. — 
 The Adelaide PiIver. — The Stapleton and the Old Virginia 
 Mine. — Poiett & Mackinnon's Coffee Plantation. — A. Mag- 
 nificent Estate. — An Extraordinary Spri.ng — Cinchona 
 Planting. — Cheap Labour with a Vengeance. — an Important 
 INDUSTRY. — Further information about the Finniss. — The 
 End of the Mining Inspection. — No trial ! No trial I No 
 trial '.—The Swindles.— Conclusions. 
 
 ^7^ HE Shackle is not a lively place. The gold leads seem to 
 have marched past and left it on the flank. Whether it 
 became disheartened at that, or by reason of the strange 
 mixture of nomenclature concocted over it, let some pro- 
 found reasoner discuss. The fact is that the place is ap- 
 parently on its last legs, and feeble, tottering shanks they be. I 
 spoke of its nomenclature, and I ask you whether you ever saw the 
 like. Before a Telegraph Ofiice was built upon it it had a "shackle" — 
 a break in the line where travelling operators could speak the differ- 
 ent officeswith ahand instrument, and so itgot to be popularly known 
 as " The Shackle." When the Government established a postal aud 
 telegraph business they called their place " The Yam Creek Office ;" 
 and when to it they added a Police Court, they christened it 
 " Sandy Creek." And the little hamlet has had to jog along ever 
 since, burdened with three names, to the endless confusion of 
 travellers. There are worse-looking places than the Shackle, but 
 that there are duller I beg to dispute. It is one of the stations on 
 the overland telegraph line, and sometime ago was important enough 
 to be made an " official " centre. The Deputy- Warden (Mr. Nash) 
 was quartered there, following Mr, Knight, to act also as Resident 
 Magistrate, and several etceteras. The police sub-office was there 
 fixexl, and Corporal Montague— and a right good corporal, too — 
 placed and continued in charge. There was a miners' hospital, 
 where good, kind-hearted ]\Ir. Knight, formerly a well-known archi- 
 tect in Melbourne, and the present Chief Warden, then stationed 
 there, healed the sick and helped the poor at great personal saeri-
 
 THE INTERIOR. G7 
 
 fice, and with small eucourageraent — if the encouragement of hear- 
 ing thanks from saved patients in all quarters be small. ^Ii*. 
 Knight was called upon to desei't the settlement when it began to 
 sink, and soon most of the buildings went gradually to the white 
 ants : all save the hospital — that died an easy death off-hand, and 
 ever since the very sick diggers have had to die as comfortably as 
 might be, either on the road to Palmerston or in their huts. One 
 hundred and fifty miles of mineral country and no hospital ! 
 Pleasant and satisfactory, eh ? You can't blame the Government, 
 however ; this Northern Territory has been a perfect terra incognita 
 to it and its predecessors, and that fact may account for a looseness 
 and mismanagement shown in other matters more than this — 
 
 " But naw 
 There is clearly no use in considering how 
 Or whence came the mischief — the mischief is hare. 
 Broken shins are not mended by crying — that's clear," 
 
 Yam Creek will probably soon be altogether deserted. Port 
 Darwin Camp — four miles east — has taken its place in imijortance. 
 The Telegraph Office has decayed so rhuch that a new one will 
 have to be built, and as the present one is quite out of the way of 
 business, and the camp is right in the way of it — and as more- 
 over, any railway to be made should miss Yam Creek and go 
 through Port Darwin Camp ; and particularly as the Minister has 
 been importuned on the subject — it is probable that the new 
 building will be put up at the latter place and the line diverted ; 
 and if so, then the Police Court and Warden's Office will know the 
 Shackle no more. At present it has the only Court in the Territory out of 
 Palmerston ; and when the Magistrate gets a sitting he well up- 
 holds the severe dignitj^ of the law — as witness the case of one of 
 the Twelve-mile disorderly topers, who had to lose two days to 
 travel to the Court, and then to pay £5. About the best cotmtry 
 hotel in the Territory is that at Yam Creek, and it is well and 
 widely known as the place where resides an actual, real, live young- 
 lady ; for white ladies are scarce. We met only four since we left 
 Southport, and now that I am so far from them I may say that 
 three-foiirths of them were not so young as they used to be. 
 One excited my admiration by the foppish fashion in which she 
 smoked a manila. Few ladies could have done it half so well. 
 
 The only diggings round the Shackle besides Sandy Creek are 
 the places known as Lewis's Camp and Drummer's Gully, where 
 a few Chinamen fossick. There are of course in the district, 
 including the Port Darwin Camp, a few Europeans engaged iu 
 alluvial ; but only those who think the getting machinery for 
 ■quartz-reefing hopeless. Altogether, with those working in the 
 famous Stuart's Gully, there arc about 200 Chinamen. For all
 
 68 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 the district Port Darwin Camp is the centre. On the way to the 
 Territory I was met wath great talk of coal discoveries in this 
 region. I found that only one of the six inhabitants of the Shackle 
 had lieard the rumour, and he didn't believe it ; and for the life 
 of me I couldn't find any existence of a coal series, though I 
 zigzagged a lot of country to try to see it. Warden Knight has 
 prospected overandoveragain in diffirent parts of the miningdistricts, 
 and he never saw it ; and more, he never saw anybody else who 
 saw it. But if the people haven't coal, they have a boiling spring 
 about twelve miles south-west. They are duly proud of it ; they 
 have little else beyond personal merits to be proud of. On 
 Thursday, Messrs. Mair and Harriss, who left Port Darwin three 
 mouths before to explore the country around the Elsie River and 
 Limmen's Bight, with a view to stocking on behalf of a Sydney 
 firm, dined with the Minister and his party. They travelled 
 altogether 1,200 miles. They are two hardy and reticent fellows 
 — reticent because they consider their information is first their 
 employers'. They ran a slight danger from flood, but in every 
 case they had no trouble with the blacks, who cleared away directly 
 they saw them coming. About the only thing new in Messrs. 
 Harriss and Mair's information, so far as they imparted it, was 
 that the country generally is not very good. We left the Shackle 
 early on Friday, March 10, and passed through a tiny stretch of 
 alluvial workings, crossing Yam Creek, where the bridge had been 
 burnt down just before. The morning was a bright one, for the sun 
 was on his good behaviour, and kept the elements likewise. Gaudy 
 butterflies — the brightest creatures there — flitted cheerily about ; 
 and JMounts Osborne and Shoobridge gay in their deckings of green — 
 looked positively resplendent with the glittering dew-spangles which 
 gave each leaf of every tree a silver sheen. For all that, the land is 
 not much suited for cultivation ; for pasturage it would do. Just 
 beyond is the Fountain Head, opened by Radford, who was drowned 
 in the Gothenbm-g. He and his party did some reefing, and 
 crushed somewhat less than an ounce to the ton. Then Manning 
 and others took the property and worked it for a while, but they 
 gave it up, and it is idle now. The alluvial, however, even now 
 employs more Chinamen than any other part of the Northern Terri- 
 tory. There are between 300 and 400 of them all getting gold. 
 Some have made big " rises." The gold is the finest and most powdery 
 I have seen here. Years ago there were more than a thousand 
 Chinamen digging it out. Why the place was called Fountain 
 Head is a legitimate question for the futui-e Debating Societies of 
 the Territory to struggle with. On the rule of contraries, I 
 suppose ; for this flat low-lying land no more suggests a fountain 
 head than a blacking-brush suggests a snow-flake. That aside,
 
 THE INTERIOR. 69 
 
 however, T think the laud is well worth a trial — for reef gold 
 particularly. There are some well-defined leads. Just beyond 
 the diggings is the Glencoe Cattle Station. Coming back again 
 Port Darwin campwards you approach the Princess Louise Mine 
 and the old " Westcott's Western Bonus Lease." Most readers 
 will know something about the Louise, which was one of the claims 
 taken up and worked upon in 1872. It was kept going till 1875, 
 there being in the meantime got out of one shoot 1,000 evinces of 
 gold. Afterwards a fairly large four-ounce crushing was obtained. 
 Then the depth made working disproportionately expensive ; and 
 a new shaft is the desideratum which the employment of capital 
 must supply. The general formation of the country is the 
 ordinary slate and sandstone. The last crushing from Westcott's 
 was at the rate of six ounces, but the water in the mine was too 
 strong. (AiTangements have since been made to work these 
 properties with the Grove Hill Battery.) Other mines which were 
 abandoned, with a good record, are the Pioneer and No. 5 North, 
 and there are several besides — never tried, of course. The recom- 
 mencement of work on them will possibly be synchronous with the 
 starting of the battery, but the first really energetic work probably 
 with the passing of the Bill for the construction of the first 
 section of the intercolonial railway. 
 
 As we branched off from the Shackle -road, which we had not 
 traversed previously, on to the Howley track, which we had gone 
 over, and which has been already described, we had leisure 
 for a short study of the different ornithological specimens which 
 flew by. There are not many that are rare or specially beaixtiful. 
 Parrots of gaudy plumage there be, but there are others quite as 
 pretty, and with the same lively chatter, in all the southern parts 
 of the colonies. The cockatoos are little different from their flimily 
 below — a trifle more intelligent and talkative, maybe. The emu, 
 the bustard, and the pelican are just as ungainly, but more plentiful, 
 and the quail are no less impudent because they are a little more 
 bulky. The kingfishers, so far as I can judge, are larger than the 
 South Australian ; the pigeons are really beautiful. One kind is 
 a very impertinent bird, by-the-way, fond of strutting about on the 
 road till your horse is close upon him, and flying away with a 
 l^eculiar whirr, which makes you think the bird is extending its 
 claws from its nose, and contemning you. It has red eyes, and a 
 bronze back, with matchless setting. The bower bird, a beautiful 
 glossy black, and about the size of a pigeon, is passionately fond of 
 fun. Its nest of twigs has connected with it a little promenade or 
 bowling alley, about o feet long, in one corner of which is placed a 
 heap of coloured shells, and beans, and leaves. The never-mo- 
 notonous amusement of the bird is to shift the positions of these
 
 70 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 gauds — at least so saj's a reliable gentleman who has watched the 
 play. The jungle bird, about the size of an ordinary fowl, foolishly 
 rears for itself huge hillocks of earth, some of them 10 feet high, 
 and 12 feet in diameter, very trimly shaped. One in the gardens 
 near Palmerston has been used as the foundation of a summer- 
 house, and it gives a good elevation, from which to gain a view of the 
 Gardens. There is no pretension to architectural effect amongst these 
 feathered builders, and the main thing you wonder at in looking at 
 the mound is why any sensible bird should spend so much down- 
 right hard work in making it, when it might have lived just as 
 comfortably in a couple of empty wicker dead marine envelopes. 
 Then the pheasant gives itself a world of trouble to make an 
 elaborate nest of grass as big as a haycock — a nest which is burnt 
 every j'car — when it might accommodate itself and all its callers 
 in some snug niche in the hillside, without danger of being burnt 
 out. 
 
 We camped at Brock Creek, and soaked through by a heavy rain, 
 regaled ourselves on fibrous india-rubbery sandwiches and soapy 
 bread, jammed together promiscuously in an old t-hickly-inked 
 newspaper. That was the sort of thing all through. Sandwiches 
 RvA white paper with no squeezing out of shape are incompatible. 
 The hotel-keepers have patent methods of bungling in the Territory. 
 I am fearsome that they laid a foundation for a superstructure of 
 dyspepsia which shall convert most of the party into counterparts 
 of the sage of Chelsea — in o?^e particular at least. A whole chapter 
 might be devoted to a discussion on the question whether an hotel- 
 keeper's conscience goes out call-making whilst its owner is drafting 
 his guests' bills, but I refrain. Eventually we got to the John Bull 
 Mine, which began to yield up its treasures about ten years ago. 
 The stone had then to be carted five and a-half miles for crush- 
 ing, and the average of two ounces to the ton was hardly equal to 
 paying for that. The proprietors abandoned their claim, and re- 
 moved the Howley battery to the Extended Union, which they 
 worked. The present nominal owners by-and-by resumed work at 
 the John Bull, and bought the ten head of stampers now on the 
 ground, involving themselves with their bankers. They never 
 quite recovered their position, though they tried pluckily to 
 do so. A slight derangement of the pumping gear early 
 in December last preceded a heavy flood, which wellnigh 
 filled the shaft and stopped work, which has never been 
 resumed. The jiroperty is in trust for the benefit of the creditors. 
 The machinery is fairly good, though the gold-saving appliance 
 is imperfect. The reef — an enormous saddle, followed from the 
 surface 145 feet down on an xinderlay — contains at the lowest 
 depth a good deal of mundic. The ground is easy for working,
 
 THE INTERIOR. 71 
 
 I 
 
 and the reef varies in thickness from 2 feet to 3i feet, carry- 
 ing gold at the rate of from one to three ounces to the ton. More 
 ■work has been done on this claim than on any other in the Terri- 
 tory ; and though financial considerations compelled the workers 
 to do a little " eye-picking," they have been fairly systematic 
 in their operations. The mine paid its way for fully six years, but 
 the terrible handicaps killed it. The reef has a hopeful look of 
 j)ermanency about it, which augurs well for future operations. 
 The John Bull is notable as the one place where the explaining 
 host presented specimens without producing the omnipresent 
 bottle of square ; and we felt so thankful for the deliverance, that 
 the drenching flood, which increased each saddleweight full half a 
 stone, was accepted without a murmur as we plodded patiently on 
 to the Howley Crossing. Host Nott's dinner was a surprise — 
 roast pig and ditto fowls, of com-se (the poultry and pig death-rate 
 must have swelled terribly the last four w^eeks) ; but, more- 
 over, the native companion, with its flavour of stewed mackintosh 
 and tough mutton ; and goat — delicious and toothsome. The 
 fastidious ate it as mutton, and looked pale when they knew that 
 they each formed a disgusted envelope for a section of disgustiug 
 goat. The experience was an apprenticeship to a dose of 
 boiled water-snake, or something closely akin to it, subsequently 
 dished up at another stopping-place. 
 
 At night there was a deputation — a deputation of deputations, 
 who let their memorial explain itself, and didn't drown its meaning 
 in a deluge of words. The ]\Iinister gave a graceful reply, some- 
 what marred, however, by the gasping snores of a sleeper 
 in the next room. In closing he gracefully acknowledged the 
 universal kindness the i^arty had met with, and the auditory 
 showed appreciation of the compliment by making the old aiiy 
 room resound with the noise of cheering. And then peace reigned 
 again till the frogs in the billabongs took up their chorus at the 
 point where they had dropped it before the rainstorm burst. 
 The horse bells chimed in, dogs assisted, and sleep was impossible. 
 
 The first quartz claim to get payable crushings in the Howley 
 District was that known as the Britannia Prospecting, seven miles 
 to the east of our hotel. It was taken up by W, McMinn towards 
 the end of 1873. The first crushing yielded eight ounces to the 
 ton, and two others six and five respectfully ; but the mine was 
 never systematically worked, and has been idle for some years. It 
 has one whole shaft upon it ; the depth is fifty feeet and that is about 
 all that need be said concerning that side of the Howley District. 
 The same old story — good indications and no trial. We started 
 early on Saturday, JNIarch 4, on a long circuit through the surround- 
 ing diggings, sending the packhorse direct to Bridge Creek, only
 
 72 THE IXTEBIOR. 
 
 about four miles off by the main road. For the first six miles of 
 the track we followed — a varying track of knee-deep watei', mud, 
 and grass — there is nothing of much interest to be seen. The soil is 
 mostly brownish, deep, and good for agriculture, and the anthills 
 rise loftily and plentifully above the flats — so much alike that if 
 ants were only human and ban(|uctted occasionally, they would 
 often have to sit down and pick their teeth in the late hours while 
 they mentally debated which of a score was their own habitation. 
 Out of the more level land you reach the steep hill, where mined 
 the Agrigulha Company some years ago. They got a tunnel in 
 150 feet through the hill, and then stopped work, when another fifty 
 feet of driving would have brought them to the reef they sought. 
 Consequently they got nothing worth writing about, unless it were 
 a copper vein. But then there is more or less of copper through a 
 large area here, and even if the lodes are developed and prove to 
 be very valuable the railway alone can make the claims pay for 
 working. Near by is Cruikshank's Gully, where a few Chinamen 
 are at work, making fair returns. The Europeans kept it for a 
 while to themselves, and when they'd had the meat they let the 
 Celestials take the pickings. I would not like to speculate upon 
 which got the most nutriment. A great deal of work has been done 
 there, as well as in Lorance's Ckilly, which shoulders it, and of 
 which the same generally may be said. As we ascended the hill 
 the sound of stampers met us, and we followed it to the top, and 
 descending again came upon Beetson Brothers' battery, which is 
 midway down. The battery has ten heads, and the Messrs. Beet- 
 son brought it last year from "Westcott's claim near Port Darwin 
 Camp. The Beetsons are two plucky brothers, who have manfully 
 stuck to their ground about six years, and who are reaping a rich 
 reward. " We are perfectly satisfied," they told me, and indeed they 
 may be, for they have crushed as much as ten ounces to the ton. 
 The battery is almost the only one at which the amalgamator is 
 ixsed. It has been grinding away all the season, but is never cleaned 
 up. They want some effective means of saving what might easily 
 be saved if they had these means. The deepest point reached in the 
 sinking is 75 feet. Pyrites were met first with in quantity at 60 feet, 
 and the deeper they go the richer is the stone. The average width 
 of the reef is about eighteen inches. Some years ago Mr. Scott, 
 working on one part of the property, got some splendid stone and 
 subsequently lost the lead. Just before we visited them the 
 Beetsons had got it again, and now they are in the heyday of 
 their prosperity, and yet with only half a dozen men at work. 
 Their crusliings from the reef proper have averaged 3| oz, at least ; 
 on one notable occasion 27 tons yielded 200 oz. They are now 
 putting through the mill — making the plates look rich in amalgam
 
 THE INTERIOR. 73 
 
 — 10 or 12 tons of mixed stuff a week. They have peculiar mul- 
 locky leaders — more flinty than those at Spring Hill. Some 
 of the specimens have a strong alumy taste — they look like 
 alum schist — and rapidly clear muddy water into which they are 
 put. The Messrs. Beetson come of a pioneer family well known 
 in Adelaide in the early days. The prosperity which is coming to 
 them is well deserved. They are two of the few who have stuck 
 to the Territory through good fortune and through bad, and 
 perhaps no men have unaided done more to give a fair trial to its 
 minerals than the}'. Leaving them we went through Long Gully, 
 where rich finds in the alluvial were made by Europeans years 
 ago, and where now a few Chinamen make scant returns by 
 fossicking. This on a flat, and in the saddle between two ridges. 
 On the rising ground are more mullock leaders. The fact is — it 
 is wearying to repeat it — the ground has never been fairly tried. 
 It looks as promising as any I have seen, having re- 
 gard in forming judgment to the rich alluvial finds all round. 
 It is here that you see the shaft of the Palmerston Company, 
 which was formed in Adelaide in the mining mania days. The 
 claim was abandoned, and the batteiy was shifted to the Extended 
 Union ground. Gold was got in the leaders, but I am told a 
 payable quartz reef has since been found there. I cannot verify 
 the information, however. 
 
 Under the scant shade of a spiral tree rises a little grass-grown 
 mound, beneath which lie the bones of poor young Fisher, brother 
 of the deceased doctor of that name who lived and died in 
 Wallaroo. The horses and the natives walk over it, and not im- 
 probably camp fires of stranger travellers have been lit upon 
 it, for no fence or mark of any kind protects it from intrusion. 
 In a country which periodically is for months without a clergy- 
 man, and never has a doctor, the burial ceremony is huiTied 
 through anyhow. Thei'e is usually no sacredness or solemnity 
 about death. A funeral is called a " worm picnic." The carcasses 
 are buried anj^where, and often anyhow. The Police Inspector 
 takes on his country trips a pi-ayer-book, and if a man dies near 
 where he is, he reads the " Service for the Dead ;" but often 
 they are buried offhand, particularly in the remote parts. A 
 friend of mine was visiting one of these one day when a funeral 
 took place. The grave had been dug overnight, and when the 
 mourners came, sorrow and coffin burdened, they at once began to 
 lower the tangible part of their load into the hole. Then they 
 saw a wild cat in it. Solemnly spake the chief mourner — 
 
 " Hist, boys. 'Tisu't often we get such a chance of fun. 
 S'posin' we turn the dogs on V 
 
 When they had got through with the cat-worrying, they
 
 74 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 " planted" — that is the word they use — the " worm's food." We 
 came next to a Chhicsc camp, which boasts an assayer and sevei'al 
 storekeepers. One of them — Quong Hing Shing — entertained us 
 nobly with fragrant cigars and gin and porter and delicious 
 tea, made as Chinamen alone can make it ; and, as 
 the staple, the inevitable " square." Quong &c. estimates the 
 Chinese population of the Howley and old Howley at 350 ; and that 
 is about correct I think. . The yield of gold is very small, he says : 
 he prophesies abandonment. Well, that may be ; but he admits 
 that last year a party of Chinamen found some leaders about 30 
 feet deep in decomposed quartz and that now they are enjoying a 
 festive season in Hongkong. The worked gold country extends 
 three miles beyond here, following a line from the Old Howley 
 diggings to Mount Paqualiii (beyond Bridge Creek) about thirteen 
 miles. All the way good returns have been got for surface- 
 scratching in both the alluvial and the quartz. The alluvial gold, 
 indeed, is generally mixed with quartz, and it has the rough, 
 jagged appearance which indicates to the practical miner that 
 it cannot long have left the parent reef. On the way to Bridge 
 Creek, along the line of gold, we inspected the Howley Copper 
 Mine, about two miles from Beetson's. Though^ the lode is 
 strong and good so far as the few days' work upon it have exposed 
 it to the view, I would not care to spend money upon it yet. It is 
 practically worthless without a railway, I fear. There ai-e several 
 lodes of copper on the ground. The stone in general character 
 resembles that at Copperfield. Thence over slate outcrops and 
 steeply-slanting hills we came to one more gully, yclept Sanders 
 — where 200 Chinamen were at work, surfacing mostly last year. 
 Now there is not one. Through McKenzie's Gully, where the 
 track is mined away, we came to well-grassed country ; we passed 
 Douglas's Hill, with the remains of the sturdy old captain's camp 
 still standing ; we hurriedly inspected Cement Gaily, where the 
 only Europeans on the diggings — a dozen merely — work on the 
 quartz, and get a little gold proportioned to their little work ; we 
 crossed Nelson's Hill taken up by a Company during the rage of 
 the mania, and never worked ; we took entertainment at several 
 Chinese tov/nships and reluctantly refused proffered hospitalities 
 at others ; the Minister acknowledged the obsequious bowing and 
 scraping of the Celestials, and thus returned we to the pestilential 
 Bridge Creek. At night the Chinese dinner took place in the 
 local hotel. It was not an elaborate affair at all — just an 
 ordinary public-house dinner, with no special featui'es. Five Chi- 
 nese merchants dined with the party — the principal. Ah Foo, an 
 aldermanic man with a fat puffed face beaming like a stage sun, 
 and withal thoroughly good-tempered. The attempts they, unac-
 
 THE INTERIOR. 75 
 
 customed, made to e&t with knife and fork were not brilliantly- 
 successful, and such a fumbling, such a tinkling, such a clatter as 
 they made was something to be witnessed. By-and-by the wine 
 came on, and Ah Foo rose to his legs to make a speech, intx'oducing 
 it by a comprehensive flourish ot his glass above his head — 
 
 " Missa Gennelmen — We welly glad a see him you coma heah. 
 We want um nisli one. Spose livee iu Queenslan', Wictolea, 
 Sydney, him Chinamen get him plenty gold ; sposiu' no gold, him 
 all yite, him plantation — savee — all ee same money — welly good 
 — hay ? We wantum allee same." 
 
 The Minister pondered deeply at the end of this oration. It 
 was affecting, but it required study. All thought so. To gain 
 time Mr. Parsons proposed the health of the Queen, and all 
 honoured it. Then I prevailed upon Ah Foo to rise, and shake 
 his glass about, and say, 
 
 " Missa Pal sons." 
 
 The Chinese cannot pronounce the "r, " you remember. Before 
 Ah Foo committed himself, however, he whispered me, interro- 
 gatively, 
 
 " Him welly good fella ]" 
 
 Childlike and bland as ever, you observe ! Then there was an 
 awkward pause, but the Minister adroitly proposed the health of 
 Ah Foo and the other liosts ; and the honoured rose with 
 those who honoured them, and flourished glasses, and hip-hip- 
 hurrahed to their own glory just as heartily as their European 
 glorifiers. Then we sat down again, and, to save awkwardness. 
 Ah Foo was asked politely by a friend, 
 
 " Now, u'hcd DO you mean ?" 
 
 But meantime the Minister had risen, and commanded the pro- 
 found attention of the Celestials — who, by-the-by, were carefully 
 got up in European costume, ill-assorted and ill-fitting, it must be 
 confessed. They stared at the honourable gentleman as 
 though he combined the sageness — apocryphal and other — 
 attributed to Confucius and half a dozen Chinese Emperors. 
 
 Quoth Ml'. Parsons — " I am vei'y much obliged to you, indeed. 
 Ah Foo and gentlemen, for inviting us to dine with you this 
 evening. I feel tliat it is an act of great courtesy on your part, 
 and it has afforded me and my friends the greatest pleasure to 
 accept your iiospitalit}- 
 
 " Yah, yah : all yite." [It was Ah Foo's interjection.] 
 -" You are here for the time being in this land and luider the 
 
 law of this country. You are contributing towards the cost of 
 its governmeut, and in your several positions we wish you every 
 prosperity. When we came to Bridge Creek the other day 
 you were good enough to meet us with a very marked ex-
 
 76 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 pressiou of your welcome. We never heard such a firing-ofF of 
 crackers iu our lives before. [Here Ah Foo's mouth began to ex- 
 pand alarmingly.] We were glad to see it. We therefore bog to 
 thank you for that act, which I accept as meaning that you 
 are glad to see someone connected with the Government, and 
 that you wish to keep the laws of the country in which you 
 live." 
 
 Here Ah Foo's benignity became intolerable. I uneasily shifted 
 a few inches away, till the tirst paroxysm of his appreciative 
 demonstration had subsided, and his mouth had contracted some- 
 what. Then he turned to me and asked, 
 
 " I spose him talkee welly good jush now 1 What him mean 1 
 You savee him 1 " 
 
 Well, this was not encouraging. I told him that the burden of 
 the address was — " You welly good fellow ; me likum you" — and 
 he said in ettect that that was perfectly correct. Then he 
 was called on to make a speech, and with prodigious gestures and 
 flourishing of glass — that glass was never at rest — he began — 
 
 " JMy countleeman likee fahm (farm) nish countlee aHee 
 same Englishman ; takee up Ian', glow lice (rice, of course !) 
 savee fahm, he?/ 1 Nish one new countlee. Chinee netting do. 
 Must findum somethin' do. Him wantum Gov'nment givee laud 
 glow lice allee same Englishman. How muchee money, Missee 
 Palsons, Sir, you chahgee Chinee piecee Ian' ?' 
 
 The Minister reserved his defence, as he hadn't — not being 
 accustomed to pigeon English — the slightest idea what Ah Foo 
 meant, or what the allegation was. Then Ah Sam, ovu- Chinese 
 boy, was called to interpret. He explained the first oration w^hich 
 amounted to — " If a Chinaman wants to take up land for plan- 
 tations can he do so (he needs employment during the dry season, 
 when he cannot wash for gold), and if he does ' do so' what will we 
 have to pay per acre 1 " Not " the Chinamen want an English- 
 man to prospect for them," as our host said was the matter with 
 them when we came down. Then Mr. Parsons explained the 7s. 6d. 
 an acre clauses, and the Chinamen grinned with satisfaction ; and 
 Ah Foo, chuckling said to me — 
 
 " Allee yight. Me tlink ten tousan' Chinee long a Tellitoly two 
 flee year." And others, by-the-way, have said the same. " We 
 make nish place allee same Singapo'," one observed. Significant 
 that. They're all going to start plantations. 
 
 On went the amusing dialogue. The Chinese wanted a hospital 
 at Palmerston, and the Minister suggested that they should 
 subscribe half its cost. They said they would. They wanted the 
 gold duty off, and Mr. Parsons made no promise, but cleverly 
 introduced the subject of the miners' rights, and told them they
 
 THE INTERIOR. 77 
 
 would have to pay for them. They promised to do so wheu it was 
 suggested that they could pay the fee quarterly. They told me 
 afterwards that the reason why they had not paid hitherto to any 
 extent was that some of them coming in November had taken up 
 the rights, and then more money was demanded from them iu 
 December, and they thought they were being imposed on. Yearly 
 rights dating from day of issue are the only remedies for the wrong. 
 
 And so ended our Chinese banquet, of the stately ceremonious 
 ludicrousness of which I can give but a very slight notion. The 
 English language is not capable of conveying to a reader a full idea 
 of the guttui'al intonations of the Celestial throat. But was ever 
 Colonial Minister banqueted by Chinamen before 1 
 
 Bej'ond saying that Bridge Creek extends to Mount Paqualin, 
 along the reef we had followed the day before, and that you may 
 reckon within it the now deserted — deserted becavise of the water 
 — diggings of No. 1 Depot, I need add little more than that there 
 are 250 Chinese on the field, if their gold buyers may be trusted. 
 There is a dispute as to who discovered the field, and a good deal 
 of heartburning exists between rival claimants for the honour. 
 The place is mostly given over to alluvial work, and consequently 
 Chinamen. Three men were working on a reef, but one took fever 
 and went down to Hospital, and the others are resting awhile in 
 other fields. The water is the main difficulty this wet season. 
 We journeyed to the Adelaide River on Sunday — the object being 
 to cross the barrier ere the heavy rains made it so in reality — and 
 we succeeded so well that by luncheon-time on Monday we were 
 inspecting the Old Virginia Mine, at the Stapleton, the first mine 
 passed on the way from Palmerston to the gold-fields. It has 
 previously been mentioned that this mine has been purchased 
 through Mr. Pitcher, of Adelaide, for the (English) Arnheim Gold- 
 mining Company, and the woi'k of development has gone on 
 enei'getically since October last, when it was restarted. In that 
 time G2 feet has beeii sunk, the shaft being now 152 feet deep ; 
 and the week before the day of our visit a 2-feet reef was struck. 
 Mr. James Devin is the manager, and he has twelve workmen, 
 including two Chinese. The Europeans get £'d a week and board and 
 lodging. The first crushing will have been put through by now. 
 The stone is nearly all mundic, and the workings are so wet that 
 the men working on the bottom of the shaft are continually 
 exposed to a 40-feet spout-like fall of water. The average yield 
 under the old Comj^any w\as IJ oz. to the ton, but probably half 
 the gold went away in the tailings and pj'rites. The battery — a 
 12-head — is situated on the other side of the hill. Communica- 
 tion between the two was established by a tramway some years 
 ago, but the rails were never really used. The battery is sub-
 
 78 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 stantially built, more substantially than most of those iu tlie 
 Territory ; but it is slightly out of repair now. Tlie ripples and 
 blanket-boxes are designed differently from the ordinary ones, to 
 the end that the peculiar obstructiveuess of the stone might be 
 overcome, I suppose. For the same purpose Atwood's revolvers 
 were used, but were not considered effective. Though certain 
 alterations are to be made in the battery, the Company will have 
 to be very discreetly managed if it is to pay dividends. The 
 mundic is as difKcult to deal with as excessive iron in copper ore. 
 The average outlay per month since the Company has liad the 
 mine has been about £250, and there is a good deal of work in 
 the way of buildings and explorations to show for the expenditure. 
 In one of the buildings the party, invited by ^Ir. Devin, drank 
 success to the Company. The only other mines in the neiglibour- 
 hood are Dean's and the Terrible — called so because of the terrible 
 climb you have to do to get to it ; and that is about all that is 
 known with certainty respecting either. 
 
 There was a thunderstorm with a heavy fall of rain in the after- 
 noon, but we pushed through it to the Rum Jungle, about midway 
 branching off to the west to see Poiett, Mackinnon, & Co.'s coflee 
 plantation. They have altogether 3,500 acres, and from the time 
 we entered its western boundary till we left its northern we were 
 riding through a grandly fertile plain of red-aud-chocolate soil, 
 generally only damp, despite a rainfall, and not boggy. There 
 was but one exception to this rule. That bog resembled an 
 agglomeration of wet blacking, and our horses sank in it as 
 though it had been a quicksand. In every part the laiid is covered 
 with long grass, it has thick patches of jungle, and altogether has 
 more of a tropical appearance about it than any other piece of 
 scenery we have passed here yet. 
 
 At the clearing, "which has been made at a most picturesque 
 spot, we met Mr. Mackinnon, who is acting as manager in the 
 absence of Mr. Poiett. Work was begun on the 11th of last 
 December, and already a patch of about four aci'es of jungle has 
 been cleared. On it the framework for a capital bungalow 
 has been erected, several huts and offices have been built, 
 and tw^o acres have been trenched and closely fenced for 
 use as a nursery. In this, one bed has been planted for 
 cinchona, which was just peeping above ground. The seed 
 was not good, Mr. Mackinnon says, and he expects only 4,000 
 or 5,000 plants instead of twice as many. The beds have 
 all been prepared for the reception of Liberian coffee — they 
 fear the Arabian will not succeed. Mr. Poiett was in Ceylon 
 arranging for a supply of Tamil labourers, who get Sd. a day 
 there, and would, he believes, go to the Northern Territory for 2s.
 
 THE INTERIOR. 79 
 
 a week more. Mr. Mackinnon assured me that he would have no 
 difficulty in getting 500 or 1,000 men at that rate ; and he speaks 
 in the highest terms of the Tamils as workmen. At present six 
 Chinese, at £\ a week and the privilege of free cartage of rations, are 
 employed on the plantation, and the manager characterizes them as 
 laz}'- and impertinent. The Chinese carpenter gets £3 10s. a week. 
 The intention is to put 500 acres under coftee next year if possible : 
 and also to plant cocoa, the indiarubber-tree, and maize, amongst 
 other things. Three years hence (Mr. Mackinnon thinks) there 
 will be 500 men employed on the plantation. 
 
 After partaking- of Mr. Mackinnon's hospitality, and drinking 
 success to his Company's venture, we went over the clearing, and 
 saw one of the prettiest sights the Territory has to show. Near the 
 office, in the middle of the creek, is a dense jungle, made up of 
 trees unusually tall and stout, with intertwining laces of wiry 
 creepers making an impassable network between their trunks. At 
 one point a matted roof is formed in this way, leaving a clear space 
 of a dozen feet from the ground. Below there lies a cool and limpid 
 spring like a sheet of glass — so beautifully smooth and transparent. 
 Looking some feet to its bed you see a slight displacement of its 
 white sand crust in about a dozen places. Through these the water 
 bubbles brightly up, and the spring is never less or more than it 
 was when we saw it. It is a truly beautiful place, and the estate 
 is a magnificent one. Ere we arrived at the Rum Jungle our 
 horses were so jaded that they needed a great deal of urging-, for the 
 last week's journey had been particularly hard on them and on their 
 riders. Nevertheless, the stai't next day was made at daybreak, 
 and the sun was only properly showing himself as we passed 
 through the Finniss country, which we penetrated on the downward 
 journey whilst a heavy rain fell. It is thickly covered with 
 granite in various forms, and does not look so inviting for agri- 
 culture as it did towards dusk, when the waters partly covered it. 
 It is more promising for minerals — some of its rocks are really re- 
 markable. The ground closely skirting the bed of the river is 
 rich enough. About twelve miles from Southport the party 
 were met by the mail-coach — sent to convey them to the port 
 should they wish to be relieved from the inconveniences of further 
 horseback travel. All save the j\linister accepted the 
 pleasant alternative ; but he thought it would be cavalier 
 treatment of his steed — the long-since historical Gaylad — if he 
 deserted it, and so he stuck to his saddle the whole journey through, 
 and came in at the head of the little troop. The arrival at South- 
 port marked the close of 300 miles travel on horses — and 
 such horses. It is only justice to the party to say that — 
 from the time when Mr. Bright returned — they all went through
 
 80 THE INTERIOR. 
 
 the inconveniences, the shght dangers, and the many discomforts 
 of the trip with more energy than one would expect, opposing to 
 obstacles a cheerful good-nature which won the ready assistance 
 of the residents wherever they went. Especially is this the case 
 with regard to the Minister, who was ever to the fore, and, in 
 season and out of season, interviewed sundry bores and far more 
 numerous intelligent imparters of information. Deputations 
 were received at all hours almost, and trouble undertaken early 
 and continued late. Ihe warm welcomings of the people every- 
 where must not pass unacknowledged. The fact that all the im- 
 portant mining districts have been traversed, and that 
 information has been collected respecting every point of interest 
 within them, is greatly due to the willing assistance of the resi- 
 dents. It seemed as though the wet season had been partially 
 suspended to facilitate the progress of the party, for such fine 
 weather at such a time was never known there before, it seems. 
 And so it is not too much to say that the trip through tlie mining 
 districts thoroughly accomplished what it was intended to do. 
 Whether the Prolessor had opportunities of getting sufficient in- 
 formation for an exhaustive geological report is a question 
 which admits of no discussion. No scientist in the w^orld, were 
 he strong as Hercules, and had he all the eyes of Argus, 
 could do impossibilities. Necessarily, therefore, the Professor's 
 investigations were comparatively limited ; but it is only due to 
 him to say that he made the most of the time at his disposal. 
 Both in botanical and natural history and geological researches he 
 was indefatigable, even when suffering severely from the fatigue of 
 a wearisome journey. Personally I had exceptional facilities 
 for collecting information ; and, that it might be perfectly trust- 
 worthy, I took some pains to check from different quarters any 
 relation of reported facts respecting which there was any possi- 
 bility of doubt. I have indeed erred by intent rather on the side 
 of under-tinting than over-colouring ; and in closing this part 
 of the narrative of the trip, I can only repeat generally that 
 the country abounds in minerals, the extent of which has to be 
 proved by trial which has never yet been applied, or where 
 slightly used, with results perfectly satisfactory ; that a compara- 
 tively small proportion only is fit for cultivation ; and that 
 almost all of it is good for grazing. There are many 
 suggestions which will be made when this record shall 
 have concluded. In the meantime, I may give, as the result of 
 very careful enquiries, the opinion that in the whole of the mining 
 districts including storekeepers and Government officers, there are 
 scarcely 250 Europeans. The Chinese I estimate at 2,200. There 
 is great difficulty in arriving at an absolutely exact computation of
 
 THE INTERIOR. 81 
 
 tlieii' numerical strength, because they are scattered over so large 
 an area, but I interviewed the leading Chinese merchants and gold- 
 buyers in every place I came to, and they gave me as approximately 
 accurate the total I have given — a total verified by my own obser- 
 vation. I cannot too strongly impress upon the reader that there 
 has, as a matter of fact, been positively no sustained systematic 
 attempt to develop any part of the mineral country. There are 
 all over the Territory only nine batteries, and all are more or less 
 defective. I have seen all of them, and at the time of my visit 
 only three were working, or had been for some time. It is not too 
 much to say that eight-ninths of these crushers lose at least one- 
 third of the gold, and that fact should be remembered in the 
 computation of the yield the stone they treat returns. The main 
 drawbacks to the prosperity of the mining industry will have a 
 reference hereafter. At present I will only incidentally refer to the 
 operation of the swindles — that is their name up here — of some 
 years ago. To them primarily is traceable the ill-savour of mining 
 enterprise here ever since. In several cases Companies were 
 formed with fluctuating share-lists which did no work at all. 
 Land was pegged out anywhere, leases were applied for, and the 
 ventures sold when not a single prospect had been taken. A well 
 known and "straight" mining manager in one of the principal 
 centres here assures me that years ago he received no fewer than 
 four telegrams in one day from brokers in Adelaide to this effect : — 
 " Peg out claim anywhere. We'll float it." What but a crash 
 could come of this 1 A crash did come, and I direct attention to 
 the facts now, that a repetition of anything so disgraceful and so 
 utterly inimical to the best interests of om- grand northern estate 
 may be avoided. I can see — any enquiring visitor can see — that 
 the dulness and the apathy in the Territory, and the disgust 
 outside respecting the Territory, were all born of this floating and 
 bursting of bubbles in the days gone by. For legitimate enterprises, 
 and for well-directed speculation, there is no better field than the 
 Xorthern Territory presents^and, granted a railway, I warrant that 
 our reviving white elephant will soon develop into one of the most 
 useful animals any colony could wish to be blessed with. 
 
