The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-27 00:00:00

sea, and the adjoining ranges not above 2,200 feet,
or about the same as the country on the Gas-
coigne, Lyons, and Upper Murchison.

On minerals, I was unable to discover any traces,
except iron. Quarts reefs occasionally traverse the
country in a N.N.E. and S.S.W. direction, or nearly
the same as the mineral lodes at Champion Bay,
but I could not find any instance in which this rock
offered much to indicate the probable existence of
gold, it being far surpassed in this respect by the
rocks on the Upper Murchison. Coal does not ap-
pear likely to be found within the limits of the
country passed over, unless towards the eastern-most
pint attained by the expedition.
With regard to the harbours on the coast, I c9n
only speak of Nickol Bay and the anchorage under
Rosemary and the adjacent islands. The former I
consider only second to King George's Sound, as it
can be entered in all weathers, either from the
north or ❑orth-east, and there is reason to believe
that a safe passage exists between Legendre and
Dolphin Islands, leading into Mermaid Straits,
where there appears to be an excellent harbour at
all seasons of the year.
The soundings towards the eastern and western
shores of Nickol Bay, taken at low water, shows
sufficient depth for vessels of considerable tonnage
to lie within a cable's length of the shore, the
bottom being fine sand and soft mud. Towards
the head of the bay the water is much shallower,
not carrying more than two fathoms two miles from
the shore. No reefs are known to exist in this bay
except quite close in to the land.

In making the running survey of the western
promontory, I found that all to the north of Slop-
ing Head was an island, having a boat channel, be-
tween from half a mile to a mile wide, to the outer
portion ; I therefore gave it the name of Dolphin
Island.

The tides are tolerably regular, and average 16
feet, but at the spring they rise 21 feet, on which
occasions the whole of the western promontory,
including the high lands for several miles to the
westward, are entirely cut off by the sea, the other
opening being under Enderby Island—a circum-
stance that greatly detracts from the value of these
otherwise fine harbours, as it would require two
miles of causeway to connect the best landing place
where water is to be found with the mainland.

The average declination of the needle through-
out this district I found to be one degree east, the
result of many amplitudes and azimuths ; there is,
however, in the vicinity of many of the voleanichills
great local attraction.

Of the climate I can only say that during the
five months we remained on the coast we never
experienced the same inconvenience from it that
we frequently have done within the limits of the
settled districts of the colony ; the weather was,
however, principally fine, and the sky clear dur-
ing our stay, only two showers having occurred,
one at the latter end of May and the other in June;
the meteorological register kept at Nickol Bay
shows the following results, from observations taken
at all hours of the day and night

Thermometer. - Maximum. Minimum.
May .. 80 .. 65
June
• •
July 7B .. 56
August
September B3 .. 65
October

Under the peculiar circumstances of the thermo-
meter being placed on a sand-bank in the sun dur-
ing the hot days in October, it rose to 178 deg. of
Fahrenheit, whilst the lowest it ever fell to was up
the hills in July, when it was 2 deg. below freezing
just before sunrise.
The winds continued to blow almost uninterrupt-
edly from the E. and S.E. during the first four
months, veering to the S.S.E. and S. and occasion-
ally to the N.E. Latterly the wind was alternately
S.E. in the morning, and N.W. or westerly in the
afternoon ; the sky becoming frequently overcast,
and every appearance of the near approach of the
rainy season, which it has been observed by former
navigators and explorers to do about the beginning
of November and continue to March.
Amongst the natural productions, I would first
briefly refer to the beds of pearl oysters, as they are
likely to become of immediate commercial impor-
tance, considerable numbers having been gathered
by the crew of the Dolphin at their leisure time,
the aggregate value of which, I am told, is between
£5OO and £6OO, besides pearls, one of which has
been valued by competent persons at £25. The
limits of the bed are as yet undefined, but there is
good reason to believe, from the position of it, that,
with proper apparatus, ships could soon be loaded
with them.

Sandalwood was found in small quantities, very
highly scented, but too widely scattered to become
of much importance as an article of export.
Of indigenous fruits, &c., we observed the adan-
sonia, or gouty stemmed tree of Sir George Grey
(nearly allied to the boabab or monkey bread-fruit
of Southern Africa.) Sweet and water melons, simi-
lar to those formerly seen by me on Lyon's River,
but of much larger size ; a small gourd ; a wild fig,
well tasted, and a sweet plum, very palatable, were
found in tolerable abundance.

I have already spoken of the palms which grow on
the banks of the Fortescue ; they are very handsome,
and grow to the height of 40 feet, but not having
brought in any specimens, it has not been yet iden-
tified as to its variety.
Tobacco does not grow so luxuriantly here as on
the Lyons River, but the natives collect it, and after
preparation, chew it ; but we did not on any occa-
sion observe them to smoke.

Many beautiful flowers were also collected, which
will be forwarded to some of the most eminent bo-
tanists, to be described and classified.
It now only remains for me to give an opinion on
the capabilities of the country for colonisation. It
would be almost impossible to particularise the po-
sitions or define the limits of country adapted for
grazing purposes, beyond the reference already
made to them. The total amount of land available
for this purpose within the limit of our route I
should estimate at not less than two or three mil-
lions of acres, and of this I may safely say 200,000
are suitable for agricultural purposes, the greater
portion of which lies on the two flanks of the Ha-
mersley Range, on the banks of the De Grey and
its tributaries, and on the lower Sherlock.

Of the fitness of this district for the growth of
wool, which, on account of its being an intertropical
country, it is gf-nerally supposed it would be un-
suitable, I would remark that its elevation above
the sea appears likely to obviate the objection,
and render it probable that sheep may not de-
generate in the same way they are found to do
in other tropical countries ; at any rate, flocks are
now being pushed over on the same latitude in
Queensland, and we do not hear of the wool-grower
complaining that such is the case there.
As to its fitness for the growth of cereals, it is
quite possible that wheat and barley may not come
to the same degree of perfection they do in the more
temperate latitudes of Australia, but there is no rea-
son to doubt its capability of growing sufficient
grain for the support of a numerous population.
What it appears more highly qualified for than
anything else is the growth of cotton—a question
which at the present juncture cannot be lost sight
of. From my personal observation of the cultiva-
tion of this plant in Egypt, and the attention I
have recently paid to this subject while in Europe,
I feel confident that a very considerable portion of
the arable lands on the De Grey and Sherlock are
precisely the soils adapted for the production of this
valuable commodity. As, however, I purpose to
make this the subject of a more lengthy paper at a
future period I will not now venture to enlarge
upon it. _ _ _

'As the number and disposition of the aborigines
is likely to have some effect on the first settle-
ment of a district, I would give it as my opinion
that these people will not prove particularly
troublesome to the settlers, if properly and fairly
treated. They are not numerous, and appear very
willing to take employ under Europeans, and will
no doubt soon be made as useful as in the other dis-
tricts. In stature they rather exceed the usual stan-
dard, some of them measuring two or three inches
over six feet.

In bringing my report to a close, I w ould wish to
observe, that although the results of thn expedition
have fallen short of my sanguine hopes with regard
to geographical discovery, and will, I am afraid, in
some degree disappoint the anticipations of the