south-east extremity of the settlement, raised on piles, was the
Government-house, fronted on the harbour side by a small battery. Behind
the table-plain, the land, producing very coarse grass, falls away to the
south-west, and some clear patches which from lying in a low situation,
are flooded during the rains, form tolerable soil. Generally speaking,
however, there is a great deficiency of land fit for cultivation. On some
of the best spots lying to the southward and westward, gardens have been
commenced with some success.

Before proceeding further with our journal of events at Port Essington,
it may be proper to introduce some brief account of the state and
prospects of the settlement at that place. The reader will remember an
allusion in a previous chapter to the departure from Sydney of the
expedition despatched for the purpose of forming it, as well as some
remarks on the policy of giving it a purely military character. That
expedition reached its destination on October 27, 1838, having taken
formal possession on the way, of Cape York and the adjacent territory.
Sir Gordon Bremer's first care was to select a site for the proposed
township; and after due deliberation, a spot was fixed on which was
thought to combine all desirable advantages: as good soil, the
neighbourhood of fresh water, and easy approach from the ships in port.
In the selection of the spot to be occupied by a settlement, the
capabilities of the soil must ever be the first consideration; still,
however, there will always exist an objection on the ground of its great
distance of 16 miles from the mouth of the harbour. A similar
disadvantage in the Falkland Islands, proved of great detriment to the
settlement in Berkeley Sound.

The site of Victoria, for such was the name bestowed, in honour of her
Majesty, on the new settlement, is raised in the loftiest part about
fifty feet above high-water level. Upon it the plans of a number of
cottages and gardens were rapidly marked out; and it was not long before
this hitherto desolate spot presented the appearance of a large
straggling village. A pier was speedily run out into the sea; and a good
road cut to it. The church, also, which I have before mentioned, was soon
to be distinguished, rising above the Government cottage and officers'
quarters; while in order to ensure an ample supply of water, deep wells
were sunk on the tableland within the settlement, which fully answered
expectation, the water pro