 With a grateful acknowledgement of the courteous assistance of 
 the Minister, I resume my narrative, merely adding, in justice to 
 Inspector Foelsche, Mr. Lindsay, and ^Ir. Kniglit, that the arrange- 
 ments for the trip were better than they could under the circum 
 stances have been expected to be, and for their eftective carrying 
 out a word of thanks is due to Messrs. ^IcDonald and Poelnitz, the 
 police officers in charge of the assistants.
 
 82 AROUND PALMERSTON, 
 
 CHAPTER VII.— AROUND PALMERSTON. 
 
 A Rest-day at Palmerstox. — An Acrspiciorrs Stabt and an Inglorious 
 Ending. — A Storm at Sea. — Cox's Peninsula. — Delissaville. 
 — The First Sugar Manufactured in South Australia. 
 — The Sugar Mill. — The Departure of the Parliamentary 
 Party. — More about Cox's Peninsula. — Ericson and Coppen- 
 borg's Plantation. — West Point. — Two Plucky Pioneers. — 
 New Industries. — Sugar. — Rice.— The Caterpillar. — The 
 Casuarinas. — A Gigantic Tree. — An Enthusiastic Concholo- 
 GiST. — Plantation Figures and Prospects. — A word about 
 Java Planters. 
 
 ;0 the three hundred miles of horseback riding which the trip 
 through the mining districts involved should be added fifty- 
 two miles of sea travel to and fro between Southport and 
 Palmerston. When we arrived at Palmerston we found that 
 the weather outside had been very rough, and that then 
 the harbour, perfectly sheltered as it is, was agitated by some 
 respectable rollers. The Agnes, a cable steamer of about 1,000 
 tons, lay in the harbour, unable to proceed with her work, and the 
 idea of putting out to sea on the morrow — at such a season — in 
 even the largest available steamer in Port Darwin was ridiculed. 
 The next day broke stormily, with an inch of rain between day- 
 break and breakfast time, with an atmosphere really cold, and 
 with wind constantly chopping about, and a sea vexatiously shifty. 
 We were to have started on our trip to the Daly at 11 in the 
 morning, but under the circumstances it would have been folly to 
 have carried out that intention. So 10 a.m. next day was fixed 
 upon. At that hour on the morning of Thursday, March 15, 
 therefore, we found ourselves on board the 29-ton steamer jNIaggie, 
 about as suitable for a 300-miles sea-trip as a popgun would be 
 for shooting an alligator. There were ten passengers besides the 
 crew, and there was no room for a single one below deck. Above^ 
 the only seeming protection from the weather was a canvas roof, 
 but the event proved that it served but to keep off' a little sun and 
 to direct the water it collected down the backs of those it 
 hypocritically seemed to shelter. The deck, moreover, was 
 hampered with packages; the aft cabin — that in polite parlance, 
 in fact the hole near the rudder — exhaled a frightful smell of bilge- 
 water, the hold amidships emulated it, and the fore-cabin beat 
 easily the both together. The funnel seut with diabolical 
 ingenuity the sooty smoke full in the passengers' faces, and it had 
 a valuable ally in the cook's galley near the fo'c's'l. Captain 
 Marsh, the Harbour Master, was in charge of this delectable 
 steamship, and we crept off' with a prodigious fuss and little speed, 
 the while the flag was dipped from the Government ResidencCj^
 
 AROUND PALMER3T0X. 83 
 
 and handkerchiefs iu bewildering confusion were waved from all 
 the windows within sight. The sun shone in double-power 
 splendour, the sky had put off its wet-season apparel, the wind 
 murmured never so lowly, and the sea had no mischief written on 
 its face. In an hour, however, all was changed. A wind came up 
 first, and every hon. member was soon after enduring the agonies 
 of sea-sickness. Even Mr. Bright, who did not succumb to the 
 inal-de-iner all the way from Adelaide hither — even he had to give 
 in. Then the rain came on, and as we reached in four hours the 
 northernmost part (I'oint Charles), a stiff westerly gale blew dead 
 against us, whilst a mist hung over the water. Thunder rolled and 
 lightning flashed, and slight sea-sickness became severe. The wind 
 then chopped around and round impartially from every quarter, 
 and the little steamer, which nevertheless shipped no water, was 
 three hours making half a mile of headway. The decks were 
 all aw^ash with rain, and there was scarcely a man on board 
 who was not wet completely through. As the gale freshened by 
 the time we had reached our fourteenth mile— five hours after 
 starting — even Captain Marsh's cheery face became overcast, and he 
 counselled a return. The Minister alone of all his party objected, 
 but he would not accept the responsibility of continuing the journey 
 against nautical advice, and so the expedition inglorionsly failed. 
 Personally I do not think a catastrophe to the ship would have 
 happened had she gone on, but it was certainly not unwise in 
 Captain Marsh to remember that discretion is the better part of 
 valour. We arrived at port again at 8 o'clock, and shortly after- 
 wards, though then the habour looked calm enough, a high wind 
 rose, so cold became the atmosphere that sleepers were fain to 
 wrap themselves in blankets, even though the wind raged violently. 
 Had the party been out in such weather and escaped a fatal accident 
 each would hereafter have been able to boast of a doleful 
 experience on the 15th of March, this year of grace, in our northern 
 seas. 
 
 The same evening a council was held to determine upon future 
 movements. The consideration that the weather outside would bo 
 iinsettled at this season for some weeks, and that there was in the 
 whole place no better or safer craft than that in which they had 
 tempted Providence that day, produced the determination not to 
 do the Daly at all. The programme drawn up included one day's 
 official business in the departments- by the Minister ; a couple of 
 days of general visits to institutions, and of enquiries ; a visit to 
 Delissaville and the other plantations on Cox's Peninsula; a 
 Chinese banquet ; an European ditto ; and then return by the 
 Menmuir. On Friday — a very unpleasant day — the Gardens were 
 visited, and iu the evening ?■. mild sort of party was given in the
 
 84 AROUND TALMERSTON. 
 
 Minister's honour at the Residence ; and on Saturday — another 
 miserably wet day — nothing of importance was done, if I except a 
 visit to the Chinese quarter of the town. At half-past 6 on Mon- 
 day morning a start was made in the little steamer for Delissaville. 
 This well-known plantation is on Cox's or Douglas's Peninsula, 
 about eleven miles north-west of Port Darwin, and is approached 
 through Wood's Inlet, narrowing in places to less than a chain in 
 width, with the tide rushing past like a whirlpool, and a big one at 
 that. The scenery by the way is mostly uninteresting. Ere the 
 inlet is entered there are some pretty stretches of beach and reaches 
 formed within the grand harbour of Port Darwin, and the most 
 prominent landmark Talc Head, called so because of the abundance 
 of talc upon it, In the inlet itself mangroves, with barnacles and 
 small oysters clinging to their roots, rise out of the water on either 
 side, and completely shut out the land beyond. The steamer 
 stopped within a mile of our destination, because the master, with 
 a pardonable exaggeration of the size of his noble vessel, was 
 afraid the lying aground after the tide had run out would injure 
 her ; and we had to " boat " the rest of the distance against the 
 strong cm-rent. The rowing was through a mile of sinuous wind- 
 ings, every foot of the cleared mangroves having been cut down by 
 Mr. De Lissa and his assistants to secure a passage way to his jetty, 
 which is 300 feet long, and at the end of which even a moderately 
 large vessel, watching the tides, could lie. When we reached this 
 structure on Monday morning Mr. De Lissa had put everything in 
 trim for a grand reception ; and after it had been given and 
 acknowledged right heartily, the Minister, in a buggy drawn by hand- 
 some Timors, and the rest of the party on horses, Avere conveyed to 
 the homestead, two miles further inland, between the two largest 
 patches of cane, and laid out with an eye to picturesqueness. The 
 reception here was in cordiality a duplicate of the first, and feasting 
 followed fasting very gratefully. Soon after the fortifying 
 of the inner man had been completed, the party began their 
 exploration of the estate, which comprises 10,000 acres — a 
 grant from the Government of South Australia to the De Lissa 
 Sugar Plantation Company, of Adelaide. A detailed description 
 of the country would be wearying ; be it sufficient to say that the 
 part of the selection we inspected contained some capital 
 patches of deep black soil, and some indifferent ones. The latter 
 are due to the presence of strong runs of ironstone, the planter's 
 objection to which is that it will not decompose like most other 
 stones. Mr. Owston, the Daly planter, viewed this ground before 
 Mr. De Lissa inspected it, and he condemned it for sugar-growing 
 principally on that account. The land is intersected by two 
 deep, ever-running streams of crystal-clear and pure water ; one
 
 AROUND PALMERSTON. 85 
 
 of them rushes by about a hundred yai-ds from the houses, aud 
 there on a clear night you can hear the pleasant plashing of one 
 of the most beautiful cascades we have seen in the Northern 
 Territory. Here grows a splendid piece of jungle, with paper 
 bark as the staple. There are several sturdy varieties of the ficus 
 jostling the " lawyer's cane" — so denominated because of a habit it 
 has of fastening its thorns in all passers. Why so denomi- 
 nated I cannot say. Then there is the native india-rubber or milk- 
 tree, which in its season is clouded with flowers and redolent of 
 sweet scents. The endless screw-pine raises its head pretty high 
 here, and in some cases the trunks are covered with green 
 moss. The leaves of a similar tree are used in the Mauritius for 
 making into sugarbags, and ]\Ir. De Lissa intends to utilize 
 them similarly here. About half a mile beyond this gully is 
 another beautiful one between two high ironstone ridges. Fern- 
 clad it is, but its chief glory is a grand native banyan-tree, with a 
 perfect maze of roots laid bare against a huge perpendicular shelf 
 of rock. In the interstices grow clinging plants and ferns, and 
 the effect, with the dripping of the water, is very pretty. So 
 much from the ornamental point of view. Coming to the cane 
 plantations, the mill, and the different quarters for the men, 
 which surround the house occupied by Mr, De Lissa, his assistant, 
 Mr. Levi, the overseer, and the sugai'-boiler and engineer, we note 
 with surprise the vast work done in the very short time 
 — about eighteen months — since operations were begun on the 
 new land. It needed great determination, and strong hands and 
 willing ones, to accomplish Avhat has been effected. Altogether 
 there are 200 acres of cane (obtained from the Government 
 Gardens at Fannie Bay), and there are 50 acres of maize. Last 
 year the white ants wrought great damage to the sugary reeds, 
 but now they have apparently been almost overcome. The 
 remedy used was lime, burnt from shells brought from the 
 adjacent hai-bour-sides, and the canes were each passed through 
 a solution of carbolic acid before they were planted. M^r. 
 De Lissa contends that the carbolic treatment retards the 
 growth of the plant. However that may be in practice, tlie 
 I'emedial measures seem to have been effectual, for excepting in 
 one place we could not detect the presence of the omnivorous 
 ants. That floods may not injure the canes each is planted in a 
 little knoll, over which the water passes, and drains off as soon as 
 the rain has fallen. This in a place where a week before seven 
 inches fell in five days is a great consideration. The canes 
 throughout are not big or tall, but they look healthy. There is no 
 comparison between their appearance and that of those in the 
 (iovernment Gardens, but it as well to remember that the latter
 
 •86 AROUND PALMERSTON. 
 
 sprang from rattoous, and the former were only caneheads, and 
 unsatisfactory besides, Mr. De Lissa says. He is hopeful that the 
 canes will spring up rapidly now towards the end of the wet 
 season, and he is so sanguine of success at last that he is going to 
 fight against disheartenment even if he have not a big or average 
 crop this year. The different plantations are separated by roads ; 
 in fact, roads are laid down on a definite plan, and the ironstone in 
 places is so level-topped that the track goes over it without the 
 least preparation. 
 
 We did not go beyond the limits of the three miles of fencing 
 on the estate ; but we saw all that has been done in the way of 
 development and improvement, and tbe verdict unanimously was 
 that the impi-ovements are as perfect as is compatible with other 
 considerations. The fifteen Chinamen working on the estate at 
 £\ a week have their own galvanized iron quarters, and the blacks 
 — the Port Essington tribes — who do the weeding and such, like, 
 have theirs on the opposite side of the creek. These blacks, who 
 have their lubras with them, are fed and housed, but do not 
 receive a stated wage. They look and speak like intelligent 
 fellows, and work as such in various parts of the estate. Mr. De 
 Lissa will allow no communication between them and the tribes 
 round Palmerston. Some of them essayed to break through the 
 ban a few months ago, but Mr. De Lissa gave them such a fright, 
 by means of rockets and such like, while not injuring them, that 
 they have not tried to do so since. So now, whenever he goes to 
 Palmerston, he distributes a bag of flour and some trifles amongst 
 them ; and if they hint at going over to their old ground, frowns 
 upon them unutterably, frightening them effectually. INIr. De 
 Lissa puts it that health is the first consideration in the Northern 
 Territory climate, and so he has made provision for the bathing of 
 every man under his charge. Then — though the sparkling creek 
 is so near — every house has its well, in which the water is beau- 
 tifully cool and fresh. Forethought is evidenced in the stacking 
 instead of burning the wood cut down in clearing. The mill has 
 many months' supply already. Another saving is effected by the 
 mowing and chaffing of the native grasses for hay, and wherever 
 the long grass has been removed, a soft, succulent, and shorter has 
 sprung up in its place. The working cost is ,£60 a week, and the 
 expense so far nearly £16,000. At noon the mill whistle sounded, 
 and the party were invited to witness experiments with the 
 machinery and to inspect the building. In one of the vats there 
 were a few gallons of a strange-looking, dirty, treacly liquid. 
 After watching the operations of the other machinery, therefore, 
 they witnessed the placing of this disagreeable- looking mixture 
 into the " self-balancing centrifugal " which is used for the drying
 
 AROUND PALMERSTOX. 
 
 87 
 
 of the sugar. This centrifugal revolved at the rate of 2,000 a 
 minute, and in five minutes a good, wholesome, well-granulated 
 white table sugar was taken out, under the direction of M)-. Sachsie, 
 who will henceforth be known as the first manufacturer of sugar 
 in South Australia. Mr. Sachsie, by-the-way, has obtained a 
 patent for an ingenious arrangement in connection with the 
 machinery, and Mr. De Lissa has his own patents for other parts. 
 
 By the machinery the old blood process and animal charcoal are 
 dispensed with as necessary adjuncts in the manufacture of sugar. 
 Magnesia takes their place, and as the De Lissa Mill is only the 
 precursor of scores in the Territory, particularly as it is the first 
 audonlyoneevererectedinthecolou}^, I had better describe the whole 
 mill and its immediate surroundings. Advantage has been taken of a 
 good position on the hill, where stands on the one hand the home- 
 stead, and on the other the beautiful ever-running creek before 
 described, to eicavate a deep cutting, so that the sugar sap might 
 be forced from one part of the building to the other by gravitation 
 instead of by pumping. The buildings are of paperbark wood, 
 grown on the estate, the roof and sides being of galvanized iron. 
 The main structure is 100 feet by 64 feet, and the other 70 feet 
 by 30 feet, and there are besides boiler-sheds and a sugar store. 
 Entering the building you find yourself in a large smithy and 
 woi'kshop, containing a bewildering ai-ray of appliances of all kinds 
 adapted for all sorts of work. Leaving that you approach the 
 machinery proper, which may best be described as it was in operation 
 the day we visited it. The canes are first passed through a 
 powerful mill composed of three horizontal rollers geared up to 
 give great pressm-e. These rollers, driven by a 16-horsepower 
 engine, are warranted to crush at the least 60 tons of canes a day, 
 and at the most 90 ; and a smaller duplicate opposite (provided 
 for iise in case of accident to the larger one) is equal to 40 tons 
 in the same time. As the canes pass through the mill they 
 give oiit their juice into a receiver below, while the crushed 
 fibrous mass is expelled on the opposite side, whence it is 
 carted away. It is valuable for maniu-e and fuel, and it can be 
 manufactured into paper fibre. From the receiver an inclined 
 canal takes the juice to plate-iron clarifiers, of which there are four, 
 each containing copper coils, through which steam passes, and it 
 boils the surrounding juice with ordinary aids. The processes con- 
 ducted here are usually a series of experiments or tests in chemistry. 
 The juice, as it goes through the mill, is of course charged with 
 all kinds of dross — waxy and albuminous particularly, and others 
 generally. This has to be got rid of, and to Mr. A. Sachsie is en- 
 trusted the task of (piitting them. To effect clarification he uses 
 calcined magnesia (to seperate the drossy admixtures) and sul-
 
 '88 AROUND PALMERSTON. 
 
 phurous acid — both processes the invention and patents of Mr. 
 De Lissa. From the clarifiers the juice is conducted by a lead 
 conduit to the first of a series of separate compartment-pans, 
 technically known as the battery. These are wrought iron, and all 
 together look not unlike a huge cooking-range. Under each a fierce 
 heat is brought to bear by means of an arrangement of flues and a 
 large oven with an independent chimney of sixty feet high. Here 
 a thorough cleaning is given to the juice, and it is concentrated to 
 a density of about sixteen. It is then let off into two large 
 receivers, also provided with copper coils. It is here boiled again 
 by steam until it is absolutely rid of dirt and all other extraneous 
 matter. This is the last cleaning it gets. It is now lifted by a 
 rotary pump, driven by shafting from the main engine, through 
 the roof and into the adjacent building, known as the crystalli zing- 
 room or drying-room, and deposited in four large receivers, where 
 it remains until it is drawn off" to be finished — " cooked," they say 
 technically. 
 
 In this operation two large copper finishing-pans are brought 
 into use. A noticeable feature in these pans is that they boil by the 
 mechanical action of compressed air, supplied by two rotary blowers 
 worked by independent engines. The air is turned on below the 
 surface of liquor in the pan, rushing through longitudinal tubes 
 perforated especially. The moment the air is turned on a 
 mechanical ebullition is produced the while the liquor boils, and 
 the temperature can be regulated by means of cocks and piping 
 placed, as well as the steam coils, in the pan. These pans are the 
 patent of J. W. Sutton & Co., of Brisbane, to whom the specifi- 
 cation was sold by its creator (Mr. De Lissa). Mr. Sachsie is an 
 inventor as well as Mr. De Lissa, and what theoretically ought to 
 be a great saving should be effected in this department when it is 
 in full work by the use of Sachsie's Patent Steam Economist, by 
 means of which all exhaust steam from the engines is collected 
 into a large cast-iron receiver, and used over again. Any overplus 
 which may accumulate in the chamber above a certain pressure, 
 regulated according to requirements, escapes of its own accord. 
 But we left the cooking sugar-juice in the pans. As soon as it is 
 granulated it is drawn thence by slide valves and a wooden conduit 
 into the coolers, which supply space for 30,000 gallons. Let us 
 hope it will all be needed. In these coolers of course it undergoes 
 a more perfect granulation as its temperature decreases. It 
 generally remains here about two days, but sometimes only an hour 
 or two. In any case it is dug out by spades and conveyed in tubs 
 (looking the while like a mixture of dirty sand and dirtier treacle) 
 into two large, over-driven self-balancing centrifugals. These are 
 really metal baskets hanging on spindles which revolve at the rate
 
 AROUND PALMERSTON. 89 
 
 of 2,000 a minute. The baskets are of finely-perforated copper, 
 and the sugar when placed in them is by centrifugal foi'ce separated 
 from its liquorous body. Two or three minutes' revolution leaves 
 neatly packed over the perforations, in a perfectly dry state, the 
 sugar as we set it on our tea-tables. I should have mentioned 
 that outside of the baskets are large cast-iron bombproof cases, 
 whicl:, besides acting as protectors to the basket, receive the syrup 
 ■which is forced from the sugar b}' the centrifugal action. This S3^rup 
 runs off into a small w^ooden conduit, which conducts it to plate- 
 iron tanks. Thence a small rotary pump conveys it once more to 
 the finishing pans where it is reboiled and tested as before. The 
 product is "seconds" sugar. Then the syrup it leaves goes through 
 the same ordeal until no more crystals can be got. Then, the crush- 
 ing complete, the sugar is put in w^ooden bins to air, and in due 
 time sent off to market. The syrup or molasses is generally turned 
 into rum, but it will not be here, as there is no machinery for the 
 work and no wish to have it. So it is regarded as the waste product 
 of the factory, and will be used as a fodder for cattle — it fattens 
 very rapidly — ^mixed with a slight proportion of cracked corn. Or 
 it will be once more boiled, and filtrated and refined, going to 
 maiket as "Golden Syrup," or less-esteemed treacle. 
 
 It should be mentioned that there is in connection with the mill 
 a large multitubular boiler with a 50-feet chimney (Mr. De Lissa 
 has a weakness for imposing chimneys.) The masonwork — it is 
 very, very solid — is composed of anthill, mixed with the ironstone 
 found far too plentifully, I fear, about the place. The resultant 
 mass dried is as compact as the United Kingdom and as hard as 
 the heart of an ordinary Northern Territory digger. (Pharaoh has 
 drojDped out of the running up here.) All the machinery has 
 foundations of this mixture seven feet thick, and also of heavy bed- 
 logs of pajDcr-bark, some two feet square and 18 feet long in the 
 straight — about the biggest timber in the Territory. The whole of 
 the structure cost, in round numbers, £10,000, and it has been 
 erected in advance of the crop in the hope that through it the 
 Company may be able to secure the <£5,000 bonus offered b}^ the 
 Government for the manufacture of the first 500 tons of sugar 
 grown in the Northern Territory. As to the little bag of sugar manu- 
 factured in our presence, it should be explained that it came from 
 ten tons of cane from Government Gardens, crushed in the mill 
 towards the end of last year, but giving so little juice that there 
 was not sufficient to cover the coils of the pans. Some of it, how- 
 ever, splashed over them, and became a little more concentrated 
 than the rest. This was set in a cooling-place till the day of the 
 Parliamentary visit. The rest your readers know, and I should 
 like to emphasize my opinion that, whether Mr. Do Lissa has good
 
 90 AROUND PALMERSTON. 
 
 ground ov whether he has not, his methods of work are very praise- 
 worthy. In a short time he has performed a task ahnost Hei'culean, 
 and every well-wisher of the Northern Territory will join me in 
 the hope that he may soon I'ealize his expectation of three tons of 
 sugar an acre — of sugar worth £30 per ton in the southern 
 markets. In the evening our kindly and genial host provided 
 quite a banquet, and the only want which he had to bring forward 
 was a request that the time for the payment of the boniis for the 
 first sugar might be extended. That will probably be granted. 
 Then the evening was spent in a semi-formal, half-informal style. 
 There were speeches and toasting; the health of the host was 
 drunk with warmth, and many appreciative things were said of 
 him, and properly replied to. And so passed the best of the night. 
 The party steamed back again to Palmerston early on Tuesday 
 morning, March 21, and devoted the rest of the day and night to 
 formal enjoyment, including a Chinese and an English banquet — 
 the latter discreditable to some festive spirits amongst the atten- 
 dants. At 10 o'clock on Wednesday they started by the ^lenmuir 
 amidst the cheers of the assembled residents. 
 
 I remained some weeks after the part}^ left, and thus had 
 another opportunity of visiting the Peninsula. To make the descrip- 
 tion as connected as possible I finish off the record of the 
 journeyiijg thither in this chapter. About two and a half miles 
 away from Delissaville is Mr. G. T. Bean's Adelaide Plantation 
 Company's 5,000 acres of ground. Mr. Bean returned to Adelaide 
 about a month ago ; whilst he was here he managed by assistance 
 from Mr. De Lissa to get twenty acres planted with caneheads from 
 the Government Gardens, besides erecting quarters and outhouses. 
 There are the plantation overseer and his assistants and six China- 
 men now on the plantation, which should succeed if good and well- 
 watered soil could ensure success. This is the only one of the 
 70,000 acres of land, to which the special Act applies, which has 
 begun to follow the example of Delissaville. The I'est has never 
 been touched. Of the land under cultivation on the Peninsula 
 the most developed is that of Messi's. Ericson & Cluppenborg, who 
 are the pioneer planters, and whose place is on West Point. I 
 thought it well to accept their invitation to go to see what they 
 had clone. ■ I went. The visitors included Mr. J. G. Knight, S.M., 
 and j\Ir. Harrison; J. P. It may be mentioned, as showing the 
 uncertainty of the weather here, that though West Point is only 
 seven miles at the furthest from Palmerston, it took us five hours 
 of sailing to get there, for wind and tide were opposed to us, and 
 we had to struggle against sudden squalls, which knock the water 
 in bumpy heaps in five minutes. There are no jetties at W^est 
 Point yet, and so we had to run aground and mount blackfellows'
 
 AROUXD PALMERSTON. 91 
 
 shoulders in order to get dryshod to land. The estate fronts one 
 of the very rare stretches of beautiful beach which set off the 
 mangrove edges of the harbour — of beach hard, diy, and pebbly, 
 running down to the sea from a slanting solid wall of curious 
 natural masonry. The proprietors have quite a little mausiou 
 facing the entrance to the outer harbour, in a situation less 
 picturesque than comfortable, and not so much elevated as 
 healthful — a place with actual gables and arched windows, 
 and other of the fripperies of fashionable architecture. The 
 inside is gorgeous with imitation rainbows ; and there are 
 most curious devices in furniture and fittings, some of the 
 latter from the wreck of the Brisbane — a wreck which was 
 quite a godsend to the folk thereabout. You meet with " Bris- 
 bane" relics everywhere. I need not repeat the information I 
 have ah-eady given about the plantation itself, which extends over 
 320 acres. The 56 acres of maize look remarkably satisfactory. 
 The cobs filled well in all cases, though unfortunately too many of 
 them had the fair seeming without much to back it. Their 
 hearts had gone to caterpillars, that seem to have had so much 
 fondness for maize that they contemned any other thing growing 
 on the plantation. To their efforts was due the fact that 
 the crop would probably not give more than about 15 bushels per 
 acre. The five acres of sugarcane do not look particularly well. 
 The plants are healthy enough, but they are stunted, and 
 they have not made so much cane as they ought to have made. 
 They were, however, when we saw them, better-looking than those 
 at Delissaville when we saw them — but there was a fortnight 
 between. In both cases there was an undue proportion of misses, 
 put down to the delays iu the transfer of the cane-heads from the 
 Government Garden, to the lateness of planting, to the unusual 
 dryness of the wet season, and iu Messrs. Ericson and Clop- 
 penborg's case, to inattention to the plant whilst it was growing 
 up to lately. The canes looked so badly, they thought attentions 
 would be thrown away upon them. The outlook for this year's 
 sugarcane crop is not bright, to put it negatively. There is just 
 a chance that the season may be later than usual, and more 
 propitious towards its latter end. If so, there need be little 
 to complain of under the circumstances. For any land to yield 
 sugar properly it must be treated as land in established sugar 
 countries is. That in the Northern Territory will never have had 
 a fair trial till the planters use cane-hcads from their own nurse- 
 ries, and eventually, may be, grow from the rattoons. No quali- 
 fication is needed in writing of the West Point rice crop. The 
 cultivator threw in anyhow a few handfuls of rice and seemingly 
 never gave it another thought. When we visited him he had a
 
 92 AROUND PALMERSTON. 
 
 grand area — the heads big, healthy, and bursting with pkimp 
 grain ; the stalks and leaves a hardy, cheerful green. The 
 soil on which it grew had not any si^ecial points about it ; it was 
 a fairly deep mixture of beach sand and black mould. Wherever 
 we saw rice growing in the Territory we saw it flourishing ; and 
 one leading gentleman in Palmerston was so impressed with 
 the important industry the cultivation of this useful cereal would 
 become ; impressed also with the fact that the rice planter 
 would work with a protective duty on his side, and that the cost 
 of production is a mere bagatelle, that he next day arranged for 
 the planting at the proper time of a hundred acres or so 
 bordering another jiart of the harbour as an experiment. 
 Ericson &■ Cloppenborg were trying pigs too. They had had 
 some himdreds, and their first attempts at bacon curing, though 
 made in the hottest weather, had been successful. One of the 
 firmly held beliefs was that bacon could not be cured in such a 
 climate. Thei; numerous poultiy were plump as regulation 
 cherubs, and found ready sale at high prices amongst the China- 
 men on the other side, besides keeping the land practically free 
 from white ants. Peanuts and sorghum flourished, and of melons and 
 pumpkins they produced 200tonsayear. They professed tohavegood 
 building stone and brick-clay on their land — and that, under the cir- 
 cumstances of Palmerston, is a valuable consideration ; and, climax 
 of good fortune, the partners are going to have a sugar mill erected 
 for them at the point. Altogether they have what in commercial 
 circles is known as " a ver}^ soft thing." But they have bought it 
 dearly by pioneering midst discouragements and muscle-wrench and 
 swTat. Whether there should be, as nautical men suggest, an 
 efficient beacon or flight on West Point, which marks-in the 
 entrance to the outer harbour, to guide mariners, the ^larine 
 Board ma}' profitably consider wdien the Pteefs Ptailway Bill shall 
 have been passed. 
 
 Not far from Ericson &, Coppenborg's, Messrs. Hai-riss & Head 
 have another half-mile block. Maize is their staple, but they are 
 trying cotton this year. Near to them is Mr. Vaugemann, with 
 another half-mile, who is growing two acres of tobacco, but is greatly 
 troubled with caterpillars, as inc^eed are nearly all the settlers 
 here. They get into the maize-cobs and work mischief. Alto- 
 gether some good experimental work is being done on this side 
 the harbour. 
 
 Subsequently, kindly piloted by Mr. Surveyor Lindsay, I rode 
 through country to Lee Point — the headland which helps Point 
 Fright to enclose Shoal Bay — and back some distance along the 
 coast, availing myself of the opportunity to examine the Casuarinas, 
 which Palmerstouians lay great store by as their principal
 
 AROUND PALMERSTON. 93 
 
 watering-place when they shall become citizens in truth as well as 
 by courtesy. Speculators meanwhile have bought up the land. 
 There is nothing especially noteworthy in the ride thither from 
 Palmerston. For the first three and a half miles you follow what 
 must be the course of the railway — along the telegraph line almost. 
 The gi-ound is fairly high and very firm, sprinkled with ironstone. 
 Kail way sleepers would be as stable on it as the rails usually ai-e 
 on them. You branch off the line, and go two and a half miles 
 thi'ough good agricultural country pretty heavily timbered, but 
 almost free from undergrowth ; and then you come to Rapid Creek, 
 which rushes swiftly along its bed during the wet season, but at 
 other times is dry. Its waters are clear as ciystal. Thence to 
 the Casuarinas the bridle track winds through more good agricul- 
 tural country, some hundreds of acres of which was fenced and 
 settled upon as a plantation years ago, but abandoned before any 
 trial was made of it. It is really disheartening to think that a 
 vigorous plantation will not spring up spontaneously, as Topsy 
 believed she did. Such of the fences of this estate as are not 
 burnt are rotten ; and the charred uprights of the plantation-house 
 help them in their raonumental chronicling of folly. 
 
 The Casuarinas is a romantic place. It was named after the 
 Casuariua-tree — averaging about fifty feet in height, and graceful- 
 looking, with a leaf like a pine drooping weeping-willow fashion, a 
 seed or cone like a small sheoak apple, and wood like the sheoak 
 itself. Before you get to the Casuarinas you have to pass the 
 Diphthong Caves, which are hardly worth the name of cave at all. 
 Their principal characteristic geologically is the soft beautifully- 
 mottled soapstone, or such like, of which their little arches are 
 composed, and otherwise the multitude of shellfish which doth 
 inhabit them. Amongst these fish are some very pretty and rather 
 rare kinds, which have aforetime been well described by an old 
 former Palmerstonian and conchologist — IMr. W. T. Bednall— of 
 whom it is currently reported hei'c that he was so enthusiastic in 
 his hobby that he has been known to lie hatless at full length on 
 the scorching sand for hours at a stretch, examining the points of 
 some new discovery in his favourite science. 
 
 The tale goes that a friend went out with him one day for a 
 walk. Mr. Bednall abruptly fell full-length on the beach behaving 
 in a most mysterious fashion. The friend strolled away by himself 
 and coming back two hours afterwards found the conchologist in 
 precisely the same position gazing intently at a shell. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " was the query. 
 
 "Don't interrupt me!" pleaded Mr. Bednall. '■ I— I— really 
 believe this is a new kind of shell, I — I'll see ! " The friend went 
 home at once.
 
 94 xVROUND TALMERSTOX, 
 
 There are marketable sponges here, there is beautiful mushroom- 
 shaped coral not far off, and there are full-powered niosquitos, 
 too. Here run horses — born and bred in the country from Sir T. 
 Elder's stock — reared promiscuously, and yet upstanding, shapely, 
 active, and spirited, with proudly arching necks, and all the i-est oif 
 the Arab "points." They furnish s'^tisfactory negatives to the 
 assertion that horses bred north of the 13th degree of latitude are 
 of no account. 
 
 The land is very similar to that at West Point near to the beach. 
 I suppose it will never be tried for agriculture of any kind. 
 Beyond, in the jungle, it may fairly be, for it is moderately good 
 generally, with patches as to which the qualification is not needed. 
 In one of these there is an enormous native banyan tree, 80 feet 
 high in places, and covering with its numerous twisted ramifying 
 roots 2,000 square yards. A sight well worth seeing, this tree. All 
 round in the jungle the nntives had been tapping various trunks 
 for honey, which here is pretty plentiful. Of trees none were seen 
 uncommon to the other jungles, excepting, maybe, the sensitive 
 plants which close up their leaves immediately they are touched. 
 With one kind you need only to stamp upon the surrounding 
 ground to make them retire wdthin themselves. Facetious people 
 call them members of Parliament. I don't know why. The only 
 animals of any note that roam the jungle are kangaroos — stunted 
 and unhappy-looking. The biggest of them is not larger than the 
 average farther south. 
 
 Excepting the Government Gardens, I have given descriptions 
 of all the plantations in the Northern Territory. This is a fitting- 
 time for a note or two about plantation prospects. First of all 
 let me say that though there has been, and palpably is still, shep- 
 herding of plantation grounds for other than plantation purposes, 
 there has been a set-off of honest work and enterprise in promoting 
 this important industry. And though not more than £2.5,000 has 
 been spent upon it, all through the country there ai-e evidences of 
 that sum being considerably increased. On the Adelaide Paver 
 alone 70,800 acres are protected by special survey applications 
 (under the 7s. 6d. purchase clause) for sugar-growing and similar 
 ■work, and if all this is devoted to its legitimate purposes, 
 thousands of men must be employed upon it. Messrs. Fisher and 
 Lyons have applied for survey of 21,000 acres in the Hundred of 
 Bagot, north of Palmerston. On Douglas Peninsula, besides the 
 75,000 acres occupied under the Sugar Grant Act, l.oOO acres 
 have been chosen as subjects for survey applications, so that nearly 
 all the good land on the Peninsula has virtually gone from the 
 Government. In the Hundred of Ayers 3,000 acres are held for 
 plantation purposes; and near the coffee plantation at Kiim
 
 AROUND PAL3IERST0N. 95 
 
 Jungle, over a wide i-adius, to all the land the same remark aiDplies, 
 as it does also to a great deal of that surrounding the harbour, 
 particularly near Southport, so that the recent decision of the 
 Government to stop awhile all sales of land will not affect the 
 progress of the plantation industry. "Within nine miles of Palmer- 
 ston a block of 1,100 acres is to be broken up and planted with 
 sugarcanes forthwith, and within a year a mill is to be erected on it. 
 Coffee and spices, indigo, cinchona, opium (by Chinese), and many 
 other tropical products are to be tried — fairly, let us hope — and if 
 these ventures are economically managed by experienced men with 
 capital to back them, there cannot be on the part of any one who 
 has closely examined the country and witnessed its ■wonderful 
 productiveness the slightest misgiving as to the result. The 
 purely experimental work has been already done w^ith indifierent 
 soil in the Government Gardens. The planters now can avail 
 themselves of certain knowledge where two years ago all was 
 uncertainty. It has been proved not only that the canes will 
 grow, but that they yield a sugar which would show to advantage 
 placed side by side with samples from the principal sugar-manu- 
 facturing countries in the world. Outside the Gardens there has 
 been as yet absolutely no fair trial of sugai'-growing. The only 
 trial, then, has been thoroughly successful. The logical conclusion 
 is that the success will be general as experiments multiply. If 
 our own capitalists do not accept to their own advantage the com- 
 mercial suggestiveness of that conclusion, they will find in distant 
 places other men wdio will ; they will discover that foreign money 
 will do what they might much more easily have done. The Northern 
 Territory will not for long be the tenri incognita it has been. The 
 newspapers are spreading its fame throughout the world, and consu- 
 lar authorities and Government officials at Palmerston are frequently 
 addressed from America, China, Mauritius, and other distant parts 
 by men of cai)ital and practical experience in jDlantation work, and 
 asked for precise information about a place they have sesn referred 
 to in papers in the various countries where they live. These enqui- 
 ries have been answered and in some cases responses have come — 
 generally to the effect that the questioners were satisfied with the 
 prospects, and prepared, when cheaper labour should be obtainable, 
 to invest their money here. That labour steps are being taken to 
 supply, the Indian Coolie Immigration Act having already passed 
 the Assembly, But if it should not become law even now, 
 if the Government do not obtain labour from India, intelli- 
 gent and shrewd Chinese capitalists will get it from China. 
 They are closely watching the Government now. They have told 
 me so on all sides, and some of them have gone to work already. 
 There is a recognised Chinese labour agent in Palmerston, and
 
 96 AROUND TALMERSTON. 
 
 European planters have transactions with him. Ah-eady Chinese 
 have invested in plantation land, for several European names upon 
 the land list stand for Chinamen, and the latter have themselves 
 avowed (as I befoi-e have noted) to the Minister their intention of 
 establishing plantations. By way of killing two birds with one 
 stone — to give an idea of what the greatly misunderstood position 
 of the Java planters really is, and to show that their thoughts are 
 turned towards our land — I copied a letter which Mr. Y. L. Solomon, 
 the Dutch Consul, has received from a planter at Banjoemaas, on 
 that island, and wdiich he courteously placed at my disposal. The 
 writer began by saying that his attention had been directed to the 
 Territory by an article in the local paper on its capabilities. He 
 says, then, in effect, that if the article be true he will better 
 himself by changing places, and he explains his position thus : — 
 " The cultivation of the sugarcane has always been through the 
 intermedium of the Government. The planters pay them a certain 
 amount per year per acre of the ground on which cane is grown, 
 and the natives are ordered to do all that is needful for the p)ros- 
 perous growing of the cane iindcr the supervision of the planters. 
 The natives are paid by the Government certain moneys for the 
 lease of their land and their labour in the cultivation of the cane. 
 The result of the whole operation was a net surplus of some 
 £600,000 for the Treasury. In the year 1870, however, a law 
 was passed to the effect that, to begin in 1878, the Government 
 would gradually diminish the acreage to be cultivated through its 
 intermedium at the rate of one thirteenth of the whole, w4th the 
 object of terminating all Government assistance by the year 1890. 
 The action of the Government is undoubtedly a right one, but the 
 consequence for all sugar making concerns will be higlier rates to 
 pay for getting land and labour and consequently smaller profits, 
 while some planters may be obliged to liquidate altogethei-." Inciden- 
 tally he gives a few particulars about the yield of sugar in the Java 
 plaiitations. It will be sufficient to reproduce the information that 
 last year the 700 acres he holds produced from 1,9-iO to 2,420 tons of 
 good sugar. Last season the total was 2,540. Striking a safe average, 
 this is three tons an acre. Allowing the same conditions in the 
 Northern Territory, but a ton less to the yield, and valuing 
 sugar at £20 in southern markets, and leaving out of the question 
 treacle and rum, and the many articles of which it forms the base, 
 a 5,000-acre plantation will give its owner £300,000 a year 
 to pay expenses and to fill the profit-treasury with. And 
 surely a two-ton average is low enough to build the calculation 
 on ? A 5,000-acre ftirm, with wheat at 5s. a bushel and ten 
 bushels to the acre — a high average in South Australia, at least — 
 gives less than £13,000. Now let the reader cogitate.
 
