Moreton Bay Courier (Brisbane), Saturday
19 November 1859, page 4
The proposed
telegraph line to England
Relative to this project, Mr. John Douglas, M.P. for the Downs, addresses
our contemporary, the North Australian, as follows:
Sydney, 9th November, 1859.
SIR, In the course of some enquiries 1 have been making in connection
with the attempts which have been made to form n settlement on the north coast
of Australia, 1 have been placed in possession of the instructions addressed by
Sir Thomas Brisbane to Captain Barlow, the Commandant of the Forces, ordered to
Raffles Bay in 1824. They seem to me to be peculiarly pregnant with useful
advice; and, as I understand that they have not previously been published, I
gladly place them at your disposal, for I am sure they will be interesting to
that portion of the public who anticipate the formation of settlements in
tropical Australia. The time is fast approaching when we must consider the
question calmly.
I grow in my conviction that the line of telegraph which is to connect
us with England must, wherever it is possible, be continental rather than
oceanic. Mr. Gisborne, with whom I have frequently discussed the subject, and
who is a most enthusiastic exponent of his project, strongly urges the oceanic
route on the grounds that, if he can only get his guarantee, the thing will be
done in eighteen months. He says (when I advocate the overland line), that I
wish to kill two birds with one stone -to open out country and set up the wire-
I confess that I do. I believe that the original outlay, construction and
protection included, would be less: and I am convinced that, the indirect advantages
arising from a land line, would enormously exceed those of a marine line. Communications
would be more certain, defects would be more easily remedied, and thus think
what a splendid, strategic line we should have from which to advance in order to
occupy the valleys of the Burdekin and the Lynd, and from which as from a base
of operations we could proceed to possess ourselves of the whole of the Cape
York peninsula.
Colonization by telegraph would be a new feature in the history of
civilization. We could thus give a soul to silence. You remember the Mosaic
phenomenon which extracted water from the rock-; there were scoffers then, I
doubt not, who disputed its possibility till it was absolutely proved; but the
creative power existed then and still exists. Here we have an opportunity of
exercising it intelligently; the multitude, headed by Mr. John Black, the
present candidate for East Sydney, whom I should be sorry to be supposed capable
of comparing to Korah, are even now murmuring for the imaginary flesh-pots of
the Land League; if I might make so bold, I might, perhaps, be permitted to
call their attention to the more substantial milk and honey which I firmly believe
they may extract out of Queensland and the vast territory which the telegraph
will traverse.
I have a shrewd suspicion that if Mr. Gregory, the explorer, had three
hundred thousand pounds or so placed to his credit in the bank, and if he were
told to carry out a line from the heads of the Isaac to Port Essington, and to
do it in three years, he would tell you that the thing might be done. Would Mr.
Gregory, who knows so much of that country, tell us what he thinks about it?
Mr. Gisborne will do the cable part I dare say as well as it can be
done. His great ambition is to land it somewhere on the Australian continent. He
is not greedy to get a coast line; but he is of course naturally desirous that
the point where he brings his cable ashore should be at once en rappor with Sydney, Melbourne, and
Adelaide.
I am, Sir, Your obedient servant
JOHN DOUGLAS.
------------------Government House, Parramatta,
14th August, 1824.
SIR,-Captain Bremer, of his Majesty’s ship Tamar, having reached Port
Jackson with instructions from the British Government to fix a settlement on
the north-west coast of New Holland, I have been pleased to select you to
command the military force embarked for the purpose of forming this
establishment at such point of the shore or island contained between the west
coast of Bathurst Island and the east side of Coburg Peninsula, as shall be
deemed by the naval commander the best calculated for a military station destined
to afford protection to our Indian commerce.
The care of your subsistence reposes in the branch of the commissariat
that accompanies you, and measures will be adopted to ensure your constant supply
from hence. To guard against accident, however, you should husband as much as
possible your resources of salt meat. This you will be enabled to effect with
ease, by the abundance you can obtain at all times of fish, turtle, or
kangaroo. The point of debarkation having been made known to you by Captain
Bremer, it will be your first care to choose a site for the erection of such works
as will secure you from insult. The natives are understood to be ferocious; to
assure your protection, therefore, the Lady Nelson, which attends you, is
instructed to remain with you. Captain Bremer has been also directed by the
Lords of the Admiralty to tarry in the neighbourhood of your settlement until
the arrangement which you shall have effected cause you to feel secure. After rendering
yourself free from attack, your attention will next be directed to protect yourself
from the weather. In a tropical climate, seated near the tenth parallel of
latitude, an elevated position for your fort will be judicious, not only in a
military point of view, but when seen also with regard to the health of its
garrison. I need not advert to the expedition with which all this ought to be accomplished.
