THE ADAM BAY SETTLEMENT.

Press, Volume VIII, Issue 862, 12 August 1865, Page 3

THE ADAM BAY SETTLEMENT.

The Argus," of July 26, says :— The Douglas, which arrived yesterday from Batavia, has brought Dr. Messrs. W. Pearson and Stephen Song, and six others, from the Adam Bay settlement. Mr. Pear-

id son was third in coamand of the ei>t pedition, and. Mr. King was storen keeper. They werjb conveyed from is Adam Bay to Bataria by the barque k Bengal, which saited from A.dam c Bay on the 6th of May, with thirteen passengers, all of the first and second expedition. "We are also ._ iuformed that Mr. Jefferson Stowe 0 and five others purchased a whalec, boat at Adam Bay from the Bengal, ? with the intention of proceeding along 1 the coast to Swan River or Adelaide, g and were to leave on the 7th July. 8 The survey of the city of Palmerston , vvas not completed when the Bengal , I sailed, and the site had been pro- . nounced altogether unsuitable by everybody but the Governor. Dr. I Goldsmith resigned his commission in 3 consequence of the Adelaide Government having advertised for another surgeon for the expedition, thereby j endorsing the action of the GoYernr ment Resident, Mr. Finniss. Messrs. ' Pearson and King return on sick leave. , Some of the men who have come back . have served the time for which they , engaged themselves, and others have \ the permission, of the Government Resident for leaving. ; That affairs at Adam Bay have not > improved is ascribed very much to the . course taken by the Government Resi- » dent, whose mismanagement seems to have been something extraordinary. It is stated that the Governor persists in fixing the capital at Escape Cliffs, though the spot is hemmed in by wateF , on almost all sides, and there is no room for the town to expand. On the i north it is bounded by two lagoons, i which become one after rains, leaving only a narrow path by which the country can be reached ; while the greater part of the town, including the main street, is laid down upon a long flat, which at high tide is two feet under water ! When the party left by the Bengal, this portion of " Palmerston" was covered with water one foot deep. So far as the couutry had been examined, it was a net-work of swamp, lagoon, creek, and river, without useful timber, stone, lime, fresh water, or grass ; so search had been made for a better site. No permanent buildings had been erected, excepting a house for the Governor, who contented himself with quarrelling with his officers, interfering with all their acts, drilling his guard, reviewing his horsemen,' ''preparing leisurely for small expeditions which were of no service, and obstinately refusing to shift from this plague-bed, the breeding-place of ague and fever, into which he had stumbled. So entirely unsatisfactory was the site he had chosen, that Mr, Stowe, Mr., Stuekey, and Mr. Bauer, who were deputed to select lands and town lots by the purchasers from the Adelaide Government, presented a formal request to Mr. Finniss to alter the site of the capital, and on his refusal to do so declined select. These gentlemen, it is represent abou twothirds of the original purchasers. Nothing, in short, of the least importance to the welfare of the settle--Baeat ha3"be6ac /sdsifcjaf the steamship South Australian, and nothing -seemed likely to be accomplished. \ ■:;.;. "The supplies of food were not exhausted, the stores received _ from Adelaide having been ample for the time. Msh were caught in. abundance, but, from the nature of the ukases issued by Mr. linniss, the fish was frequently spoiled before it could be cooked. The hunters were also successful in their hunts after kangaroo, but often with the same result. The natives had not been very troublesome. They imitated the Governor's guards in their daily drill, and mimicked the exercises they saw them go through. They had on three or four occasions, however, during the night cut down the flagstaff erected at the mouth of the river. "With reference to the native who was Ihot at Chalmer's Bay some time in April last year, a court of enquiry was held, at which Dr. Goldsmith, in his capacity of protector of aborigines, was refused admission. The evidence then taken will be forwarded by mail to-day to Adelaide. On the whole, the affairs of Adam Bay settlement were far from satisfactory. Mr. Stowe's party were -to call at Camden Harbor, which they would find almost if not quite deserted. s . lit j| il i a : i • Xnteuigenee o± their eate arrival in. W -A.-Q** Lj.-ssJ.-Kgv -will be ansdoiisly Mil: i.