not better supplied with all the necessaries and comforts of life than are the residents at Port Essington.  All these have volunteered for the place, but their preconceived ideas formed in England almost always on reaching the place gave way to feelings of regret at the step they had taken; I well remember the excitement in the settlement, and the feelings of joy everywhere expressed, when in October 1845, the first party learned that their relief had arrived.

HISTORY OF PREVIOUS SETTLEMENTS.

I shall now proceed to make some remarks upon Port Essington, ere the subject becomes a matter of history, as I fervently hope the abandonment of the place will render it ere many years have gone by;* but before doing so I may premise a brief account of the former British settlements on the north coast of Australia.**

(Footnote.  Port Essington was finally abandoned on November 30th, 1849, when the garrison and stores were removed to Sydney by H.M.S.  Meander, Captain the Honourable H. Keppel.  I may mention that most of the remarks in this chapter relative to Port Essington appear as they were originally written in my journal soon after leaving the place in the Rattlesnake; they are mostly a combination of the observations made during three visits, at intervals of various lengths, including a residence in 1844, of upwards of four months.  I am also anxious to place on record a somewhat connected but brief account of the Aborigines, as I have seen many injudicious remarks and erroneous statements regarding them, and as it is only at Port Essington, for the whole extent of coastline between Swan River and Cape York, that we were able to have sufficient intercourse with them to arrive at even a moderate degree of acquaintance with their manners, customs, and language.)

(**Footnote.  See Voyage round the World by T.B.  Wilson, M.D.)

The British Government having determined to form an establishment on the northern coast of Australia, Captain J.J.  Gordon Bremer, with H.M.S.  Tamar, sailed from Sydney in August 1824, in company with two store ships and a party of military and convicts, the latter chiefly mechanics.  On September 20th, they arrived at Port Essington, when formal possession was taken of the whole of the coast between the 129th and 135th meridians of east longitude.

MELVILLE ISLAND SETTLEMENT.

A sufficiency of fresh water not being found at this place it was determined to proceed to Melville Island, where they arrived on the 30th, and commenced forming the settlement of Fort Dundas in Apsley Strait.  This settlement, however, after an existence of four years, was abandoned on March 31st, 1829, in consequence of the continued unfavourable accounts transmitted to the Home Government.  Hostilities with the natives had early commenced, and several lives were lost on either side.

RAFFLES BAY SETTLEMENT.