 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 07 
 
 CHAPTER VITL— GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND 
 THE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 The Government Gakdens.— A Transformed ^YILDERN■Ess. — TheLaeoitr 
 AND ITS Results. — Chinese versus Europeans. — A Good Word 
 FOR the Yellow-skins. — The Sugarcane. — Defiance to White 
 Ants. — Their Destroyer. — Valuable Suggestions from a Prac- 
 tical Scientific Gardener. — Fortunes for Future Planters. — 
 A Great Eice, Indigo, and Tobacco Growing Country. — The 
 Ee.sident's Little Joke. — The Un visited Daly. — Its Soil. — The 
 Palmerston Plantation Company's Holding. — An Adventure. — 
 Another. — Difficulties of jNavigation. — A Rum River : A 
 Nasty River.— The Adelaide River.— South Vernon Islands. — 
 A Wonderful Mirage. — The Last of the Parliamentary Ship. — 
 Blackfellows and their Songs. — No Artistic Perception— A 
 Dusky Interviewer. — Escape Cliffs. — Easy JNavigation of the 
 Ei\t;r. — Its Winding.s. — Pioneering Difficulties. — An Alli- 
 gator Tale. — The Omnipresent, Omnivorous Mosquito. — A 
 Paradise for a Naturalist. — Conclusions. 
 
 ►^HATEVER else the reader may have skipped, I would ask 
 ij. him not to fail to make the acquaintance, through this 
 medium, of the Director of the Palmerston Gardens (Mr. 
 Holtze), and to post himself up in the miracle which 
 that gentleman and the soil he cultivates have jointly 
 wrought. The garden is about four miles from Palmerston, verging 
 on Fannie Bay,_and it was established by the Government for " the 
 expi-ess purpose of raising plants of commercial value and distribu- 
 ting them over the country." There was another garden once 
 nearer Palmerston. The old enclosure is used as the police 
 paddock now. Eight acres of it were cleared, and it subserved 
 principally the highly important purpose of growing vegetables for 
 the officials. Mr. Holtze succeeded its former Director about four 
 and a half year.s ago, and audaciously hinted that to cultivate 
 cabbage heads was not the greatest ambition of the true gardener, 
 or the most important operation for the country. So he cut down 
 the supplies and put in various tropical trees and other plants, and 
 then suggested that a fairer trial would be given to the average of 
 the Northern Territoiy soil if a ditfercnt plantation were obtained. 
 He was allowed to get another, and he selected the present 
 garden — then thick jungle mostly, in the position indicated. He 
 has been blamed for doing so; the land is indifferent, the blame- 
 givers say. And he says so too, but significantly he pleads that 
 his selection is the best for experiments, and that he is now able 
 to tell intending planters — 
 
 " You see, gentlemen, I have grown canes so many feet high on 
 this indiiferent ground ; on good land you ought to have 25 per 
 cent, more of measurable success." 
 
 And he has repeatedly urged that there should be another Govern-
 
 '98 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 ment garden up-country — at Yam Creek for instance — where there 
 is good soil. What one failed in might be the other's stroug 
 ground of success. The area of the garden is thirty-two acres, and 
 it was chosen at a time when crowds of Chinamen came in from 
 the gold-fields, half-starving, to demand rations from the Govern- 
 ment. They were engaged (as on a relief work) at Is. a day to 
 clear the selection, and they did it — did it "most horribly," Mr. 
 Holtze assured me. By the 1st of November, 1879, it was fenced 
 ready for planting and then trenched twenty inches deep. The 
 plants from the old garden had to be conveyed to the new; and as a 
 most rigid economy was enforced, Mr. Holtze, in the early morning 
 and late night, before and after superintending the operations of the 
 day, carted them himself, and got nothing more tangible than 
 thanks for doing so. And now the reader knows the history of 
 the place, and it is important that he should to appreciate the 
 sequel, as I describe it as I saw it two years and four months 
 after its establishment. I ask him to bear particularly in mind 
 the fact that only so short a time ago the land was thickly covered 
 with jungle, and that the soil is merely second-rate. To 
 reach the gardens you branch off from the telegraph line on the 
 road to Southport, and continue to ride for a mile through high 
 grass and patches of thick jungle. The position of the place is 
 pictm'esque in itself, and it commands a grand view of sea and 
 sea-beach, backed by distant, hazy, slightly-rising land. The resi- 
 dence of the Director is built upon what are known as the 
 " Northern Territory Government architectural lines," and the 
 artistic effect is not wholly bad, whilst the comfort of the person 
 residing in the erection is fairly promoted. There are huts for 
 the Chinese gardeners, and there is a place in which a little of the 
 produce can be stowed, but a seed-house and a few other 
 structures are badly wanted. Mr. Holtze's salary is only £2.50 
 per annum, with quarters. Seventeen Chinamen ai'e employed. 
 Two of them get 25s. a week each ; two more, 20s. ; and the rest 
 only ISs., -without rations in each case. Mr. Holtze gives them 
 an excellent character. He prefers them to Europeans for garden- 
 work ; and he has had both working, and ought to be capable of 
 forming judgment. He remembers, of course, that men slaving 
 nine hours a day, wet or shine, for 15s. a week, cannot be ex- 
 pected to be over-energetic, unless they are pretty thoroughly 
 overseeied. Granted that reservation, he says that, whilst they 
 certainly are " slow," they work well and get through more than 
 any Europeans he has had ever got through whilst they 
 were with him. I got this information from Mr. Holtze ere 
 we had gone into the gardens. When we had done that I had an 
 opportunity of seeing the men at work, and they put in a great
 
 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 99 
 
 many strokes to the minute whilst we were looking on. When 
 their master's back is turned towards them, however, they are not, 
 I have since found, too eager to injure themselves by 
 over-exertion, and you really cannot expect them to be, with 
 such pay, when they know Europeans would get £3 at least. 
 The examination of the gardens was the greatest surprise I have 
 had in the Territory. A wilderness a little more than two years 
 ago is now an umbrageous paradise. Acclimatized trees shoot 
 aloft and tower above the native ones outside full twenty times 
 their age ; they bear most luscious fruit, in quantity unstinted. 
 Creepers indigenous to a foreign soil planted here have run at once 
 over the place and now grow everywhere in wild prolusion ; and 
 many herbs well known and grown down South after a year of 
 cultivation here attain an immense size and spread weed-like 
 through the adjacent land. Each area of the garden is only 
 another greater wonder than the last, and if I but cared to wax 
 rhapsodical I certainly could not be justly charged with wanting 
 warrant for it. But I do not choose to go into rhapsody, and so 
 I will condescend to the practical, witli some little detail as to the 
 most prominent experiments and their results. First, as to sugar- 
 cane, of which there are eight varieties, spreading over sixteen 
 acres, in the gardens. Mr. Holtze affirms that it is bad this year, 
 because he could not cut the last year's crop till the end of Decem- 
 ber, having orders to have some sent to Delissaville for crushing — 
 the crushing which proved, through certain blunders, so disastrous. 
 Through this the canes lost sis weeks' growth, and Mr. Holtze 
 feels very much annoyed at the result. Yet everybody outside 
 agrees that the canes are grand successes, though they are a trifle 
 less satisfactory in appearance than were those of last year. When 
 I visited the gardens some of them had made six or seven feet of 
 " cane," and that is almost twice as much as any else J have seen 
 here have done. Of course it should be remembered that these 
 grew from the rattoons. Speaking of the growth of sugarcane in 
 the Territory Mr. Holtze says — and it will be of interest to give 
 the result of his experiments — that it should be in by the com- 
 mencement of October. Mr. De Lissa and others planted in Decem- 
 ber, and he predicts that their crops will not be one-half so good 
 as they might have been. In sugar-cultivation generally he thinks 
 it would be better for the first year or two to plant only cane-heads, 
 and take the old roots up, and also to observe some rotation of crojDS, 
 alternating the cane with something else. An idea of tiie impor- 
 tant work the gardens have done for the promotion of the sugar- 
 growing industry of the country may be gained from the fact that 
 140 tons of cane have gone this season alone from them to the 
 various private plantations and a little to Chinese gardeners. The
 
 100 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THR RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 latter further took, including a few to Europeans, 8,000 banana 
 trees and 13,000 pineapple plants. This year the numbers 
 already were respectively 2,000 and 5,000. All these are 
 given away. The cane is even cut at the expense of the 
 Government, and thus the garden gives no return what- 
 ever, except a very intangible one in the shape of fruit for 
 Government officers and fodder for their horses. Mr. Holtze 
 suggests, and I believe the planters do not object to the suggestion 
 — that a small charge should be levied for the cane at least — say a 
 couple of pounds a ton. Then the persons getting it would 
 enjoy a great advantage, which they would not have had they 
 to ship the plants from Queensland, and in the latter case they 
 would not get them in nearly so fresh a state. Besides the 
 planters, many diggers and settlers up country are getting seeds 
 from the gardens. Mr. Holtze gives the carters those of the 
 foreign grasses he has proved to be best adapted to the soil, and 
 gets them to scatter them all over the country in the neighbour- 
 hood of their camps. The pine-apples and bananas thrive even 
 better than the sugarcane. I tasted all three — I tasted so many 
 tropical fruits and vegetables on this trip that I believe I could 
 name them each by flavour ten years hence — and I found 
 them all that could be desired. The sugarcane particularly, 
 with its soft, sweet, soppy juice, keenly appeals to one's suscepti- 
 bilities. It reminds him of the days when he, like the pulpy cane, 
 was in his infancy. 
 
 Going through the sugar acreage one naturally wants to know 
 where the white ants have been that the crop should be so healthy. 
 I closely examined each plot, and only in a few cases were there 
 any signs of the ants. Mr. Holtze has a wholesale con- 
 tempt for them ; and when you ask him whether he thinks 
 the little pests will be a considerable factor in the planters' 
 losses you see an indignant man. He opposes to the ants arsenic 
 and potash, and the common so-called remedy of carbolic acid he 
 impeaches with Teutonic warmth as — 
 
 '•' Nonsense. It is all very well for the first time, so long as 
 the smell is there, but when it leaves the ants are coolly walking- 
 over the powder and taking it to whitewash their cells with. Now 
 I dilute my arsenic and potash in hot water, and take sugar and 
 flour and make a paste. Whenever I see white ants I make 
 a hole and fill it with a spoonful of the mixture, I never 
 have the least trouble with them. Arsenic is a never-ending 
 poison. The father ant takes it and dies. His sons aftectionately 
 eat him, and they die ; their mother and sisters devour them, and 
 all give up the ghost, and so destruction goes on for ever." 
 
 If this be the true solution of the ant difficulty, it certainly is
 
 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 101 
 
 a very inexpensive one. Four years ago, in the old gardens, he 
 bought a half cwt. of arsenic ; half of that he has still. 
 With what has gone he has conquered the ants. Maize is the 
 next principal crop in the garden, and it is looking as well as it 
 can look anj'where, notwithstanding that it is the third crop in a 
 year, Kice simply flourishes, strengthening the evidence I have 
 had throughout, that the Northern Territory will be a great 
 rice-growing country. Only the hill kinds are tried in the 
 gardens, because the ground is too high for the swamp varieties. 
 Cinchona has not been successful. The seeds did not 
 even come up, and IMr. Holtze maintains that the climate is 
 too hot for it— 
 
 " It is all very Avell to say that it thrives in Ceylon, but there 
 are high mountains there. We haven't got those mountains." 
 
 On Messrs. Poiett & Mackiunon's plantation at Rum Jungle, 
 however, the seeds have germinated, and the little plants look 
 healthy enough. But then the climate is different and the soil is 
 better. Dr. Schomburgk wrote years ago that cinchona should be 
 successful there. Coffee does not do well in the gardens. The 
 prime cause is said to be the fact of its being planted so near the 
 sea. The Arabica is not unhealthy-looking above ground, but it 
 has no root. The Liberian looks sturdy, and Mr. Holtze is con- 
 fident that it Avill succeed on the plantations. It needs great care 
 and attention, however. Tea and several spices have failed. They 
 have been tried fairly, and though they make plenty of leaves 
 they have no root. Cocoa is moderately successful. Tobacco has 
 not been so satisfactory as it was believed it would be. The plants 
 I saw were very young, and I could not judge of them, but my 
 conductor said that he has grown leaves 27 inches long by 18 
 inches wide, and that, I should think, is satisfactory enough. 
 But he fears otherwise — says the soil is not fit for tobacco. He 
 suggests, however, that in the more favoured parts of the country 
 100 acres in a crop of tobacco altei-nating with rice every year 
 would pay well. One of the best things in the gardens is the 
 arrowroot, which actually overruns the place, growing in grand 
 perfection weedlike. Mr. Holtze ground some of the roots with a 
 nutmeg grater, and carried a few pounds of the powder he got in 
 this way to the storekeepers for an opinion as to its quality, 
 without letting them know whence he got it. They told him it 
 was superior to au}^ they had in stock. He took the roots from a 
 fair average area of the crop, so that he miglit make a calculation 
 as to the probable yield if all were ground. He is satisfied, as a 
 result of that calculation, that even the indifferently good soil in the 
 gardens will yield at least 25 cwt. of the finest arrowroot per acre. 
 Though cotton grows well there was a question in my guide's mind
 
 102 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 as to whether it will pay while labour is so dear. He submits, 
 however, a proposition which he conceives to be perfectly reason- 
 able : that though he would not advise any one under present 
 conditions to start cotton-growing, yet if the Government want a 
 cotton plantation, and will give him the use of 10,000 acres of 
 land, he will try for five years to establish one. If he be successful 
 then he will pay 7s. 6d. an acre ; if not, he will yield possession 
 again to the Government. There are two sides to that proposal, 
 however. Among the grand successes in the garden is the culti- 
 vation of indigo, information concerning which Major Fergusson 
 received special instructions to obtain whilst he was visiting India. 
 The plant has run from the gardens into the surrounding scrub 
 and jungle, and you see the bright blue flower and the pretty 
 dappered leaves on all hands. It overruns the gardens too, and 
 indeed it seems as though it never enjoyed its most congenial 
 climatic influences till it got them here. In India its average 
 height, if one may believe the books, is not much more than two 
 feet ; here it is over five feet. 
 
 " There'll be many fortunes made in the Northern Territory in 
 indigo," said my conductor. 
 
 And I quite believed him. Those who have travelled lately 
 through India say that the necessities of its immense and ever- 
 increasing population in the shape of food supply are always 
 becoming greater and more pressing, and as a consequence the 
 cultivators of indigo have to make food production their prime 
 business. So the acreage under the dye-plant is gradually 
 decreasing, though, as a matter of course, the demand is in an 
 inverse ratio. Hence, and for other reasons, it is safe to back the 
 prediction given above. I should have mentioned, when I wrote 
 of tobacco, that Mr. Holtze gave me some cigars which he had 
 made roughly — for he confesses to not understanding the work — 
 from leaves grown in the gardens. Although new, they smoked 
 as well as the best Manilla, and they were milder, or at least they 
 seemed to be — smoked as a variation of the exercises of sugar- 
 cane and maize and peanut and chili chewing — for I had 
 scrupulously to sample everything that grew, and I felt like an 
 Indian salad dish. And, by the way, there appertains to these 
 cigars a little joke. The Government Resident had a box of 
 them, and he valiantly championed their virtues whilst, as usual, 
 men who ought to be the first to support "local industries" 
 decried them. They were colonial ; that was enough to damn 
 them. He determined to give them a fair test. Shortly 
 afterwards he gave a whist party, and placed these cigars 
 before the company without remark. Unasked for came 
 exclamations of surprise at and comments upon their
 
 GOVERXMEXT PLAXTATIOXS AND THE RIVER COUXTRT. 103 
 
 excellence. And then the murder was out! I can under- 
 stand the commendations, for I have paid sixpence for a much 
 worse cigar in the southern capitals. The first energetic and 
 competent tobacco-planter and curer in the Northern Territory will 
 doubtless make a fortune rapidly. When I tell the reader that 
 there are nearly a thousand kinds of plants in the gardens he will 
 thank me not to detail all the experiments. And so I pass over a 
 great many, which meant months of careful watching and study in 
 their consummation, and most of which were successful, notwith- 
 standing that there is not the slightest forcing to gain success. 
 Not so much as a shovelful of manm'e has been used in the whole 
 garden, and not a single plant has been watered except by dew or 
 I'ain j for the Director contends that if a thing will not grow 
 without watering, then it is no good for the Northern Territory ; 
 and to the end that the conditions necessary to general success 
 may be tabulated as far as possible, Mr. Holtze studiously takes 
 every day thermometrical readings, and by a gauge registers the 
 rainMl. The new planters can, having registered the rainfall 
 whilst they were clearing, come to the gardener and say — 
 
 " My register is so-and-so. Temperature so many degi-ees. 
 Here's a sample of my soil. Shall it be sugarcane or cotton, 
 indigo or maize 1" 
 
 Easy as most theories, you observe. But, continuing my 
 summar}^, I may add that, much to my astonishment, I was intro- 
 duced to the grand old Scotch kale, healthy and hale as its kin in 
 the old country ; to its warm friends pepper and cloves, and capsi- 
 cums and cinnamon, all either flourishing or looking like to 
 flourish ; to healthy lycheenuts, mangoes, and bread-fruit, guava, 
 jack-fruit, yams, melons, beans, and sweet potatoes. Peanuts 
 particiilarly thrive. Last year one-fifteenth of an acre gave 4 cwt. 
 Eight hundred pounds to the acre is considered a good crop in 
 California. Tlie ^lanilla almond looks better here than on its 
 native heath, and English apples, grapes, and peaches grow, but 
 the first and last, I thought, seemed pining. Some Spanish and 
 navel orange-trees were in fair health, but the ironstone-sprinkled 
 gi'ound is not the fittest for their tribe to live on. The mandarin 
 oranges, however, as I proved by sight and taste, had not 
 depreciated one whit by transplantation, nor had the limes, 
 lemons, citrons, and pomegranates, nor the many-formed 
 hibiscus, nor Cape gooseberries, chilis, custard apples, carob-beans, 
 figs, almonds, plantains, earthnuts, sorghum, sesamoil, cassava, 
 castor oil, sweet sob and sour sob, rhea or Chinese grass plant, and 
 others whose names are semi-legion. The cocoanut was tried, but 
 not successfully. The nuts were planted on the beach, and one 
 can hardly afiirni that the experiment was a fair one. To Baron
 
 104 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 von Mueller the Director expressed bis obligations generally, and 
 particularly for recommending trial of the India-rubber tree. Four 
 months before I visited the gardens its seeds were sown, and I was 
 introduced to a flourishing tree eight feet in height.. The expressed 
 and conjealed juice of this indiarubber plant will unquestionably 
 be one of the important minor articles of export from the Territory. 
 So will palm oil from its tree, which grows luxuriantly. A big 
 shade-bamboo nursery in the centre of the gardens is filled with 
 many rare and choice young plants. Here, as with respect to 
 some parts at least in the open, scores of acclimatized and native 
 grasses grow. The best to succeed is the common Phillips's. 
 The English lawn grass grows well under shade, but does not seem 
 to stand the heat, and yet T have seen a capital lawn in Palmerston, 
 where, exposed and not artifically watered, its gi'owth is satis- 
 factory enough. The Alizana Indica thrives in the gardens ; but 
 Mr. Holtze's opinion is tha' the native grasses are just as good as 
 the imported are in their own home, and better than they will be 
 here. He has been experimenting with the tall rank kinds I have 
 described in my notes on the down-country travel, and he 
 discovered that by cutting them down frequently he got at last a 
 thick, soft, fast-spreading, somewhat dwarfed buftalo grass, which 
 surpasses the best couch for lawn and feeding purposes. English 
 lucerne grows well, and tlie reana, a luxuriant fodder-plant about 
 fifteen feet high, springs up with surprising rapidity. Jute, has 
 failed this season, owing to the unusally dry weather. The plants 
 got sickly, and were attacked by a maggot like a gentle. The so- 
 called broom-corn, from which American brooms ai'e made, grows 
 splendidly. I saw a thick plot, averaging fifteen feet in height. 
 All the Chinese oil-plants grow well. The " teal" has spread — 
 self-sown after the first year — all over the garden. Its juice is a 
 capital lubricating oil ; 1,200,000 acres are planted with "teal" 
 every year in India. The six odd figures would give us a grand 
 export for the Territory. Many different sorts of millets yield a 
 heavy crop, and a row of mulberries are strong and healthy. The 
 Director is importing some silkworms to live in them, and thus he will 
 nurture two industries in one. Of Chinese bamboo-silk I took with me 
 some good samples which I combed out from various thriving trees 
 eight feet high. There is no doubt as to the success of this plant, 
 and as the fibre is valuable in cloth manufacture, its cultivation 
 would be an important subsidiary aid to the planter. An African 
 fibre-plant is equally successful, and so is the Indian physic-nut, 
 used medicinally. The papoya — papa — papaw — papia (for it has 
 locally as many names as a Chinese sharper has tricks) is amongst 
 the most healthy fruit producers. It is a peculiar plant. (Carica 
 Fapa-ya) Papaw — and natural order Papayacese. Tliere are male and
 
 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS A-ND THE RIVER COUNTRY, 105 
 
 female. The male tree yields only flowers ; the others add the fruit. 
 The males are the hardier, and on one plantation I visited there 
 were no females, and hence there was no fi'uit. The males have to 
 be inoculated by bees, it is said, and where the bees neglect their 
 duty the tree is of no account except for ornament. The fruit 
 itself is to some tastes delicious, though others don't like it. Its 
 flavour is a cross between rockmelon, banana, and pineapple. And 
 now, having served my pm-pose, I think I may finally close my 
 notes on this important subject. I cannot do better than confirm 
 from my own observation during several visits what the gardener 
 says — ^that " everything imported that grows in this country 
 thrives." At first plants which are most notably successful now 
 pined. The proper season for planting them was not found till 
 experiments had been made. When it was discovered there was 
 no further trouble, and it is only a reasonable surmise that the 
 same thing will repeat itself till, when the purely experimental 
 work shall have been completed, we shall have thoiisands of 
 vigorous acclimatized plants where now there are only hundreds. 
 That the trial may be perfect Mr. Holtze is getting from all quarters 
 every variety of each plant, and of course he gives exchanges. 
 The garden, be it understood, is not a place for floral beauties 
 or the kickshaws of cultivation. Its strong point is its strictly 
 commercial character, and in that point it is simply Herculean. 
 And now come we to the Daly River, which the party made an 
 unsuccessful attempt to reach that stormy Thursday. On the 
 return after that failure I tried to arrange for a trip to that com- 
 paratively unexplored region, but I was confronted by difficulties 
 which practically were insuperable, and I feared that I should not 
 be able to give an authentic description of the country. But just 
 at this juncture there arrived from the river a small boat con- 
 taining two well-known authorities on soil and soil products — Mr. 
 A. Edwards, planter, late of Fiji and Natal, who came to the 
 TeiTitory to inspect and report upon the Melbourne Palmerston 
 Plantation Company's land on the Daly ; and Mr. Reece, a cotton 
 and sugar planter in one of the Fijian Isles, who came to look at 
 the land with a view to taking a large area up if he found he 
 would be justified in doing so. I interviewed them in conjunction 
 with nearly every man — and there are not many in the Territory — 
 who had visited the Daly or any part of it. From them, as to 
 the soil itself and the appearance of the country, I obtained the 
 substance of what follows, and I think, judging by the position of 
 the parties — Government officers are included - -that it may be 
 accepted as perfectly authentic. Messrs. Edwards and Reece left 
 Port Darwin for the Daly in the steamer Maggie, and were three 
 days getting up the river. The scenery for the first 30 or 35 miles
 
 106 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 is not inspiriting. On either side are low-lying plains, stretching 
 as far as the eye can reach, and submerged at high water. The 
 soil is mostly a stiff bluish clay, which, sodden in winter, in 
 summer cracks into big cakes. At present it is worthless. In 
 course of time, if drained and treated as such land has been in 
 the West Indies— by a system of irrigation, dykes, and embank- 
 ments — it may be made fit for cane growing. Beyond the point 
 indicated, the land gradually improves. The washing away of the 
 ground on the bank reveals a fine, light, sandy soil, which fiu'ther 
 on changes into a deep loam, vaiying from chocolate to black, and 
 higher than the highest water-level in the river. The Palmerston 
 Plantation Company's ground is forty-five miles up the river. 
 This estate was a grant of 20,000 acres from the Soutli Australian 
 Government to Messrs. Owston (who now manages it), Peterson, 
 and Spence ; and before he finally chose it Mr. Owston put the 
 authorities at Port Darwin to a great deal of expense in conveying 
 him from place to place in their boats. The block is an irregularly 
 shaped one, with about fifteen miles frontage to the river. It is 
 something less than twelve months ago since Mr. Owston, on 
 behalf of the Company (which represents only Melbourne 
 capitalists), began work on the land. He then had the assistance 
 of the steamer Ellangowan, which they bought, but which was 
 wrecked in the river. Since then he has had to hire the little 
 steamers at Port Darwin when he has had cargo to send up ; but 
 it is the intention of his Company, when Mr. Edwards shall take 
 his place as manager, to bring into use another little steamer, 
 Avhicli they are now obtaining. At present, as is only reasonable, 
 little has been done on the plantation. Twenty acres have been 
 planted with canes from the Government Gardens — canes which 
 placed in soil cross-ploughed five inches deep in November, are 
 flourishing. (This applies to the end of March). They have made 
 between two feet and four feet of strong wood, much 
 more, it must be confessed, than those at Delissaville can 
 show. This applies to the Meera (Queensland) cane, which every 
 one who ought to know avers is best suited to the Territory. The 
 other has only just begun to perform the operation technically 
 known as " making cane." Be it remembered by the reader, 
 moreover, that the cane-heads were not planted as soon as they 
 were taken from the gardens, but there was an interval of six 
 weeks, consequent upon difficulties and drawbacks of transit. 
 Hence the manager, fearing to perpetuate indifferent cane on his 
 estate, will not plant till he can get fresh cane-heads ; and to get 
 them he is rearing his nursery first. From that he will obtain 
 supplies for the great area, and he will not crush till 1884. The 
 machinery will, however, be ordered as soon as the good character
 
 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 107 
 
 of the soil for the growth of sugar shall have been made manifest. 
 The Natal maize is having a trial over a small acreage ; the crop 
 looks exceedingly well. The station at present is a small place. It 
 consists of a few galvanized iron erections merely. There are about 
 seventeen employes — fifteen Chinamen at £1 a week ; a white 
 labom-er at 30s., with rations ; and a European ploughman with 
 10s. more. There are no white ants on the land, which is heavily 
 grassed — a flat plain, lightly timbered, and that timber for the 
 most part gums. The altitude is 38 feet above the common level 
 of the river, and there is no danger of inundation. There are no 
 creeks of any size in the selection, and no hills properly so called. 
 The grass almost everywhere is so high and thick that it is very 
 difl&cult for a pedestrian to make his way through it. Messrs. 
 Edwards, Reece, and Owston had in consequence an adventure, 
 which looked somewhat serious at one time. In a small boat they 
 were continuing their exploration of the river beyond the plan- 
 tation. They left the boat moored to the bank while they went 
 inland, forcing their way through the high walls of grass. 
 After they had gone on a while, examining the black soil, rich 
 almost to rottenness, they tried to make back to the river, but, 
 after several ineffectual attempts to do so, discovered that they had 
 lost themselves. They cooeyed again and again to attract the 
 attention of the men they had left in charge of the boat, but the 
 only response was an answering cooey from some armed natives, 
 who approached within a few yards; their heads and spears just 
 showing through the high grass. As time passed their numbers 
 gradually increased. Mr. Edwards's party were without arms, and 
 tokeep the natives back they shouldered long bamboos to make 
 the menacing savages believe they carried guns. The ricse suc- 
 ceeded for a while, but the duped ones were just awaking to the 
 facts of the case — for as they grew stronger numerically they 
 became bolder — when the boatmen came on the scene, and the 
 natives then dispersed. 
 
 " We thought it was all up with us," remarked Mr. Edwards to 
 me. 
 
 On the station itself the blackfellows give very little trouble 
 now. They did at first — they stole all the stores, but they were 
 punished for it. They have not forgotten the lesson taught them. 
 They are fine athletic fellows — fiercer than most of their degraded 
 kinsmen in the Territory. They have not yet been brought 
 into immediate contact with the wliites long enough to share 
 to the full that degradation. The climate is warm ; the glass 
 varies from 90° to 110° in a thatched hut on the river bank 
 in the wet seasons ; the mosquitoes are five times as big as the 
 average southern latitudinarian, and fifty- fold more mischievous.
 
 108 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 The alligators are uumerous, large, and playful. Mr. Reece does 
 not share his comrade's opinion that the land is almost perfect for 
 the growth of sugar. He fears that it is not strong enough. It 
 is just the thing for cotton, he says ; and he has offered to take 
 up 20,000 acres, and plant and put machinery upon it at once, if 
 the (iovernmeut will give projDortionately the same bonvis for cotton 
 that they offer for sugar. The twain had another adventure 
 coming down from the river to Port Darwin. They hastily did 
 the trip in a little open boat not one-tenth so large as that the 
 Parliainentary party essayed to do it in ; and they performed it, 
 too, in very rough weather. For four days were they exposed to 
 that weather — to heavy drenching rain ; to high-mounting seas 
 which swept over the little craft, threatening, at times to quite 
 engulf it. They gave up all hope of getting to their destina- 
 tion, and from the outset almost they had scarcely anything to eat. 
 Part of their provisions was washed away, and they arrived at last 
 almost famished. They would not attempt the trip again for a 
 thousand pounds, they say. 
 
 Just mentioning that it is the intention of the Company to farm 
 out some of their land to q, small planter — just as it is the intention 
 of the Delissa Company to do to Chinese — I will proceed to 
 enlighten your nautical readers with what can be gathered from 
 the best authorities respecting the river itself. It has never been 
 surveyed really ; but Mr. Howard {who next to Captain Marsh is 
 the officer in charge of the Goverament vessels here) has been 
 oftener and further up the river than any one else. He has taken 
 observations and soundings during his various trips, and he had 
 summed up a rough chart, which unfortunately was lost in the 
 Ellangowan. He informs me that eighty miles was the greatest 
 distance he could compass up the river in a small steam-launch. 
 The mouth of the river is divided by a long island, which, of course, 
 turns it into two channels. The eastern is the deeper. Inside 
 there is about three fathoms at dead low water. Fairly inside, the 
 stream widens out into a reach of about two miles, but the fairway 
 is broken up with sandljanks and channels here and there. The 
 eastern side is usually kept all the way along, and it is singular 
 that the water is deeper close to the banks than it is in the middle. 
 The country is all flat, and the water in a heavy " fresh " deposits 
 the shifting dchi-is in the centre. The widest part of the river is 
 about three-quarters of a mile, and it narrows down to as little as 
 eighty yards. The current is very strong About thirty miles up 
 the river there is an eight-houi's' ebb, and in spring tides the 
 water rises fully 18 inches, lifting a boat " clean up." 
 
 "You can hear the advancing wall roaring half a mile off," says 
 Mr. Howard : " a sort of tidal wave rushes along on each bank ;,
 
 GOVERN JIENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 109 
 
 you suddenly swing-to and see tlie tide rushing by like anything. 
 It is not safe to go on the river at night. Some of the reaches are 
 full of ' bores ' and snags, and you have to turn your craft sheer 
 round in some places." 
 
 He was on the Ellangowan (not in command) w'hen she struck, 
 and, though he says she used to get aground every day, he thinks 
 the accident might have been avoided. He believes the survey of 
 the river will be a difficult task ; he sees, indeed, no alternative 
 but to have a fresh survey after every wet season, the conformation 
 of the river bed is changed so by the constant floods. Through 
 these the positions of even the sandbanks are frequently altered, 
 so that a chart which w^ould be correct to-day might not be next 
 week. It is, as Mr. Howard expressively puts it, " a shallow-water 
 river, a rum river, and a nasty river," and he closes his 
 " interviewed " confession by confirming what Mr. Edwards had 
 said about the physical features of the country, adding — 
 
 "When you get high up, the ranges dip steeply to the 
 river, which has here little else but a succession of rocky bars 
 and sandspits. The scenery is beautiful ; water clear as 
 crystal, and the land beyond the banks is capital." One 
 thousand square miles of this land is held under pastoral 
 lease by Lyons & Fisher. The inevitable conclusion in a com- 
 parison of the Adelaide and the Daly Rivers is that each has a 
 retarding fault and a compensating virtue. The generality of the 
 land along the former is indifferent, but it is easily navigable — 
 has no difficulties whatever ; the latter has good land, but itself is 
 pei-plexingly complicated and even dangerous. On the point 
 whether it will ever be properly navigable for fairly large vessels 
 there is among experts a difference of opinion. The solution lies 
 in the trial. 
 
 On March 22 (the day on which the Parliamentary party began 
 their homeward journey) I started at early morn for the Adelaide 
 River — a point to which a good deal of attention is now directed 
 — in the steam-launch Maggie, in company with Mr. H. W. H. 
 Stevens, the Manager for Messrs. C, B. Fisher & H. Lyons, who 
 have an immense pastoral area in the Territory. The invitation 
 was courteously given by Mr. Stevens, and it extended also to Mr. 
 Cuthbertson, of the Land Office, and other gentlemen. The trip 
 along the harbour out past the varied points of interest was one of 
 the most enjoyable things I have experienced here. The coast 
 has nothing of the ruggedly romantic about it. It is low-lying 
 and flat, though adorned with vegetation besides the evcr-j^resent 
 mangroves. By noon we had anchored (to wait the turn of the 
 tide, which rushed between the islands at a terrific rate) in the 
 South Vernon Passage. The South Vernon at ebb-tide looks as
 
 110 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRT. 
 
 interesting as an unbroken vista of blank wall. At high tide the 
 greater part of it which the mangroves do not affect is covered 
 with twenty-five feet of water — now it was nothing but a big 
 barren table of coral strewn over with loose rocks of the same, 
 looking at which you found yourself debating whether the more 
 difl&cult pi'oblem was how on earth those stones got there, or why 
 on earth the island was made at all. The Menmuir, with the 
 Ministerial party on board, passed us some miles off later on, and 
 honoured us with a flag salute, which we responded to as best we 
 could by hoisting a triplet of silk handkerchiefs and a pair of 
 sailor's highly-coloured blue breeches. The launch aspired not to 
 the dignity of bunting. Long after the vessel left us we could see 
 her standing out against the horizon as a beautiful mirage. This 
 is the home of .aristocratic mirages — we saw several subsequently, 
 each as the day advanced more wonderful than its predecessor. 
 We ran the gauntlet of scenic attractions, and even overhead were 
 some. The clouds got up a special panorama in a place where 
 cloud eftects are ever beautiful ; and it seemed as though the com- 
 bination had inspired the erratic jMaggie to a better mood, for she 
 spanked along, breeze-helped and tide-assisted, fully seven knots 
 an hour. But then the perplexingly changeful tide turned — 
 turned upon us so savagely that it was all we could do to maintain 
 our positions faii'ly and make a little headway. 
 
 We had four blackfellows on aboard — Wilwongas, whose habitat 
 is on the banks of the Adelaide. They are intellectually far in 
 advance of the wretched Larrakeeyahs, but it is after all as the 
 intelligence of a mule to that of a donkey. Our " Billie," a noted 
 member of the tribe, has a head like Linnreus's, he is thin-lipjDcd 
 as a European, aiid the contour of his face many a perfumed 
 dandy might envy. The old man with us — Billie's guardian or 
 foster-father — possesses a cranium as elegantly shaped as a 
 baboon's, and not unlike it ; that of the old man's twenty-year son 
 was a compromise between his father's and a sheep's ; but the 
 little boy, ten years old perhaps, had a grand head and a beautiful 
 tenor voice. I drew a bust-picture of one of these, our sable 
 helps, and I showed it to him. 
 
 " No savee,' was his remark. 
 
 I asked him what it was, and he said he was adjectived if he 
 knew — a burnt stump, he pi'csumed. I told him that it was his 
 portrait. He studied it awhile, puzzled-looking, I fear, and, 
 handing it back, he enquired — ■ 
 
 "What fellow make himi" 
 
 I asked him wherefore his curiosity, and he remarked — 
 
 " 'Cause I tink him too muchee big fellow fool." 
 
 I am afraid that the blackfellow's mind is not as yet educated
 
 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. Ill 
 
 up to a perception of the beauties of amateur face-sketching, 
 though he has a wonderful conception of music. The dress of the 
 natives who were with us was various, mostly hand -palm size, 
 covering their nakedness as a fig-leaf covers a Venus. But yet 
 they were proud of the little apology for clothing they had — 
 more as clothing than as covering, may be. They would wash it 
 often, and hang it out to dry, and they were innocent, Adam-like, 
 barring arm-circlets of plaited grass, in the intervals between 
 wetting and drying. They have all wretchedly sore eyes — the 
 eyeball knobby, like the yellow-tinged beaten white of an egg, and 
 the sight itself obscured by heavy excrescences. Their constant 
 sitting in smoke to be out of the way of mosquitos may partly 
 account for this. They are very inquisitive and unconsciously 
 humorous. I showed one the workings of a w^atch, and made him 
 listen to its ticking. It pleased him. He asked what it was, and 
 I told him ; and I added — for fear he might be tempted to lay 
 unrighteous hands upon it whilst it lay about — that it was a little 
 "debbil debbil." And then he innocently queried — 
 
 " Him you frietd ? " 
 
 We stipulated for a mixed native corroboree and all the tribal 
 songs. We got them, and they were wondrously well given : the 
 fierce wail of the Woggite, beginning on one side of the musical 
 hill, ascending to its top, then sliding down at a tremendous rate, 
 and skidding out over the plain and splashing into the 
 lagoon with ^^the peculiar whir-r-r-r, which winds up all their 
 performances. They sang the peculiar death-wail — a repetition 
 mainly of 
 
 " Waw-n-e-ee ! Waw-n-e-e-ee ! " 
 long drawn out, and itself drawing from the boy a tenor strain as 
 pure, though untrained, as I have heard in any concert-room. 
 They mimicked, too, the ducks and geese and the Port Essingtou 
 blacks — ^mimicked them in a song sounding like a reminis- 
 cence of that relating to the marching proclivities of the cor- 
 poreal remnants of Old John Brown. The basso was something 
 to be heard ; his voice would, I believe, recall to some of my 
 readers the ominous creaking of a prison door. They accom- 
 panied their vocal efforts by the beating of slender pine sticks, 
 and the time they kept was perfect. All the natives I have met, 
 of all the tribes, have a wonderfully good ear for music, and 
 capital voices as a rule. 
 
 But whilst the concert was proceeding we had sighted the 
 Escape Cliffs, where in 186-4 the Hon. B. T. Finniss established a 
 settlement for the South Australian Government — a settlement 
 which soon collapsed. All that is left of it now is an old well, if 
 I except the crumbling foundations of the place. There are
 
 112 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE IIIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 hundreds of buffaloes, and off the coast and especially near 
 Port Essington the bcche-de-mer attracts the Malay proas, 
 and probably, ere long will be interviewed by Queens- 
 land fishennen. A local firm sent out a boat this season, 
 but though they catight plenty of fish mismanagement killed the 
 ventui-e. On the other side is Charles Point, in the vicinity of 
 which grow many sturdy cypress-pines. Lots of them were taken 
 thence for use in the erection of Government offices. The white 
 ants rigidly draw the line at these pines. The waters were alive 
 with minute marine forms. There are sperm whales, too, people 
 say, but we did not see any. We noticed, however, several 
 dugongs — -a sort of porpoiss-cum-walrus — sporting about, and 
 kangaroo-fish leaping, and turtle clumsily turning in all directions ; 
 and in-shore the curious little flat-nosed fish which climb the 
 mangroves over the oysters that cling thereto. 
 
