As steam communication, moreover, must soon be established between Singapore and our colonies on the south-eastern shores of Australia,* this port, the only really good one on the north coast, will be of vast importance as a coal depot. (*Footnote. By this arrangement Sydney could be brought within nearly sixty days of England.) As I have already observed, however, little pains have been taken to ascertain all the capabilities of the place, and to extend our acquaintance with the country behind. No European has ever yet penetrated any great distance beyond the neck that connects Cobourg Peninsula with the mainland; and even the report of the existence of the settlement has scarcely travelled farther. At least in 1841, when Lieutenant Vallack visited one of the Alligator rivers he found the natives completely ignorant that we had established ourselves in their neighbourhood. From the account of Lieutenant P.B. Stewart,* of which I have given a brief abstract above, it appears that there is some good land on the Peninsula, though such is decidedly not the case near the settlement. (*Footnote. This officer has since forwarded me his route. It appears that on leaving Victoria he proceeded to the south-west side of the Peninsula, and followed the shore to the neck, when taking an east direction he crossed it, and then pursuing a northerly course made his way to Middle Head, on the side of the harbour opposite the settlement. The frequent opportunities Lieutenant Stewart had of determining his positions by cross-bearings of the islands, leave no doubt as to the correctness of his route.) The reports of late sent in respecting the climate have, in some measure, been unfavourable; and, as I have observed, the appearance of the garrison was rather sickly; but may not this arise partly from the indifferent manner in which they are housed? Small, low, thatched cottages, in a temperature much too warm for Europeans to labour in constantly, are apt to engender disease. There is, besides, a mangrove swamp immediately behind the settlement, which at present decreases its salubrity. With regard to the range of the thermometer, it has been known as low as 62 degrees, and it is never so high, by ten or twenty degrees, as I have seen it in South Australia during the hot winds: the average, however, is about 83 degrees. The fact that the site of Victoria lies so far from the entrance of the harbour is injurious to its prosperity, as it prevents many vessels from calling, and deprives it of the breezes that constantly prevail on the coast, and would of course conduce to its healthiness.* (*Footnote. The following remarks from Mr. Bynoe, on the climate of Northern Australia, corroborate the views put forward in the text: