There is no doubt that there should be some port or refuge for disabled ships or wrecked crews on this coast; and as soon as the corrected charts of the surveys of that zealous and indefatigable officer, the late Captain Owen Stanley, shall have been published, the channel by Torres Straits will be oftener frequented. From what I could learn no better place could be found than Cape York or Port Albany, which have all the advantages Port Essington lacks, and are not more than a mile out of the way of vessels going from Sydney to India. There were two schooners of forty or fifty tons that I amused myself in destroying with five-inch shells and a fuse which burns under water--passing a line under the bow and bringing the ends as far aft as the main-mast. It was easy to attach a fuse and draw the shell close up to the keel. There was plenty of time to take up a position in my gig, half cable length astern, before the burning fuse reached the shell, when the explosion was beautiful. Some of the spars went into the air, while the bow and stern shook hands as they went below. Besides what had been used for domestic purposes, there was a small mountain of empty casks which made a glorious attempt at fireworks before we left. We left behind at Port Essington a number of cattle; there were already many quite wild in the bush that had escaped from the settlement at an earlier period and increased in numbers. Several horses were also left. In our excursions I frequently noticed the footprints, not only of those that had been running wild for years, but of young foals. The garrison, marching down to embark, with the band at their head, did not excite sufficient interest to draw the blackfellows, except a few of the softer sex, from their search for what they could find among the ruins of the buildings. During our stay we lost our surgeon, Mr. John Clarke--a man who, by his kind and gentle manner and his amiable disposition, endeared himself to us all. He contracted a disease at Hong Kong, from which he never perfectly recovered. CHAPTER XLIII _MÆANDER_ [Sidenote: 1849. Nov. 30.] Completed embarkation of the party composing the late settlement, consisting of the Commandant, Captain M‘Arthur, Captain Lambrick, Lieutenant Dunbar, three sergeants, three corporals, twenty-seven privates, four women, and one kid; also Mr. M‘Arthur, a commissioned agent, and son to the Commandant. We also brought away, besides stores, stock of all kinds--bullocks, sheep, and goats--guns left by _Pelorus_. Starting with only fifty tons of not the best water, we decided on going to Sydney by the route north of New Guinea, and watering at either Banda or Amboyna. Proceeding to the northward and again crossing the chain of islands between the Serwatty and Tenimber groups, we were carried by a few days’ pleasant sailing to the Banda Islands. [Sidenote: Banda, Dec.]