 We entered the Adelaide River, the mouth of which is fifty 
 miles from Palmerston, on a flood tide which sent us up fully eight 
 knots an hour. The coast-line all round here is close-bordered by 
 two kinds of mnngroves, which matted together look like a mottled 
 green wall, with lattice-work about it. At the mouth the stream 
 is about a mile wide, and has two branches, the lesser known as 
 the Saltwater Arm, and the other of course the main river, which, 
 runs south. The other is west of south. We did not follow it, 
 but those who have done so — the Govei'ument marine surveyors — 
 say that it takes a general south-by-west direction for three miles 
 from the entrance. It then divides into two branches — one 
 trending about six miles to the south-east and the other about the 
 same distance to the south-west, when, after carrying two or three 
 fathoms for some distance, they terminate in what at low water is 
 a mere flat overgrown by mangroves, amidst which alligators and 
 wild fowl are very plentiful. We followed the main stream, and 
 as we went a little beyond the point in the river which the nautical 
 surveyor (Captain Wickham) reached many years ago, it may be 
 well to give first his summary as ours, with some little difference : — 
 
 " I traced the river for eighty miles following the windings of 
 the stream, but in a direct line south about 43 miles, the river 
 varying from 80 to 250 yards in breadth, with an average of five 
 fathoms of water. It is navigable for vessels of 400 and 500 tons 
 about 45 and 50 miles, where the water is only slightly brackish 
 at high tide. For about fifteen miles above the entrance the 
 banks are fringed with mangroves. ... At somewhat less 
 than 40 miles there are bamboos and some jungle. The water 
 here is always fresh, and the bamboos rise to a height of 60 or 80 
 feet. Between 20 and 70 miles from the mouth the soil is a good 
 mould. Further on the aspect of the country changes from that of
 
 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS ANP THE RIVER COUNTRY. 113 
 
 low plains to that of slightly-wooded and undulating. Higher up the 
 river at a narrow point divides into two branches, the one running 
 southerly and the other easterly. The former was blocked up by 
 fallen trees, and the other was too naiTOw for a boat's oar to work 
 in. The main river at the fiu'thest point examined was subject to 
 about three feet change of tidal level, it being there high water 
 six hours later than on the coast at the mouth ; but there was no 
 perceptible stream, and the water, which for thirty miles had been 
 muddy, was here clear. Small driftwood was observed in the 
 branches of the trees at eight feet above the water, showing the 
 height to which the water attains at certain seasons, and the 
 probabilitv that the lowland is periodically inundated." 
 
 That probability we on our trip reduced to a fact. But now 
 more fully for detail. As we entered the river, where the average 
 depth at low water is 25 feet, we were borne on the breast of the 
 incoming tide, which met the ebb of the stream. The two 
 opposing bodies contended for the mastery, and caused rapid 
 circular revolutions of the muddy water — little whirlpools 
 innumerable. Near a break in the bank, whence you gain a fine 
 view over mud flats of slightly elevated open country, is the only 
 point at all dangerous to the unwary navigator of the river. The 
 place is called the Narrows, where rocks and sandbanks in the 
 centre and extending towards the eastern bank divert vessels to 
 the western ; but there is even then room enough for the largest 
 ships to pass. Then the river widens oiit into grand reaches and 
 averages about 150 yards in width. There is just a little patch of 
 ground a couple of feet above high tides. The water has exposed 
 the strata, which are those of a deep, rich, brown mould. The 
 corkscrew palm and paper bark grow here, and the old hands delight 
 to point out as the most prominent landmark an iron tank which 
 Mr. Finniss's party left on the river bank, and which they say still 
 holds water. For two hours we saw^ nothing bitt mangroves and 
 swampy heavily grass-grown land, which, judging by what I saw 
 of the soil, I should say would never do for sugarcane — close to 
 the river at any rate. There is a thin surface of black soil, and a 
 stibstratum of blue clay, which, however, might cause swamp rice 
 to flourish. But as dusk came on, after we had followed the 
 windings of the river for some thirty miles, the country began 
 slightly to improve. On the left bank we could see beyond the 
 swampy ground, somewhat elevated rich, green, fertile, timbered 
 land, which the maps and charts show not, but which the natives 
 on board, who claimed it as their country, call Minissee. The 
 banks here are about a foot above high-water mark. It was here 
 that at night the tide began to ebb, and we anchored till it should 
 flow again, as it would have been folly for our little craft to have
 
 114 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 been forced to fight against so strong a rush. It was here, too, 
 that at early morning we met the first alligator — a huge monster 
 about twenty feet long, floating by log-like. It was here, more- 
 over, where a well-known speculator, to whom truth-telling is said 
 to come only by accident, fixed the scene for a wild yarn told once 
 to a public company. He thought they all were ignorant of 
 alligators' nests, and. so he spun his threads thusly — 
 
 "You see, it was this way. I was chasing along the bank an 
 alligator that had taken my silk handkerchief as it hung over the 
 boat's gunwale, and I had near come up to him, when flop he 
 goes into a big pyramid-looking place in the mangroves. It was a 
 pretty place, with walks all round it and a long stretch of green 
 running from one part into the river. I put my head in, and 
 found the handkerchief hanging on a bush, and pocketed it. But 
 the place vms the queerest. It was a hundred yards round, and a 
 beautiful shelving basin of clear water, cut into two parts. In one 
 part were 200 eggs as big round as this," and he stretched out his 
 arms to their full extent. " In the other the old alligator was 
 teaching the young ones to swim, and a great fuss she did make of 
 it. The stretch of green running down to the river was a tunnel, 
 through which the youngsters went in and out." 
 
 The tale-teller received a prompt reward. There is a mystery 
 respecting his whereabouts now. But we got a real alligator's nest 
 higher up — the well-known local traveller, Mr. W. D'Arcy Uhr, 
 disturbed an alligator sitting on it ; it had no fewer than 400 
 eggs. These are deposited in layers in a sand mound from 
 eighteen inches to two feet high and six feet round. The 
 last layer for the time being is covered with wet sand, which is 
 scraped ofi" when the alligator wants to add another. You would 
 think such an awkward, ponderous beast would smash the 
 eggs ; but it does not ; of our nest only three were cracked. 
 The eggs, which are hatched by sun heat, are about the size of a 
 duck's, but they are longer and whiter, more hard-shelled, and 
 pimpled and blotchy. They have a strong flavour — somewhat 
 musty, too; but the blackfellows eat them readily if raw, and 
 with great relish if cooked in the hot ashes. 
 
 Early next morning, with the tide in our favour, we were 
 passing along the big Horse-shoe Bend, just beyond which the bam- 
 boos grow to an extraordinary height. From the leafy groves we 
 heard the cooeying of blackfellows, and thousands of ducks and 
 geese and shags and cranes flew overhead from the oftshoot- 
 ing creeks and marshes. All along the river, indeed, birds posi- 
 tively swarm. The perky white cockatoos are particularly numerous. 
 We shot some gold-bronzed yellow cranes, which generally 
 are very scarce, but here they rose pretty plentifully from the
 
 GOVERN'MENT PLAJJTATIOXS AND THE RIVER COUXTRY. 115 
 
 gi'ass caue, us it is called. It is almost as much like sugar- 
 cane as grass in taste. At about noon we passed off Beatrice Hill, 
 with its " trig." station. It is a prominent, though low bald elevation, 
 split up into several heaps well grown with succulent grass, and at its 
 foot there is a very extensive fresh water lagoon- — the overflow^ of the 
 Litchfield Creek, which flows from the w^est. The water here is 
 always fresh, and the banks for a short distance are overflowed at 
 high tide. The tidal change in the river — which is about 200 feet 
 wide — is about nine feet. At the back of the hill porphyritic 
 rocks crop up occasionally. There are some patches of good soil 
 near the range, and inshore the bamboos grow in gi-eat profusion, 
 and with their lacework of ivy-hke creepers look exceedingly 
 pretty. Indeed, in the most luxui'iant tropical growth in any part 
 of the world it woidd be difficult to find a place more really 
 beautiful. About six miles below the river supphes a little creek, 
 shooting off from the eastern bank, and continuing for six miles 
 in a south-westerly direction beyond the first hills of any magni- 
 tude near the river on that side. The creek has about seven 
 fathoms of water in it half the distance, but it gradually shallows 
 and naiTows till it becomes unworthy the name. We anchored at 
 the junction, and pulled down to the half-way mark between very 
 high overhanging bamboos. We lauded opposite the point where 
 jVlr. D'Arcy Uhr is establishing under Mr. Stevens's direction a 
 sheep and cattle station for Messrs. Lyons it Fisher, who hold aU 
 the land along the eastern bank of the Adelaide with the exception 
 of about .30,000 acres special survey, as well as 20,000 miles upon 
 the western. The prospect of good grazing country looks from 
 the creek dull enough, but after you bury yoiu* feet in the soft, 
 slippery mud, covering a few feet of the bank, and after you 
 penetrate the thick growth of bamboos, you come to some 
 really good land, heavily grassed and well watered. There are no 
 cattle on this magnificent run at present. Work had been, 
 pi'oceeding less than a month, and in that time a great 
 deal had been done by two Europeans and two Chinamen, 
 They live now in a wretched hut, but nre building on the first of 
 the little ranges (called the Clump Hills, because of a peculiar 
 clump of bamboos growing on the top of the otherwise bald head 
 of one of them), a very good framework of a homestead station, 
 ■which will command an extensive view of all the country round 
 for some few miles. Hei'e, of course, where the land is so 
 flat it is impossible to see so much of it at once as can be 
 seen whei'e there are high points of observation. So far as we 
 tested it the good land is patchy. Where these patches occur, 
 however, it is rich almost to rottenness. One of the post-holes on 
 the hill showed 3 feet 6 inches of perfectly black mould.
 
 IIG GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY, 
 
 and the next only about as many inches. Beyond that a soft slate 
 intruded. All the material to be used in the building has been 
 caiTied on men's shoulders, some of it for miles, and Mr. Uhr has 
 had to cut timber twenty miles down the river, there being none 
 nearer home. These facts give one a good idea of what 
 some of the least of a pioneer squatter's difficulties are. Add 
 to them the risks of driving cattle and sheep hundreds of miles 
 over almost impassable country, and one has a better. Going back 
 to the launch we saw several hundreds of flying foxes hanging by 
 their curious claws head downwards on the trees. Flying, 
 they look not much unlike a crow, though they are really 
 greatly different. We shot several, but could only secure for stuff- 
 ing one large specimen and a very small one ; the others hung 
 after they were dead on the top branches, and we could not get at 
 them They are a most peculiar semi-bird, half other animal, 
 with the head of a fox in miniature, and wide-jointed, hooked, 
 black indiarubber-like webbed wings. When skinned the skeleton 
 bears a closer i-esemblauce to the human in miniature. The foxes fly 
 very steadily, and on their perches make a disagreeable clucking 
 noise. 
 
 But every other live thing in this region must cry a veiy long 
 second to the mosquitos. We went back to the station at night 
 to take some observations as to latitude by shooting stars 
 with sundry scientific instruments. We walked for that purpose 
 to the hill where the station is being erected — about a mile from 
 the river, and (one would have thought) free from mosquitos. 
 But the little pests followed iis iip ; and we commenced opera- 
 tions with our heads and hands tied up in handkerchiefs, and our 
 eyes dimmed with the smoke from fires placed at various points in 
 the fallacious hope that they would keep the mosquitos off". 
 The man taking the observations had to attempt his work 
 while four men w^aved handkerchiefs all round him, and another 
 puffed cigar smoke in his face ; but even then the mos- 
 quitos bit him so severely that he found it impossible, as did his 
 successors, to perform the task, though all ordhiary conditions to 
 success were pi-esent. The lively little wretches got into the 
 quicksilver even, and by the time we had reached the launch 
 again every exposed part of our bodies was smarting intolerably 
 from their bites. The natives were sent ashore to the station 
 that night, and next morning they returned very severely 
 bitten. They were almost naked when they got ashore, 
 but they soon laid hands on all the "unattached" clothing 
 to be found, and donned it. I beg the sceptical reader to 
 accept my statements as quite within the mark when I assure him 
 that at night the air is absolutely thick with mosquitos that make
 
 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 117 
 
 incessantly a most monotonous buzzing noise. There are three 
 kinds of the insect. The most important is the black, three- 
 quarters of an inch long, with a couple of feelers, foi'ceps-shaped, in 
 front of its head. Through these they draw the blood, standing 
 on their noses, and swinging their legs to give them the greatest 
 possible^ momentum. Lying under my cheese-cloth mosquito-net 
 in the early morning, I have seen dozens of them bore right 
 through it, aud effect an entrance, and they frequently drew the 
 blood through fairly thick tweed trousers. Then there are the 
 light pink or brown kinds, about half as big as the others, and 
 more pretty. They are most vicious biters, and my hands for 
 days were covered with little blisters which they raised. The 
 third sort is the ordinary small one, and which, though so 
 annoying down south, is scarce accounted here at all. Before I 
 visited the Adelaide I scouted as wholly incredible this little 
 anecdote, which was told by a reliable man, bixt I half believe it 
 now. He had lost a white horse some miles away, he says ; and 
 looking for it with a fi'iend they passed one a few yai'ds distant — 
 a peculiar dark-coloured steed. 
 
 " Oh, that can't be ours," they both agreed, and went on. 
 
 But thinking it strange that a second horse should be at large 
 in these solitudes they turned back, and found that the horse was 
 their own, but that the mosquitos that swarmed all over him had 
 caused the mistake. When they can, the horses, like the natives, 
 roll themselves in mud, so that they may avoid the madden- 
 ing pain which the bites produce. I need not say that we did 
 not remain in this delectable place longer than we could help 
 doing. We pushed on up-stream, rounding some of its corkscrew 
 windings. (There is no more irregularly-shaped river anywhere. 
 To navigate it you have to sail to all points of the compass.) 
 There was a heavy "fresh" on, and it brought down large floating- 
 islands of bamboos, joined together with creepers, and some little 
 driftwood, of which, by the way, there is a remarkable scarcity 
 here. As we advance the bamboos gradually become less thickly 
 grouped, but enough so to suggest the idea that they would form 
 a valuable article of export. There is material for many hundreds of 
 bungalows and chairs, and the thousand- an d-one other uses to 
 which the bamboo is applied in China. We proceeded on past 
 Beatrice Creek, which is nearly dry at low watei*. to somewhat less, 
 I believe, than the eightieth mile, but past the farthest point 
 reached by the surveying schooner Beatrice. The land some little 
 distance below this begins to rise, and well-grassed plains, flooded 
 from creeks, stretch away to the foot of the first of the long series 
 of Daly Ranges. These are on the western side, and on the east 
 the only noticeable elevation is Onetree Hill, which is almost
 
 118 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 
 
 perfectly innocent of trees or shrubs, but which has on all its 
 sides some fertile land. We examined it after a wearying 
 walk of half a mile through grass and mud and water, in 
 places waist deep, and we confirmed the verdict which we 
 had previously arrived at — that almost all the way along 
 the river inundates one or other of its banks during the wet 
 season. We went up a little further where we had a better view 
 of the Daly Range with its thick covering of trees ; and of 
 Manton's and Fred's Passes, in the latter named of which poor 
 Bennett, whose grave now forms such a prominent feature in the 
 scenery of Palmerston, was fatally speared by the blacks some 
 yeai's ago. Beneath this pass there is a large lagoon. From this 
 point the river gradually becomes narrower and shallower till 
 navigation is impeded by Pearson's Bar, about ten miles farther 
 on. One of the party who went by laud right tlu-ough to the 
 Adelaide Crossing by the telegraph line, where the Parliamentary 
 party camped, says there is beyond Pearson's a succession of rocky 
 bars which a boat might cross for about twelve miles, but which a 
 ship could not. There are also several cliffs, and at one point, 
 where the stream is not much more than 30 feet wide and two feet 
 deep, the banks on the east side rise to a height of 20 or 30 feet, 
 and are lightly timbered with paper bark, bamboos also being 
 present. Then there are chains of lagoons and undulating country, 
 fit for the cultivation of sugar, but more particularly for that of 
 rice. Before this point is reached the tidal influence has ceased, 
 and the river is unworthy of being so called. Near Mount Gun a 
 branch of the Adelaide trends away west, and throws off shoots 
 due south. Then the main river degenerates into a thin rivulet, and 
 loses half its volume in extensive back waters, lagoons, and billa- 
 bongs, full of fish. According to the surveyors the river takes its 
 rise in open flats and undulating rises, all well grassed, and the 
 valleys containing good soil. 
 
 On Friday night we were borne swiftly homeward on the ebb- 
 tide, past numerous alligators that we disturbed basking on the 
 banks in the sunlight. We fired at some, but the unwieldly 
 monsters, being mud-coloured, do not present a good mark, and if 
 they did and were hit, their thick hides would render them im- 
 pervious to the ball, unless they were struck on the head. One of 
 them was nearly making a dinner of Mr. Cuthbertson, who had 
 shot a duck, and was putting his hand on it to lift it into the boat 
 as it floated on the water, when there bobbed up within a couple 
 of inches of his fingers the ugly snout of an alligator. Both hand 
 and bird disappeared in a veiy short tune — the one above and 
 the other under the water. Some ibises (the sacred " Ibis " of 
 Japan) and "jabberoos" (a peculiar long-necked, long-shanked,
 
 GOVERNMENT PLANTATIONS AND THE RIVER COUNTRY. 119 
 
 white and red and black bird, with a plaid striped neck beautifully 
 marked) subsequently bore company with the duck in the investi- 
 gation of the internal economy of alligatordom. We reached 
 Palmerston when Saturday night had far advanced ; and in 
 closing the record of this trip it may be said that so far as 
 navigation is concerned there is no better river than the Adelaide ; 
 but it seems generally speaking more fit for pastoral than agricul- 
 tural purposes. There are patches of exceedingly good land, but 
 so far as we could judge by a somewhat cursory examination, and 
 so far as one may form an opinion from the reports of Mr. Lindsay 
 and other surveyors, as to the west bank, at any rate, the average 
 quality is not so good as it might be. I believe, and others more 
 technically informed than I aver, that rice will flourish upon it, 
 but that the sugarcane will not be spread over a very wide area. 
 Special surveys have, however, been made and applied for for 
 sugar blocks, which I will more particularly refer to at the proper 
 time. There is now no regular means of communication between 
 the river and Palmerston, except that which is given indirectly by 
 way of the goldfields road, the nearest point of which is fifty 
 miles distant from Pearson's Bar. j\Ir. Stevens intends, however, to 
 frequently run a little sailing vessel — which is now on the way up 
 — between the Station and the Port, and also to the farthest 
 navigable point, to facilitate the conveyance of goods to the 
 Adelaide as well as to the Glencoe Station — of which, and stations 
 generally, more anon. Let it be sufficient to say in closing that 
 three chains of the river banks is reserved for travelling stock ; 
 and, parenthetically, that for the natural history collector there 
 are tew better places than the Adelaide River.
 
 120 PALMERSTON. 
 
 CHAPTER IX.— PALMERSTON. 
 
 To PALMERSTON AT LAST. — ThE HaRBOUR,. — " OnE OF THE BeST IN THE 
 
 World:" the Common Verdict. — The Various Apologies for 
 Wharf Accommodation. — The Government Fleet. — The Cus- 
 toms AND the Customs Officials. — The Free Port no Benefit 
 to the Working Men. — The Storekeepers gain every way. — 
 Curious Duty of the Landing- Waiter. — The Inception of the 
 Beche-de-Mer Trade. — The Gold Duty ; how to make up for 
 IT. — Some Statistics and Deductions therefrom. — South Aus- 
 tralia least Benefited of all the Colonies by the jNorthern 
 Territory. — The one Practicable PiEmedy ; a Railway. — 
 China our Chief Competitor. — Another Singapore. — The 
 District Council and their Palatial Hall.^The Population 
 AND an Unique Way of Estimating it. — The Assessment. — A 
 Dispute with the Government.— The Curse of Absenteeism. — 
 The Evek-useful Chinese and the Occasionally Ditto Blacks. 
 — The Government Residence and its. Terraces. The Offices. 
 — The Hospital. — The Cemetery. — The Overland Tklegraph 
 Officers and Offices. — The Eastern Extension and China 
 Ditto. — The Ravages of the White Ants again. — Chaff and 
 Hay from the Native Grasses. — The State of the Overland 
 Line. — Extension of Mail Service. — The Police Quarters and 
 the Officers — The Courthouse. — An Extraordinary Gaol. — 
 Its Mlserable Condition — ^. Peculiar Chinese Disease. — The 
 Institute. — Immigration and Emigration. 
 
 >F Palmerston has one thing which it is entitled to boast about 
 more than another, that thing is its harbour. I should have 
 described it at first, to make the descriptions follow their 
 natural sequence ; but that with the Ministeral journey 
 programme was not possible, and the event proved that it was 
 just as well, because I had aiore frequent opportunities of seeing it 
 and hearing discussed the " burning questions" it is the subject of. 
 Port Darwin is really a harbour within a harbour, so that vessels 
 lying in it are doubly protected. The outer sheltering headlands 
 are East and West Point (Douglas Peninsula). The inlner are 
 Point Emery and Talc Head, each rocky rises of about twenty feet 
 high, and both showing exactly the same strata. It looks, indeed, 
 as though they had dissolved a close partnership, and put a couple 
 of miles of ocean between them, for the (.ntrance is nearly two 
 miles wide. Within the only prominent landmarks are King's 
 Table, Blackmore and Haycock Hills on the south, and Fort and 
 Stokes Hills, near to Palmerston, on the north-east. Within 
 Emery Point (I am somewhat indebted to official information) 
 Port Darwin increases to seven miles in breadth, and then stretches 
 into three arms. The East Arm is about two miles broad at the 
 entrance, whence it is navigable by a boat for ten miles, and for 
 larger vessels a much less distance. The banks are thickly lined 
 with mangroves, and in the stream there are some rocks above
 
 PALMERSTON. 121 
 
 water. The Elizabeth River, and Mitchell's, Browning's, and other 
 creeks empty themselves into it. The next is the Middle or South 
 Arm, on which Southport is built, and the eastern branch of which 
 I have already described. The western has been traced sis miles, 
 and the depth of water varies from six to thirteen fathoms, but 
 within the dividing islet the channels are mostly occupied by 
 shoals until they become locked up by masses of granite farther 
 inland. The West Arm is the most tortuous of all. It is a 
 narrow ci'eek, winding nine miles from its entrance, which is 
 barred by a shoal extending some distance from Talc Head. 
 Within the bar there is between two and three fathoms for three 
 miles up the channel. Everywhere almost there are thick man- 
 groves, with very little sandy beaches, bounding the view from a 
 vessel, except there be (which there in veiy few places is) some 
 elevated country. High up the arms of the harbour there are 
 plenty of alligators, but the brutes do not come so often near the 
 jetties as they did. The tides are very irregular. It is high 
 water, fall and change, 5 hours 30 min. Springs rise as much as 
 24 feet, and neaps occasionally only 2 feet. Thus much in detail 
 for nautical readers at a distance. To the general observer the 
 harbour is mei'ely a grand expanse of almost perfectly landlocked 
 water, taking the shape of an irregular square — its surface en- 
 livened ever and again by silver-flashes, marking the spot where 
 jumping and flying fish of various kinds carry on their gambols. 
 Prawns and other edible fish are caught and retailed by the 
 Chinese. The passage from the Vernons to the mouth is some- 
 what intricate, and vessels arriving off them in the late evening 
 generally wait for daylight to go in ; but that fact does not in any 
 way reflect upon the safety of the harbour itself. It is, however, 
 subject to sudden squalls, and is, of course, affected by the strong 
 monsoons w4iich blow duriog certain seasons of the year. But a 
 fatal accident, even with the smallest sailing boat, has never been 
 known to happen in it, unless the craft were in bad hands. The 
 unanimous verdict of the masters of all the steamers trading there 
 whom I have interviewed is — " It's one of the safest and best 
 harbours in the world. The largest fleet afloat could lie at anchor 
 in it." 
 
 Palmerston is situated exactly north from the centre of the har- 
 bour, and Point Emery is part of the township, which looks very 
 picturesque from the deck of an incoming vessel. After passing- 
 East Point the first sign of civilization you see is the Government 
 Garden, and the next the Hospital ; and these, backed by 
 the somewhat irregular lines of snow-white oflices and other 
 buildings, with a beautiful variegated carpet, principally of rich 
 green vegetation stretching in a gentle slope down to the
 
 122 PALMERSTON. 
 
 water's edge, from their high elevation, cannot fail to impress 
 a stranger favourably. It is well that it should be so, for he has 
 hardly time to record his impressions before he catches sight, if lie 
 arrive at high tide, of the top of a long pole surmounted by an 
 empty nail-can, on the northern side of Fort Hill; and he 
 scarcely gives mouth to his surprise, ere he sees at the other side 
 of the Point another pole similarly capped. These mark the 
 termini of the two apologies for jetties, and they are placed there 
 to warn vessels not to run into them. If he come at low water, 
 they will appear as beacons at the edge of a sea of high-flavoured 
 mud. Where there is such an enormous rise of tide, jetty- 
 making becomes a serious business ; not that the ground at 
 the bottom of the harbour is unsuitable for it — on the contrary, 
 it is a compact mass of decomposed micaceous slate, in which 
 iron piles, when screwed, would be as firm and rigid as possible — 
 but because a jetty which would be available for vessels at high 
 water would be far above them at low, and vice versa. You 
 cannot see a single inch of any of the present jetties at 
 high tides, and small craft go completely over them. Neither is 
 used by any of the steamers ; all their cargo is lightered, and the 
 transhipment from the ship to the shore — a distance of 300 
 yards — costs fifteen shillings a ton. The goods are landed short of 
 high-water mark sometimes, and what with scarcity of drays, and 
 tide, and rain, considerable loss is incurred each year by im- 
 porters. Accommodation was first sought to be given to ship- 
 pers by the construction of a causeway lo the north of Fort 
 Hill in an exposed position. That is Cook's Jetty, the one denoted 
 by the first of the nailcans. It is never used, and is less 
 likely to be now than ever it was. The baths separate it from the 
 stump end of a semi-jetty, quarter-breakwater, which, of solid 
 rocks, was run a foot or two into the sea from the centre line of 
 Fort Hill, and then discontinued. The position of this structure 
 is said to be worse than that of the other, as the fullest 
 rush of the currents passes it, and it would be difficult for a vessel 
 to lie alon2;side of it. If it were continued a hundred yards or so 
 as a breakwater it would shelter the third of the apologies — 
 the Gulnare Jetty, so called because a former Government schooner 
 of that name staved in her sides across it, and now forms 
 part of it, with her ribs in the middle of it. This is the jetty 
 which is used by the smaller craft. Its top, of loose slimy stones, 
 and the side beams which keep them together, are slippery as a 
 greased eel, and it is quite an exhausting exercise of ingenuity and 
 agility to step from it to a boat, or from a boat to it. When a distin- 
 guished stranger essays that feat the Government Resident courteously 
 drags him jetty wards, while the boatmen prop up that portion of
 
 PALMERSTOX. 123 
 
 his corporeality which last leaves the boat under these circum- 
 stances. And the walk along the top of the oily mass is quite as 
 amusing — a walk full of surprises, and varied, if the pedestrian be 
 not mighty in carefulness, by occasional full-length tumbles. 
 These in a shark and alligator and swift-current harbour would be 
 sensational were it not for the fact that the danger is lessened by 
 some stakes which have been run along outside and close to the 
 jetty to keep from jumping it at high water the reckless craft who 
 ignore the warning conveyed by that nailcan ! Seriously, T think I 
 will command all the "Ayes" when I say that the wharfage 
 accommodation at Port Darwin is about as bad as it could be — so 
 bad that for any real use it is there might almost as well be none 
 at all. 
 
 Bad as the accommodation is, I believe, and the general opinion 
 even of the residents is, that it will be quite sufficient for many 
 years at least, luiless a railway be made. If the Parliament puts 
 its veto on that railway scheme, then the reader who shall not 
 have read this before need go no lurther. But if they sanction it, 
 the most common-sense thing for the Government to do will be to 
 take practical steps in the matter of wharf accommodation before 
 they turn a shovelful of sod on the track. 
 
 The Harbour Master is Captain Marsh, and he has charge of the 
 Government fleet, sailing occasionally in command of its principal 
 ship — the Flying Cloud — which he brought up from Adehiide nine 
 years ago, and which seems to have been so profoundly afiected by 
 that exploit as to be content to rest on its laurels and not risk 
 foolish experiments again. The Cloud really is a little cutter 
 wholly untit for the work in which uomiaally she is engaged. It 
 takes her so long to get about that if she started to the relief of a 
 shipwrecked crew with the wind and tide against her it is probable 
 that she would be found, after beating about a day or two, to have 
 achieved only an Irishman's progression — ^backwards. The cast- 
 aways would have made the acquaintance of David Jones long ere 
 she could atone for her bad behaviour. This matter is especially 
 important where tides so strong and winds so fierce prevail, and 
 safety and economy equally demand that the Cloud shall be 
 replaced by a craft with some suitability for the work she under- 
 takes. 
 
 Captain Marsh's deputy and the Government boatman is Mr. W. 
 H. Howard, who has charge of the rest of the fleet — the cutters 
 Larrakeeyah and Woolnahj and a resplendent Governor's gig (in 
 which distinguished visitors are conveyed from ship to shore), and 
 a dingey. The fleet is used jjrincipally for the carriage of cypress 
 pine and other wood from the islands for the erection of Govern- 
 ment buildings. The crews number altogether a dozen Malays,.
 
 124 PALMERSTON. 
 
 and excellent boatmen the merry fellows are. The police officers 
 work their own boat. Since August 16, 1S80, when Port Darwin 
 ceased to be a free port, the Customs Department has been one of 
 its chief institutions. Its head was Mr. J. A. G. Little, superin- 
 tending officer of the Overland Telegraph, but he and Mr. Gate, 
 his second, have been displaced on their resignation by Mr. 
 • Searcey, who combines the duties of both offices. There is a staff 
 of assistant officers. The head office is in connection with the 
 Telegraph Department, and there is besides a galvanized iron 
 store and office on the beach at the end of the Gulnare Jetty, in 
 which all the outdoor business is transacted. Since the reimposij 
 tion of the duties the Gustoms business has been steadily on the 
 increase, though the present is a dull time ; and speaking of the 
 abolition of the duties, I may mention that all through the gold- 
 fields I found the utmost indifference amongst the diggers and 
 miners as to whether duties were on or off. 
 
 " When the port was free it didn't make the slightest difference 
 to us, except in spirits and tobacco. The storekeepers' prices for 
 other things were just the same as they had been before, and 
 when the duty was reimposed they stuck on an extra percentage. 
 No ; ive don't want the port to be free." 
 
 I have not heard the country storekeepers make answer to that. 
 Of course, in so young a place the work of the department 
 fluctuates greatly. About twice a year, for four or five weeks, 
 there is not a steamer in; the week after the arrival of the first 
 four, others occasionally follow. The usual Customs hours are 
 observed, but the officers at some of the southern seaports would 
 be nonplussed if they were asked to do off-hand the work to be 
 done at Port Darwin. It partakes a good deal of the detective's 
 pi'ofession, for to some of the Chinese smuggling is as the breath 
 of life. Mr. Gate informs me that he has frequently found an 
 astute Celestial hiding at night in the bow-chains of the vessels, 
 and a boat with another Chinaman lying-to at the oars some little 
 distance off. The game is to get one of the Chinese crew to pass 
 some article over the bow, whence it speedily goes to Chinamen 
 in the town. They have another game also, and the bones of their 
 deceased countrymen play an important part in it. Since the 
 gold duty had been enforced — some two or three months after — 
 Mr. Cate heard that the bones which left by some of the steamers 
 had had gold dust stowed away in them — in the skull and little 
 passages. Ever since that time he has made each Chinaman 
 seeking to pass the bones through to the ship bring them into the 
 office for examination ; and a gruesome task that scrutiny is, 
 especially when the skeleton happens to he gi-een. He has never 
 •been rewarded, moreover, by the discovery of any treasure,
 
 PALMERSTOX. 125' 
 
 and it is just possible that the rumour was another libel 
 upon childlike and industrious John Comprador. I must not 
 omit to mention, for it is important as marking perhaps the 
 small beginning of a big ending, that this year the Govern- 
 ment have appointed a temporary officer at Port Essington 
 in the person of Mr. W. 0. Eobinson, the only white man over a 
 very large area, who is in charge of the Coburg Cattle Company's 
 Station at that place, and who leads a very lonely life. This action 
 has been taken on account of the large numlDer of proas which 
 come across from the adjacent islands — Macassar, amongst others 
 — for beche-de-mer, &c., bringing with them for the purpose of 
 barter with the Datives a large quantity of raw spirits, arrack, and 
 tobacco. These imtil lately have entered this part of the Territory 
 without paying duty. The result of the application of the Port 
 Darwin tariff to them has yet to be ascertained ; but it will at 
 least have the effect of securing a record of the imports and 
 exports at Port Essington, and it costs only £20 a year. The 
 necessity for having officers at the Daly and Roper Rivers as 
 settlement increases is kept in mind by the Sub-Collector. 
 
 Before proceeding to give a synopsis of the Customs statistics 
 for the last year it will be well for the sake of distant readers for 
 me to enumerate the few articles upon which import duty has to 
 be paid in the Northern Territory. The list is : — ^Beer, ales, &c., 
 9d. per gallon ; rice, ^d. per lb. ; lish, dried and salted. Id. per lb. ; 
 spu'its, 10s. per gallou ; tobacco, snuff, &c., 2s. per lb. ; cigars, 5s. 
 per lb. ; opium, 20s. per lb. ; wine, 4s. per gallon. The only 
 export duty is on gold, 2s. 6d. per oz., and the Minister has almost 
 promised that it shall be reduced to a nominal figure for purposes 
 of registration only and not as a tax. As will be seen from the 
 figures which follow, the receipt from the gold export is a conside- 
 rable factor in the revenue returns, and if it be removed the 
 deficiency (say practical politicians) must be made lap somehow. 
 " As a duty on exports is subversive of the principles of political 
 economy, and in this case infl.icts a positive hardship upon the 
 working man, and him alone, it no doubt should be removed." I 
 shall deal more particularly with its effects in my mining 
 summary, but meanwhile I would point out that substitutes might 
 easily be found for the duty. Primarily the best means I have 
 heard suggested is the levying of £2 or £3 from each Chinaman 
 entering the port to settle, in payment for four or six years' miners' 
 rights, at 10s. a year. I have it on the highest authority on the 
 gold-fields that onl}^ sixty of these rights have been issued to them 
 this year, and this shows that not more than three or four Chinese 
 in every hundred obey the law in this particular. So that if they 
 were compelled to poy when they arrived, the levy would be a very
 
 126 PALMERSTON. 
 
 different thing from a poll tax. It would be perfectly just, for 
 if Chinamen will not voluntarily contribute the paltry sum 
 demanded from them for the protection afforded to them by 
 the Government, they should be compelled to do so. At 
 the same time, be it I'emembered, the staples of their diet are 
 heavily taxed, while the Europeans' food comes in free. If 
 the deficiency were not made vip in this way the balance 
 to debit could be met by small duties on articles such as 
 tea, soap, kerosine, &c., or by an extra ^d. upon rice. This 
 latter would also fall principally upon Chinese, but I question 
 whether there will be any rice import two years hence. The 
 Celestials are begining to grow it. In the meantime the impost 
 would act as a protective duty to the cultivators. Another plan has 
 been proposed by a Chinese gentleman to whom I was introduced 
 on the downward steamer — Mr. Hoo Chun, a member of the great 
 Yan Woo Company, of Hongkong, who have the monopoly of the 
 opium-farming from the Colonial Government there. He is now 
 travelling through the colonies subsequently to visiting England, 
 the Continent, and Amei'ica ; and he very strongly urges the ex- 
 pediency of the opium tariff for the Territory and South Australia 
 generally and the other colonies being revised. Whilst he would 
 retain the 20s. per lb. on the manufactured article, he would place 
 only 5s. on the raw material. If that were done, he says that his 
 Company are prepared to establish opium factories in most of the 
 colonies, and forthwith at Port Darwin. As, with the small popu- 
 lation of that place, 1,323^ lb. of opium, valued at £3,105, were 
 imported last year, such a factory would, no doubt, pay when the 
 expected brightening of prospects is realized, the more especially 
 as the long-headed Chinese threaten to combine poppy-growing with 
 sugar and rice cultivation. But there are who would object to an 
 opium factory in South Australia, and others to making what is 
 virtually a protective duty to support one. All this is written in 
 explanation of the suggestions made to meet a deficiency from the 
 repeal of the gold duty. Whether it is absolutely necessary to 
 meet that deficiency by fresh taxation I leave for discussion. 
 
 And now come we to the Customs records for the last year, 
 which are most interesting and suggestive. They show conclusively 
 what, from its position, might naturally be expected : that, whilst 
 South Australia has lost so much on the Northern Territory during 
 the time it was vmable to pay its expenses, all the while, as well as 
 now that the corner is turned, she has reaped and is reaping 
 infinitely less of the advantage than the other colonies. The 
 details of these statistics have been, I presume, buried in due form 
 in the Government Gazette, and I will not disentomb them, though 
 they would be an interesting study. Suffice it for me to say that
 
 PALMERSTON. 127 
 
 dvu'ing last year the value cf duty-paid goods imported iuto Port 
 Darwin was £31,578 14s., and tliat the proportion for each im- 
 porting country was nearly as follow^s : — Hongkong, £23,500 ; 
 Sydney, 5,050; Melbourne, £2,570; Java, £172 ; Singapore, 
 £150; Adelaide £150 ; Queensland, £G4. Of free goods the value 
 was £70,147 4s., proportioned as follows: — Sydney, £39,706 lis. 
 (or more than half) ; Hongkong, £10,993 6s. ; Melbourne, 
 £10,946 10s.; Adelaide, £4,949 r7s. ; Queensland, £2,692 ; Java, 
 £274; Straits Settlements and Timor, £585. The total value of 
 imports was £101,725 18s., and the amount of duty received 
 £14,759 13s. 4d. The proportion of the whole was : — New South 
 Wales, £44,745 15s. ; Hongkong, £34,382 6s. ; Victoria, £13,516; 
 South AustraUa, £5,099 17s. ; Queensland, £2,801 ; Java, £446; 
 Timor, £375 ; Singapore, £360. The total exports were valued 
 at £112,682 Is., and of this gold contributed £111,945 Is. Only 
 2 oz. (£7) went to South Australia. The other figures are : — 
 Hongkong, £39,352 Is. ; Melbourne, £37,339 10s. ; New South 
 Wales, £32,770 5s. ; Queensland, £2,476 5s. The duty from this 
 export was £3,938 13s. 9d. and that is of course the sum which 
 will be deficient if the impost be removed — a little more than 
 a quarter of the whole receipts. 
 
 Do these significant figures furnish, from South Australians' 
 point of view, an argument for a through railway 1 In what 
 other way is she to get her share of the trade of her now little but 
 promising and sturdy community on her northern coast 1 It is but 
 natural that, whilst she is practically further from it than any of 
 her neighbours, they will monopolize the business ; and she can- 
 not well put on at Port Darwin a protective tax on all goods im- 
 ported by any but herself. Let her people ruminate over this. 
 There is auothev point, too. She is by steamer five days further, 
 and Sydney is one day more distant from the Northern Territory 
 than the commercial heart of China is ; and when Hongkong 
 (which includes other Chinese ports as well) comes forward in 
 these statistics with £34,382 worth of imports against Adelaide's 
 £5,099 17s., the fact is sufficiently suggestive to need no 
 laboured comment from me in these sketchy articles. As 
 despite the teeming millions of China, she can afford to have a 
 food export ; and as all her sons, sail whither they may, are sure 
 to draw their supplies thence ; as, moreover, our Northern Ter- 
 ritory is next door to that great country ; and as we do not yet 
 produce the articles the Chinamen most do use, we may expect in 
 the first place a very rapid influx of Chinese, and in the next to 
 furnish an increasingly important market for their country's pro- 
 ductions. It is within my knowledge that from Port Darwin have 
 gone several educated influential Chinamen to bruit abroad in
 
 128 PALMERSTON. 
 
 their own laud the fame of the Territory ; and I have again and 
 again, interviewing the best and wealthiest of the race now 
 residing there, been assured that it will become a second Singa- 
 pore if they can make it so — a greater Singapore, because it has 
 its rich gold-fields. 
 
