South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Saturday 4 July 1840, page 4


PROGRESS OF THE COLONY—FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 1840.

STATISTICAL information connected with South Australia, is naturally enough most anxiously sought after at home, by all those either inter-ested in the province, or desirous of obtaining

sufficient information to enable them to become so. As faithful chroniclers of its advancement, we have hitherto contributed, we hope it will be admitted, with some diligence, those evidences of our progress which have come before us in the course of our periodical labours. A half-yearly summary, however, or a concentrated view of our colonial operations during that period, we venture to think may be considered equally interesting and perhaps more satisfac-tory than the scattered notices which are given in our weekly sheet. In this hope we submit the following facts :—

In the last general notice of our progress, published in August, 1839, the population of the colony was stated at 8,500. This amount we have since ascertained was almost exactly correct. The arrivals since that period have increased the number to nearly 13,250—0f which about 6,700 are located in Adelaide and the villages in its immediate environs, and the remainder distributed throughout the agricul-tural and pastoral districts.

On the 30th June, 1839, the stock in the province was as follows:—sheep 58,500; bul-locks, cows, &c. 6,250 ; horses, 520; pigs, 1000; goats, 180.

On the 30th June, 1840, the colony posses-ses 186,000 sheep; 14,800 head of cows, &c; 1,250 horses; 3,600 pigs; and 350 goats. Showing at the close of one year, an increase, after satisfying the large consumption of the population, of 127,000 sheep ; 8,550 cows, heifers, and bullocks; 730 horses; 2,660 pigs; and 170 goats. In the above number

of sheep we have included 13,000 which have arrived overland from New South Wales during the present week. From advices just received, we learn that upwards of 40,000 sheep, 8,000 head of cattle, and 500 horses, are now on their route overland, and may be expected within the ensuing three months. The sales of stock have hitherto been most remunerative. Very large sums have been made, and we should add deservedly made, — by the enterprising individuals who have had sense enough to discredit the interested reports which have been so industriously circulated in the other colonies about the "poverty," "des-titution," "bubble," and "humbug" of South Australia; and who have ventured to bring their flocks and herds overland to our market. The demand for sheep for the last month has not been so brisk as usual; but the capital now on its way from England for in-vestment here, in that—the first staple of Australia—will soon restore the market to its wonted activity. The prices at the present moment, may be quoted as under :— Sheep from 26s. to 42s. Cows and heifers, from £9 to £18 Bullocks and steers, from £10 to £21 Horses, from £35 to £12o Pigs, from 25s. to £7 7s. Goats from £2 to £8 8s. One of the most frequent, and at the same time most unjust and inconsiderate subjects of reproach is, that we "grow nothing,"—that we "produce nothing'." Now, whatever may be the faults or errors of the colonists, we must deny in the most unequivocal manner, that there is anything of the festina lente in their character or proceedings. The first handful of settlers in 1837 and 1838, could not fairly be expected to grow an ample supply of grain for themselves and for the thousands of emigrants that were pouring in upon them. During the two first seasons of the settlement of South Australia, it must not be forgotten, they had no land surveyed and appropriated whereon they could proceed with their farming opera-tions. In point of fact, last year was the first in which it was practicable to commence grain growing. Nearly 500 acres were then fenced in and cultivated. At the present time, according to the most careful estimate we have been able to make, the number of acres in wheat alone exceeds 1,600 acres; and before the middle of November, we expect that there will be in maize and other crops throughout the province, considerably upwards of 2,000 acres. Judging from the activity with which fencing is proceeding in all directions, we may safely state the amount of land which will be in culti-vation in 1841, at 12,000 acres. But we shall be able in a few weeks to present our readers with the names of the owners and details of the crops in the ground at this time, and likely to be during next year, under the plough. For the present we must content ourselves with the above statement, which we believe to approximate as nearly as possible to the actual facts. It is thus most gratifying to prove that so far from our colonists being ob-noxious to the charge of "doing nothing" they have been most actively engaged in turning the unlimited agricultural capabilities of the colony to good account. We are fully war-ranted in asserting that the harvest of 1842 will see South Australia entirely independent of our neighbours for supplies of grain. A few years more and the probability is we shall be able to supply them. What we have done in wool and oil in the third year of our colonial existence may be gathered from the following official table of EXPORTS during the last six months :— Per John Pirie, 200 bales wool " Challenger, 22 bales wool " Katharine Stewart Forbes, 160 bales of wool, 595 barrels of oil, 650 bundles of whalebone, ten boxes minerals " Truganini, 500 bags wheat, 10 bales wool " Seppings, 28 bales wool " Hamilton, 43 bales wool, 5 bundles whale-bone " Waterwitch, 9 bales wool " Mary Ridgway, 212 bales wool " Minerva, 22 bales wool " Rapid, 250 bags wheat. In all, 706 bales of wool; 595 barrels of oil ; and 650 bundles of whalebone! A por-tion of the wheat only, we believe, was the produce of the colony. We have nearly prepared a full report of the imports for the last six months; but the absence of one or two official documents to which we are desirous to refer, obliges us to withhold its publication till next week. We give below the SHIPPING RETURN for the first six months of the present year. The corresponding return for the first half of 1839, gave the number of vessels at 99— the tonnage 21,109. The following return shows the number of vessels for the same period of 1840 to be 104, the tonnage 19,399. It must be carefully noted that about one-half of the number of vessels—the precise number was forty-four— entered in the return for 1839, were coasters employed in the import of stock and sheep. Since that time the overland route from New South Wales and Port Phillip has been fully established, and the introduction of sheep and other stock by sea has now en-tirely ceased. There are only three vessels in the above list which have landed sheep. The real commercial transactions of the colony, therefore, may be stated to have encreased nearly one-half:—