One month after your arrival will not have passed by ere the rainy season will
have commenced. The treatment of the diseases of that tropical climate are left
with confidence to the skill of the medical officer who accompanies you. To
prevent the causes of sickness under a vertical sun, much can be accomplished,
however, by every officer. The exposure of the bare head, for instance, to the
direct rays of heat is in all cases fatal. A single standing order is
sufficient to avert this evil. Much, too, may be effected with reference to the
health of your soldiers by supporting by your example the cheerfulness of their
spirit in a situation naturally beset at its threshold with some difficulties.
But the grand preservation of their health will be a constant attention upon
your part to render their labours uniform. The work of tomorrow ought in all
cases to be exactly equal to the fatigue of today. All change from a state of
continued rest to a state of continued action, but in particularly, from the
latter to the former, are prejudicial to the human constitution, and in a
tropical climate sow with more certainty the seeds of illness. A fort, a
barrack, a provision store, and a garden are the only public establishments
that you will require. The limited physical means placed under your orders
should be employed, after these have been provided, in giving assistance as well
as protection to the earliest settlers under your auspices. These preliminaries
being adjusted, you will be unceasing in your vigilance with respect to the
great object of your establishment, the commerce of the United Kingdom with the
Indian Archipelago. Wherever your settlement may be fixed, you will find it
visited regularly about the beginning of every year by fleets of Malays. These
adventurers come from Macassar with the north-west monsoon in proas of 25 tons
burthen, manned by as many sailors. A marine animal called the Trepang or
Beche-de-mer is the object of their visit. Freighted with this they set sail
for Timor-lanet, to dispose of their cargo to the Chinese, who esteem it a
great delicacy for the table. They are rigid Mahometans, and will feel the
greatest horror if they discover that any part of your food is pork. As much as
possible let even this prejudice not be offended.
The Indian Islands present to us an immense country, blessed with a
fertile soil, teeming with various produce, easy of access to the rude
navigator by the tranquillity of the seas that surround them. The Malay race
are the most enterprising traders of these seas. Laden with Indian cotton,
gold, lollara, nutmegs, camphor, frankincense, and tortoise-shell, their
vessels pass continually the shore which you are about to inhabit, seeking the
westernmost verge of the Indian Archipelago, for the purpose of procuring in
exchange opium, European broadcloths, European cottons, unwrought iron, and
tobacco. I have been directed, in a despatch from Lord Bathurst, to impress
upon you the necessity of not molesting these traders, but holding out to them,
on the contrary hand the strongest assurance of your friendship.
To crown the present undertaking with success, it seems to be necessary
to support the British flag only with a military force competent to secure the
persons and the property of individuals who are willing to trade under its
auspices. Throughout the wide expanse of all India the native is master of
nothing; his life, his property, his industry his wealth, all belong to his
sovereign. The proudest instance of the success of security is to be found in
the history of Penang. It was a barren sand, remote from the ordinary route of
commerce; it was found without People; yet such was the growth of its prosperity
that in twenty years it reckoned as many thousand inhabitants. Let this be your
example. Let the Indian taste on the shores of New Holland, for the first time
in his life, the sweets of private property. Let the liberty of settlement be
laid open to all. Study with unceasing assiduity the character of your motley
population. Learn their language, their customs, their usages, their
institutions, and pay a respect to them all; but leave the interests of commerce
to herself. Remember that her golden rules are but three- freedom, security,
and competition. Then will the native merchant accumulate under the banners of
the British flag, the scattered produce of the Eastern Archipelago, and the
European trader, freed from the risk of a direct intercourse with the half civilized
inhabitants of a thousand different islands, will be led with cargoes to your market.
Then ultimately will British and Indian capital in union waft silently, but
with more certainty than any further attempts at vain negotiations, the
manufactures of the United Kingdom into the heart of China and Japan, and
effectually pave the way for the final introduction among millions of human beings
of the political institutions and the religion of Europe.
THOMAS BRISBANE
To Captain Morris Barlow, Commanding the military expedition embarked
for the north-west coast of New Holland