 " You see," said Yee Kee, the Chinese labour agent, and a plan- 
 tation-owner near Hongkong, "this country close by China. It got 
 gi-and laud for garden and plantation ; and I going home next 
 month to speak of it to rich men in Hongkong and start Company, 
 to grow rice and sugar and Chinese fruits." [This was after the 
 Minister announced his advocacy of the railway.] " We will send 
 out thousands of Chinese workmen to make your railway for you, 
 and then China do big trade with this place. By-aud-by gardens 
 and plantations ready, grow things employ lot men when cannot 
 work gold-fields — no water. Suppose railway made right Adelaide, 
 get all through country. Welly good." 
 
 So some colonists doubtless will see two sides even to the rail- 
 way question ! But this shows that the Chinese are thoroughly alive 
 to the importance of these colonies; and it, with many other things 
 I have seen and heard while amongst the Chinese population in the 
 Northern Territory, convinces me that our poll-taxes have not by 
 any means disposed of the " yellow agony." The old conservatism 
 of the Imperial Government of China is fast breaking up. The 
 presence of telegraphs ; the prospective reticulation of the streets 
 by water-pipes, and bridging of interior space by the railways ; the 
 building and manning of gunboats, and the adoption of many of 
 the ways of modern civilization— all these are having their effect 
 upon the former marked jealousies of the Chinese, and the effect is 
 greatly increased by the return of every man of influence who has 
 been successful in Australia. Remember that one of every three 
 men in the world is a Chinaman. Is it likely that they will always 
 be cooped up in such narrow bounds 1 The national increase, 
 if nothing else, renders that impossible. As surely will hundreds 
 of thousands of the labouring population attempt to migrate to 
 these colonies, their nearest point, as the Northern Territory will 
 be the place — the only place where they have not to pay a poll- 
 tax — whither they will first tend. The climate is the same as 
 theirs. California is played out, and we are nearer to them ; and 
 Chinese man even the steamers which give communication between 
 us. Now, let the thoughtful reader accept or reject my con- 
 clusions, and frame his own, while I conclude my sketch with the 
 record of the fact that last year there called at Port Darwin 56 
 vessels, representing 504,80J: tons, and 2,544 men in crews, and 
 that very nearly the same left. The immigration was 336 males
 
 PALMERSTON. 129 
 
 and 18 females, and the emigratiou 1,105 males and 30 females — a 
 considerable loss, it will be observed. 
 
 Having explained all that needed explanation in connection 
 ■with the port of Palmerston, we will, if you please, inter- 
 view Mr. J. Skelton, the Acting Chairman, and Mr. J. G. 
 Kelsey, the Clerk of the District Council, in the official 
 hall, which is about the size of three small piano-cases, and 
 ventilated in much the same way. Our hosts apologetically 
 explain that £500 has been voted for a Town Hall and Institute 
 combined, but that they cannot purchase a suitable piece of land 
 to build one ; and that the block they ought to have they have not. 
 After Palmerston had been surveyed by Mr. Goyder, the Governor 
 in June, 1874, nominated a District Council to administer its 
 affairs. Palmerston is well laid out. When it becomes a city its 
 street lines will be those of a model city. It is at a high elevation 
 above the sea, and provision for its perfect drainage has been 
 made by Mr. Knight (the father, brother, uncle, aunt, and 
 numei'ous other watchful relatives of the place) with the aid of 
 prison labour and a long civil engineering practice. The ground 
 plan is saddle-shaped, with a bordering of park reserves. The town 
 land is divided into 1 ,019 blocks of half an acre each ; 800 are sold, 
 but only forty are occupied. The assessment is £490 per annum, 
 and there is a balance of over £700 to the Council's credit. 
 Several streets — straight as the straightest line — intersect each 
 other at right-angles — streets about a chain wide and nearly 
 two miles long — streets fit for accommodating busy traffic 
 if it were only forthcoming — streets better than those of 
 many a city. Though no metal is used the soil is so 
 admirably drained and so free from mud that none or very little is 
 needed. Some years ago, when the Government were beset by 
 imsuccessful Chinese diggers returning from the goldfields and 
 throwing themselves upon them for relief, the Resident wisely set 
 them tc work to earn the food they needs must have. The rate 
 fixed was a shilling a day, which j ust enabled them to find them- 
 selves in rice and some simple vegetables enough to keeji them 
 from starving. They were organised in gangs, and set to work 
 under European supervision in clearing the streets (which up to 
 that time were only such on paper) and forming them with foot- 
 paths and watertables. Now they are periodically stripped of 
 weeds and an acclimatized herb, similar to horehound, which has 
 completely overrun the place. The blacks do this work, and do it 
 well, for food and tobacco. Besides the wharf frontages the 
 Government have, amongst other reserves. Point Emery, Point 
 Elliott, and the old Gardens. There are squares and " places," 
 and esplanades, and indeed all that is necessary to accommodate a
 
 1 30 PALMERSTON. 
 
 population of 30,000 people. I asked Mr. Kelsey whether there 
 were any means of ascertaining exactly how many persons live 
 there now. He said — 
 
 " Wait a minute ; I'll think." 
 
 And he checked off on his fingers the various houses and their 
 occupants. His total was 170 Europeans, and approximately 300 
 Chinese. Eight years ago there were seven public houses and 
 seven English stores, and a population in proportion. Now the 
 figures are two and three respectively. The Chinese, by the way, 
 have a town to themselves. I will describe it by-and-by. The 
 Europeans are almost entirely dependent upon them. There are a 
 Chinese bootmaker, tailor, baker, and hairdresser, several dobies or 
 washerwomen, and gardeners unlimited, and a Chinese Company is 
 being formed to bring cattle from Queensland, and compete with 
 European butchers. Altogether there are ten stores in this 
 quartei'. There is no place at Palmerston in which public enter- 
 tainments can be held. There was an old store used for the 
 purpose till recently, but it, like several other buildings, has been 
 blown down by the strong winds which prevail. The obvious need 
 here, and that also for the accommodation of the Council, spurred 
 them on to bring before the Ministers their stock grievance — that 
 the Government Residence and the Overland and the Batavia 
 Telegraph buildings, occupying some nine acres in all, are erected 
 on a public esplanade, which the original plans show the Council 
 alone have control of. They contend also that the land on which 
 the workshops and offices are built, near the beach, does not 
 belong to the Government, and they want the esplanade at least 
 handed over. The buildings certainly spoil the architectural 
 uniformity of the place and the sea view. I have seen all the 
 plans on which the Council base their claim, but, of course, can 
 say no more than that. The Supreme Court will possibly have to 
 give a decision on the matter. The Council particulai'ly want 
 that part of the land (twelve acres) known as the B.A.T. 
 paddocks, in the heart of the town, to build on it the 
 hall and institute for which the £500 was voted. The 
 curse of absenteeism was never more prejudicially felt than 
 it is in Palmerston. Though there are 1,019 half acres in the town 
 area, only forty of them are occupied, and of these four alone are 
 owned by those who reside on them. The others are mostly held 
 from English owners under building leases. For one of these 
 leases, having ten years' currency, a storekeeper pays no less than 
 £15 a year, and at the expiry of the term he will have to give up 
 his buildings to the owner of the ground. The lessee cannot help 
 himself. He finds it practically impossible to buy land in the 
 township, for these absentees have a huge monopoly. Years ago
 
 PALMERSTON. 131 
 
 the Government threw in one of the town allotments to the 
 buyers (or recipients might be the better word) of 320 acres of 
 land beyond. They did not cost more than about £5 each. 
 Now, for each of the blank half-acres on either side of the store 1 
 have just referred to the price asked is £2,500. And nearly all 
 the owners expect so great a future for the place that they avow 
 they will not sell at alh I believe I am perfectly right in saying 
 that half-a-dozen allotments in good positions in Palmerston 
 could not be purchased now, or, if purchased, for less per foot 
 than the market value of land closely subui'ban to a Southern 
 city. I need not dilate upon the pernicious effect which this is 
 likely to have upon the prosperity of the pL\ce. I chronicle the 
 fact as an " awful example " of the curses of absenteeism. The 
 people felt the sting some years ago. All the land in and around 
 the town — all the land which had been surveyed — had gone out 
 of theii reach, and they asked the Government to survey a block 
 at Fannie Bay, in which they might take up allotments for 
 residences. This request was made in the " flush " times of the 
 Territory, and it was granted. Ere the survey had been com- 
 pleted, however, commercial dulness had set in, and many of those 
 who preferred the request had left. The Government therefore 
 withheld the block from sale. They have continued to withhold it 
 since, and some of the people are indignant, and they have ad- 
 dressed to the Minister, through their spokesman, a sounding 
 staccato " Wherefore 1 " Most of the houses in Palmerston are 
 new, and the town looks somewhat piebald. The greater number 
 of the European offices and tenements represent the white spots — 
 the black or brown are furnished by the Chinese stores. The new 
 snow-white houses in the town are so arranged that you fancy 
 you see them shrinking away from the old and dingy ones, and 
 that you hear them remarking explanatorily. 
 
 "You understand, old houses ; we don't object to you — not at 
 all, bless you ; but we must not be seeu mixing with you. Society 
 demands, and so on. You're not in our set, you know." The first 
 of the set is, of course, the Government Residency. The old one suc- 
 cumbed to white ants some time ago ; the new one is two years old, 
 and it has inherited the same malady, but in a milder form. The 
 walls are of soft sandstone stuff, for which there is no geological 
 name under a nuiltitude of syllables. The building looks fairly well 
 architecturally, and when the rain comes down there is — well, 
 there is no necessity to keep tanks outside. The accommodation is 
 so limited that only two of the Parliamentary party could 
 sleep in it. Its position is grand, however. From its high level 
 it overlooks the rest of the town, and makes a conspicuous land- 
 mark for a great distance. It is in the centre of a large en-
 
 132 PALMERSTON. 
 
 closure, wliich goes seaward — steep almost as a wall. Previously 
 to last year this hill was a rough, barren waste, and part of it was 
 an old quarry. Mr. Knight, Controller of Prison Labour, 
 has converted it into a young tropical grove. Fifteen terrace- 
 walks, 200 yards long and five feet deep, have been made, the 
 quarry has been filled up, walks and graduated stepping-stages 
 have been fixed, and the whole has been planted with couch grass 
 and bright blue creepers, and bananas, and numerous ornamental 
 shrubs. There is a beautiful spreading lightwood tree in the 
 centre ; and as this year's plants have beaten their last season's 
 predecessors by successfully defying the white ants, it is not too 
 much to predict that Mr. Knight will have an exceedingly beau- 
 tiful lasting monument. 
 
 The next of the Government institutions which call for 
 mention are the baths, which Mr. Knight has constructed by 
 prison labour on a plan of his own. They are so designed that 
 even the tide-fall of 24 feet does not deprive the residents of the 
 luxury of sea-bathing, out of range of sharks or aUigators, with 
 soles unvexed by sharp-edged rocks. Then there is the pre- 
 tentious, cool and comfortable residence of Mr. McMinn, the 
 senior Surveyor, overlooked by Fort Hill, which, with on top the 
 white railings of the tomb of poor young Bennett, who was mur- 
 dered by the blacks, you can see from any part of the town. 
 Opposite Mr. McMinn's are the jealously-preserved screw-pines 
 which formed part of the original camp scenery. Opposite to 
 them is the Modern Camp, where the Government bachelor 
 oflicers live. There is no explanation of the wherefore of the name, 
 and it is misleading. Mr. Cuthbertson, its chief patron, came off 
 to the shijj wuth an invitation to stay at his camp ; and it was 
 only when I protested that it would be inconvenient to be camped 
 out in the bush at night surrounded by mosquitos and black- 
 fellows, that he laughingly explained. The camp is in one of the 
 healthiest positions in the town, and it is noted principally 
 for the goodfellowship of its occupants, and the fact that on it have 
 been " raised" the first cocoanuts grown in the Northern 
 Territory. Such cocoanuts, too, so large and so juicy; to 
 what we get in the South as like as potatoes are to potato peel. 
 Next to the Camp are the Government workshops and stables, the 
 Customs and the Harbour Master's offices, the Government-bought 
 residences of some of the minor officials, and the domicile of Mr. 
 Knight, a cool bungalow-like place of wood and iron and inter- 
 laced bamboo strips, and with more terraces. It will look like a 
 little Paradise some years hence, but it will hardly ever smell like 
 one. It is right above the Mud Flat. That Mud Flat is odorous 
 and suggestive of piscatorial mortality — of fishy burying-grounds.
 
 PALMERSTON. 133 
 
 Leaving Mr. Knight's, you climb up the steep hill aforesaid, of 
 which it hath been written that a newly-arrived intending settler 
 had left the incoming steamer to seek lodgings in the town one 
 steaming December forenoon. He got no further than half-way 
 up the hill. He then went down again and took his backward 
 passage, exi^laiuing that if the Northern Territory was so hot and 
 so steep near the sea he would be anticipating the future by 
 remaining in it farther south. And that would not be fair, he 
 thought. But, achieving the ascent, we find ourselves at the end 
 of the fii'st and main street, and with Government offices on either 
 side for some distance — ourselves in a line with the sea-fi-ont 
 terrace, with more Government offices. We take the street first 
 and interview Mr. Whitelaw, the Private Secretary to the Resident 
 the Accountant, and the Secretary to the Hospital Board ; Mr. 
 Lindsay, the junior Surveyor — during Mr. McMinn's absence, in 
 charge of the Lands Department ; Mr. Cuthbertson, his colleague ; 
 the Chinese Interpreter, to whom the Government give £100 a 
 year ; and courteous Police Inspector Foelsche and his courteous 
 family in their private residence, which is under the same roof as, 
 and divided by only a slab fence from, the Public Offices. These 
 ofl&ces, by the way, like all the Government buildings, are capitally 
 designed for comfort in this " stifling " climate. What wind there 
 is has free access from a hundred apertures, and it is not inter- 
 cepted by ceilings. The walls are of stone, and these particular 
 ones are architecturally pretty ; some of the others, to put it 
 mildly, are not. There are no more Government establishments 
 on the right-hand side, but the occupied part of the left — that is 
 the disputed esplanade — has little besides. The first are the 
 Eastern and China Cable Company's offices and officers' 
 residences — the B.A.T. dens is the local name — the second are the 
 S.A. Telegraph people's places — the O.T. huts they are called ; 
 and the third batch are the private residences of the officers of 
 the same. On the terrace you first pass the Gaol, the Courthouse, 
 the police quarters, and the doctor's (Government) residence — filling 
 up all the space to the next street. The only other Government 
 places in the town are the State school (a neat and commodious 
 structure, in which Mr. Kitchin for a petty salary daily instructs a 
 score of children), the site for the new Gaol, the Harbour Master's 
 lately finished new residence, and the Hospital, about which in 
 this spare corner I had better say a word or two. It is by the 
 poor people the best-esteemed institution in Palmerston, and its 
 natural position is most picturesque. It is a mile from Palmerston, 
 and when you get to it, through scrub patches, and — if you follow 
 the beach — by clambering sundry sets of rocks, you approach a 
 grand plot of scenery. There is the sea iu the background;
 
 134 PALMERSTON. 
 
 growling its regular deep bass as the puny sands impede its forceful 
 shoreward march, or lulled to complacency by balmy air and un- 
 ruifled surface. On one side there is a deep declivity, scaled by 
 the aid of rough steps ; the hill as yet unshorn of its rich clusters 
 of deep green undergi'owth and spiral young trees and wiry long- 
 stretching creepers. At its foot a Chinese garden flourishing, and 
 the gardener's hut — though oft the sea in rage has stretched and 
 stretched to reach and tear it up, it never has succeeded ; and the 
 rich verdure of the cultivated land continues still to mock it. 
 Beyond you get a pei-spective of green trees and high brown 
 waving grass, with another glimpse of the sea in the far distance, 
 and in front, opposite to the beach side, unsightly carriage 
 approaches. This isn't poetry, but it's truth. 
 
 Inside the Hospital is plain but comfortable and cheerful-looking. 
 There are two large wards, with five beds in each, and plenty of 
 room for them, and there are besides three rooms for the keeper, 
 Mr. Mansom, and his wife, the matron ; and a dispensary for Dr. 
 Morrice, the only duly qualified medical man in the Northern Ter- 
 ritory. The building is of stone, with cement floors and iron roof. 
 The verandah which surrounds it is ten feet wide, and a grand 
 view have the convalescing patients, for whose benefit it is made. 
 The rooms are so lofty, and the ventilation is so perfect, that the 
 Hospital has come to be considered the coolest place in the 
 Northern Territory. And I believe that the character is well 
 deserved. One ward is, of course, used by patients suffering from 
 contagious diseases. At the time of my visit it was unoccupied. 
 In the other four of the five beds had patients — all, excepting an 
 intelligent young Port Essington black — people from Adelaide, and 
 each suffering from some form of rheumatism, in the leg joints 
 principally. They all spoke in the strongest terms of praise of 
 the medical attendance and the kindness of the matron, and the 
 only sentence approaching to a complaint which they uttered was 
 one in reference to an extensive leakage which the white ants had 
 caused some months before in the roof. They had an idea that 
 large quantities of water dropping on the floor around them and 
 occasionally sprinkling their beds did not enhance their chances of 
 recovery. As they spoke came a squall and a thunderstorm and a 
 heavy downpour, and five minutes afterwards we found ourselves 
 dodging the rivulet running along the floor and its tributary di'Ops 
 from the wounded ceiling. But this is comparatively a small 
 matter, and the marvel is that it should be so old. The 
 affairs of the Hospital are managed by a nominated Board, and 
 generally speaking they are managed well. Patients who are able 
 to pay are expected to contribute £2 a week ; those who are not 
 go in, of course, for nothing but to be cured. There was once a
 
 PALMERSTON. 135 
 
 Chinese Hospital, but it has ceased to exist; the building 
 was destroyed. I believe the Chinamen contributed well to- 
 wards its support, and they strongly urge that they should have 
 anothei-. For practically the present Hospital is of no use to 
 them, as the white patients manifest a decided repugnance to 
 Chinamen being in the same ward, though they don't object to 
 blacks. This sounds like a grim satire, but the doctor assures me 
 that it is a fact. Why Chinese should not be allowed to enter it 
 is to me a mystery. Their diseases — at any rate the diseases 
 which would be admitted to a Hospital — ai-e not more virulent 
 than the ailments of the whites — not so virulent in many cases ; 
 and it seems but fair to ask that the prejudices of the European 
 patients should not be allowed too great effect. But the Chinese 
 want their own Hospital. As they are willing to pay a fair pro- 
 portion of its cost they will probably have it. 
 
 •The Hospital and the doctor recall to recollection the cemetery, 
 though there is no necessary connection between the two. The 
 latter is handily convenient to the first, about one mile distant, 
 and two miles from Palmerston, on the course of the tele- 
 graph line. It is the subject of one of the local disputations. It 
 is in a wretchedly dilapidated condition, and all the public ex- 
 penditure upon it seems to have been about £60 for 
 a wire fence. According to the representations of a member 
 of the District Council, that body put up the fence on the strength 
 of a promise by the Government that the cemeteiy should be 
 handed over to them to be taken care of. That promise has never 
 been fulfilled, and at present neither Government nor Council 
 exei'cise any curatorship over it. If a corpse is to be interred the 
 relatives have to hunt up the man who has the key of the 
 cemetery. Sometimes it cannot be found, and on these occasions 
 (I still have the same authority) coffins have been slid between the 
 wires or over the fence. There is no effective register kept 
 of the graves or the names of the persons whose mortal re- 
 mains they contain, and my informant says he has known sorrow- 
 ing bereaved ones to plant flowers and weep over grass-grown 
 mounds which they believed contained all that was left of their 
 loved ones, but which really held only Chinese bones. Of course 
 it is very dreadful to think that the bones of Chinamen 
 should mingle promiscuously with European osseous fragments, 
 and there is now a Chinese section in the cemetery. 
 
 To the country generally, no doubt the most important in- 
 stitution in Palmerston is the Telegraph department. That 
 portion of it first referred to in my heading is presided over by 
 Ml', J. A. G. Little, who has, besides attending to numerous other 
 duties, to inspect every year the first section of the overland tele-
 
 136 PALMERSTON. 
 
 graph line, extending 660 miles to Attack Creek. The offices 
 stand at the sea front of a large close galvanized-iron enclosure, 
 and are surrounded by patches of luxuriantly-growing tropical 
 plants. All the buildings are of stone, roofed with galvanized iron, 
 and perfectly ventilated. The fittings of the Post-Office are of 
 cypress pine. They were being arranged whilst I \isited the place, 
 as the old ones had been completely riddled by white ants. The 
 appointments of the office generally are well adapted for the 
 climate. Mr. Little is their designer, and his well-performed task 
 was all the harder because he had to fight against the effects of 
 that climate, and to contrive to prevent the ants from getting through 
 the wooden casings and lunching off" the letters and newspapers. 
 In the fitting-up of the telegraph-room regard had, moreover, to 
 be had to the fact that some of the operators are bound to be in it 
 night and day without cessation, because of the nearness of the 
 cable terminus. And so it has been made light and cool, and com- 
 manding a view of a beautiful landscape. Do these conditions 
 account for the fact that, the colonies throughout, you will not 
 find smarter operators than those at Palmerston'? Comfortable 
 quarters arc provided for each of the officers, from Mr, Little 
 downwards. Those who are not married have a Chinese servant 
 and black hewers of wood and drawers of water at their beck. The 
 Benedicts have Government houses adjoining these ; and if all do 
 not enjoy life it is not the fault of the Government who send them 
 thither. What more could they need than spacious quarters, 
 cool, trellised verandahs in which to lounge and enjoy the sight of 
 moonlit sea and smell of briny breezes, the while the Chinese boy 
 brings them cigar lights and obeys their every behest ; good wages, 
 hours not too many, and work congenial 1 What more except — 
 except a wife 1 If they want active exercise they may have horses 
 to ride — horses accommodated, with the cattle, in a special part 
 of the enclosure, with its harness-rooms and all other necessary ap- 
 pliances. The animals here enclosed have thriven exceedingly, 
 though they are fed only on the rank native grasses, chaffed 
 and mixed with a little maize. Just beyond the chaff- 
 house are a formidable array of scientific instruments for 
 registering heat and rainfall, and what not? The register 
 is very carefully kept by Mr. Little, who, that the average rainfall 
 throughout may be as thoroughly computed as possible, gives every 
 sugar grower gauges, and tabulates each month the results of their 
 vise. Though the section of the Telegraph over which ]Mr. Little has 
 control is so extensive, his staff" of officers and men, including Chinese, 
 is only 52. The mail service has gradually extended in the 
 interior. The latest requisitions are £300 for a telegraph station 
 either at the Shackle or Port Darwin Camp, and £469 per annum
 
 r.VLMERSTON. 137 
 
 for a service from Piue Creek (the terminus uow) and tlie 
 Katherine River. The Overland Telegraph along the 600 miles 
 which Mr. Little travels, he says, is in good order. The white ants 
 now have little power over the posts, for which iron is rapidly 
 superseding wood. He speaks in high terms of all the officers 
 along the line. 
 
 Next to the Overland Telegraph quarters are those of the officers 
 of the Eastern Extension and China Cable Company. Both are 
 very similar to their neighbours, except that they boast a capital 
 billiard table and a lawn tennis ground. Mr. Gott, J. P., is the 
 Superintendent, and there are besides himself four operators, one 
 of whom is always at the instrument. The cable-ends come in 
 through a small cabinet close by — the cable is, as every one should 
 know, in duplicate. There are three receiving instruments, so 
 that breakdowns may be i:)revented. The newest, and the one 
 being used during my visit, was Sir William Johnstone's Patent 
 Syphon Recorder, and the one it most recently superseded was the 
 same inventor's Reflecting Galvanometer. Both are complicated 
 and delicate. To this little room come first the cable messages 
 which convulse the whole of Australia sometimes, and yet, though 
 each operator is duly posted up with the information, there has been 
 only a single instance of one of them betraying the ti'ust reposed 
 in him. That was some years ago, and he never had another 
 chance to betray it. To show how quickly communication is given, 
 the operator sent along a couple of words hundreds of miles oft' to 
 Banjoe wangle, and in a second came back the answei' — 
 
 " Right you are ; don't mention it." 
 
 In the same time from Singapore was flashed through a sentence 
 from a book the operator there was reading — 
 
 " They gave him his clioice of weapons, from a blunderbuss to 
 a brickbat, and his own distance." 
 
 The battery-room has twenty cells to work the magnets and the 
 I'eceiver. They consume a large quantity of bluestone every 
 week. The officers, who have plenty of time on their hands, are 
 noted jolly fellows, who are sent out as especially smart men by 
 the Company from England to remain for a certain time at each of 
 the stations. The white ants have played great pranks in their 
 quai'ters. They hollowed out a billiard ball, bored through sheets 
 of lead under the verandah posts, and devoured all the door-posts 
 and wooden partitions, leaving nothing but the paint. The 
 Police-station on the terrace is roomy, and excellently situated. 
 The force consists of only fourteen, including the energetic veteran 
 Inspector — Mr. P. Foelsche — Corporal ^Montague (who has charge 
 of the country head-quarters at the Shackle), and all the men, 
 who as a body are most excellent officers. The day has passed
 
 138 PALMERSTOX. 
 
 ■when the Noi'theni Tevritory force could justly be reproached 
 "with inefficiency. It will doubtless have soon to be lai'gely 
 increased, and it might be well if its administration were wholly 
 confined to a responsible officer. There has been a great deal of 
 friction caused on account of a division of responsibility. Con- 
 sidering the peculiar nature of a Police Inspector's duties in the 
 Northern Tei'ritory, the marvel is that Mr. Foelsche has been 
 content to undertake them for so many years. However, he has 
 performed them as no man new to the place could hope to do at 
 first, and in other ways he has laid the Government under great 
 obligations to him. At his own expense he has taken and dis- 
 tributed to exhibitions and Royal Societies and travellers thousands 
 of photographs of Northern Territory scenery, and has thus done 
 much to advertise the place. Close to the Police Station is the 
 Courthouse and warden's office, which would do for a second-rate 
 stable, but is wholly uusuited for the honour of Chief Hall of 
 Justice for the Northern Territory. There are great gaping holes 
 in the wooden walls — holes caused by white ants that have also 
 eaten away almost all the wood. After devouring the doctor's 
 house near by, they finished this, and then went for the jarrah and 
 redgum verandah posts, so nnderminiug them that the weight of 
 the roof has had no difficulty in crushing them out of the per- 
 pendicular, and itself out of the horizontal. A new Courthouse is 
 a pressing want at Port Darwin. 
 
 Convenient to this place is the Gaol, of which Mr. Laurie is 
 Governor, directing the assistant warders. It is a " conglomerate " 
 Gaol, no more like what a prison shovild be than a chapel 
 is like a cathedral. The whole establishment is surrounded 
 by a nine feet iron fence, over which prisoners can get as easily as 
 an astute lawyer can go through an Act of Parliament. 
 Not long ago an Afghan threw himself over it, and shortly after- 
 wards a Chinaman, who was undergoing sentence, was found out 
 in the street one night. He was asked to explain, and remarked 
 with an air of injured innocence — 
 
 " What for you holdee me '? Leavee go. I only go out post 
 him letter." 
 
 In Court next day he was awarded one year extra for his feat. 
 The same evening, at 6 o'clock, he was over the fence outside 
 again. It would be grossly unfair to blame the warders for 
 these escapes. The Gaol is contrived with such perverse ingenuity 
 that no mortal man on guard can watch all the yards at once, 
 even if he were blessed with the forty-million magnifying , vision 
 which Sam Weller thirsted for, unless, indeed, he could bring 
 it to bear from a balloon. Thus one prisoner may go into one 
 corner of the yard, and the other to the opposite ; whilst the
 
 PALMERSTON. 130 
 
 ■warder is watching No. 1, the second may be walking the streets. 
 It is really of no use for a man to try to escape, however ; there 
 is no place where he could hide or live. He would certainly be 
 taken in an hour. This, of course, does not atone for the 
 atrocious badness of the prison accommodation ; but there will be 
 consolation to some of my readers, no doubt, in the know- 
 ledge of the fact that £5,000 voted for a new Gaol is 
 shortly to be spent. The site is a capital one — the beauties of 
 scenery and architectural uniformity have alike been studied, and 
 every provision will be made for the comfort of resident 
 visitors. Coming back to the present Gaol, through which I was 
 conductel by the Sheriff {Mr. Knight) and the Gaol Governor, 
 we first entered Mr. Laurie's quarters, which ai-e not much better 
 than a huntsman's dog-kennel. There is one room only, in 
 a corner of a verandah, on to which two doors open, and a third 
 to the Gaolyard. In this one wretchedly dilapidated room, 
 Mr. Laurie has to eat and sleep, receive and examine his visitors, 
 hold also his other than official receptions, and transact all the 
 business of his position. Going thence we interviewed the 
 prisoners in their miserable cells. I need not detail the actual 
 miseries of the place. It is always saddening to see men under- 
 going punishment with the sense of shame keenly manifested; 
 it is more so to see them without that sense. Both classes were 
 represented here amongst the imprisoned — nine blacks, eight 
 Chinese, three Malays, and two Europeans. Of the former, most 
 clanked along in fetters. The first we saw was a blackfellow sentenced 
 totenyearsformurdering — itwasa mysterious case — a white at Port 
 Essington. He bore a thorough orthodox stage-villain scowl, and — a 
 heavy set of leg-irons and anklets. Some of the other blacks were suffer- 
 ing for manslaughter ; but most, lilce all the Chinamen and Malays, 
 for theft. Several of the Chinese were afflicted with a peculiar 
 disease affecting the joints with swellings, which has almost 
 baffled the skill of the doctor, and which is often fatal though 
 not very painful. Gradually the sufferer loses all power over his 
 limbs, and often dies, especially if he be exposed. Of the Europeans, 
 the chief is the misguided trooper who stole the gold from the 
 Southport Post-Office and arrested Chinamen for the theft, getting 
 a seven years' sentence through the smartness of officer Becker, 
 and afterwai'ds confessing. He suffers acutely from some sort of 
 rheumatism, I believe, and seems a thoroughly broken man. The 
 first cell we came to was of " perished " iron, which would crumble 
 beneath your gi'asp. It was 10 feet by 12. In it was a sick 
 Chinaman, lying on a bench ; the next was 12 feet by 5 feet, and 
 it had but one hard bench, yet in it four men slept. Mr. Knight 
 has somewhat alleviated the sufferings of the poor fellows by
 
 140 PALMERSTOX. 
 
 putting on the cells a double-panneled door, contrived to admit 
 air in summer and keep it out in winter. The third cell 
 is liUialler than the second, and also has four inmates at 
 night. Two others have a space 10 feet by 10 feet, and the other 
 is very like to the rest. The " solitary " room is of double iron 
 sheets with the centre filled in with sand, which deadens the sound 
 of the boot-heels and execrations of obstreperous inmates, and 
 keeps them cool. The sanitary arrangements are well attended to, 
 and no nuisance whatever is detected by the visitor. Where there 
 is little provision made for religious services for free men, it can- 
 not be expected that there is any for the imprisoned. That is 
 true of their position now and always, in the absence of the 
 minister, which generally is for some months every second year. 
 The regulations of the Gaol are, whilst stringent, yet framed in 
 such a way as to show that the framers recollected that tliose who 
 were bound to obey them have to work in a climate very difterent 
 from that in the south. They are not even so hard as they seem, 
 for the gaoler is justly very considerate when men are well behaved. 
 They rise at half-past 5 in the morning, and work from 6 till 8, 
 9 till 12, and 2 till 5. The outdoor men are engaged in road- 
 forming and various other public works, and it is suggested that 
 their labour could be turned to account in the construction of 
 better wharf accommodation. The indoor prisoners have only to 
 chop up hard wood for the Government officers' fires, and the 
 gaoler takes care to keep them bard at Avork. At G o'clock both 
 classes are locked up for the night, v/ithout lights after 8, though 
 in special cases this rule is not adhered to arbitrarily. I should 
 have mentioned before this there is a capital kitchen in the Gaol, 
 in which the cooking is done by an imprisoned Chinaman. 
 The prisoners do not, like Uriah Heep, read patronizingly moral 
 lessons to their visitors ; they seem mostly wretched, and though 
 the keeper does all he can for tbem, he cannot give them the 
 accommodation which health considerations demand that they 
 should have. 
 
 Next door to the Gaol is the Institute, which, let us hope, will 
 furnish an antidote to the bane which caused the imprisoned ones 
 to fall. It was started about four years ago by private subscription 
 to the extent of £10 spent in books. Several Adelaide gentlemen 
 helped ; but, by-and-by, the undertaking collapsed. It tried again, 
 fortified by numerons " yellow-backs," and a room in the Land 
 Office was set apart for them till the new combined Institute and 
 Council Hall should be built. The tomes on the shelves have 
 been increased to a thousand, and the income to about £100 a 
 year. The selection of literature reflects credit on the selectors, 
 and particularly upon their chief, Mr. W. Gate.
 
 PALMERSTON. 141 
 
 CHAPTER X.— PALMERSTON. 
 
 Palmeestox : — The BUSINESSES and Business Places. — The Fotels. — 
 The Drink CoNstnviPTioN. — Ihe Chinese Quarter. — The 
 Streets — The Native Camp. — A Satisfactory Interview with a 
 King— Syphilis amongst the Black.s. — Their Eeligious Teach- 
 ing. — The One Northern Territory Church. — The Climate, 
 Dress. — Social Customs, 
 
 ^.Y first head, so far as it refers to European businesses and 
 business-places, can be disposed of in few words. Tliree 
 large importing stores, in which are vended articles of 
 almost every kind — from the fripperies of fancy drapery 
 to billy-cans and sheet-iron, including wine, spirits, and 
 physic ; a baker's, and butcheries in connection with the two hotels, 
 both fairly good for this place, but second rate if placed in com- 
 parison with an average country public-house in the South. They 
 are, however, not so rowdy, and their keepers do not consider that 
 the aim of an honourable ambition is to overcharge a traveller. 
 The Inspector of the Northern Territory hotels generally (there 
 are only a dozen) rather strongly condemns the average of them, 
 and proves by figures that they must make big profits at Is. a 
 nobbier, and yet they are not over-anxious to give accommodation 
 to travellers. I had rather camp out than stay overnight at some 
 of them. The climate has its effect upon the quantity of potables. 
 For example, during the September quarter of last year 3,203 
 gallons of spirits, wines, and beer were imported into the Territory, 
 the value being £1,195 10s., paying ,£479 4s. 3d. duty. During 
 the same time 1,812 gallons were taken from bond for home con 
 sumption. This paid £627 Is. lid. for duty, making the total for 
 the quarter in duty only £1,106 6s. 2d., or £2,301 16s. 2d., 
 besides about £800 (the value of the goods taken from bond), over 
 £3,000 for intoxicating lic[uors alone. £1,000 a month for liquors 
 amongst 500 whites and a little over 3,000 Chinese is a comfor- 
 tably big figure, is it not? Many of the former and most of the 
 latter are practically teetotallers. The hotelkeepers' profits on 
 these lines are, it is estimated, about cent, per t;ent. at least. 
 Besides the stores, the bakeries, the butcheries, and the hotels, 
 there is, I think, nothing worth mentioning except the three 
 Banks, which are busily engaged at present in cutting each other's 
 throats, all hoping to drag on till a flush of business comes to the 
 Territory. The two youngest, a few months old, are the Town 
 and Country and the Commercial, energetically managed respec- 
 tively by Mr. J. C. Hillson, J.P., and Mr. Harrison. The pioneer 
 is the English, Scottish, and Australian Chartered, which, eaten 
 out of office by the white ants, has had built a spacious, preten
 
 142 PALMERSTON. 
 
 tious, and costly iron Bank on an Indian model. Every part of it 
 is of iron, and it is, as it looks, light and airy, yet thoroughly 
 strong. The Managers evidence wonderful faith in the future of 
 the settlement by having a strong-room large as the powder 
 magazine for a big mining corporation. It is very thick with stone 
 and cement ; but while it was yet wet the white ants, as though to 
 mock the builder, came up in thousands right through its centre 
 in a single night, and he had not been able to get rid of them 
 when I saw him some time after. Almost the only hitherto iin- 
 enumerated institution of the town is its weekly newspaper, which 
 is neatly turned out of hand, hut small in proportion to its con- 
 stituency. It is edited by ]\Ir. J. Skelton. 
 
 This brings us to the Chinese quarter, which is lai'ger than the 
 European, and at which I promise you a hearty welcome. Your 
 shadow darkening the threshold is the signal for the teapot, con- 
 taining a decoction such as European lips seldom are blessed by 
 tasting, and the square-gin bottle to be brought out, flanked by 
 lichee and sundry other Chinese fruits, and all marshalled 
 in front of you as soon as you have well entered the shop. 
 Semi-nude Chinamen all round put on their singlets, and twist 
 their pigtails in captivating fashion, and then come out kowtowing 
 profoundly to receive you. If you return the courtesies courteously, 
 you will perhaps be honoured, as yours to command was, 
 by an introduction to the only Chinese lady in South Aus- 
 tralia — a very agreeable, chatty little body, with wee feet and a 
 tiny baby, pleasant-looking, and prattling as innocently as an 
 English infant. You would hardly think, my Chinaphobist, that 
 a Celestial child could be pretty and a prattler, and born without 
 a pigtail, would you? The stores are of all kinds, inclu- 
 ding, I fear, a fan-tan shop, which the police cannot discover. 
 In the mercantile concerns the thing you notice most is the small- 
 ness of the profits which the keepers make. For 15s. you buy 
 lacquer-work which would cost you a couple of pounds in Adelaide. 
 The next thing you observe is the absence of the foulness and 
 dirt which prejudice had forewarned you to expect. Though the 
 houses are not so good, you find they are quite as clean and 
 sweet and wholesome as those of the other quarter. This 
 is true nearly all through, and the only conclusion I can form, and 
 yet be loyal to my Chinaphobists, is that the childlike and bland 
 Celestials were keep)ing the best side out till the Parlia- 
 mentary party left. That must be the explanation, I suppose. 
 The party, let me add, they pressed the acceptance of numerous 
 gifts upon, and felt greatly annoyed if their liberality was met 
 with a refusal. That, of course, was not a recognition of the 
 visitors' position, but simply a politic move, eh 1 But move politic
 
 PALMERSTON. 1 43 
 
 or otherwise, the Chinese in this Temtory of ours re- 
 ceived the Minister, though some of them were aware that 
 he has been oue of their strongest opponents in the House, with 
 a cordiahty which the Europeans scarcely equalled. I but speak 
 of the Chinese as I found them. Conversation with them has con- 
 vinced me that there are no men more keenly watching the upsihot 
 of the legislative deliberations upon the railway proposals of 
 the Minister than the Chinese merchants and capitalists in the 
 Northern Territory, and the greater men with whom they are in 
 telegraphic communication in the principal capitals of 
 China. 
 