THE SURVEY—so long the subject of well-founded complaint, is now—thanks to the ability and energy of Lieut. Frome, the Sur-veyor General—in the most satisfactory state, alike as regards its expense and its efficiency. On the first point, it may be enough to state that the former cost of surveying per acre was seldom less than 3s., and much, we fear, doubled that sum. At present one party is surveying at an expence of 8½d. per acre, and we have good reason to believe that the future cost of the survey will not exceed one shilling per acre, a sum which, considering the price of labor, will certainly be regarded as exceedingly reasonable. We have been favored by the Surveyor General with the following interesting and important account of the progress and present state of the survey. From this valuable docu-ment it will be seen that there is now an abun dance of land surveyed in advance of the demand; and we state on the authority of Henry Nixon, Esq., of the house of H. Nixon and Co., the principal agents for the selection of land in the province, that the districts now open for selection contain land equal, if not superior in quality, to any yet appropriated. Emigrants at home, therefore, may freely dismiss all apprehensions regarding their advantageous location immediately on arrival.

To the south of Adelaide, the plain between the nearest range of hills and the coast, has long since been laid out into 134 and 80-acre sections, and thrown open for selection. This range, having a direction nearly south-west, meets the coast line about eight miles from Adelaide, and is crossed by the road leading to the southern districts at O'Halloran Hill, where its elevation is considerably diminished and the soil good. This part of the range is laid off into sections, and principally selected; and the entire tract of country onward between the coast line as far as Mount Terrible (a dis-tance of 17 miles) and the base of the Great Ironstone Range, of which this hill is the terminus, is divided into 80-acre sections. and open to the public. This district of available land, includes within its limits Hurtle Vale, Morphett's Vale, the Valley of the Onkapa-ringa, McLaren's Vale, the Aldinga Plains, Valley of the Kungarilla, Willunga, &c.; and its average mean length may be estimated at 16 miles, and its breadth at 10 miles. Crossing the Ironstone Range at Willunga, a belt of stunted stringy bark extends along its summit far about 3 miles; and at the foot of the descent, a road turns off to the south-west to Yankalilla and Rapid Bay. The principal southern road upon which consider-able sums have lately been expended, continues

onwards to Encounter Bay, branching off to Currency Creek, the lower Finniss, &c. across the sand basin formed by the sources of these streams, and over an undulating barren country, mostly covered with low scrub—but with abundance of fresh water.

