CARPENTARIA.

Press, Volume X, Issue 1197, 7 September 1866, Page 3

CARPENTARIA.

[From the " Queensland Guardian."] A gentleman of considerable exJSJL and upon whose veracity we I ffS£S --nds us the following in. SSuT account of the country ,n tTnei>hborhood of the Gulf of Carpe «Sving just returned from an ex- - '„ &ir» at the gulf and its tSSm '«•»•*. i U thongs 5 a few remarks on the country and and its probable importance, be unacceptable to yourvaluSe journal, knowing the public in££J which there exists for the welfare of that district. ''Well sir, I must commence at the flinders.' Any judge of country £*velltti2 down that nrer cannot help STS once struck with the mormons extent of first-class country which there is on that river alone; it J riot the same as other rivere further to the south; there, if you can find t«o or three good runs on a river it L thought good, and squatters are coute-tedtotake a large portion of If* had country with some good ; but on the flinders for 300 miles it is all the same, a beautiful loamy soil, highly adaptable for -beep in every shape and W ay no long grass, no grass seed, and the richest description of grasses, herbage, and salt bush; in fact, when I came up the river the stock were perfectly ugly with fat, and there is nothing speaks for country like fat stock. But, sir, I cannot dwell on the joinders alone, for there are the Cloncarry river further to the westward, and Diamantina, discovered by Mr I-iudsbprough on his way out to the gulf. " It is about ninety fathoms to the westward, with the same class of country on it; and at present only one settler on it, with about 1000 head of cattle; it runs south, and is supposed to empty into Cooper's Creek. There, •nt, is the Leichardt, which is stocked. Then there is the Gregory river ; the lower portion of this river, and near to the'coast, is the best; the grass is much shorter, and far more adaptable for abeep, owned by the Landsborough Ifiw Company, with a heavy amount of tattle. Their country extends for forty miles the other side the Nicholson, river. They have an enormous extent. Messrs. S. and G-. Macdonald are the proprietors of the upper portion of this river; also for seventy mites each side the river. A great portion of this country is also ao good for Bheep, owing to the great height of the grass immediately after rain ; and then, sir, we pass through the broken country and main iinding range dividing the northern liters from the southern. There is now-a first-class road through, and in ori-nsry seasons plenty of water. We ate j-_en on tho Barkly table lands and Manning 'Plains ; and to stand on an eminence, and look round the view wlricS meets the eye of a true lover of country, is magnificent—nothing but splendid plains and rich herbage as far as the eye can see ; not flat plains, bat'beautiful rolling downs. 1 have been all over New South Wades and Queensland, but I must admit I have country so thoroughly adaptable fop sheep, and possessing such, rich qualities, combined with such ; an enoraous extent, as I met with here. Starting from Francis Lake, taken up by Kr L. Sutherland, and running westward and S.W. for nearly 200 miles, the country still maintains its lovely character. There are plenty of creeks, some of them small, as is always found in a country like this. I crossed some very large sheets of wrte? in some of the creeks, and believe there is any amount of permanent water to be found if it were looked for to the westward. The ground is covered with small watertmhed stones, and some of the country roth a Bpecies of granite rock. I must say from what I have seen of the country there is sufficient, or more than sufficient, country for all the stock which is nearly out there, and for lO* ma - re travelling behind or J&oftfc starting. And now, sir, fearing tooccapy too much of your valuable BpMe,rmust say a few words about Wjrafaer of stock on the Flinders, weuihg out or close to it, some for Jtaaons already formed, and others to «k« up country. The Landsborough *njf Company have 3000 head of ««te on. their way out from Bowen I met 1000 head (Mr GiUie■jfcs cattle) ou their way down the iWHtors, tbe _ c a _ e now Qu th _ juaders, and close to it, 47,000 sheep, pfa 10,000 of Messrs S. and & Ronald's, travelling out from their Jjwn* Inkermann And now, sir, •J®- 3 ®" thing which presents itself to *J Hand is, where is all the wool from "*- those 57,000, besides the sheep £& °.?5 there at Present, to go to? that settlers have to be *E< s u P° n those Bmall coasters S g i/ ound to take their woo] from _W U ' "P d Cu arge what price they Ked? q\°T inßUrance be toZTr. Bu <-h, I am sorry to say, at EEt M the case ' AU thi « ™l iS-V ■?"* B° into the Gulf, and Sft? it will be ]K_i e *P ens c* is £2 or £110s £_*r r T d t0 Porfc Venison, and «2*nb at the expense of 6 * T 5 " 5 ? aleß kn °cked about, torn, eban-,;Jv - the inconvenience of feaX g T h - a * d 8 and shi P B * Well, it *a?r*W d - P erha P ß for s y d *ey, be- £ lor En-bane, as the case may X£-. a ?i expenße of ' at the loweßt > Per kLf <5 _ lmß maMn g it cost 90s ZrZ*° *J***y, besides the cost of ?onrS teams in cartin g it from forth Z - p from home have stiU » *C a! SPeDBe ° f H P eF lb t0 illC » r - Weo.^,*?- 7 -° ne with canaoTW 1^1 .? 08^011 ? fthe G *lf, Ql bel P seeing the fearful round

vessels have to come to get to Sydney, and the tremendous delay there is in so doing. What we want is direct shipment. We want some wealthy firm to come and settle—say, on Sweer's Island or Bentic Island. There is plenty of fresh water, timber, &c. The largest ships can come alongside, and to have a flat-bottomed steamer to run up the Albert to a wharf or landing place, and to have a porfc at the mouth of the Flinders also, the one small steamer would be ample for the trade, and thus the whole produce of the Flinders and its watershed —tho Diamatina, Leichardfc, and Gregory rivers, and the whole of the country on the other side of the coast range —would be secured to this firm. Throughout the whole of Queensland there is no port that has even half the amount of good country surrounding it that Carpentaria has. The route, I think, should be to Batavia, thence home; but the firm must be able to effect insurances on the wool. I have had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman who has been resident in Batavia for some time, and he says that if we could ship stock there they would realise almost any amount, there being nothing there in the shape of either good mutton or beef in the country procurable for love or money. Here, sir, is another thing of great importance to stockholders out there, we being but five days' sail from their ports, if I am rightly informed, and stock would lose positively no condition during that time."