 But we have lingered at the Chinese quarter, and so, just noting 
 the fact that they have a little shrine for their Joss, and that they 
 intend to put him by-aud-by in a suitable temple, we turn back to the 
 maii:i street this Satmxlay afternoon — about the busiest time. 
 (The half-holiday with the shops is on "Wednesdays.) If more than 
 a score of persons were seen in the street at once, people would 
 probably think that the place had been invaded, and if two-thirds 
 of them were not blackfellows, that — -well, that the circumstance 
 was something vmusual. The whites are mostly dressed in colours 
 to match, and they look conspicuous ; and the blacks wear little 
 else than Nature's gai'b, and that little generally a piece of fiery 
 red cloth ; and they are conspicuous too. The picaninnies are 
 covered by nothing but the sky. Some of the women display a 
 bust which an artist might model a Venus from — that of a few 
 might fairly be mistaken for an imitation half-full coalsack. The 
 tibia of both men and women are shrunken and lanky out of all 
 proportion to their otherwise well-modelled bodies. The men 
 generall}^ display them pretty freely, though several are getting 
 accustomed to the European bifurcated garment, yclejit trousers. 
 Generally speaking, those who wear it don nothing else, and those 
 who have anything else to wear eschew it. The people are all 
 mimics ; they imitate anything which strikes them as peculiar in a 
 stranger. Such an one, strutting pompously down the street, for 
 example, may find at least a couple of exact copyists of his move- 
 ments shuffling up close behind him, and a squatting audience 
 laughing and clapping their hands in appreciation of the joke. 
 There interviewed me one night a black named " Billee," dressed 
 in white, with a pith helmet crowning all. The way in which he 
 imitated the Government Resident would have done the heart of 
 Maccabe good. My " boy " was a youngish black named Pickles, 
 because the first act which brought him into the glare of })ublic 
 life was the annexation of a phial of the savoury condiment thus 
 denominated. He w\as clad in a portion of a Union Jack, and he 
 looked so utterly villainous that I engaged him. I found that he
 
 144 PALMERSTON. 
 
 had sent eight of his kind to their account — one was his own 
 mother-in-law, I beheve. It was interesting at night to have a 
 murderer grinning at me ; and I felt aggrieved when some weeks 
 before I left " Pickles " was awarded six months' for becoming 
 possessed in a questionable way of some wiiie. There are many 
 other blacks as bad as " Pickles," but without the especial 
 weakness which cavises him now to be spending six months in 
 retirement. Though so murderous in their tribal wars, these 
 fellows are tame enough in the presence of whites, and 
 really are very useful, though fickle in their fancies, and as 
 loth to work as an average working man's strike-demagogue. 
 The young lubras are engaged by the English as washerwomen and 
 charwomen, and they work very well, I am told. Indeed, alto- 
 gether they are almost indispensable to the whites. I had already 
 paid a visit to their camp, whither they repair at night, for fear 
 of " Mooldarby," when 1 met King Miranda, and accepted his 
 invitation to look at it again. On the way down I thought I 
 would test the truth of a charge of intelligence brought against 
 him in a passage of a book of travel by an Englishman. This 
 was our conversation — 
 
 " How many people are there under your rule T 
 
 " Yah !" 
 
 " You understand English 1" 
 
 " Yessee. Big fellow savee !" 
 
 " Well, then, how many people in your tribe V 
 
 " Ml/ w-o r-d ! All about." 
 
 " My word " is an equivalent for our " good gracious " or some- 
 thing like it ; " all about " signifies " plenty " amongst a dozen 
 other things. I think, however, the reader will agree that the 
 famed king of the Larrakeeyahs has cause for a big libel action 
 against those who write him down as '- highly intelligent." 
 
 By this we had got to the camp — a beautiful place not far from 
 Fort Hill. It is backed by precipitous crags o'er which stretch 
 trailing creepers, binding together in matted fashion gnarled roots 
 outci^opping and interweaving themselves with the luxuriant 
 masses of green leaves which weight the stalwart trees, causing 
 them to lean far over the edge whence their I'oots derive the 
 nourishment they give them. It is fronted by almost the only 
 wide boundary of clean seasand for miles around ; it is canopied by 
 prolific tropical growths. But the beauty is all on the side of 
 inanimate nature ; and from the sea it is spoiled by the clusters 
 of heterogenous huts the blacks have built for themselves — huts 
 compounded of bits of kerosine tin and drift wood, of bark and old 
 bagging, and one with an old insurance plate stuck upside down
 
 PALMERSTON. 145 
 
 over its portals as a dearly-prized charm to ward oflf the dread 
 Mooldarby, perhaps. Some natives, not so highly favoured, have 
 not huts at all, but shield themselves from the sea blasts by 
 roughly-arranged big sheets of paper-bark. There you have the 
 camp. Erections mocking civilization at the back of a most 
 beautiful gi'oundwork of Nature's best construction ; bai*k piles as 
 a practical satire upon them in mid-distance, with light and frail 
 canoes of the same hard by ; in the foregi'ound a hard, firm, pretty 
 promenade, with the natives playing on it, with the sea lapping it, 
 and sending out little wavelets to sport in the bright, silvery 
 track which the moon from a cloudless sky has made far out into 
 the harbour. There you have the camp as we saw it last. But I 
 spare the reader disagreeable details respecting a people scarcely 
 more intelligent, so far as the elders are concerned, than monkeys ; 
 nearly all naked ; nearly all dirt-encrusted ; nearly all syphilitic, 
 more or less. One little bright-looking and clear-spoken half-caste 
 boy was a frightful object to gaze upon on this account ; 
 besides himself a tiny half-caste female were the only evidences 
 of the joint immorahty of the whites and blacks. Such 
 evidences are generally destroyed. For the rest a sentence will 
 suffice. Wizened old women and haggard old men, prattling but 
 dull-eyed children, all squatting together with mangy curs ; and 
 young women, some ogling themselves in bits of broken looking- 
 glass. The younger men especially fashioning spears and canoes 
 for sale as curios, and offering six days' work for so many pence. 
 I will not swell out the notes I collected respecting their mystic 
 beliefs or practices ; their curious fashion of bewailing their 
 bereavements, or disposing of the deceased one's body; their 
 polygamous habits ; or the tribal distinctions so marked that, 
 whilst circumcision is practised by two of the tribes, the others 
 laugh at them for practising it — for all this is being done for the 
 Royal Society of South Australia by Inspector Foelsche, who has 
 studied the blacks more carefully than any other person in the 
 Territory. Suffice it for me to add that at present nothing what- 
 ever is being done to Christianize them, but a little to debase them 
 still further. It was different when the Rev. J. A. Bogle and his 
 successor (the Rev. W. Hanton) lived in Palmerston. I heard 
 their names mentioned in reverence everywhere I went amongst 
 the blacks, and that of the former particularly amongst the whites. 
 Both reverend gentlemen laboured hard to do their dusky 
 brethren good, with scant encouragement ; but a little incident 
 shows that their work has had some result. Half a dozen urchins 
 told me they could sing " Missa Hanton song," and they struck up 
 the " Sweet By-and-by," and sang this other in correct time and 
 tune, and as to accent much in this fashion —
 
 146 PALMERSTON. 
 
 A little s'ip was on de sea, 
 
 It was a pritty sight. 
 It sailed a'ong so p'easantly, 
 
 An' all was calm an' bright. 
 
 And so on. I believe there is hope for the young blacks yet. 
 They can be educated, as easily as the Chinese, and I cannot say 
 much more than that. 
 
 Speaking of religious teaching I should mention that there is 
 only one church throughout the Territory, and that is Wesleyan. 
 It is a small wooden building, reared on brick piles, and untouched 
 by white ants. Some say it is the bricks and others the sanctity 
 of the place that make it proof against the little pests. Unfoi'- 
 tunately the climate and the ministers sent up disagree, and there 
 are long periods when there is no one besides the local residents to 
 keep the church going. Mr. Price then conducts on Sunday 
 evenings a church service in the building, in which also a Sunday- 
 school is held. The Rev. W. Stewart is at present in charge of the 
 church. He met me whilst I was coming down. 
 
 A reference to the climate may fairly precede a few words about 
 the social life, which it necessarily so much influences. Personally, 
 I found the weather generally better than that south, with cool 
 mornings and evenings, and the intense heat for short periods 
 only. The atmosphere affected by that heat, of course, is humid, 
 ancl one good elfect of that is that there is almost an entire absence 
 of sunstroke. Mr. Little, the weather registrar, assures me 
 that he never knew of such a case during the many years he 
 has lived in the Territory. I had not an opportunity of judging of 
 the reputedly worst part of the year nor of its best, though most of 
 the residents were agreed that the wet season was as bad as any. 
 The year has two seasons — the dry and the wet — from May to Sep- 
 tember, and from October to April, respectively. The average 
 shade temperature during the former is abovit 80°, and during the 
 latter 95°, the mininum respectively at night being 56° and Q5°. 
 There is no rainfall at all in June, July, August, and September, 
 Of the wet a register has been taken during the last ten years, 
 with the following results':— 1872, 54-622 inches; 1873, 72-505; 
 1874,51-800; 1875,56-520; 1876,60-860; 1877,60-110; 1878, 
 61-580 ; 1879, 60-908 ; 1880, 68-460 ; 1881, 45-120 ; 1882 (to the 
 end of March;, about 34. The heaviest rainfall in any one month 
 was 22-790 inches in Jaimary, 1880; the highest average is iu 
 March. The present wet season is the lightest known for years. 
 The registration which secured the above results was at the Port 
 Darwin Telegraph Station, 
 
 With regard to the effect of the climate upon labour, there 
 seems to be a concensus of opinion that Europeans cannot do the
 
 PALMERSTON. 147 
 
 hewing and the drawing. That must be undertaken by coloured 
 folk. Mr. Little's opinion upon the subject is as follows: — " With 
 regard to the suitability of the country for European labour the 
 writer can affirm — after four years' experience — that a man cannot 
 perform the amount of constant work that he is capable of accom- 
 plishing in a more temperate climate ; but still there is nothing 
 to prevent a moderate day's work being done — and furthei*, there 
 is an almost entire absence of those enervating influences which 
 prostrate the European labourer in other tropical countries, such as 
 India, Java, Singapore, or Africa. Workmen carry out their 
 various avocations throughout the day without taking any pi-ecau- 
 tion to ward off the rays of the sun, the eight hours' system being 
 usually adopted. The climate, in fact, may be said to be more of 
 that type which is generally known as Australian, rather than 
 tropical. It is free from cholera and other scourges of hot 
 countries, and on the whole may be considered healthy. Inter- 
 mittent fever, commonly known as fever and ague, is prevalent at 
 times, especially in low-lying localities, or immediately after the 
 wet season ; but this complaint is not dangerous in itself, and can 
 often be prevented by a moderate and judicious use of medicine, 
 and a small amount of bodily exercise." 
 
 The people have in the matter of dress accommodated 
 themselves to the climate. For the cold weather they wear 
 light-blue serge or tweed ; for the hot white suits. The Civil 
 servants transact the public business very often clad in nothing 
 more than trousers and singlet. Tlie regulation dress for Govern- 
 ment House parties and dinners is white trousers, black dress vest, 
 and thin, white mess jacket — a costume which looks far better 
 than the venerable swallow-tail and fixings. At evening parties at 
 private houses people come occasionally in pyjamas. The clothing 
 of the ladies is equally sensible. In the eai'ly morning you meet 
 leading residents going through the street in nothing but a serang, 
 and on the first morning I arrived I presented a letter of in- 
 troduction to a high official who disguised his physical confor- 
 mation by a bath-towel only. Social customs also have to some 
 extent to adapt themselves to the altered circumstances of the 
 place, and yet, remembering those circumstances, you wonder 
 how so much of society's ceremonies can exist. What, however, 
 would my lady readers think if they had to arrange their company 
 dinners on one special night in the week, because it was the only 
 one on which they could get a joint from the butcher 1 Yet that 
 is sometimes the position of the mistress of the house in Port 
 Darwin. The evenings — be the occasion formal or otherwise — are 
 spent outside under the verandahs, and a very sensible practice 
 that is — highly enhancing the visitors' enjoyment. In a place
 
 148 PALMERSTON, 
 
 where the only amtisement in any way public from year's 
 beginning to year's end is an occasional whist-party at the 
 Government Residency, folks are thrown much on their own 
 resources for enjoyment. Some keep alive the grand old practice 
 of scandal-mongering, and it is just now in fine feather. 
 Palmerston is certainly not the place represented as having 
 
 " No domestic jealous jars. 
 Buzzing slanders, wordy wars." 
 
 You would hardly think that about fifty of the " society " people 
 could afibrd to run two factions, but they do, much to the em- 
 bittering of the private lives of each. But altogether they are the 
 most hospitable of people, receiving every eligible stranger with 
 open arms, and each faction vicing with the other to worthily 
 entertain him.
 
 PASTORAL. 14^ 
 
 CHAPTER XL— PASTORAL AND GENERAL. 
 
 The] Pastoral Outlook.— Some Facts and Figures.— An Immense 
 Monopoly. — The Glencoe and Adelaide Eivers, and other 
 Stations.— The Salt Trouble.— Will Sheep Succeed. — Absence 
 OF General Pastoral Enterprise. — A Pastoralist's Sugges- 
 tions.— Iiupediments IN the Way of Progress. — The Gold 
 Duty. — The High Charges for Cartage and Food. — The Dear- 
 NESS OF Labour and the Lack of Skilled Workmen. — The 
 Labour Question generally. — European, Chinese, Indian 
 Coolies.— The Necessity for Gold-saving Machinery. — Altera- 
 tion IN the Mining Laws.— The Conclusion of the Whole 
 Matter. — Travelling as it now is. — What the Party Nar- 
 rowly Escaped. — The Difficulty of Making Roads.— The Last 
 Survey Kailway a Mistake.— An Easy and Inexpensive Eoute 
 for a Railway to the Beefs at least. — The Remedy for 
 Nearly all the Drawbacks. — Finis. 
 
 |2^HE constant complaint which meets you iu the country is 
 that there is nothing to fall back upon when the dry 
 weather prevents the prosecution of mining operations. 
 One of the most oft-repeated suggestions has been — that 
 even without a railway the gold country, at least, woidd 
 have a very fair chance of being developed if there were during 
 the dry months other work than mining for the diggers to do. 
 Hundreds, it is said, have left the Northern Territory be- 
 cause they had no means of earning their bread during these 
 intervals. Leaving planting out of the question, had there been 
 even shearing to be done they could have remained in the country. 
 And they urged with some zest that the Government should 
 compel the lessees of all pastoral lands to stock forthwith, pointing 
 forcefully in support to the fact that whilst every acre of the pas- 
 toral areas is held, there are not enough cattle bred in the Terri- 
 tory, or available ones owned by any of the holders, to supj^ly the 
 less than 4,000 residents with fresh meat, which has to come 
 from Queensland. You will remember that the party did 
 not see half-a-dozen cattle all the way through the country. 
 Well, since these representations were made, some of the holders, 
 at least, are assisting in a slight way to remove the cause of com- 
 plaint. They are starting settling work on their stations, though 
 whether this will grow into a " fall-back" for the diggers 
 is very doubtful. Unless they have sheep, lessees can offer veiy 
 little work ; and it is doubtful whether sheep will thrive so far 
 north for some time. The first experiment to breed them failed 
 disastrously ; as will be seen, a second is to be made. 
 A great deal will depend upon whether that succeeds. 
 
 The gentlemen I refer to are Messrs. C. B. Fisher and ^L 
 Lyons, who hold about 40,000 square miles of pastoral country
 
 150 PASTORAL. 
 
 bordering Palmerston alone, and a great deal elsewhere in the 
 Northern Territory. Of this about 18,000 are comprised in the 
 Glencoe Eun, of which I have previously written casually, 
 and which they bought in November last from Messrs. Travers 
 and Gibson. In December, Mr. H, W. H. Stevens, their energetic 
 Manager, took delivery from Mr. Burkitt, the representative of 
 the former proprietors. Since then, Mr. Stevens has let contracts 
 for making various improvements, many of which are in 
 progress, whilst others have been completed. In place of two 
 thatched huts, which were designated by the name of homestead, 
 and a small yard capable of holding only 300 head of cattle, there 
 are now good iron buildings. Large stockyards after the 
 fashion of those in use on the more modern runs in Queensland 
 are in course of construction ; paddocks are being made round the 
 homestead, and others for the reception of stock for weaning. 
 There are now 1,900 head of cattle, and 86 horses on the run. 
 The stock are principally store cattle, but they are to be replaced 
 by others en route, the intention being to keep Glencoe as 
 a thoroughly good breeding station. It is by the road 
 somewhat less than 100 miles from Palmerston, and it is in 
 a fair situation relatively to it and to the navigable part of the 
 Adelaide Ptiver. The country on this run is some of the best in 
 the Territory. Its plan shows a perfect netwoi-k of permanent 
 waters and fine shady creeks, with lots of high country for the 
 stock to retreat to in the wet season, and plains extending for 
 miles along the McKinlay River, where they may feed by still 
 waters and in green pastures in the dry weather. The situation of 
 the station is central for all markets in the Territory, and will, in 
 the event of a railway being started and population coming to the 
 country, reap, more than any other pastoral holding, the benefit. 
 
 Messrs. Fisher & Lyons have about 21,000 miles on the eastern 
 bank of the Adelaide River, extending from Adam Bay to twenty 
 miles east of the East Alligator, and including it and the other two 
 Alligator rivers. It stretches, indeed, from the northern coast to 
 the Adelaide River, and west and south-west to the Roper auction 
 blocks ; and it and Glencoe, with Sir T. Elder's territory which 
 they bought from him, take up a great deal of the western bank 
 of the Adelaide, the watershed, and I don't know how far beyond. 
 The station on the Adelaide I have already described in my notes 
 on that river. I have simply to add that it is intended that the 
 run shall be used principally for sheep. This is the experiment on 
 which so much depends. Fisher & Lyons have, moreover, a little 
 more than 1,000 miles of the very pick of the Daly country near 
 its northern end, and they will be able to closely approach these 
 as well as the rest of their stations by means of the river vessel to
 
 PASTORAL. 151 
 
 which I have previously referred. As soon as the dry weather sets 
 in they are going to have a station built on the Daly, so as to be 
 ready to place there a fair proportion of the mobs of stock they 
 have coming from Queensland. These comprise 20,000 head of 
 cattle, 300 brood mares, and 13,000 sheep. Of course, the pos- 
 session of so much land around Palmerston means a great monopoly 
 to Messrs. Fisher &, Lyons ; but it is to their credit that they have 
 the pluck to spend so much money upon it. They have shown 
 the right pioneering spirit, and in Mr. Stevens they have a repre- 
 sentative who will make their venture pay if it has within itself 
 the necessary elements. And no one will be pessimist enough to 
 say it has not. 
 
 With the exception of the pioneer squatters Dr. W. J. Browne, 
 and Mr. "Wallace, and one or two others (including Mr. Gilbert 
 and ^lessrs. Temiant & Love on the McDonnell Range country 
 further south, the latter having 6,000 head of cattle), they are the 
 only pastoral holders who are spending money on what has been 
 universally admitted to be good pastoral country — country which 
 has made all the horses and cattle I have seen " rolling fat." 
 Amongst the " one or two others " are Messrs. Favenc & Brodie. 
 Mr. Favenc, with Mr. Briggs, started out some time ago in charge 
 of what was known as the Queenslander Expedition, to select land 
 for a station, and secondarily to explore the country. Mr. Favenc 
 has gone on another expedition, to take 1,700 head of cattle to 
 stock the run they discovered — the Cresswell Downs, about 3,000 
 miles — and to take a schooner to the mouth of the McArthur, and 
 to see whether the place is suitable for the erection of necessary 
 buildings to make a little township. When this is done he in- 
 tends to explore another large area right up to the overland tele- 
 gi-aph line. 
 
 Mr. Wallace's station, on the Elsie and Roper Rivers, consists of 
 6,000 square miles and is 300 miles distant from Palmerston. 
 There are nearly 2,000 head of cattle upon it and its prospects are 
 very good, the representative wdiom I met assm-ed me. Dr. Browne 
 some time ago stocked the Spriugvale Station, on the Katherine 
 River, about 200 miles from Palmerston, on the telegraph line, 
 with cattle and sheep. The sheep did not get on well at all — a 
 great many of them died — and the cattle were not in the best 
 condition. The reason, so far as the cattle are concerned, is the 
 absence of salt in the water or saline material in the ground. 
 There is no limestone, and there are no other salt elements. This 
 applies also to a limited area beyond the Katherine. From the 
 Adelaide River up to Rum Jungle you see lumps of rock salt 
 placed before the publichouse doors for the hoi'ses to lick ; and 
 yet on the Glencoe Station, which includes some of this country,
 
 152 PASTORAL. 
 
 the cattle thrive. As for the rest, by far the greater area has 
 either limestone or else brackish water coixiing down the rivers from 
 the seaboard. There is a salt water well nearly 90 miles 
 from the mouth of and close to the Adelaide River. On Mr. 
 Wallace's run there is brackish water, and also on Dr. Browne's 
 Delamere Downs station, which is 280 miles from Port Darwin, 
 near the sources of the Victoria River, and to which he sent the 
 remainder of the sheep (about 3,000) and 1,200 of the mixed 
 cattle from Springvale. Within the last fortnight I was in the 
 Territory they brought the sheep back, as they continued to die. 
 (The cattle, however, throve.) The Telegraph Department bought 
 what were left, and sent them down to Tennant's Creek (so I am. 
 informed), which, being so much further south, is more suited to 
 their pasturage. 
 
 Whatever the reason, the attempt to breed sheep in the 
 Northern Territory has hitherto been met with signal failure, and 
 has involved the men who have made it in serious losses. The 
 superintending officer of the Telegraph Department (Mr. J. A. G. 
 Little) showed me some sheep bred near Palmerston, and they 
 looked hopelessly consumptive — thin, scant-woolled, and scraggy. 
 The most feasible explanation of the failure which I heard is, 
 except where there is no salt in the water or land, that at present 
 the grass is too long and rank for the sheep — that it needs to be 
 fed down a few times. As the author of an exceedingly 
 useful book on the Northern Territory (Mr. J. G. Knight) has 
 written — " There can be no doubt that as the wildly luxurious 
 indigenous grasses are fed down the character of the herbage will 
 be completely changed. It is hardly to be feared that the climate 
 will be found too hot for the growth of good wool, as fine fleeces are 
 produced ni Queensland in corresponding latitudes ; but it may 
 need time, patience, and discrimination before we can find out what 
 breed of sheep are best fitted for the country. When Port Darwiu 
 was first occupied a number of goats were introduced, but as all 
 the male ones died it was concluded that goats could not be reared. 
 More recently another breed of this animal has been tried, and its 
 progeny are increasing rapidly. [I have already referred to about 
 a hundred fine ones that I saw at the Howley.] This little 
 illustration is given merely to show the error of attaching 
 too much importance to one solitary experiment." So far 
 as general pastoral purposes are concerned, the Northern 
 Territory almost all over is suitable for them. There is 
 throughout a grand interlacing of rivers and creeks, and in most 
 places where there is not a permanent supply of water the 
 precious fluid can — for this has been proved — easily be obtained 
 by sinking to no very great depth. A few Abyssinian wells would
 
 PASTORAL. 153 
 
 supply all that would be needed at a very slight cost. Though 
 to land fit for agriculture in the Territory the qualification 
 " patchy " must be applied, it is not called for in a general des- 
 cription of the pastoral country. Practically there is grass al) 
 the year round on by far the greater area. After that, which is 
 now so harsh and high and dry — though succulent enough to be 
 cut for chaff by the Telegraph Department — is burnt down, in a 
 fortnight or so, in the gullies particularly, a crisp, fresh herbage, 
 high enough for cattle to crop, takes its place ; and so, with this 
 abundance of water and feed, there need be no fear of whole flocks 
 and herds succumbing to hunger and to thirst. 
 
 Now, how much longer are the lessees of the big unstocked runs 
 going to leave their lands lie idle 1 There are rumours of 
 probable stocking far, and wide, and soon. The holders have been 
 awaiting the results of experiments, it is said. Well, experiments 
 have proved that horses and cattle thrive in the Territory as 
 well as in any other part of Australia. Let them try horses 
 and cattle, then, leaving the sheep at home till the issue of Fisher 
 and Lyons's and other trials with them is known. Or, when the 
 land shall have been fed down a little, let each bring a different 
 class of sheep, and fairly try them and the country. In closing, 
 let me in justice add that though every other class with whom I 
 have mixed here on information bent have had some suggested 
 concession to bring forward, the representatives of the pastoral 
 lessees have not even hinted at one. They urge, however, what 
 they consider to be needed reforms in the land laws. They 
 grumble particularly because so many hundreds which cannot be 
 used for agriculture for years are out of their reach for pastoral 
 puz-poses ; but when you press them they admit that they have a 
 good deal of land after all. They urge then that their consider- 
 ations in the suggestion are not personal to themselves ; but they 
 feel how greatly it would be to the interests of the country if they 
 paid rent for the land now lying idle outside the pastoral reserve. 
 And so, I suppose, I may say they are as satisfied as Britons can 
 manage to be under fairly auspicious circumstances. 
 
 And now I have to submit for consideration the impediments in 
 the way of the progress of our Northern Territory, through the 
 development of its mining interests particularly. 
 
 The gold duty is no small one, and it affects the poor man 
 almost solely, excepting in the case of Companies, and at best it is 
 a tax upon production, and therefore unsound. Whilst I was in 
 the mining districts I obtained from the owners of several of the 
 mines the originals of bank and assay returns for the gold they 
 sent to Palmerston. Here is a sample copy. It is so suggestive 
 of the tremendous handicap the gold-miner has to fight against in
 
 154 GENERAL. 
 
 one particular alone that I will allow it to speak for itself, merely 
 affixing to it the item of 4d. per oz. for carriage : — " Returns, 83 
 oz. 5 dwt. of gold, valued at £3 lis. per oz. (equal to that in the 
 Melbourne Mint), £331 Os. 9d. ; allowance for silver, 9 oz. 4 dwt., 
 £1 16s. 9d = £332 17s. 6d. ; Bank charges, at 3s. per oz., £13 19s. 
 9d. = £318 17s. 9d. ; assay charges at Is. per oz., £4 13s.; export 
 duty on gold, 2s. 6d. per oz., £11 13s. 2d.; net value, £302 lis. 
 7d." Putting on the £1 for postal carriage, the gold was worth 
 about £3 5s. an ounce to the Company. This was in June of last 
 year. 
 
 Here is a sample Bank account of January 1, 1882: — "By 
 120 oz. 3 dwt., at £3 — £360 9s. ; less exchange 2^ per cent., £9; 
 insurance at £3 10s. (why £3 10s., if it is only worth £31) per oz. 
 on £420 10s. 6d. at 26^ per cent. £5 12s. 4d. ; freight, 1 j^er cent., 
 £4 4s. 3d.; export duty, £15 = £33 16s. 7d. of reductions, giving 
 £324 12s. 5d. as the value to the producer, deducting postal 
 charges." He loses 10 per cent, of the value of his gold at Port 
 Darwin. This particular parcel was worth to the owner £2 16s. 
 8d. per oz. 
 
 The high price for cartage between Southport and the Reefs is 
 the nest drawback. As much as £80 a ton has been charged in 
 the wet season, when very little carting is done. The average now 
 is about £30. The owner of a battery assured me that its con- 
 veyance from Southport cost him about £40 a ton. You can't 
 blame the teamsters for these figures. The road, though better 
 than it was, is bad at best, and always will and must be bad, and 
 goods have often to be unloaded several times in transit ; and this 
 again adds to the handicap, for the frequent shiftiugs cause 
 breakages. 
 
 The next difficulty — the high price of living — is partly due to 
 this. The lowest charge for board and lodging — and stcch board 
 and lodging — is 35s. per week. With necessary extras no man 
 pays less on the average than £2 5s. a week. Supposing he lives 
 in a hut and "batches," this is the kind of bill he is confronted 
 with (I quote the prices irom an invoice obtained whilst I was in 
 the central mining district, the Twelve Mile): — Fresh herrings, 2s. 
 Gd. tin; beef, Is. lb.; sugar, lOd. lb.; bar soap, 2s. 6d. ; one singlet, 
 9s. ; 50-lb. bag flour, 27s. 6d. (that is £5 10s. a bag) ; jam, 2s. 
 6d. a tin ; salt, lOd. lb.; preserved milk, 2s. tin; currants, Is. 3d. 
 lb.; dripping, 3s. lb. Compare these prices with those in the 
 southern capital. For mining tools, &c., the charges are propor- 
 tionately high : — Steel, 2s. lb. ; a hammer, 14s. ; handles, 2s. 6d. 
 each ; a pick, 10s. 6d. ; blasting powder, 18d. lb. Remember, too, 
 that these articles do not pay duty. On the whole I think I had 
 rather be a retail storekeeper on the Reefs, if I wished to make
 
 GENERAL. 155 
 
 money quickly, than the waiter at an aristocratic hotel. Why, 
 even if a man wishes to write a letter he is faced by a big tax of 
 5s. a packet for notepaper, which can be got for Is. in Adelaide, 
 and Is. for a packet of twenty-five envelopes, which are obtainable 
 for 5s. a thousand there. (These latter figures ruled at Port 
 Darwin Camp on March 23, 1881.) High prices there ever must 
 be till better communication with markets is provided, but such 
 amounts as these seem greatly disproportionate. 
 
 Yet, remembering the comparatively enormous risk, I do not 
 blame the storekeeper so much after all, though he is able effec- 
 tually to dominate the gold-reefer, except the Companies and such 
 men as Jansen at Pine Creek, and one or two others. But let a 
 working miner with a good-looking reef on his property attempt 
 to avail himself of it, and by a recital of his experience you will 
 at once see how it is next to an impossibility that the gold 
 resources of this grand gold country can ever be properly 
 developed under existing circumstances. Half a dozen poor men 
 begin the sinking of a shaft, getting their goods on credit from the 
 storekeeper. When they have sunk .50 feet or so the bills become 
 due, and they have to suspend sinking and open out to get gold to 
 meet them. And so on for each stage, till finally when they have 
 got, after a long time and at infinite cost, to about 150 feet, they 
 are met by necessities for increased expenditure, and they throw 
 up the task disheartened, unable, maybe, to pay even the store- 
 keeper. 
 
 Another drawback is the high labour-rate. The highest for 
 working English miners is £5 a week, and the lowest £4 10s. 
 For Chinese the figures are £2 15s. and £2 5s., the general i-ate 
 being £2 10s. Digressing for a moment, I would just add a few 
 words about the labour question generally. It is the most fitting 
 place to do so. For underground mining I believe there can be 
 many suitable Europeans found. I have known plenty of under- 
 ground places in the other colonies almost as hot as those in the 
 Northern Territory at the same depths. The reefers themselves 
 agree with me that there is a wide field for European labour in the 
 quartz-mining districts. The principal drawback now is the fever, 
 which afilicts most of the men, but escapes the majority of the 
 teetotallers and other regular livers. The disease is so bad 
 now, because if a man contracts it he cannot consult 
 medical advice ; there is no hospital within his reach. With 
 the providing of these benefits the drawback will be considei'- 
 ably modified ; with the clearing and settlement of the country 
 it will depart altogether. I believe, however, that in under- 
 ground mining alone European labour can be generally employed. 
 For the alluvial the Chinese must to a great extent be
 
 156 GENERAL. 
 
 depended on, though I have seen them beating and turning a drill 
 underground almost as well as a white man. Some very grave 
 charges have been levelled against them. They have been 
 accused of neglecting to pay miners' rights ; of jumping Euro- 
 peans' claims, or stealing gold from them, whilst the owner was 
 riding after the Warden for a settlement of a dispute they cun- 
 ningly raised ; of watching prospectors, and when they have found 
 anything bringing hundreds of their countiymen to work it out ; 
 of inability to discover new fields for themselves ; of every- 
 thing but virtue. This by the miners, but even a leading 
 Queensland paper, speaking of the Northern Ten-itory, says : 
 " The Chinese have not formed agricultural settlements, either on 
 their own account or under the direction of Europeans. 
 They have done nothing, direotl}' or indirectly, to add to the 
 jjrosperity of tlie settlement. They have scraped together what- 
 ever alluvial gold was accessible to them, and we believe that they 
 have departed from their usual habit to a certain extent,^ 
 and found new patches undiscovered by Europeans ; and they 
 have strangled nearly all European attempts at colonization, 
 miners and traders alike. Nearly all the white men who went to 
 the Northern Territory have either been ruined, driven out, or re- 
 duced to great poverty." This is a gross libel, though it credits 
 the Chinese for what they are held not to do here — that 
 is, pioneer work in the discovery of new gold-fields. They 
 have formed all save four of the agricultural settlements ; on all 
 the European plantations which employ any labour the Chinese 
 largely preponderate over other people as labourers ; so far from 
 "strangling all European attempts at colonization" they have 
 assisted them by starting gardens all over the mines; and to 
 charge them with " ruining, driving out, or reducing to poverty" 
 the white man is to throw guilt upon the innocent. Ruinous rates 
 of living, the discomforts of pioneer work in so inhospitable 
 a region, and the lack of ground for hope of anything better as a 
 result of the construction of a railway — these drove the Europeans 
 out of the Territory. The Chinese did not. But for them many 
 thousands of ounces of gold which are yearly exported 
 would not be produced. Their bitterest opponents on the 
 mines admit that they work alluvial ground the whites have long 
 since abandoned, and, though their peculation must be stop2:)ed, 
 and themselves kept from sharing, without some acknowledgement, 
 the benefits of Europeans' discoveries, they certainly must be 
 looked to as the men by whom the poorer auriferous country 
 must be developed. It should be remembered, when the question 
 of their swarming gold-fields comes on for discussion, that there 
 are two sides to it. When the bonus system was in
 
 GENERAL. 157 
 
 force, two or three Europeans findiug gold in new districts accepted 
 £1 a head from the Chinese to be shown and allowed to work on 
 the locale of their discoveries so that the necessary condition of 
 " payable " might have a chance of being complied svith. These 
 Chinamen, whatever their faults or their virtues, should be judged 
 upon their merits. I am no special pleader for them, but I feel 
 bound to i^rotest against the utterly false portraits which have 
 been painted in the colonies of those in the Northern Territory. 
 As to the Cliiuese in the other walks of life, what Sir WilKam 
 Jervois said of Singapore holds good in Palmerston. When a 
 visitor "gets there he v,-ill see the boat in which he lands manned 
 by Chinamen ; his luggage will be taken to the hotel by China- 
 man ; when he gets to the hotel he will find the cook a Chinaman, 
 the butler a Chinaman ; and if there is a family he will find the 
 nurse a Chinaman, and every department of life filled by this 
 race." The future population of the Northern Territory will be 
 two-thirds Chinese, I believe. The Hindoo coolies have this to 
 recommend them — they are less intelligent than the Chinese, and 
 more useful as servants because they have no ambition. They 
 come to the country bound to work at exceedingly low wages 
 under agreement with their Government for so many years. 
 They will work their time out like the beasts of burden that they 
 are. Their Government will not allow them to be emploj^ed in 
 mines ; and as they v,ill bind themselves for years while Chinamen 
 "won't, and work for less than he will where there is free scope for 
 his enterprise, they will no doubt fill the labour-sheets for the 
 plantations, but not the railway works unless I am much mistaken. 
 (I need scarcely add in this connection, that the Indian Coolie 
 Immigration Bill has been passed by the South Australian Parlia- 
 ment.) The Chinese will do the kinds of mining in whicli the 
 least skilful work is required ; the Europeans will do the rest, and 
 amongst it most of the reefing, as well as the overseering. 
 
 But coming back to the point — the position of the miner. 
 Added to the other drawbacks and the cost of labour, he has, if 
 he be two or three miles from a battery, to pay excessively high 
 prices for the carting of the stone thither. This, then, is his 
 situation : The preliminary work of development over, a mine- 
 owner, assisted by one white and a Chinaman, in six weeks raises 
 25 tons of stone, which yields 50 ounces. Allowing him £3 an 
 ounce, he gets a gross return of £150. If he has his stone 
 crushed at a battery two or three miles ofi", the crushing and 
 carting cost him (I have an invoice before me) 7os. a ton, or £93 
 15s. altogether. To that add £30 for the white's wages and £15 
 for the Chinaman's, and his expenses for the raising and crushing 
 of that £150 worth of stuft' amount to £138 15s., leaving him
 
 158 GENERAL. 
 
 ^11 5s. for his own wages and wear and tear. So that, whilst in 
 New South Wales or Victoria he wonld make a handsome profit 
 out of 2 -ounce stuff, in the Territory nothing short of 4 ounce* 
 will pay. As to other hindrances, I have already expressed an 
 opinion that one-third of the gold is wasted by imperfect 
 saving appliances, and that fortunes may yet be made 
 out of the battery tailings. But that is easy of remedy, and 
 the alterations already indicated as needed in the mining laws could 
 be made if the Mining Boai'd, which has been in such long recess, 
 were resuscitated. The Board, by the way, went into that recess 
 because they proposed to do what the miners now ask so strongly 
 for — to reduce the size of the claims. The proposition, however, 
 was opposed by the very class who now champion it, and th& 
 Board, knowing that if they were to meet they would have to con- 
 firm their resolutions against this clamour, determined to go into 
 recess, and let the matter rest in abeyance awhile. The whole of 
 the mining la.ws need very careful revision. They must be special, 
 just as all legislation for the Territory must be. The authorities 
 have not yet seen the absurdity of enforcing the Licensed Victual- 
 lers' amongst other Acts — well adapted, maybe, for South Aus- 
 tralia proper, but quite the opposite there, where in places it is 
 absolutely impossible to obey the Act. But they will see it, and 
 they will see many scores of minor points, and if there is to be no 
 railway they may as well rest content with seeing them. In any 
 case they might wisely, I think, offer bonuses for deep-sinking, for 
 the discovery of new gold areas, for the first 100 tons of tin and 
 copper, and £150 or so for comparatively small quantities of 
 different kinds of ti-opical produce. This latter would bring small 
 capitalists into the field— comparatively poor men who cannot 
 aspire to so gi-eat an output as 150 or 500 tons of sugar to secure 
 the premium now offered. Holders of mining claims should not be 
 allowed to shepherd them without working them, and the size of 
 each claim should be reduced one-half. They are now altogether 
 too large. A point which investors themselves must attend to is 
 the obtaining skilled management for their ventures. The deeds 
 done under the name of mining in this Northern Territory make a 
 practical man either wax witheringly sarcastic or weep. 
 
 And these, roughly stated, are all the principal impediments. 
 Under the general heading some people seriously class white ants, 
 but though they were a serious nuisance once, the days of their 
 power are, I believe, fast being numbered. Their influence over 
 acclimatized vegetation has already been virtually overcome ; when 
 settlement thickens they will have to go back into the bush. 
 Legislation cannot affect them much, and it is a question whether 
 it can remedy the really grievous hardship of which first of all the
 
 GENERAL. 159 
 
 ■visitor to the Northern Territory sees plain evidence — the wither- 
 ing bhght of grasping absentee owners of Palmerston itself. 
 
 Before I write auj^thing about what the reader will have seen I 
 am convinced must be carried into effect ere the Northern Terri- 
 tory can advance appreciably — namely, a railway to the reefs at 
 least — I will give an idea of the difficulties of travel from 
 Palmerston thither by the present only means — the road. 
 Though in one or two of these sketches I have mentioned inci- 
 dentally the wretched condition of that thoroughfare during the 
 wet season, I never had the opportunity of seeing it at its worst 
 or of describing it thus. The Parliamentary party had wonderful 
 luck, and as they travelled serious obstacles were mj^steriously 
 removed. The very clouds held back their heaviest downipours 
 till the travellers were safely camped, and it is no wonder if they 
 somewhat discredited the sensational tales told them of floods and 
 bogs. But at the last moment I have been favoured by Corporal 
 Montague, who began the down journey the day after the party 
 finished the upward one, with a recital of his experience, which 
 proves that the distinguished visitors had a narrow escape from a 
 most unpleasant predicament ; that throughout they had won- 
 derful good fortune, and above all what serious difficulties there 
 are in the way of communication between Palmerston and the 
 interior. The reader's attention will at once; be drawn to the 
 significance of the testimony as showing the difficulty in main- 
 taining roads subjected to such tremendous strain, and if he will 
 keep in mind the route traversed by the party he will have no 
 difficulty in fixing the position of the points named relatively to 
 the gold-mining centres. The Corporal writes : — " It may perhaps 
 interest the Ministerial party to know what they would have 
 encountered if they had been a couple of days later on the road. 
 The Stapleton had swollen considerably, and the Adelaide was 
 rising high. The whole of the Adelaide Plains were under water. 
 At Burrell's Creek the overflow formed a rapid stream down the 
 road, and very deep. The road was washed full of holes, into one 
 of which one of us fell, horse and all. The packhorse got bogged 
 up to the girths twice in a quarter of a mile, and had to be 
 unloaded and dragged out on to firm ground. Bamboo (^reek at 
 the crossing was nearly six feet deep, and running very swiftly. 
 With the assistance of two Chinamen and a long rope we 
 hauled our six horses over, and then got our things to the other 
 side, where we had to dress standing up to our knees in water. 
 We had no sooner crossed than a heavy downpour of rain set in. 
 The road along the flat near Mount Darwent was all under water, 
 and very rotten and boggy. Near Bridge Creek the whole flat 
 was covered about a mile nearly up to my knees in the saddle.
 