The road to Yankalilla above alluded to, passes along the rich plains of the Myponga, now in progress of survey, keeping near the foot of the range, skirting Lovely Valley to Curracalinga, on the sea-coast—a distance of about 17 miles. From thence, crossing the Curracalinga, Bungala, Yankalilla, and several minor streams, all the available land along the shore, as far as Rapid Bay (formed by the north-west bluff), distant about 12 miles, is laid off into sections, and has been thrown open for selection. From this point, the surveys have not been carried along the coast further to the south towards Cape Jervis, as the soil fitted for agriculture is only to be found in small detached portions between the steep rocky range of hills and the sea-coast, on the margins of the numerous mountain streams. Returning up the Yankalilla, the whole of the land on each side of the river is surveyed and the plans are ready for exhibition of the splendid tract of agricultural country between its sources and those of the Inman. Down the Valley of the Inman, the survey is continued on to Rosetta Head, near Encounter Bay ; and a party will be detached to follow the coast (if possible) round Cape Jervis to the spot where it terminated at Rapid Bay. To the east of the Inman, the survey of the country along the coast is entirely finished; including the space between that river and the Hindmarsh, Encounter Bay, Freeman's Nob, and the outlet of the Murray, and from thence to Currency Creek, distant from Rosetta Head about 16 miles The northern shore of Lake Alexandrina, between the outlet of the lower Murray and the mouth of the Finniss and Hindmarsh Island are also surveyed, and laid down on a chart, on which are marked the soundings of the Lake, and the present channel to the mouth of the river Murray, with the eastern and western outline of the Lake as correctly as could be traced, with the means disposable for this service. The above surveys are all within the limits of districts A B C D E & F, reserved for selec-tion by the holders of preliminary land orders. The line passing close by the special survey of Currency Creek, which is completed, and the selection of the proprietors made. The adjoin-ing special survey of the Finniss is also just finished; and is connected at its northern extremity with a chain of other special surveys —the adjoining one, chosen by Mr Morphett, being likewise on the eve of completion. To the east of this is the special survey of Rankin and Mein, in the same state of forwardness— having on its north again a special survey lately claimed by Mr Davenport, not yet com-menced. Lying to the west of Mr Morphett's is the Meadows, just ready for selection, some of the sections in which are connected with those laid out in the Kungarilla Valley, within the preliminary district. To the north of the Meadows is the Three Brothers, of which the selection has been made. And on the north-east of its upper boundary lies the special survey of Mr Dutton, in which nearly all the sections are selected, and many occupied and under cultivation—and within the limits of which, is the thriving German village of Hahndorff.

