THE NEW SETTLEMENT AT CAT YORK.

Southland Times, Volume 1, Issue 4, 21 November 1862, Page 2

THE NEW SETTLEMENT AT CAT YORK.

PARTICULARS OF THB GOVBBITOB'S VOTAOB.& ("From the Brisbane Courier, 25th Octlit The booming of the Queensland's giy as she neared the city on her way up | river yesterday morning, and the gay IL, pearance of that vessel when she hove^i sight, dressed as she was with flags ft! T stem to stern, were the- first, intimaii .• given' to the citizens of Brisbane of return of his Excellency Sir George Bot from his lengthened trip to the extre northern part of the colony. The steal reached the wharf about eight o'ctock, tj as his Excellency's arrival ; by her ' wholly unexpected, there was but =If persons on the wharf, but those few g £ him a cordial reception. His -F?: 1 ' jn who appeared to be in exeellentTSfe.yßfe mediately proceeded to Government l iyj^^ the portals of which he was doubtl.esipyfc to re-enter after nearly two months' Mß finement on ship board. > g* The subjoined particulars of hit Ei|F lency'a voyage have been courteously w plied to u$ by Captain Pitt, Private S«u tary and Aide-de-Camp, and our reßu will find, on perusing them, that the qwij ditionary party successfully accompliijßf the objects in view. '""' jg It will be recollected that his Excell^ embarked on board H,!VJ.S. PioneeJI -\ Moreton Bay, on the,27th c 'of AuigustM.^ and that the war steamer was towed /wp?j sea by the A-.S.N. Company's Bteati|, Samson. ),' ; ""' £< In the evening of the following day (ilt< 28th) the Pioneer: picked up; the south-4^ trade wind, and pursued her voyage unp canvas, the favoring bretze never fsUft her until, on the 9th Xof Sej)tej?ber, 1^ reached Booby Islandrthe Atftbe^t the Queensland territory in UiAidire^'W

i • On the vbyafce" noVth;^thfr G-overnpr? and \ Commander Burnett; landed qnlyJit J?it*rby i «nd Pelican. Jtslaiiils, it 'being important that every > advantagejVshouW *> e take.nrof the fair wind, as me JPiphfer. could .only carry sufficient cbala to, last during the Ireturn voyage. ' \V .. t : „.• « f On tire Syemag "ot S?plie^bet ; 9th r ; she anchored olf : Booby" Island, -where libExtetlency«ntt party landed, and examined the Btore3^ placed there for the ; relief «f' thipwreck^d sailors. It wasfound that" the i itores did[)inot need replenishing, bul the j party left; in thecave, as a substitute for ' the old .wooden, post -office chest, an iron box, ! paintedVred, with- the following irigenptron «poa it in white letters:—" Gene- 1 ral Post Office, Bttoby Island, Queensland, fj.B.M.S. Pioneer, September, 1862." ©ntfce 10th September the return voyage waa commenced under steam, the Commodore lalHttjafjnis course through -Endeavour Straits, having; passed the Prince of Wales Channel on the outward voyage. From September 10th to September 22nd, the Governor and Commodore Burnett «pent twelve days in carefully examining Cape York and its vicinity, bo«h by sea and land. The Pioneer was anchored first in . Simpson's Bay, Endeavour Strait, for the I flay", and afterwards in Evans' Bay and L Pbrt Albany. After caTeful and minute examination, it . was decided that Port Albany ;.( Albany Island) wouidibe the ; best /site, for,; the proposed settlement, There is * goodjaßchprage, plenty of frjgsh water on , ~fh6 island,' good pasturage for sheep and «attlei and. a pf;jand^fit; for cultivation. Albany "Isli^d, in fact, forms a Targ^iialuV«i pad^oc^' sf painted, from the mainland by a^eep channel only one-third of. a mile broad.!'. P,ort Albany is about five miles from Cape Ybrk. The future townships will be named' <« Spnierset," in honor of the Duke of Somerset, the present first lord of the admiralty, who has evinced a considerable amount of interest in the un--1 dertaking, and who has afforded many faci!J Uties for carrying it out. *' Very friendly relations were maintained M with the Cape York tribe of aborigines, who ? are evidently accustomed to frequent comv munication and barter with passing vessels. }1 On the 22nd September, the Pioneer left Port Albany under steam for Port Denison, * where she arrived on the Ist of October. * On the way, his Excellency and CommoM . dore Burnett carefully examined Endeavor kI River (where Captain Cooke refitted his u «hip in 1770), and Kochingham Bay — the °, two points vn the east coast of Australia - ' "which will probably be next occupied, as a colonization gradually extends its steps \ northward. Good anchorage and level ground, with plenty of water and timber, * were found at the mouth of the Endeavour ? River, up which the Governor and Commo- * dore rowed about five miles. The natives * manifested great timidity, but did not apT pear to be hostile. Commodore Burnett is, * we learn, of opinion that the best harbour ie in Rockhampton Bay is near Tam O'Shan- "' ter Point, where the explorer Kennedy w ! landed with his horses at the beginning | e 'of his unfortunate expedition to the York 0 Peninsula. There is also a safe and sheltered anchorage at the northern end of '*? Hinchinbrook Island, and between that in island and the mainland, but it is very '? -doubtful if there be any available road from 8 ." lhe shores of Kockhampton Bay to the "' anterior of the country. The Governor and Commodore rowed for some considerable * distance up the two principal streams which . flow into the Bay, but bars and sand- banks ltl render them of little use for navigation. l *"J The eternal " mangrove swamp" lines the a | coast up to the foot of the high range of Il^iils running parallel to the shore, and in Ivnich no break or pass was observable. It JwiVl be recollected that Mr Kennedy spent ..■two months in forcing a passage from the "■lmmediate neighbourhood of Rockhampton 'I Bay, and if this locality is to be used as a i^ffibjpping port, it will be for the squatters | r*»ihe Upper Burdekin to ascertain if any r|*_ »&d can be found practicable for their Jl flrays. f ' From the Ist to the 6th instant, the J4J Pioneer remained at Port Oenison, where the Governor lived on shore, and visited }nfl everything remarkable in the town of ' e s Bowen and its vicinity, and inspected the public works, &c. m , On the 6h of October sailed from Port !1 r Denison, and anchored in Keppel Bay on ■y \ the Bth, having examined Port Molle on u * the way Remained at anchor in Keppel B u Bay during October 9th, the pilot being ? absent. b ?' On tbe 10th, his Excellency proceeded B^ up the Fitzroy River to Rockhampton, in 1 the Harbour-master's cutter, and remained it that plane until the 18th instant, when he Pioneer left for Gladstone. eal ' At Gladstone, on the 21st, his Excelery ency, the Commodore, and party, were r ' ranshipped into the Queensland, in order, bp 1 s before stated, that his Excellency might aul mve an opportunity of visiting Marybowh ough, the Pioneer drawing too much water [n 8 o permit of her entering the Mary. She 1 « ras ordered to proceed direct from Gladw ™ tone to Moreton Bay. nc ' On the 22nd his Excellency reached tal laryborough, left again at 1 1 a.m. on the * nI J blowing day, and landed at Brisbane yesml srday morning at eight o'clock, after ak? aving been absent from the seat of goi * eminent fifty-seven days.