 160 GENERAL. 
 
 The creek itself was overflowing its banks. The Howley was level 
 with the bridge, and running over the confines of the bank 
 a sheet of water. In a flat to the north side of the bridge the 
 deepest parts of the flood-waters were about six feet. At the foot 
 of the rise there was over three feet of Avater on the road. 
 Yam Creek, at the old bridge, has been about twelve feet deep, 
 and Brock's Creek from fifty to sixty yards wide. Old trees 
 weighing half a ton are washed right across the road, on which 
 they now lie, and large holes have been made in it in places. 
 Crossing one creek alone took us two hours." It is thus every 
 wet season, and without saying any more on that head I will leave 
 the reader to draw his own conclusions as to the possibility 
 of keeping roads in good repair under such circumstances — to 
 ponder the question whether the cost of it if it were possible would 
 not be much more in a few years than the whole expenditure 
 upon a railway. In the latter speculation he will not lose sight of 
 the fact that the road would be no source of revenue to the 
 Government ; the railway beyond question would. He must 
 remember, too, that while traffic on a road would be stopped four 
 months in the year, the railway would always be available. That 
 is, of course, providing the proper route were chosen. There 
 is in the Northern Territory — you will find it everywhere you go 
 — a deep-seated conviction that everything has not been "jomaick" 
 about some past railway surveys ; that those conducting them 
 have had to survey as directed rather than as their better judg- 
 ment suggested. As to the 1880 survey for a railway to the 
 Reefs, while they manifest the greatest regard for Mr. Stewart, 
 who conducted it, and appreciate his ability, they question 
 whether he was allowed free choice or full scope. At any rate, 
 old bushmen and mineis and others who know the country 
 thoroughly well condemn most uncompromisingly the route he 
 proposed. It is admittedly a comparatively short one, but there 
 you exhaust its merits. It does not even tap the mineral country 
 on which the recorded slight attempts at development have 
 been made. These are its sins of omission. As to the others, it 
 goes too far east ; you can see it for yourself by tracing its course 
 on the map. You would see it much more clearly had you gone 
 through the country. It leads through swamps and marshes, 
 places where the line would have to be built on piles, or else 
 completely covered by water during certain periods of each year. 
 It would necessitate the construction of enormously long and, of 
 course, expensive bridges across the I'ivers and creeks. 
 It would no doubt exhaust every penny of the fear- 
 fully high estimate of cost of construction. These facts 
 have strongly pi-esented themselves to a trustworthy competent
 
 GENERAL. 161 
 
 expert, who knows more about the interior of the Northern 
 Territoiy than jDorhaps any other man (with a single exception) 
 there. The gentleman to whom I refer — Mr. David Lindsay — in 
 his capacity as Government Surveyor has minutely examined all the 
 country for hundreds of miles, and he has given especial attention 
 to the subject of a railway route. The result of his study he has 
 given in a I'ough sketch of his scheme to the Minister of Educa- 
 tion. The route he proposes would be a distance of about 1-5.5 
 miles from Palmerston, or some 20 miles more than the length of 
 Mr. Stewart's line, but the cost of construction would not (if well- 
 informed enquirers may be trusted) be more than <£5,000 or .£6,000 
 per mile at the utmost. Mr. Lindsay's line crosses high level country, 
 avoiding submerged plains, and the heads instead of outflows of rivers. 
 The Adelaide, for example, could be safely spanned by a bridge 150 
 yards long instead of 1,000, as contemplated by Mr. Stewart. 
 From Port Darwin to Rum Jungle the line I have just indicated 
 would pass through the land which was surveyed by Mr. Goyder 
 (I omit the numbers of the sections for an obvious reason), and 
 granted to whomsoever would take it under the lot system con- 
 ditions, and excepting where it followed the road or telegraph- 
 line reserve compensation would of course have to be allowed to 
 the owners of the properties crossed. From close to the Rimi 
 Jungle, however, there is no surveyed land, and the Government 
 have already had the forethought to withdraw from offer all blocks 
 which might be traversed by the railway in this du'ection, so that 
 the amount to be paid for compensation will be, or should be, a 
 mere trifle. Some notable Territorians are sanguine enough to 
 believe that as the line approaches central sites they would, if 
 they were sui-veyed into township blocks and sold, yield sufficient 
 funds to enable the construction of the railway to be consummated 
 without the expenditure of so much as a farthing from the 
 Treasuiy coffers of South Australia proper. As bearing indirectly 
 upon this point it may be added that Mr. Lindsay claims for his 
 line another advantage over the other — that it will pass through 
 good agricultural land, will go close to the first acknowledged 
 gold country (the Stapleton), on to the next (the No. 1. Depot), 
 past Bridge Creek Gold-field, the Britannia and John Bull mines, 
 within five miles of the Howley Reefs, over others, and the alluvial 
 diggings at Sandy Creek, as well as close to the numerous gold 
 claims at the Twelve-mile, and through the heart of the proved 
 tin land. Experienced men attest that the country the line would 
 follow generally presents no engineering difficulties whatever, as it 
 keeps to the level high ground. "Stewart's Line," says Mr. 
 Lindsay, "for miles is subject to inundations, and he has bridges 
 over the Brooking, Mitchell, and Adelaide Rivers and Lloyd's
 
 162 GENERAL. 
 
 Creek, all of which save oue are missed in my route /' and at this 
 stage I leave Mr. Lindsay and Mr. Stewart to fight the matter out 
 between themselves, just adding that a third surveyor has now 
 began a fresh survey. The reader may think that the estimate 
 of £5,000 a mile is too low ; that it would take far more than 
 ^775,000 to make to Pine Creek a railway which shall serve all 
 the mining country and hftlp the navigable rivers to take down 
 the pastoral and agricultural products to the seaboard. They will 
 tell me that the white ants will eat what the floods and the soaking 
 baking heat leave of the wooden sleepers ; that iron ones must be 
 used ; and that they will run away with a mint of money. But 
 these are exploded notions. Every one who has travelled the 
 Territory with an observant eye, every experienced resident there, 
 will endorse what Mr. Knight — himself a civil engineer, albeit 
 a Government servant — has written in his little book on 
 the Northern Territory : — " As to the question of sleepers, a long- 
 residence in the Northern Territory, and an intimate acquaintance 
 with its timber, enable the writer to state with some authority 
 that an ample supply of durable indigenous wood is obtainable. 
 Ironbark, paperbark, bloodwood, and Cyprus pine resist the ravages 
 of the white ant ; while stringybark, which is most abundant, is 
 only piped by this destructive pest, after which it abandons the 
 tree, leaving sound sufficient wood for sleepers, fencing, or ' cordu- 
 roying.' The timbers herein mentioned have been used in building 
 the existing bridges and are available for ordinary bridges, culverts, 
 &c." So much for the construction of a railway. The prime con- 
 sideration of course is whether it would be politic to make it. All 
 my enquiries and observations relating to the various resources of 
 the country lead me, at any rate, to respond to the question with 
 a most emphatic " Yes." My readers have had in these 
 sketches, as succinctly stated as manifold difficulties would allow 
 me to state it, the evidence for and against. What say they 1 
 Let them remember, as the first important consideration, the 
 possibilities in the way of population. What manner of people 
 will the Government have to cater for 1 The whole conditions, I 
 believe, in this as in other matters, will be widely different from 
 those in these lower latitudes or many degrees north of them. 
 Space will not permit me to do more than merely suggest this for 
 thought, or to do more than indicate that in addition to subserving 
 directly the interests of the miners, the agriculturists, and the 
 pastoralists (so far in the latter as horses and cattle are concerned), 
 it will bring within reasonable distances of the seaboard and the 
 rivers leading thither the country to the south where sheep also 
 can thrive. A wool export from the Northern Territoiy is by no 
 means a chimerical notion. May I say the same of the utilization
 
 GENERAL. 163 
 
 of the counti-y as a remount station for the Indian Government 1 
 And, finally, without a i-ailway I cannot see how the TeiTitoiy 
 will be a good field for enterprise. Without it must remain almost 
 m statu qico. The development which has been achieved already 
 has been made in expectation of the time when a railway shall 
 attract population and cheapen labour. Unless that labour be 
 cheapened — unless, too, the cost of carnage be reduced 75 per 
 cent. — the growers of sugar, rice, and other tropical products there 
 can never hope to compete with planters elsewhere, who, with 
 facile means of carriage, pay a merely nominal wage to their 
 labourers. This is the position of the plantation-owners even 
 on the seaboard within hail almost of Palmerstou. What can 
 they do, whilst they pay £1 a week for workmen 1 What can they 
 do, even if they get Hindoo labourers at five shillings a week, with 
 no railway to attract a population large enough to make it worth the 
 while of steamers to call there more than once a month and take 
 away their produce 1 Or even if they go to the expense of pur- 
 chasing or chartering vessels to do this, see how they are handi- 
 capped by the high prices of everything — prices which will recede 
 only before better communication, and the competition which 
 will accompany the population it will bring. And this applies 
 only to the seaboard or places within say twenty miles of it. It 
 aifects not at all the interior, with the gold country, the pastoral 
 and the agricultural areas. As to them all as yet only the most 
 pitiful apology for development exists, and ever must exist in 
 shghtly modified reality so long as the present compelling condi- 
 tions remain. If they are to remain, the Government may as well 
 let the Northern Territory drift, and confine their attentions to 
 the Southern. But if they do let it go, they will have cut from 
 them one of the most valuable possessions any colony might envy. 
 The gold which now, though abundant, is so hard to get, and of so 
 little value comparatively when got ; the tin, which, if easily 
 accessible, would form such a valuable article of export ; the rich 
 lodes of copper, which cannot now be looked upon with practical 
 intentions — all the varied mineral deposits will not much longer 
 be allowed to remain undisturbed. Some one somehow will 
 disturb them. The most eff'ective hoiv is the construction of a 
 railway first. His Excellency the Governor said recently : — 
 " There are three things required as important elements in the 
 development of the Northern Territory. One is the supply of 
 Hindoo labour for agriculture ; another is the supply of Chinese 
 for the working out of the railways and the legitimate business of 
 the country, and the other is a means of communication to bring 
 down the mining and other products from the interior to the 
 seaboard." An expenditure of private capital has rightly been
 
 164 GENERAL. 
 
 suggested as an addition to the " things required " as here enume- 
 rated, and let me add there is one more want — the want of 
 practical men to superintend the expenditure of money and the 
 work on which it is spent. Hitherto this prime necessity has to 
 a great extent been ignored, in mining particularly. Men with 
 good address have won the votes of Companies for managership, 
 men either unconscientious or without knowledge of mining, 
 practical or theoretical ; knowing no more how to open up lodes or 
 develop ground than a clergyman knows or should know of the 
 mysteries of cardsharping. The results are bungled work, squan- 
 dered capital, disheartened speculators, and strong scepticism 
 respecting the resources of the Territory. It will take hard, 
 honest, and intelligent work to overcome these things. But the 
 Northern Territory has a geographical situation more favourable 
 perhaps than that of any other part of our continent. Port 
 Darwin must by-and-by be the " depot of Eastern commerce for 
 Australia," if not eventually the gateway through which travellers 
 from China, Japan, our bigger colony — India, Europe, and the 
 United Kingdom shall pass on their way along a transcontinental 
 line to the southern capitals. This latter idea may seem Utopian, 
 but will it be, think you, a decade hence 1 However, leaving that 
 out of the question now, let me plead, in justification of the very 
 full references I have given to the various matters connected with 
 the Territory, the great prospective importance of the place. As 
 another writer says — " When it is remembered that the area of the 
 Territory is considerably greater than that of South Australia 
 proper, the importance of knowing something about this great 
 adjunct to the province will be apparent to all thoughtful minds. It 
 cannot for ever remain unsettled or unproductive, nor will its 
 destiny be far different from that of the other sections of South 
 Australia. It must become populated, and it must in due time 
 raise its pi'oportion of staple products, not merely for home 
 consumption but for export."
 
 APPENDIX. 165 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 PROFESSOR TATE'S OFFICIAL REPORT. 
 
 By the courtesy of the Minister for the Northern Territory, the 
 author is enabled to include as a valuable appendix a statement of 
 the professional opinion of Professor Tate upon the countrj-. It 
 embodies the results of the observations of the Professor during 
 his visit with the Parliamentary party : — 
 
 May 13, 1882. 
 
 Sir — In submitting to you the following report, based on per- 
 sonal observation, of the mineralogical, geological, and botanical 
 featiu-es of the Northern Territory of South Australia, I beg, in 
 the first place, to thank you for the high compliment which the 
 appointment conferred ujion me ; and, secondly, to express pub- 
 licly my obligations to the Council of my University for granting 
 me the necessary leave of absence to accompany you on your 
 official visit to the Northern Territory, to assist in the task wdiich 
 has been so energetically and successfully accomplished by you. 
 Whatever may be the immediate results of this report, yet 1 do 
 not hesitate to say that information on some matters therein con- 
 tained ought to have weight in determining the directions which 
 development of the resources of the Northern Territory must 
 assuredly take. The geological phenomena of the Northern Ter- 
 ritory are such as to determine, to a large extent, the nature of 
 the future industries ; and though we need not enquire into the 
 causes of this effect of geology, yet the force of my statement will 
 be seen to have foundation in fact as I proceed with my report. 
 Particularly, in this connection, is it to be regretted that I had 
 so very few opportunities for extended and specific observations, 
 and in consequence the geological work is for the most part a 
 reconnoissance while in the saddle, and more frequently than 
 otherwise under the most trying circumstances, to which you 
 yourself can testify from your own experience. Nevertheless, the 
 general features have been, I think, correctly read, certainly as far 
 as regards the prevailing character and area of the metalliferous 
 rocks and their relationship to those barren in minerals. By con- 
 sulting the writings of explorers who have visited the Northern 
 Territory, and by information communicated by Government 
 officers and others who have recently traversed previously unknown
 
 16G APPENDIX. 
 
 ground, I have been able to supplement the facts acquired by my 
 own personal observation, the outcome of all of which is the 
 geological sketch map and mineral map accompanying this report. 
 Surface Conjigiiratioii and General Botanical Features. — The 
 country traversed, from Southportto Pine Creek, consists for the most 
 part of parallel ranges of hills of moderate elevation, having a general 
 trend of north and south in the northern part, and of north-west 
 and south-east in the southern area. Intervening between the 
 ranges are broad plains, which are, liowever, occasionally interrupted 
 by low spui'S and ridges of rocky ground. The road follows the 
 low ground, and the incline from Southport is very gradual, being 
 about 50 feet per mile. Pine Creek, the most southern point 
 reached, is 7-55 feet above Southport by aneroid measurement, 
 or about 800 feet above sja-level at ordinary low watermark. 
 Yam Creek is 730 feet above Southport. Immediately to the west 
 of the telegraph line from Yam Creek to Pine Creek there confronts 
 the traveller the bold picturesque escarpment of the " Sandstone 
 Tableland," which is the northern edge of the great plateau of 
 Central Australia, with which it is physically and geographically 
 connected. This precipitous rampart of sandstone has, near Yam 
 Creek, where I studied it, an elevation of about 600 feet, or of 
 about 1,400 feet above sea-level; but at the point Leichardt 
 descended from it, into the valley of the S. Alligator Rivei', it is 
 1,800 feet high. The character of the landscape, as far as it depends 
 upon trees, shrubs and grasses, presents along the whole route very 
 little variation ; and it is only by the margins of some of the 
 sluggish watercourses that the vegetation assumes a tropical aspect. 
 In the jungles, always of limited area, such as at Fannie Bay, near 
 Palmerston, at Rum Jungle, at the Stapleton, and those on the 
 margin of some of the tributaries of the McKinlay River, there 
 abound bamboos, reaching to 40 feet and GO feet high, screw pines, 
 umbrageous fig-trees, tall eucalyptus, and the paper-bark melaleuca 
 or tea-tree, amongst which climb certain convolvulacese, true vines, 
 sarsaparilla vine, &c. The rest of the country is grassy and lightly 
 timbered. The flats, the soil of which is a stiff clay, have much 
 grass and little timber; the slopes of the hills are covered with a 
 pisolitic-iron, quartz-sand, and gravel ; and as we recede from the 
 swampy ground the grass becomes shorter and scantier and the 
 trees closer and smaller. The timber is of a scrubby kind, the 
 chief constituents being two or three eucalypti (E. clavigera, 
 &c.), iron wood (Erythrophleeum Laboucherii), and Grevillea- 
 chrysodendron. There is a general abscence of shrubs ; and the 
 grasses, which make up the rest of the landscape, if we except the 
 grotesque ant-hills, which almost equal in height the trees amongst 
 which they occur, are comprised of about three species.
 
 APPENDIX. 167 
 
 Geology. — The genei'al geological features may be summarized as 
 follows: — 1. The coast cliffs of Arnheim Land are composed of sand- 
 stone and calciferoiis sandstone, the lower beds of which conform with 
 the denuded surfiice of the metamorphic slates on which theyrest ; but 
 with increasing thickness the horizontal stratification is gradually 
 approached. Sections displaying the junction of the two dissimilar 
 formations are those of the scarped face of Fort Hill, at Palmerston, 
 and Talc Head, on the west side of the entrance to Port Darwin. 2. 
 Beyond the confines of the formation of the coast cliffs there is an ex- 
 tensive and well-marked region, which may be named the region of 
 the river basins of North Arnheim Land. Here the prevailing rock is 
 of the metamorphic class, being either a micaceous or a talcose 
 slate, with which are interstratified quartzites and felspathic sand- 
 stones and grits. The latter series constitutes the hilly country, 
 whilst the former has been more extensively denuded to form the 
 intervening depressions of the surface. The axes of the ranges 
 and of the plains, where unaffected by igneous intrusions, coincide 
 with the direction of the strike of the rocks. 3. Intrusive rocks, 
 as granite, diorite, and porphyritic felstones, occupy here 
 and there, in the midst of the metamorphic rocks, not inconsiderable 
 tracts of country. All these are of later date than the metamorphic 
 rocks, but older than the " desert sandstone." 4. The table land 
 of Central Australia constituted of sandstones and gi'avels horizon- 
 tally bedded, terminates in South Ai-nheim Land in a bold escarp- 
 ment, as already referred to. Its position in the stratigraphical scale 
 is presumabh^ upper miocene, but, for distinction sake, the 
 formation has received the name of the " desert sandstone." The 
 line of escarpment within the area under review approximates in 
 outline to the letter V, the apex of which is at about twenty miles 
 north from the crossing at the Katherine River, and the ends of the 
 two limbs near ti) the mouth of the Alligator River on the north, and 
 at about the limits of the tides on the Daly River on the south-west. 
 The base line of this triangular space is occupied by the coast cliffs, 
 which are undoubtedly outlying portions of the '-desert sandstone." 
 The area within these lines is the region of the r;vers of North 
 Arnheim Land. This vast sheet of " desert sandstone" is barren 
 of useful minerals, and conceals from view the productive meta- 
 morphic rocks which underlie it. The "desert sandstone" is reported 
 to contain layers of coaly matter, quite within the range of proba- 
 bility ; but it is extremely unlikely that coals of passable quality 
 occur. It is a question well worthy of investigation if the bottom 
 gravelly beds of the formation do or do not contain detrital gold, 
 though its presence is somewhat incompatible with the probnble 
 origin of the materials composing the "desert sandstone," inas- 
 much as the detritus of the local metamorphic rocks has not
 
 1G8 APPENDIX. 
 
 appaveiitly contributed to its formation. The metalliferous area 
 is included witliin that of the rnetamorphic rocks, the boundaries 
 of which are defined by the inland escarpment of the desert sand- 
 stone and the coast cliffs, as previously described. It is worthy of 
 notice that the schistose formations which lie to the north ot the 
 granites on the lliver Finniss seem to be non-metalliferous, whilst 
 similar formations between Bridge Creek and Pine Creek are 
 exceptionally metalliferous ; and from the circumstance that the 
 strike of the beds is not coincident, it is not improbable that the 
 rocks of the two areas belong to different periods. In no case has 
 it been proved that the igneous eruptions have directly contributed 
 to this wealth of minerals, though it might have been so inferred 
 from the prevalence of granite and diorite in the richer parts of 
 the metalliferous area. ^Vhether or no the richer alluvial gold 
 drifts of Yam Creek and the Margaret have been derived from 
 reefs included in the diorite, or in rocks in contact with it could 
 not ascertained. At any rate, no reefs have as yet been discovered 
 in that rock or in near proximity to it. On referring to the 
 accompanying mineral map it will be seen that the metalliferous 
 deposits are situated for the most part within a few miles east or 
 west of the telegraph line ; but we must except those which are on 
 the line of road from Port Darwin Camp, via Twelve-Mile McKinlay 
 Eiver, to Pine Creek. This detour will be seen to coincide with 
 the north-easterly projection of the " desert sandstone," and with 
 the line of outcrop of granite which is traversed by the telegraph 
 line between Yam Creek and Pine Creek. The rock formation 
 over the whole of the metalliferous area is almost entirely of 
 rnetamorphic origin, and there cannot be a doubt that much, if 
 not all, of the outerlying area, extending probably to the escarp- 
 ment of the great tertiary plateau, is of a similar character, here 
 and there doubtlessly broken through by eruptive rocks. 
 We have thus a very extensive metalliferous country awaiting ex- 
 ploration. Year by year the area of the mineral-bearing ground is 
 extended by discoveries beyond previously known limits. A little 
 while since INIount Wells was proved to be stanniferous, and later 
 the more distant diggings at Chinaman's and Saunder's Rush have 
 considerably enlarged the known area of the auriferous country. 
 Though the rnetamorphic rocks occupy a circumscribed area, 
 approximately an equilateral triangle, yet that area is absolutely 
 large, as it contains 7,800 square miles ; and should the portions 
 not hitherto prospected prove to be as metalliferous as the known 
 tracts, then may be realized that prosperity which has been so long- 
 hopefully anticipated. The circumstance that the telegraph line 
 has followed the " run of the metal" is explained by the fact that 
 the telcgraj)!! road, by opening a way into the interior, has served
 
 APPENDIX. 169 
 
 as a base line for exploration. Beyond the Drifneld all exploration 
 in a southerly direction will be bai'ren in results ; possibly, however, 
 there may be some small inliers of metamorphic rocks in the 
 deeply excavated channels of some of the rivers flowing southward. 
 Such probable inlier is on the Katherine, some forty miles north- 
 east from the telegraph line. It is a fortunate circumstance that 
 the general direction of the northern portion of the projected 
 transcontinental railway, as determined by topographical features, 
 will traverse the whole of the mineral fields, so that an indepen- 
 dent line of railway constructed to overcome some of the difiiculties 
 which impede mining development may in the future become an 
 integral part of a great railway system. For immediate purposes 
 it need not be carried further than Pine Ci'eek, and most certainly 
 not beyond the Driffield. 
 
 Gold Reefs. — The gold-fields extend from the River Stapleton, 
 via Bridge Creek, the Howley, Port Darwin Camp, Twelve-mile 
 McKinlay River, and the Union to Pine Creek, a distance of sixty- 
 five miles, and thence to the Driffield, thirty-five miles further. 
 The last-named district was not visited by me, but all the chief 
 workings in the others were inspected ; these are coloured in gold 
 on the accompanying map of the metalliferous district. The 
 width of the auriferous country as at present known is only a few 
 miles. The chief centres of gold-reefing are the Howley, Twelve- 
 Mile McKinlay, the Union, and Pine Creek. The quartz veins are 
 included in the felspathose sandstone forming the high ground ; 
 and because they intersect the " country " at angles approximating 
 to the strike of the rocks they have contributed to the ridgedike 
 form of the ranges. In some cases the crest of the range coincides 
 with the outcrop of a quartz vein of two feet or so in thickness ; 
 this phenomenon is well-exemplified at the Union, where one reef 
 is traceable along the summit of the range for over two miles ; in 
 other cases, a close series of strings of quartz determines the out- 
 line and direction of the ridge. Many of the hills carry one or 
 many quartz reefs, the majority of which are auriferous ; most par- 
 ticularly are the smaller veins and strings rich in gold. From 
 " prospects " taken at random, I have no reason to doubt the 
 statements made that the yield from them is from four to six, and 
 even twelve, ounces per ton. Were these reefs located in a country 
 better circumstanced, they would have been made to yield hand- 
 some profits. An unfortunate feature of most of the auriferous 
 lodes is that the gold is compressed into a small compass ; whereas, 
 if it were disseminated throughout a wider and more solid body of 
 stone, there is no doubt it would be easier and more profitably 
 extracted, and offer less luicertainty as to its permanence. 
 Quartz-reefing is chiefly can'ied on by small parties, whose capital
 
 170 APPENDIX. 
 
 is their bone and sinew. The returns for a time are large, but, 
 on encountering water or other impediments, which bring down 
 the earnings, the reef is abandoned in order that the same process 
 may be repeated elsewhere. In this way the multipHcity of 
 auriferous reefs has been a comparative disadvantage, as ver}'- few 
 of them have been followed to any depth. The mining operations 
 are of the simplest kind. The quartz is raised to the surface in 
 buckets by hand windlass. There are only two pumping-engines 
 on the whole field. The period at which the bulk of the quartz 
 veins can be advantageously worked will not entirely depend on 
 their yield, but will be more or less influenced by the general 
 price of labour and the materials in the district. The supply and 
 consequent price of labour is materially influenced by the distance 
 at which the gold-fields are situated from the great centres of 
 trade. The history of gold-mining in Victoria off'ers a striking 
 illustration of these axioms. Year by year the amount of gold 
 derived from the working of gold-quartz has gone on gradually 
 and rapidly increasing, as, by the introducton of efiicient and 
 powerful machinery, ores of a very low produce are treated with 
 advantage ; but in this connection it must be observed that to 
 obtain a satisfactory profit it is necessary not only that large 
 quantities of ore should be treated, but also that the greatest 
 economy should be observed in every department of the manipula- 
 tion. To develop the gold resources of the Northern Territory it 
 is necessary that more capital be introduced, to be chiefly applied 
 to improved machinery for the extraction of the gold; and to cope 
 with water ; more experienced and honest management be secured, 
 and a reduction of working expenses be effected. The batteries 
 which I examined are discreditable ; they are all the same pattern, 
 and no attempt has been made to adapt them to particular 
 requirments. There is a total absence of labour-saving appliances. 
 All the batteries which I saw at work are in the highest degree 
 wasteful ; the slimes in ever}^ case are highly charged with 
 amalgam ; and no attempt is made to save the auriferous pyrites, 
 as indeed no appliances are in use for their treatment. I do not 
 hesitate to estimate the loss of gold at from 50 to 75 per cent., 
 involving among other disadvantages a loss of considerable levenne 
 to the State. If to the above fact we add that the price of carting 
 and crushing has been hitherto at the rate of £3 10s. to £4 per 
 ton, and that the wages of the skilled miner are £5 per week, and 
 that the gold realizes only about £3 6s, per ounce, there can be no 
 reason for wonder that quartz reefs carrying an average of 3 oz. of 
 gold i3er ton are barely remunerative. It must be obvious that 
 unless the quartz is really good our gold mines could never have 
 kept 30 many men emioloyed with these expensive appliances for so
 
 APPENDIX. 171 
 
 long a time. I have diligently sought for and enquired after 
 memorials justifying the espenditiire of those large sums of money 
 "which were raised some few years ago in Adelaide for the purpose 
 of working the auriferous reefs in the Northern Territory ; but it 
 is with a mingled sense of shame and pleasure that I have to 
 record that they exist only in the shape of a few primitive 
 stamping batteries. The very limited exploitation that had been 
 done on a few mines is hardly deserving of being placed to the 
 credit of the enterprise. The sense of shame is experienced when 
 we consider the misapplication of capital by the local manage- 
 ments ; that of pleasure on finding that the disrepute into which 
 this auriferous field has been brought cannot be attached to the 
 gold properties themselves — indeed, those of the abandoned mines 
 which have subsequently been worked by private capital have 
 proved remunerative. It is a notorious fact that few, if any, gold 
 properties in the tropics have been made remunerative under 
 skilled white labour — and no wonder, if it be conceded that a 
 tropical climate is unsuited for Europeans to work in. But mines 
 employing native labour, with a minimum number of European 
 overseers, compatible with successful and economic exploitation, 
 have yielded steady profits to the proprietors. The St. John del 
 Eey Mine, in the Brazils, makes a noble profit with a quarter of 
 an ounce of gold per ton. To reduce the working expenses of our 
 gold mines it is imperative that we employ cheaper labour — that 
 of Chinese or negroes. 
 
 Alluvial Goldjields. — These are located in the immediate 
 vicinity of the auriferous reefs, and occupy the lower slopes and 
 bottoms of the short gullies which feather in and out among the 
 ranges. There the " pay-dirt " lies on the surface, or rarely at a 
 greater depth than two feet. It is obviously of local origin. Here 
 and there the gold has been retained in pocket-like depressions 
 fronting rocky barriers across the gullies, from which considerable 
 stores of the precious metal have been obtained. The main lines 
 of drainage into which these gullies lead have not been systemati- 
 cally prospected, and it is a moot question whether or no the 
 broad valleys have " pay-dirt " beneath them. The groimd may 
 easily be tested, as there seems to be a very limited depth of drift- 
 deposit filling the depressed surfaces — indeed, the slight rises on 
 the plains are all composed of bed rock. The deepest accnmu- 
 lation of drift that I saw on the south flank of Mount Carr, where 
 it is cut through by the Adelaide River, is not more than twenty- 
 five feet. The bed of the river is composed of metamorphic rock. 
 But as long as rich gold shall continue to be found in shallow 
 ground, as loug shall we despair of the deep ground being tried, or 
 the auriferous reefs being energetically prospected. Although some
 
 172 APPENDIX. 
 
 of the diggings have yielded well, I cannot regard the Northern 
 Territory as much of an alluvial field. The limited areas of the 
 diggings and the inability to work them, through lack of water, for 
 more than a few months in the year, foster a nomadism among the 
 miners which is inimical to, permanent settlement of the country. 
 Considering the primitive methods employed for gold-washing (I 
 saw in use only the tin dish and small cradles), I have no doubt 
 that the employment of more efficient appliances will result iu 
 very much larger returns of gold than have hitherto been obtaiiied ; 
 even the residuum of the deserted goldfields may be again gone 
 over with profitable results. 
 
 Tin. — Stream-tin was seen iu situ at two places ten miles 
 apart in a straight line. These are shown by red streaks 
 on the mineral map, but samples of tinstone were inspected, 
 which were reported to have been obtained at other localities 
 than those visited. The first site is the gravelly bed and 
 east bank of one of the tributaries of the McKinlay River. 
 Good prospects were obtained here. The tinstone is well 
 rounded, but the pebbles do not exceed half an inch in 
 diameter. As prospecting was limited to two holes near to 
 each other it is impossible to arrive at any ajjproximate estimate 
 of the quantity of stream-tin that is here present. One excavation 
 is 20 feet by 30 feet, and 6 feet in depth, from which, it is said, 
 11 cwt. of tinstone was taken. On following up stream the 
 rocky walls come together at a distance of 200 yards, but what is 
 the character down stream beyond the excavations could not be 
 ascertained. The gravel in the bed of the creek is well rounded, 
 and consists of silicious talcose slate and hornblendic schist, 
 identical with the material com})Osing the rocky walls of the gorge. 
 No trace of gi-anite debris was observed, though searched for. The 
 other site of tinstone was near the head waters of a stream which 
 drains a boggy flat, and flows north along the east flank of Mount 
 Wells. The bed of the stream is at first gravelly, and here fair 
 prospects of stream-tin were obtained. Other holes, embracing a 
 distance of about one quarter of a mile, yielded similar results, but 
 from this point the fall is rapid, and the detritus is in the form of 
 large boulders only. Unless tinstone occurs in the quieter flow 
 in the lower ground, beyond the limits of exploration, I am afraid 
 the present discovery is of little value. The tinstone at this 
 locality is small and angular, and shows the fine ruby colour 
 characteristic of the purer state of the mineral. From the 
 physical features of the country, and the condition of the mineral, 
 it is evident that the tinstone has been derived from the adjoining 
 slopes, which are composed of a sub-metamorphic micaceous sand- 
 stone. These stream deposits are of comparative small importance
 
 APPENDIX. 173 
 
 in comparison to the snpply to be derived from stanniferous lodes, 
 but they will doubtlessly afford employment to a number of the 
 poorer miners for some time to come. The formation most 
 abundant in tin veins is the granite, but in neither of the two 
 deposits of tinstone did I find evidence of such an association, nor 
 is it definitely known if stream-tin has been found in the debris from 
 the known granitic masses. 
 
 Copper. — The existence of ores of this metal in the Northern 
 Territory is beyond dispute. The sites of the discoveries are 
 shown by blue colour on the mineral map ; these are a little 
 south from Pine Creek, in Cruikshank's Gully, and at another 
 point near the Howley Battery. The prospects are, in each case, 
 in the highest degree encouraging ; but, apart from the question 
 as to the quality of the copper in these ores, their utilization under 
 existing surroundings must not be attempted. Other minerals 
 are galena (not seen in situ) and haematite, in massive beds. 
 
 General Conclusions and Recommendations Touching the Mineral 
 Resources. — The develpoment of the mineral resources is but in 
 its infancy, and I believe that rich stanniferous lodes will yet be 
 found, whilst the prospects already unearthed indicate the 
 presence of good percentage copper ores. Kich auriferous lodes 
 abound over a large tract of countiy. Hitherto adventui-ers have 
 made a show of developing the mineral resources, but their action 
 has been protractive rather than otherwise, whilst the honest 
 efforts of the nomadic miner cannot count for much. It is my 
 honest conviction that, with improved machinery for the ex- 
 traction of the gold and to cope with water, more experienced and 
 honest management, a reduction of working expenses, and above 
 all the introduction of more capital, the gold reefs can be worked 
 pi-ofitably and to considerable depth. To hasten the advent of all 
 this, however, there must be a railway to cheapen carriage and 
 make the country accessible to mining and other speculators, and 
 that railway may also be the means of opening up the copper de- 
 posits known to exist along the route to Pine Creek. To ensure 
 occupancy and development of the mineral properties, the con- 
 ditions under which they are held should be rigidly enforced. In 
 the future all mineral rights should be reserved by the State, and 
 the right of search for, and the mining for, minerals upon private 
 lands, under equitable conditions, should be made statutory. As 
 a revenue should accrue direct from the exploitation of minerals, 
 a royalty on the net produce should be exacted, or commuted for 
 by an annual rent, at the option of the lessees. The export tax 
 on gold should be with:h'awn, but the alluvial miner should be re- 
 quired to take out a licence at a nominal fee. Alluvial digging is 
 only pioneer work, and should be strenuously encouraged, as
 
 174 APPENDIX. 
 
 leading to permanent settlement — by it the poor miner may- 
 acquire sufficient capital to open out additional sources of revenue 
 to the State of a more enduring nature. I recommend the 
 appointment of a warden skilled in geological and mineralogical 
 surveys, and one competent to make chemical analyses, both to 
 reside within the mining district. Apart from their judicial duties, 
 they should be required to geologically survey the country, to 
 impart information touching the nature of mineral specimens, and 
 in all possible ways further the mining interests of the colony. 
 The question of the employment of a drill for determining the 
 character of the deeper parts of the auriferous lodes is one that 
 may be left till the advisability of Government interposition 
 arises. 
 
 Agriculhoral Eesources. — So very little has been done to test the 
 agricultui-al capabilities of the country that the question, " Are 
 the climate and soil of the Northern Territory suitable for the 
 growth of tropical plants of economic value V is still open for 
 discussion. The soils of the valleys and of the hill slopes are, in 
 my opinion, ill-suited for agriculture ; and, with a few exceptions, 
 the land seen under cultivation was only that reclaimed from the 
 jungle. The chief of the exceptions to which 1 allude is the soil 
 formed by the decomposition of the diorite rock, massed between 
 Port Darwin Camp and Yam Creek Telegraph Station ; it shows 
 great capabilities, if I may judge from the healthy growth of the 
 great variety of culinary and fodder plants under cultivation by 
 the Chinese. Corroborative evidence of its richness is afforded by 
 the reappearance of the graceful palm, Kentia acuminata, and, if 
 it really be that species, in a more luxuriant state than it assumes 
 in its northern stations. It abounds about Fannie Bay, near 
 Palmerston, and occurs at intervals as far south as the Stapleton ; 
 thence its place is taken by the fan palm, Livistonia humilia, 
 which is less choice in its habitat. My opinion of the unfitness 
 of the country generally for agriculture is based on observations. 
 1. On the nature of the soil ; 2. On the general character of the 
 indigenous vegetation ; and 3. On certain meteorological pheno- 
 mena. The " desert sandstone " tableland I leave out of con- 
 sideration, as it is conceded by all who have traversed it that, 
 with the exception of isolated tracts of the basaltic formation, 
 agricultural oj)eration is impracticable. The prevailing uniformity 
 of rock structure makes it easy to generalise upon the capabilities 
 of the soil. Thus we have a dry, gravelly, iron and quartz detritus 
 on the slopes of the metamorphic sandstone; stiff clays with 
 humid surfaces on the metamorphic slates ; barren sands upon the 
 granitic surfaces — all of these are completely worthless for agri- 
 culture. Whilst the soil upon the coast cliffs is generally con-
 
 APPENDIX. 1 75 
 
 demued, Captain King, iu his narrative of a survey of the coasts 
 of Austraha (1818-22), writing concerning Raffles Bay, says, 
 " The soil in some parts might be called even rich ; there were, 
 however, very few places that could bear so favourable a 
 character," vol. 1., p. S5. And again, " The land about Port 
 Patterson appeared to be barren and arid," vol. I., p. 271. 
 Captain Stokes, in his discoveries in Australia, expresses the same 
 opinion regarding the Port Essington District. At p. 386, vol I., 
 he writes, " Generally speaking, however, there is a great deficiency 
 of land fit for cultivation ;" and again, '•' The capabilities of the 
 soil, though it has by some been pronounced totally unfit for 
 agricultural purposes, are still supposed by others to be great, and 
 it is believed that rice, cotton, indigo, &c., might be raised," loo. 
 cit., p. 389. Alluding to the same area, Jukes, in the voyage of 
 the Fly, vol. I., p. 351, says, "The soil generally seemed of the 
 poorest and most sterile description." There are patches of good, 
 if not rich soil, most undoubtedly ; but in the aggregate they 
 form a very small fraction of the region of the northern rivers. 
 The opinions touching the capabilities of the soil about the tidal 
 portions of the rivers are very conflicting. King describes the 
 soil abutting on the Alligator and Liverpool Rivers as a sour stiff 
 clay — Op. cit. 1., pp. 104 et 259. tStokes says, " While the banks 
 [of the upper part of the tidal portion of the Adelaide] were low 
 — a circumstance very favourable for irrigation and the cultivation 
 of rice — Op. cit. I., p. 415, Jukes writes, "That rice might probably 
 be raised in small quantities on the borders of the lagoons " — Op. cit. 
 p. 361. I have reproduced these observations because they have 
 reference to portions of the Northern Territory with which I am 
 unacquainted. The meteorological poenomeua, which must have 
 a depreciating influence on the value of certain soils for particular 
 crops, are — (1) The intermittent character of the rainfall at the 
 chief period of growth. Many successive days of unclouded sky 
 and hot winds during the wet season must have a deterrent eftect 
 on the growth of succulent plants and shallow rooting annuals in 
 particular. (2) The rapid diminution in the amoiint of rainfall, 
 proceeding in a southerly direction, thus starting with a yearly 
 average of 76 -89 inches at Southport, it gradually decreases at the 
 rate of about one inch to every five miles, to 39 '23 at Pine Creek. 
 (This will be seen on a reference to Mr. Todd's reports.) The pro- 
 ductions of the soil of the Government Gardens at Fannie Bay, 
 reclaimed fi'om a dense j angle, aflford evidence that a great variety 
 of useful plants may be successfully gi'own under similar con- 
 ditions of soil and situation. But, as I have just shown, the 
 climatic conditions change so rapidly as we recede from the coast 
 that I am dubious, even other things being the same, whether
 
 176 APPENDIX. 
 
 equal results will be gaiued in the more inland ti-acts. If wc turn 
 our attention to the dominant vegetation we find that it implies, 
 if not sterility of soil, then certainly the absence of those points of 
 character indicative of permanency of atmospheric moisture, and 
 conversely general exposure to the sun. Thus we note the absence 
 of dense lofty forests, scarcity of ferns and epiphytic orchids, no 
 lichens, no liver worts, and only four species of mosses having a 
 very limited range of distribution. However, I believe that in 
 several parts of the colony various species of Gossypium (cotton- 
 plant), rice, and indigo could be cultivated, and a fair or even 
 prolific crop obtained. Indeed, good cotton has been produced 
 within the Murray basin (see F. von Mueller, " Select Plants for 
 Cultivation," p. 99, 1876). The rice-plant is indigenous to the 
 Northern Territory, having been found by Baron F, von Mueller 
 in the marshes about Hooker's Creek, by Mr. Wilson in the 
 marshes of the valley of the Norton-Shuw River, and by Mr. J. A. 
 Giles in the valley of the Birdum Creek. The tamarind is also a 
 native, having been noticed first by Leichardt at Port Essington, 
 and subsequently by Mueller on the clifts at the entrance to the 
 Victoria Biver. Another useful plant indigenous to the country 
 has been overlooked. It is Tacca pinnatifida, from the tubers of 
 which the main supply of Fiji arrowroot is prepared. I noticed it 
 growing in rather humid gravelly soil here and there from 
 Palmerston to Pine Creek. 
 