Two special surveys on the sources of the

Onkaparinga, taken by the South Australian Company, and Mr Smillie, lie to the north of Mr. Dutton's, both of which are completed; and beyond these are three others, nearly ready for selection, on the sources and tributaries of the Torrens—the upper belonging to the Adelaide Survey Association, (granted them in lieu of one at Port Vincent, which has been relinquished) ; and the other two, the property of the South Australian Company, in which they are allowed to choose an additional 4000 acres for a special survey at Port Lincoln, also given up. The lowest of these termed the Chain of Ponds, is connected with the Para; nearly all the sections in which are occupied, and join the original surveys on the Torrens. The survey just alluded to as belonging to the Adelaide Association, extends to the north to the Sources of the Rhine—a small river flow-ing towards the Murray, and terminates at the head of Flaxman's Valley, in which flat the Gawler has its source, running to the north-east for a distance of about 18 miles, and turn-ing sharply round the Barossa Range, continu-ing on a south-westerly course to the sea-coast. In these vallies Mr Flaxman has selected seven special surveys, which are about one-half com-pleted. Immediately below these, also situated on the Gawler, is the special survey of Gilbert and Rowlands, which will be commenced as soon as that of Lyndoch Valley adjoining it, and which is now in progress, shall be com-pleted. Lower down the river and contiguous to Lyndoch Valley, is the survey at the junction of the Para and Gawler, at which point is situated the town of Gawler; and an interval of a few miles separates this from the special survey of Messrs Allen & Ellis, the lowest on the river, which is just completed, and extends to Port Gawler, within two miles of the sea-coast. These 26 special surveys are all combined, and form a continuous belt outside the pre-liminary districts, extending from the elbow of the Murray (near Encounter Bay) to the north, as far as Light's Pass, at the eastern extremity of the Barossa Range—a distance in a straight line of about 80 miles; and then turning abruptly to the south-west, to the sea-coast, on either bank of the river Gawler —a distance of nearly 60 miles. The remaining 10 special surveys are gene-rally unconnected, and at a greater distance from Adelaide. They consist of one on the Light, another on the Wakefield, and a third on the Broughton and Hutt rivers, taken by Mr Morphett; and two below the north-west bend of the Murray—none of which are yet commenced. Two lower down the Murray, also taken by Mr Morphett, and in progress nearly one-third finished. One belonging to Mr Gouger, on the eastern shore of Lake Alexandrina, close to the mouth of the upper Murray—to be commenced immediately. One at Port Lincoln, and another at Port Victoria — both in progress. The following table will show as nearly as they can be given without a very minute and tedious research, the quantities of land sur-veyed and selected in the different districts, also the number of acres already laid out in the special surveys and the probable quantity re-maining to be surveyed within their limits. It is impossible to estimate the proportion of land within the special surveys, which the proprie-tors will decline taking, in addition to the 4000 acres originally paid for in each, and which will, of course, be left for the selection of the public—but it will probably not be less than one-sixth of the whole number of acres.

Shipping Report from 1st January,

to 30th June, 1840.

Arrived.

Name.

Tons.

Where From.

No. of Psngrs.

Cargoes.

Jan. 2 New Zealander 3 Minerva 6 Mumford 7 Melrose 11 Rapid 19 Alice 21 Challenger 26 Lord Sidmouth 29 City of Adelaide Feb. 1 Hamilton 1 Abeona 3 Lively 4 Branken Moor 5 John 6 Java 6 Rajasthan 12 Augustus 14 Waterwitch 17 Guiana 23 K. S. Forbes 23 Porter 23 India 24 Lively 24 St Vincent 26 Indus 27 Victoria Mar. 2 Mary Ridgway 3 Minerva 7 Hero 7 Waterwitch 8 Truganini 10 Orissa 10 Tomatin 10 Baboo 11 Mary Ann 12 Victoria 12 Seppings 13 Psyche 15 Planter 16 Caledonia 19 City of London 21 Agenoria 23 Porter 23 St Vincent 24 Hero 29 Harvest Home 29 Brazil Packet 30 Elizabeth April 3 Victoria 4 Industry 4 Elizabeth Lloyd 5 Dorset 7 Waterwitch 8 Chellenger 8 Abeona 9 Eamont 10 John Pirie 10 David 11 Echo 15 Victoria 16 Morley 17 Warrior 18 Courier 19 Perseverance 23 Truelove 28 Sovereign 30 Hero May 2 Mary 8 Lady Emma 9 Minerva 9 Truganini 10 Comet 13 Porter 13 Waterwitch 11 Eliza 17 Essington 18 Alice 19 Waterwitch 20 Victoria 20 Frances 25 Shamrock 29 Challenger June 1 Indus 5 Victoria 7 Maria 8 John Pirie 9 Scout 10 Piscator 10 Minerva 11 Orleana 12 Brazeil Packet 12 Perseverance 13 Dorset 14 Planter 15 Truelove 17 Charles Kerr 18 Thirteen 18 Gunga 20 Victoria 26 Lively 27 Abeona 27 Alice 28 Victoria

