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174 The principal object in forming a settlement on the north coast of New Holland has been already mentioned ; but it is not altogether the intercourse with the Malays and Chinese that would render it of such importance,—there being other circumstances which would, at least, add to its utility. Ships proceeding to India, from the colonies on the eastern coast, would touch there, with obvious reciprocal advantage. Moreover, it would prove a convenient place of refuge in cases of shipwreck, which so frequently occur in Torres Straits, and the adjacent seas.

It is, however, hardly worth while to expatiate on the numerous advantages to be attained by colonizing this part of the coast, as it is not very likely that the British Government will, at least for some time to come, make any further attempt; but it is not improbable that the French or Dutch may be induced to make a trial; and there can be no doubt that a settlement, judiciously chosen, and properly conducted, would, in a very short time, become, both in a mercantile and political point of view, a place of considerable importance in the eastern world.