Page:Picturesque New Guinea.djvu/61

Rh God for vouchsafing so happy a start and such fair prospects to our expedition.

Once more the engines were put at full speed, and with a light wind and a calm sea our vessel went joyfully skimming over the deep. Smoky Cape and Trial Bay were passed before noon; the lighthouse tower on South Solitary hove in sight; the S.S. "Birksgate" passed us on our way southward; several smaller sailing craft were sighted, and one of them, a three-masted schooner, passed so close under our bows that we could read her name—the "Sarsfield"—with the naked eye.

Next day we breasted the Clarence Peak, a well-known landmark, at 4.15 p.m.; and passed the Clarence River Heads at 5.30. After dinner we discerned the lights of the camp-fires of the Custom House officers guarding the wreck of the "Cahors," wrecked a few days before on Evans Reef, and the red light at the Richmond River Heads showed out just as the company were "turning in." During the night the mouths of the Tweed and Brunswick rivers were passed; Cape Byron, the most easterly point of Australia, was rounded, and our vessel kept thenceforward a more northerly course. The next point passed was the southern entrance to Moreton Bay, which—it is a pity to record—has of late years become shallower and unsafe for vessels of any size. Moreton Island, a sandy, sterile-looking spot, was passed on the left, and at 9.45 a.m. we breasted the lighthouse situated on the highest part of the island. Entering the mouth of the Brisbane River, the harbour-master's steam-launch conveyed on board Mr. Romilly, the Deputy Commissioner, and Mr. Chester, police-magistrate at Somerset and Thursday Island, who had the honour of hoisting the British flag at Port Moresby and taking possession of New Guinea in the name of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Next appeared H.M.S. "Gayndah," which had been specially constructed for the defence of the Port, to escort us up the river, and at 2 p.m. the "Governor Blackall" cast anchor opposite the Government Domain.

At this point in our narrative it may not be unfitting to give the reader a description of our gallant ship and the appointments made for