60 89 168 289 169 30 80 200 280 248 99 30 347 472 1175 700 138 99 256 457 256 493 30 20 450 28 217 89 36 30 69 323 450 469 20 28 344 219 125 189 395 128 256 20 170 318 172 82 28 96 36 81 99 80 106 277 106 280 70 28 578 478 300 45 243 164 56 135 89 60 120 252 30 391 133 30 99 28 20 34 80 422 28 136 106 94 111 89 649 152 45 81 125 136 453 350 277 180 30 106 30 28

Bay of islands Kircaldy ... ... Mauritius Bay of Islands ... Launceston ... .. Port Lincoln .. Mauritius Hobart Town ... .. Ditto Launceston King George's Sound Ditto

London ... Ditto Ditto Ditto Singapore ••• Launceston Fisheries .. ... Encounter Bay Port Lincoln Greenock Port Lincoln .. Ditto Leith Kingscote ... ... Sydney ... King George's Sound Encounter Bay Ditto Hobart Town London Greenock Liverpool ... Kingscote Ditto Calcutta ... Balli Leith China London Hobart Town Port Lincoln ... Ditto Lombock Dundee ... ... Launceston Ditto Kingscote ... Launceston... Port Phillip Sydney ... Launceston Hobart Town Ditto Calcutta Sydney ... New Zealand Sydney Port Lincoln London ... Ditto Cape of Good Hope Port Phillip New Zealand Launceston Singapore ... ... Portland Bay ... Launceston Swan River Launceston Cape of Good Hope Port Lincoln ... Ditto London ... .. Launceston Pott Lincoln Launceston ... Kingscote Ditto Hobart Town .. Ditto Calcutta ... ... Kingscote Hobart town Kingscote Launceston Sydney ... ... Launceston London ... ... Launceston Port Phillip Sydney ... Ditto Kingscote London Ditto Singapore Sydney King George's Sound Hobart Town Port Lincoln Kingscote

— 5000 ft. timber, 1000 bshls. maize 2 merdiandize 1 2000 bags sugar, and sundries 1 2000 pieces timber — 700 sheep, 5 horses — coasting vessel — 100 bags dates 4 1000 sheep 4 merchandize 17 16 horses, sundries 4 sundries — ballast 67 merchandize 159 ditto 491 ditto 190 ditto 2 wheat, timber, sundries 4 timber and produce — 70 tons oil — oil from fisheries 2 ballast 20 British merchandize — coasting vessel — ditto 42 British merchandize — 30 tons stones 14 merchandize 3 ballast — coaster Government cutter — merchandize. produce 115 British merchandize 100 63 tons salt, sundries 154 British merchandize — stones — ditto 7 flour, wheat, sugar, sundries —1800 bags rice, tobacco, sundries 1 flour, merchandize 6 tea, sugar, sundries 22 flour, timber, sundries 10 produce, merchandize — ballast — ditto — rice, sugar, tobacco 2 manufactured goods 8 flour, produce, sundries — flour, oats, bran — stones 4 flour, timber, sundries 2 flour, soup, provisions 13 Colonial produce and merchandize 7 ditto ditto 2 45 tons flour, sundries 3 60 tons potatoes, sundries 1 wheat, rice, sundries 18 merchandize — timber and produce — produce and merchandize — from coasting voyage 158 British merchandize 131 ditto 2 wines and spirits 4 provisions and produce 5 New Zealand produce, timber 3 flour, produce, sundries — sugar, timber, sundries — flour, potatoes 8 400 sheep, 8 horses, sundries 19 flour and sundries 3 flour, oats, sundries — wines and Cape produce Governor and party tender on brig 155 British merchandize — potatoes and timber — coasting vessel — flour and other produce — stones — ditto — potatoes and timber 4 Colonial produce 5 108 tons flour, and merchandize — stones 3 potatoes, flour, rice, and sundries — stones 3 produce and merchandize 8 flour and merchandize — flour, oats, timber 299 British merchandize 2 Colonial produce 5 ditto merchandize 10 merchandize — pork, sundries — stones 119 British merchandize 49 ditto 2 sugar, cedar, &c. 5 merchandize 7 pine deals 7 potatoes, flour, &c. — ballast stones — stones