 Pastoral Eesotirces. — The humidity and high temperature of the 
 air during a portion of the year cannot be conducive to the rearing 
 of sheep within the region of the northern rivers. Jukes says, 
 " Sheep, if they lived at all, would soon have their woolly coats 
 changed into hair." — Op. cit., p. 361. Landsborough writes that 
 " The kangaroo grass, though of itself possessing excellent pro- 
 perties [the species of Anthistiria referred to is probably A. ciliata, 
 one of the chief constituents of the hei'bage on the plains between 
 the Adelaide River and Bridge Creek.— R. Tate] is so certain an 
 index of humid soil, which is on the whole unfavoiu-able to sheep, 
 that I cannot agree with many squatters in their estimate of the 
 country on which it is found." — Narrative Explor. Gulf of Car- 
 pentaria, p. 36. What is true with respect to the imsuitability of 
 the climate for sheep will be true in a less degree for horses, both 
 of which, however, may find more congenial conditions on the 
 tableland country, especially along the courses of the southern 
 creeks, which are well known for luxiu'iance of vegetation and 
 richness of soil. These creeks take their rise in basaltic formation, 
 and it is to its presence that is due the oases in an otherwise desert 
 country. Landsborough, in describing the Barkly tableland, 
 which is drained by the Herbert, says — '' In the course of the day
 
 APPENDIX. 177 
 
 we bad travelled thirty miles, chiefly over fine country, doubtless 
 destined to rank as a first-class sheep run" — Op, cit., p, 53. 
 Tropical South Australia has truly been said to be a land of grasses ; 
 the number of known species is about 130, and of these I collected 
 over 50 between the Adelaide River and Pine Creek. But only some 
 four or five are constituents of the grass plains and adjacent hill 
 slopes. Some flats are almost exclusively occupied with Anthis- 
 tiria, or with Andropon triticeus, or with another congeneric 
 species, wliilst not infrequently the three are found in company. 
 The two latter grasses acquire on the flats a height of from G feet 
 to 8 feet, and exceptionally attain to 14 feet ; but on dry hill slopes 
 the same sj^ecies dwindle down to two feet or less. The exuberant 
 growth of grasses in the plains of the basin of the northern rivei'S 
 should be capable of keeping alive large herds of cattle ; but I 
 very much doubt if there are all the requisites for the production 
 of marketable beef 1 have observed that there is an absence 
 of the rich fodder grasses, and the much valued kangaroo grasses 
 (Anthistiria ciliata and A. frundosa) are only locally abundant in 
 the country traversed ; whilst Andropogon triticeus or tall spear- 
 grass and its congener, A. Australis, seem to me ill-adapted for 
 fixttening stock. The tall speargrass is everywhere abundant in 
 the open country, its hard and cane-like flowering stalks growing 
 to 14 or 16 feet in height; the other common grass, A. Australis, 
 is not so strong a plant, but is equally deficient in succulency and 
 leaf. The density of the growth of the grasses on the flats defies 
 all opposition to the establishment of other herbaceous species ; 
 but when external agents exercise their sway, then a herbage of 
 panick grasses and some sedges take possession of the soil — the 
 former on the drier ground chiefly, the latter on the moi'e humid 
 surfaces. Whether or not this improvement can be maintained 
 without the intervention of man and domestic animals, or can be 
 extensively brought about, is a question whicli I doubt if any one 
 can yet give answer; but, nevertheless, it is tx'ue that such a 
 change has supervened over very limited areas, where the balance 
 of nature has been disturbed and maintained by the agencies 
 referi'ed to. 
 
 I have, (fee, 
 
 RALPH TATE, F.G.S., &c., 
 Professor of Natural Science in the University of 
 Adelaide.
 
 178 APPENDIX- 
 
 BANQUET BY CHINESE IN PALMERSTON. 
 
 One of the most pretentious displays of the hospitality of the 
 Chinese residents in the Northern Territory was given on 'ruesday 
 afternoon, March 21, when the Parliamentary party and leading 
 representative residents of Palmerston responding to their invita- 
 tion attended at Pickford's Hotel what, was in truth a grand 
 banquet. The edibles were served mostly ni English style, and 
 knives and forks took the place of chopsticks, but some of the 
 appointments and the scene were ti'uly Oriental. The Government 
 Resident occupied the chair, but his vis-a-vis was a very intelligent 
 Chinese merchant, who spoke English with as much fluency as 
 foreigners from other countries than China generally attain unto. 
 When the time for toasting came the duty was heartil}^ under- 
 taken alike by Celestial and European. The tribute to Her 
 Majesty was loyally paid, and after it had been recorded, 
 
 Mr. Price, S.M. (Government Resident), proposed " The 
 Emperor of China." He sturdily combated assertions unfavour- 
 able to the good behaviour of the Chinese. He asserted that the 
 alarm which some people felt at their great preponderance in number 
 over the Europeans had proved to be utterl}^ groundless. As a 
 matter of fact when shipload followed shipload of Chinamen they 
 "went peacefully into the gold country, and caused no disorder 
 whatever. They had caused no extra work to be thrown upon the 
 police; they had been law-abiding in every way. When they 
 first came they were untaxed ; but after the Customs duties were 
 imposed they readily contributed their full share to the revenue 
 without a single grumble. It had been said that the Chinese 
 escaped their fair share of taxation, but the fact was that they 
 not only paid the gold duty equally with the European, but they 
 also paid duty on rice, while flour came in free. He was glad to 
 be able, in the presence of such distinguished visitors, to bear 
 testimony to the good chai-acter of the Chinese as a 
 body throughout the Territory. (Clieers). It had been said 
 as an argument against the Chinese that they took their gold 
 out of the country, and did not rei^iain to develop its resoui'ces ; 
 but he contended that a European making a fortune by gold- 
 digging would not be content to spend the rest of his days in the 
 Territory ; and so the two races were equal in that respect. The 
 rate of recorded crime had not perceptibly increased since the 
 Chinese came amongst them, and he was doubtful whether the 
 new gaol — though he had recommended its construction — would 
 be needed for a while. He bespoke for the Chinese, for their 
 courtesy and good behaviour at all times, the fair play which true 
 Englishmen gave to every man everywhere. The Chinese had
 
 APPENDIX. 1 79 
 
 opened their ports to us, we had opened ours to them, and we 
 should remember, when honouring their enlightened Emperor, 
 that whilst our forefathers roamed the woods unclad the Chinese 
 had attained to a comparatively high degree of civilization. 
 (Cheers.) They had accepted so much the changed condition of 
 things that their old traditions— their old exclusiveness — was fast 
 breaking down ; and one proof of that was that an Engiislunan 
 could now safely travel through any part of China. He lioped 
 that equal facilities would be given to Chinese travellers in every 
 country boasting English rule. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Price, after the toast had been drunk, read the following 
 significant addi'ess, prepared for presentation to the Minister and 
 his party, as the focus of Chinese opinion in the Northern Ter- 
 ritory : — '' On behalf of the Chinese residents in the Northern 
 Territory of South Australia, we desire to express our pleasure 
 and satisfaction at meetiug you as representatives of the Parlia- 
 ment governing this fine colony, and fui'ther to assure you of the 
 respect we have for the laws of your country. The Chinese are a 
 peaceable race, and wherever they have settled out of their own 
 dominions they have always endeavoured to keep and respect the 
 laws of the lands in which they have lived ; and though in some 
 colonies our countrymen have been abused by the lower classes, 
 we are glad to notice that the educated and well-instructed people 
 have treated \is with that generosity which is extended to other 
 nationalities. We view with satisfaction the fact that your Par- 
 liament in its wisdom have decided not to restrict the immigration 
 of our race to this portion of Australia. We claim that had it not 
 been for the influx of Chinese to the Territory it would not now 
 present the encouraging position which it maintains. As we think 
 we have assisted in the development of the mining in no small degree, 
 we think we are entitled to point out to you that the imposition 
 of the export duty on gold is most oppressive and unfair, and we 
 would urye upon the Government a reconsideration of this question. 
 We would also suggest an alteration as to the collection of miners' 
 rights. It has frequently been urged that we are a migratory 
 race, but hitherto no inducement has been held out for us to settle 
 in this country. Had there been, many of us, no doubt, before 
 now would have been cultivators of the soil instead of being mere 
 labourers on your goldfields. As we well know that vast portions 
 of this settlement are good for agriculture, we would^like oppor- 
 tunities of settling, and making permanent homes. If grants of 
 50 to 500 acres could be made to us on easy terms of purchase, 
 cultivation of tropical products would be entered into, wliich would 
 ultimately prove of great benefit to the entire community. And, 
 again, we would further urge that if we become investors and
 
 180 APrENDIX. 
 
 settlers, we should be entitled to a ^oice in choosing the repre- 
 sentatives of the country in your Parliament." 
 
 The Chinese Vice-Chairman then, in a graceful and perfectly 
 grammatical little speech, proposed the health of " The Minister 
 for the Northern Territory and the Ministry." 
 
 The Hon. J. L. Parsons, in responding, expressed his pleasure 
 at the compliment paid to him, and said he accepted the magnifi- 
 cent reception given to the party that day and at other times as 
 an expression of the desire of the Chinese settlers to recognise and 
 respect the institutions and the laws of the Australias, which so 
 many of them had made their adopted home. The desire of the 
 Government was to so manage the affairs of the northern portion 
 of the colony of South Australia that its resources might be 
 developed, and that those who had cast in their lot here might 
 share in that prosperity which would be the result of increased 
 capital, and of course an increase of industrial occupation. He 
 need hardly say that so far as the present Ministry were concerned 
 they had given special attention to the Territory. It was only 
 fair to say, too, they had had the advantage of some others. 
 They had to deal with the Territory at a tiuic when a large 
 amount of attention was being directed to it. (Cheers.) Just at 
 that time there was one of those tides in the affairs of nations 
 through which they were enabled to deal with the Northern Ter- 
 ritory in an entirely new and difi'erent way from those their pre- 
 decessors in office could adopt. (Cheers.) They were enabled at 
 once to inaugurate a bolder and more progressive policy, and the 
 presence of the Parliamentary party was an expression of the 
 opinion of South Austraha that the people of the Northern Ter- 
 ritory were worth visiting ; that they had large resources ; and 
 that it was the duty of South Australia proper — or the mother 
 colony — to do all they could to make that Territory attain and 
 keep that position of importance which it was bound to hold in 
 futm-e. (Cheers.) He considered that whoever might have been 
 Minister of Education for the time being would have done less 
 than his duty if he had not during the recess visited the Northern 
 Territory. Since the party had been there he hoped they had 
 impressed the residents of the Northern Territory v/ith the idea 
 that, while glad on all pi'oper occasions to enjoy themselves, they 
 commenced their stay with business and work. (Cheers.) Since they 
 had lauded they had gone through what was called the mineral 
 portion of the Territory as far south as it had been developed to 
 any extent. They had met with a great deal of kindness, received 
 great hosj^itality, and throughout the whole of their travels had 
 been readily furnished everywhere witli reliable information, so 
 that they had every opportunity of forming an independent
 
 APPENDIX. 181 
 
 judgment upon the natural resources of the whole of the Northern 
 Territory. He believed that they would all return to Adelaide 
 with the feeling that not half of the wealth of the country had 
 been told them, and that in future debates in the Parliament on 
 Northern Territory matters there would be a very large amount of 
 interest and also a large amount of belief in its future that had 
 been sadly lacking in the debates and legislation of past years. 
 One of his main objects in coming to the Northern Territory was 
 to be able to give his colleagues an intelligent opinion based upon 
 observation of the best way of opening up the interior, because 
 he felt that it was absolutely impossible, even though the gold- 
 fields and reefs were of exceptional richness, that the}- could be 
 profitably worked whilst their development was so handicapped 
 with the enormous expenses of wages and of food. (Cheers.) 
 The country must be opened, and he had come up to see whether 
 its circumstances warranted the construction of a railway. 
 (Cheers.) That was proposed some years ago, when a surveyor 
 came from the South, and a survey was made. He felt now that 
 in going South he would be able to press, as a result of his 
 observations, upon his colleagues the claims of the Northern 
 Territory in connection with the transcontinental railway. He 
 had in view to recommend to them that at any rate for 150 or 
 200 miles south the railway should be constructed. (Loud 
 cheering.) Of course he was only one of six, and the Cabinet and 
 the Parliament might be of a contrary oj)inion to his own. It 
 was for the Parliament to decide whether or not the railway should 
 be made, but he certainly would recommend it. (Cheers.) He 
 believed that his colleagues would be disposed, at any rate, to 
 listen to his advice, and they would be fortified by the views of 
 the gentlemen who had accompanied him. (Cheers.) Picferring 
 to the address, he wished to say that the Chinese were, in his 
 opinion, a very peaceable race, and he heartily endorsed what had 
 been said of their long history and the long-enduring civilization 
 they boasted. He had always respected and reverenced the 
 integrity of the Chinese Empire. They could boast of scientific 
 men, philosophers, and philosophic systems of morality when our 
 ancestors were wandering about in barbarism. No one could look 
 at the Chinese Empire and no one could regard its histor}^ without 
 feeling that, as in the past, so in the future, both by numbers and 
 also by intelligence and activity, the Chinese were bound to be a 
 great factor. (Cheers.) So far as the gold duty was concerned, 
 it had been one of the first intei'ests of the State to derive a 
 revenue, and at the time the Bill was passed its object undoubtedly 
 was to make the large Chinese population contribute in a direct 
 way to the revenue, in return for the protection of life and pro-
 
 182 APPENDIX. 
 
 pei'ty they enjoyed. He admitted that a tax upon product was 
 bad in pohtical economy, and he thought if they were to reduce 
 the duty to a nominal sum so as to secui-e a record of the amount 
 of gold raised in the Territory it would be very easy to make up 
 the deticiency in some other way if necessary. (Cheers.) The 
 miners' rights he also thought might be issued quarterly, so as to 
 avoid a hardship which had been pointed out. (Hear, hear.) 
 There must be some mistake in the minds of the Chinese with 
 regard to the cultivation clauses. He hoped it was thoroughly 
 understood that with the payment of 7s. Gd. per acre and the cost of 
 survey the obtaining of land was as open to the Chinese as to any 
 one else. There was also the Plantation Act, by which by the 
 payment of sixpence a year and the fulfilment of the cultivation 
 clauses land could be obtained for the growth of tropical pro- 
 ducts. There ought not to be any ditliculty in the way of those 
 who were prepared to invest their capital and take up land. He 
 was pleased that he had come to the Northern Territory, and he 
 would ever cherish pleasant recollections of it and its people. 
 (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. T. BuRTT proposed " The Parliament," and urged that as 
 the Chinese contributed their fair share of taxation they were 
 entitled to representation in Parliament. 
 
 Mr. Bright, M.P., in responding for both Houses of Parliament, 
 referred to the Council's action in negativing the proposition to 
 place a poll-tax on Chinese coming to the Northern Territory as a 
 proof of the necessity of a second Chamber to check hasty legis- 
 lation. He felt it a duty to come to the Northern Territory, and 
 see it and its wants for himself. He had been pleased with his 
 visit, and he would be able on his retiu-n, when matters affecting 
 the Territory were brought before the House, to deal with them 
 more intelligibly than if he had not paid the visit. For example, 
 if a proposition were made for representation of the Territory he 
 wouuld not oppose it. He saw the important aid the Chinese 
 liad given in the development of the place so far as it had been 
 developed. The European population, he understood, were 
 dependent upon the Chinese for even their supply of fish as well 
 as vegetables. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 Mr. FuRNER, M.P., was extremely gratified with his visit. As 
 to the influence it would have upon his Parliamentary action, he 
 would be most happy to do simple justice to the Northern Ter- 
 ritory in the matter of local representation. The interests of 
 this portion of the colony were too great to allow of its being 
 simply tacked on to another district, and he thought it should have 
 ndepcndent representation. (Cheers.) He had taken especial 
 nterest — because he represented a large mining district — in the
 
 APPENDIX. 183 
 
 mineral deposits of the Territory, and he was greatly pleased with 
 what he had seen in relation to that industry. With regard to 
 the gold duty, he coincided with the opinions of the Minister ; 
 and conceruing the point raised by Mr. Burtt with reference to the 
 representation of Chinese in Parliament he need only remind 
 their hosts that they had but to pay the naturalization fee of 10s. 
 to be entitled to the privileges of British subjects. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Bagster, M.P., spoke appreciatively of the hospitality 
 which had been extended to the party equally by Europeans and 
 Chinese, expressed his idea at the importance of the work the 
 party had accomplished during their trip, and his hopefulness of 
 great advantage accruing from it to the colony. 
 
 Mr. Price proposed " The Vice-Chairman," remarking that not 
 only were the Europeans indebted to the Chinese for their fish and 
 vegetables but for their beef also, in times past an unknown 
 luxury. But for the Chinese consumption the cattle would not 
 be imported from Queensland. He expressed the opinion that the 
 trip now closed would be of immense advantage to the Territoiy. 
 Partly through it, as it called attention to the resources of the 
 place, the Territory would soon be looked upon by South Australia 
 not as a white elephant, but as a bright gem. (Cheers.) People 
 talked of a separation of Northern from Southern Australia, but 
 lie did not believe that anything of the kind would take place. 
 Before long South Australian money which went to ^lam-itius and 
 elsewhere would come to the Northern Territory for sugar and 
 other ti'opical products. Year by year during his six years of the 
 Government Residency he had looked forward to this : and he saw 
 the first dawn of its fulfilment when the jNIinister controlling the 
 Territory spoke of visiting it. The place only aeeded to be seen 
 to be aj^preciated, (Cheers.) As to the railway and what jVIr. 
 Parsons had said about it, he felt sure that if the Minister recom- 
 mended the railway they would have it. (Cheers.) He believed 
 the Parliament would uphold him, and that the Transcontinental 
 Eailway of South Australia would in time be quite as gi-eat and 
 important as that connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific. 
 (Cheers.) The world was north of South Australia, and they 
 would have to work towards it and not from it. 
 
 In conjunction with all the company Mr. Price gave the senti- 
 ment, " May God speed the party on their return journey," anx3 
 the hnnoviring of that and several other toasts concluded the 
 business of the engagement so gracefully arranged and so well 
 carried out by the Chinese.
 
 184 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE EUROPEAN BANQUET. 
 
 Closely following the dinner given by the Chinese residents of 
 Port Darwin, on Tuesday night, a public banquet was given to the 
 Parliamentary party in Parker's Hotel. Mr. Meldrum presided, 
 iuid Mr. Gott filled the vice-chair, and the party included the 
 Government Resident and all the other leading residents. 
 
 The ixsual preliminary toasting having been performed, the 
 Chairman proposed "The Ministry." He considered that the 
 visit of the Parliamentary party to the place was the best assist- 
 ance South Australia had ever given to the Northern Territory. 
 As a man who represented a Company which had invested large 
 suras in mining he expressed the belief that if there were better 
 communication between the Northern Territory and Adelaide, the 
 next thing most wanted — cheap labour — would be supplied. 
 Miners receiving £o a week for their work would cripple any 
 Company, and under such circumstances proper development 
 would be impossible. The present Minister was the only man 
 who had ever yet held out to them any hope of their getting their 
 much-needed railway. 
 
 The Hon. J. L. Parsons, Minister for the Northern Territory, 
 in responding and referring to the history of the proposition to 
 visit the Territory, said that when he had decided upon making 
 the visit himself he felt he could not do better than ask other hou. 
 members to accompany him, and have all the facilities the Govern- 
 ment could offer to aid them. The proposition was received in 
 some degree by the Press of South Australia with doubt as to its 
 propriety, and some articles had been written reflecting upon the 
 expenditure of public money upon such a visit. But the party 
 had come and gone through the country, and he was now more 
 satisfied about the wisdom of that proposition, and as to the 
 results the visit would have, than he had in regard to anything 
 else that he could connect with his Ministerial experience. (Hear, 
 hear.) It was quite true that the visit had been somewhat hasty 
 and a little hurried. They had had to pass through the 
 different parts of the Northern Territory rapidly ; but 
 from the fact that they were expected, and that it was a Parlia- 
 mentary party in particular, they were brought into contact with 
 every intelligent, thoughtful, and industrious man in the Northern 
 Territory, and he believed that on returning to South Australia 
 they would be able to say that there was not one who had got his 
 hand and his heart and his pocket interested in the Northern 
 Territory that they had not met with, and -whose opinions they 
 had not heard. For the future legislation of the colony they 
 would carry back an amount of information gathered partly by
 
 APPENDIX. 185- 
 
 observation and partly by report to teud to a more successful and 
 more progTessive policy than had obtained for the past few years. 
 Reference had been made sometimes to the connection of the 
 Northern Territory with South Australia. That Territory, it 
 should be remembered, was a gift of the Imperial Government to 
 South Australia, and whilst he had heard some hard things said 
 about South Australia since he had been amongst them 
 he asked than to bear in mind that the colony, herself young, 
 busied with the settlement of her own great concerns, accepted the 
 trust and had not shrunk from the responsibility. She had added 
 to her public debt, and maintained ever since everything that was 
 necessary for the protection of life and property, and had done 
 that in the face of great obstacles ; and he hoped that the people 
 in the Northern Territory would admit that South Australia had 
 in every way proved herself a true parent to her Northern 
 Territory. (Cheers.) He was very much pleased at the cordiality 
 with which the toast of the Governor had been received. There 
 was no better friend to the Northern Territory than Sir Wm. Jervois. 
 There was not in Australia any more far-sighted statesman than 
 he. Shortly before the party left Adelaide, the Governor, con- 
 versing with him about the trip, had shown conclusively that 
 from the time of his appointment he had had a true conception of 
 what would imdoubtedly be the ultimate position of Port Darwin. 
 (Cheers.) It was bound to be the key to the whole of Northern 
 Australia. (Cheers.) In his Parliamentary career he had more 
 particularly connected himself with the question of education ; and 
 it was chiefly owing to the interest he had taken in that subject 
 that he held his position in the Ministry ; but he had not been in 
 office more than a few weeks before the importance of the Northern 
 Territory forced itself upon his attention, and he felt that there 
 was in cormection with that dependenc}'' a magnificent future. 
 (Cheers.) The opinion he had before he visited it was based on 
 reports concerning it. He had now seen the country for 
 himself, and on whichever aspect of the Northern Territory he 
 looked he saw the materials out of which a prosperous and great 
 nation were to be built. The waste grasses of the public lands of 
 the Northern Territory were of incalculable value. He was taking 
 back with him samples of excellent hay and chaff made by the 
 Overland Telegraph Department out of those grasses for feed for 
 the horses. He was taking down with him specimens which would 
 be shown to the Parliament and people of South Australia of the 
 gold wealth of the Territory. He felt that if during his visit 
 through the minei-al country he should be able to obtain from the 
 various reefs specimens that he could show to the members of Par- 
 liament they would be much more eloquent and forceful than any
 
 186 APPENDIX, 
 
 speeches he could make ; and on the diftcrent reefs, the pro- 
 pi'ietors, recognising the importance of the opportunity, had given 
 him, for the pubHc interest of South Austraha, specimens of which 
 110 gold-producing country in the world need for a moment be 
 ashamed. (Cheers.) He was also pleased to say that, so far as 
 his own judgment went, there was in the Territory land suited for 
 the growth of any product suited to a tropical climate. Some of 
 the swamp lands through which they had passed would grow 
 swamp rice, maize could be grown anywhere, and on the higher 
 lands the hill rice could be grown successfully. The Government 
 Garden was an evidence that almost anything planted and tended 
 with care in this climate would grow to perfection. (Cheers.) He 
 felt that the immediate successfLd future of the Northern Territory 
 was wrapped up in the successful production of sugar. In the 
 Government Garden there was at present growing some of the 
 most luxuriant cane that any sugar-planter ever saw, and any 
 Company possessing a few hundreds of acres of such a crop would 
 feel tliat it had a good promise of dividends. (Cheers.) Across 
 the bay there was a Company which had spent a large amount of 
 money, and which, perhaps, had not the same good luck 
 that might have been desired, and not commensurate with 
 the pluck and enterprise it had displayed. (Cheers.) But 
 it was his good fortune to be on the DeLissaville Plan- 
 tation the previous day and to see manufactured the 
 first sugar ever grown and produced in South Australia. (Cheei's.) 
 It was taken from the vat where the juice from the canes crushed 
 some weeks ago from the Government Garden had been placed 
 awaiting the arrival of the party, and the sugar was made under 
 their own observation. He was taking down a small packet to 
 Adelaide to show with the other specimens, and he hoped that it 
 might be taken as the avant-courier — the precursor — of thousands 
 of tons to be profitably grown and manufactured in the Northern 
 Territory. (Cheers.) In addition to the gold deposits, he believed 
 (without speaking at all confidently, because, although he had visited 
 Bamboo Creek and Mount Wells, and saw tin taken up, he wanted to 
 speak with all caution) that there was undoubtedly stream tin in 
 all parts of the mineral country, and behind that stream tin 
 there must be lodes. It required prospecting and the expenditure 
 of money, and that done he believed that there would be a large 
 tin-mining industry in the colony. (Cheers.) With regard to the 
 question of Parliameiitary representation for the Territory, 
 provision would be made in the new Electoz-al Bill for that repre- 
 sentation, and it should be given them without their being tacked 
 on to another district with which they could have no identical in- 
 terest. (Cheers.) On behalf of the Government he thanked the
 
 APPENDIX. 187 
 
 people of the Territory for the great kindness and courtesy they 
 had shown, and for the fociUties they had afforded him for obtain- 
 ing information. He had not had an idle time. He had had 
 hardship and inconvenience; but when he returned he would 
 carry w4th him nothing but pleasant associations in connection 
 with the Northern Territory. 
 
 The Vice-Chairman proposed " The Parliament of South 
 Australia." 
 
 Mr. Bright, M.P., said in reply that the resources of the Terri- 
 tory had far exceeded his expectations. Even the roads he had 
 travelled over were better than those not many miles from Ade- 
 laide. He believed that the principal want of the Northern 
 Territory was suitable labour, for what was the use of having 
 valuable land if they had not the means to develop it ] European 
 labour was altogether unsuitable for the requirements of the place. 
 No mines in the world would pay when wages were so high as £5 
 a week. To get more suitable labour he would do his level best. 
 (Cheei's.) He expressed great surprise at the extent of the work 
 which had been done at DeLissaville, and the opinion that the 
 sugar he had seen manufactured there would be a credit to any 
 part of the world. If anything could be done by Parliament he 
 was sure that they would not withhold a hand to assist those who 
 endeavoiu-ed to assist themselves as the pioneers of industries in 
 the Territory had done. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. FuRNER, M.P., spoke in glowing terms of the impression 
 his visit had made upon him. He had noticed with pleasure the 
 luxurious vegetation — grass 14, 15, and 16 feet high. The 
 inference was that land which would grow that would grow any- 
 thing else suited to the climate. Most of the journey, of course, 
 lay along the course of the road, which was on tlie ridges ; the land 
 where they had to cut across country was not generally so good; 
 but the Rum Jungle (Poiett's & Mackinnon's plantation) was some 
 of the finest land he had ever seen in the colony, and such land 
 ought to produce tropical plants in abundance. He was delighted 
 with his visit to the Delissaville Plantation on Cox's Peninsula, 
 where the land seemed to be wonderfully rich, and though some 
 adverse opinions had been expressed respecting the cliaracter of 
 the soil, he believed the estate was a magnificent one. (Cheers.) 
 With regard to the railway, he entirely agreed with the remarks of 
 the Minister, and ho pledged his word that he would go back to 
 Parliament fully prepared to advocate the construction of a rail- 
 way south from Palmerston. (Cheers.) He had no doubt upon 
 the point. The country was of such importance, the character of 
 the land of such a nature, and the minerals of such extent as to 
 warrant the commencement of the work. (Cheers.) He now
 
 188 APPENDIX. 
 
 quite agreed with what Sir WilUam Jcrvois had recently said of 
 the Tei'ritory iia its relation to South Australia, that " the tail 
 would waggle the dog." He had beeu remarkablj' pleased with his 
 visit to the Gardens ; and that in two years an almost impassable 
 jungle shou.ld have been so transformed was wonderful. The 
 growth was absolutely beyond belief. He fully believed that Port 
 Darwin must necessarily become an important outlet for the 
 northern part of Australia — if not the most important for the 
 whole of Northern Australia. (Cheers.) It was necessaiy that 
 something should be done in the way of a jetty or wharfage 
 accommodation. Details must be left to the engineers. 
 
 Mr. Bagster, M.P., referred to what he considered to be a 
 successful issue of the trip. The pastoral, agricultural, and 
 mineral resources of the place had all been made patent to them, 
 and the only matter in which they were unsuccessful was the 
 intended trip to the Daly. That they did not visit the Daly, how- 
 ever, w^as not their own fault. They honestly attempted it. He 
 doubted whether it was, taking other possible occasions into 
 consideration, the wind and waves and rain which prevented that 
 visit so much as the want of a suitable vessel in which to make 
 the trip. If there should be on the next Northern Terri- 
 tory Estimates a line for a proper Government vessel at Port 
 Darwin he would support it. As to the railway, he thought the 
 time was fast approaching when South Australia would be 
 connected by a line to the Noi'thern Territory. (Cheers.) Local 
 representation for the Territory he was strongly in favour of. 
 (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. V. J. Solomon proposed — " The Pastoral and Agricultural 
 Interest." He considered the plan which had been adopted in the 
 Territory of granting leases to pastoral tenants, with a long tei'ni 
 of tenure and a long time to stock, was a great mistake. To give 
 pastoral lessees three years to put cattle on their country 
 was almost an encouragement to dummyism. Every square 
 mile of country put up in the Northern Territory was now held 
 by these lessees, and yet not 100,000 head of cattle were placed 
 upon it. He pressed upon the Government the necessity of 
 endeavouring to force the stocking of the land. At present the 
 actual pastoral interest was represented by three or four small 
 squatters, and the people were entirely dependent for their 
 supplies of fresh meat upon a few Queensland " cockatoos." It 
 would be better if the Government gave the land for nothing 
 if they could get it stocked. The agricultural inte- 
 rest — as represented by small planters on Cox"s Peninsula — had 
 not, he thought, been fairly treated by previous Governments, and 
 he referred incidentally to the fact, that of the whole 70,000 or
 
 APPENDIX. 189 
 
 80,000 acres of laud given them under a special Act only the 
 DeLissa proprietors had done any real work upon it. It almost 
 seemed as if there were some dummy Companies about. (Cheers.) 
 The system of giving these big blocks was a mistake. What was 
 wanted was real encouragement to bona fide settlers, and a land 
 law which would permit any working man with strong arms and 
 health to take up a block up to about 500 acres, and by cultivation 
 and other improvements to secure its freehold. (Cheers.) That 
 would be far better than encouragements to large Companies to 
 take up land as a huge speculation. It would be a great advan- 
 tage if £20,000 or £30,000 of the revenue now being derived from 
 the Northern Territory were divided and offered in four bonuses 
 for different kinds of tropical products. This would be a tangible 
 encouragement to small growers. At present the only bonus was 
 that for sugar — 500 tons, to gain which would involve an expendi- 
 ture of from £20,000 to £25,000. Almost the whole of the land 
 down to the Rum Jungle had years ago been frittered away in 
 blocks averaging about 320 acres, which were sold, with a town 
 block given in, for £50 each — not enough to pay the cost of 
 survey. The effect of that foolish policy was sorely felt now. He 
 did not think the Northern Territory was indebted to South Aus- 
 tralia proper, but to the strong arms and clear heads and energy 
 of its pioneers. He suggested that the reserved suburban blocks 
 near Fannie Bay should be offered for sale before the rush came, 
 so that the original settlers could obtain a place to build residences 
 on. 
 
 Responses were given in due course, and so closed the last 
 public act of the party in the Northern Temtory.
 
 190 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY. 
 
 k^HE homeward journey was made on board the steamship 
 Tanuadice (of the Eastern and Axistrahan Mail Line), whose 
 commander, Captain S. G. Green, is deservedly one of the 
 most popular of popular masters. The Tannadice is a new 
 vessel, built under the direction of Mr. R. Wildridge, her 
 present chief engineer ; and she is one of the smartest of the 
 fleet which are now engaged in connection with the South 
 Australian Mail Service with the Northern Territory and also in the 
 China trade. Her burthen is 3,000 tons register, and her owners 
 are shrewdly awaiting the upshot of events in connection with our 
 northern possession. They have unlimited capacity for serving us 
 in all respects. 
 
 The voyage from Port Darwin to Sydney was so unexciting that it 
 would have been monotonous were it not for the numerous devices 
 of Captain Green to "keep things going," as he would put it. 
 Moreover, we had on board the most nervous mortal in man's 
 shape that ever I met. He was a high official, holding some 
 semi-military rank, too. He joined the steamer at Hongkong ; 
 but several days before she sailed he looked up the agents, and 
 made searching enquiries respecting the Captain's character, ability, 
 and so on. He would see him before he would ship, he said. At 
 last he had an introduction. Said he — 
 
 " H'm. Captain, are you 1 Young, eh !" 
 
 The Captain with due humility said that he was born young, 
 and he really could not help it. 
 
 " Well, Captain," spake the high official, " I'm wanting to go to 
 Sydney wnth you ; and I've been studying the charts, and I see 
 there are lots of reefs and sandbanks and rocks in the way. 
 You're sure you understand your business, and there's no danger 
 of your running your ship on 'em V 
 
 The Captain would try hard not to do so. 
 
 " Well ; I— I think I'll trust you." 
 
 They started. The first night on which they had got well away 
 from the land, a bank of light clouds appeared on the horizon. 
 
 " What sort of weather will it be to-night f was the question 
 our friend put to one of the officers. 
 
 " W-e-1-1 ; I — I don't know." (He knew his man.) 
 
 " Steamers ever get wrecked here f 
 
 " Y-e-s. Typhoons, monsoons, and so on, you know." 
 
 " Bless my soul ! What are we to do, then ?' 
 
 " Only one thing ; vessels sometimes put back to harbour." 
 
 " Well ; why on earth doesn't the Captain put back V
 
 APPENDIX. 191 
 
 " Doesn't like to I'un the risk and expense." 
 
 " But I will protect him. My Government will. I'll give him 
 a guarantee at once." 
 
 He left ; and bjand-by he met the Captain. "Captain," said 
 he, " on behalf of the passengers, I must ask yon to pnt back 
 into the Celebes, and anchor." 
 
 " No ; I can't accept the responsibility." 
 
 " But I'll protect you. Here's a -n^itten guarantee on behalf of 
 my Government." And he pleaded like a "jury" lawyer, but 
 unsuccessfully. He hied to the officer again, and frantically 
 deplored the obstinacy of the Captain. 
 
 " Can't be helped now," said the officer. " You see that light 1 
 (pointing to a small bush fire on the nearest land.) That's from 
 the last laud on the China coast. No more ports till Port 
 Darwin." 
 
 " Well ; put in there. Why can't the Captain do that ?' 
 
 " He dare not." 
 
 " Why, dare not 1" 
 
 " Because there are fierce blacks there, and if he goes near, they 
 will come down upon ns and attack ns." 
 
 " Well ; what if they do 1 I have a sis-shooter, and I guess I 
 can protect the saloon." And he entered in his diary, which he 
 published — " The Captain, with stormy indications and danger, 
 did not put back to port because he was afraid of being- 
 attacked by the blacks." Of course, there was no storm, and of 
 course, there were not any blacks. Thongh the next day was as 
 fine as any day you would wish to see, the nervous man inter- 
 viewed the officer again, watching the Captain's departure for a 
 moment — 
 
 "Now tell me candidly," said he, ^'do you think there is any 
 danger of the ship capsizing? She hasn't got much on, you know." 
 
 By-and-by there was some trouble with the machinery, and on 
 his persistentl}' enquiring the cause, he was told that a rat had 
 got into the piston. When I went on board he said to me : — 
 
 " Gross negligence aboard this vessel. Rats allowed to get into 
 the piston. Going to send about it to papers." 
 
 And he sent too. Next day the cigar-light stick was set to 
 smoulder in its case on deck. He hadn't seen cigar-light sticks 
 before; and edging up to me, he asked in a tremulous voice : — 
 
 " Bad weather, d'ye think 1 I see the Chinamen have brought 
 the fire -stick to propitiate their Joss." 
 
 This sort of thing lasted all through the trip. Each night our 
 nervous friend would come to the cabin with a sepulchral — " D'ye 
 think it'll be safe to go to bed to night," and if the sky was aught 
 but very clear — " Tried your life preserver on 1" The climax was
 
 192 APPENDIX. 
 
 reached when we entered Sydney Heads on a beautifully briglit 
 day at noon. Our friend came up in that graveyard -reminding 
 "way of his, and said — 
 
 "Don't you think we're going dangerously near those Heads?' 
 We put in at various ports, including Newcastle, with its busy 
 business life, its keen cold air, the coal- dust begriming everything, 
 and its uncommonly stout people — the place to us coming from 
 the tropics was quite a marvel with what seemed to us to be its 
 unusually fat folk ; and fat folk, too, who had not known 
 Cross's Indigestion Drops more than a month or two ! Of all 
 these things it is not my purpose to w^rite here. Let me, 
 however, in justice to the Steamship Company and to the 
 route, repeat what I have written before — the advice to tourists 
 seeking a three months' pleasure trip, to take the Barrier 
 Reef passage and the Northern Territory on the way to China. 
 From a short distance north of Brisbane till the northernmost 
 point of Australia there need not be the least fear of the dreaded 
 seasickness, and on the trip there is to be seen plenty that will 
 instruct and amuse. And now I have done.
 
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