QUEENSLAND.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 64, 27 October 1864, Page 3

QUEENSLAND.

THBSEW SSXTIiEaiEAT AT UAi?J£ XUltiL. The following documents in reference to the recent trip of H.M.S. Salamander to the new settlement of Somerset, near Cape York, appear in the Brisbane papers. Extract from the reportof Commander the Hon. John' Carnegie, R.N., JELM.S. Salamander, to His Excellency Sir G. F.Bowen, G.C.M.G. :— H.M.S Salamander, Moreton Bay, 19th September, 1864. _ Sir,— l have the honor to furnish your Excellency' mth the following particulars of the proceedings of her Majesty's ship under my command, in connection with the formation of tho new settlement of Somerset, near Cape York. The Salamander left Yule Roads, Moreton Bay, on the 15thJuly,.and"arrived at Port Albany on the 29th,- calling" at Buckingham Bay en route to land Mr. R; B. Leefe, police magistrate for Cardwell. From the 30th July to the 2nd August, the detachment of i Royal Marhies, to he stationed at Somerset, was engaged falling trees a few yards above the bend in Somerset Bay, assisted by the carpenters of the Salamander ; where, a sufficient ipace having been cleared, the Marines pitched their tents, and took up then* quarters on shore. The hired barque, Golden Eagle, with the pas.eengers and stores for the settlement, arrived on the°lßt August, and the following morning the live stock was landed,— the sheep (252 hi number) •were placed- on Albany Island, and the horses (seven in number) on the mainland. - Nearly the whole of the crew of the Salamander, .with the two paddlebox boats and .gutters, were emploj-ed from .ten to twelve hours a-day, the 2nd and 11th August in clearing the G-olden Eagle, and landing the building material and stores in Somerset^ay ; and-froin the 12th to the 26th, in coaling the Salamander, and placing 154 tons of coal in reserve on Albany Island. During my stay at Port Albany, all the car- , -penterVof the ship were engaged hi assisting Mr. Halphin, the builder, in the Government houses ; and as many men as were required were sent . -daily to remove the framework, &c, for the houses on the beach to the site on Somerset Point. The direct ascentbeing too steep for the horses and drays, 'the material was hoisted up by means of a large rough .winch, erected near the summit; with a -wooden 3 shoot down the side of the hill. ■ •' "'■' n « .'?■#•■.■■■*■ " # . ■ The Bite for the town of Somerset has been j admirably chosen on an elevation of from sixty to seventy feet above the level of the Bea, exposed to j the cc» breezes during each monsoon, bordered i bri iih.e' tresb bj-a constant --running stream of excel- ( " lent fresh water, and commanding on the north an oxtensive and most "picturesque view of Torres ; Straits/with the adjoining islands ; and all vessels vpassing through will be ; ; within, signal distance. | ,The situation appears to bo remarkably hsalthy, iudging'from the mariner in which the crew of the • ; Salamander : were necessarily exposed . to the sun and water, from sunrise to snnset for thirty days, without any ill effects. " J After "the j G-olden' : Eagle was r cleared, Messrs. j Jardhie, Wilson and. myself took a short journey : - across the Peninsula, goingby boat up the Kennedy River, as far as it was navigable. From the head of the river to.the Gulf of Carpentaria, the land - was indiiferent sandy soil, r iron stone ridges, and swamps with sandy bottom. . We came out in the gulf, a short distancejputh of Red Island; travelled thence along the beach to the N.E. for seven miles '■' -and then struck' across for the settlement. The - .-. - soil -here appeared of better quality ; but through ' ; 'the land we traversed, ; rid cattle stations could be -formed on account of the density of the scrub. ■'/■'„.;'■■''*" -'-'.' ": '*'. ■'--■'■/•■-"■-: ;-."^«rt;--- ; \ "'' ''''*' Iharc&c. - (Signed) ~0 , 'Joh» CABNEaiB, \ y ; Commander, j s