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Appendix No. 4.

THURSDAY ISLAND.

(Confidential.)

My Lord,

354

Inclosure 1 in No. 105.

The Marquis of Normanby to the Earl of Kimberley.

Government House, Melbourne, February 5, 1882. I HAVE the honour to forward, at the request of Colonel Scratchley, his Report on the defences of Thursday Island, together with original Report with letter and papers.

Inclosure 2 in No. 105.

I have, &c.

(Signed)

NORMANBY.

Colonel Scratchley to the Earl of Kimberley.

My Lord,

Melbourne, February 4, 1882.

IN compliance with your Lordship's instructions, communicated to me by his Excellency the Governor of Victoria, I proceeded to Thursday Island during the month of November, and have now the honour to submit my Report.

I much regret that press of work in the Australian Colonies prevented my visiting Torres Straits at an earlier date, and interfered with the completion of the Report.

I have, &c.

(Signed) P. H. SCRATCHLEY, Colonel, R.E.

Government Settle- ment shifted from

Island.

Inclosure 3 in No. 105.

Report on the Defences of Thursday Island (Torres Strait), by Colonel P. H. Scratchley, C.M.G., R.E.

THURSDAY ISLAND, in Torres Strait, 20 miles north-west of Cape York, belongs to the Colony of Queensland. In 1878 the boundary of the Colony was extended to include the whole of the Strait, up Somerset to Thursday to a short distance from the southern coast of New Guinea, and all the islands within this boundary

were annexed.*

About the same time the Government Settlement at Somerset, a place on the main- land, within 5 miles south-east of Cape York, was shifted to the island. As the trade route through Torres Strait was assuming great importance, a port was required" which, in addition to its being a harbour of refuge and port of call, would be, to all intents and purposes, a harbour suited for general traffic, and, at the same time, the head-quarters of the pearl shell fishery." Moreover, Somerset had become inconvenient as a port of call, owing to a change in the route taken by vessels passing through Torres Strait from the eastward, neither could it be expected to answer the requirements of a harbour of refuge.

Description of pearl shell fishery.

Shipping passing through Torres Strait.

Commercial and strategical value of Thursday Island.

Distances from Thursday Island to different places.

As the head-quarters of the pearl shell fishery, Thursday Island is well placed. This industry requires some notice. From a Report prepared in 1879 by Mr. Chester, the resident magistrate, it will be seen that 667 men (30 Europeans and 637 coloured men) and 98 schooners, ketches, and row-boats were engaged in the fisheries, and the estimated value of the shell, &c., for two years (1st May, 1877, to the 30th April, 1879) amounted to 113,0007., not including about 7,000%, worth of bêche-de-mer (sca slug), for the collection of which 6 boats and 47 men were employed.

But the increasing value of Thursday Island-

—as lying in the trade route between China, Japan, and the Eastern Colonies-will be better understood from the following particulars concerning the shipping passing through Torres Strait :--

In 1880, of 61 steam-ships (56,764 tons) which proceeded via Prince of Wales Channel, 37 (27,286 tons) called at the island; and for ten months of this year the numbers are 64 (68,005 tons) out of 75 steamers (74,161 tons). At the present time there are two lines of large cargo steamers, which run monthly between Sydney, Brisbane, Port Darwin (in the northern territory of South Australia), and Hong Kong. There are also the Queensland monthly mail-steamers to the East, Europe, and Great Britain; and a line of coasting steamers, to work in connection with the mail service, has been established. It is expected that in a short time the mail-steamers (carrying cargo, mails, and passengers) will run every fortnight, and that, in the course of a few years, nearly all the trade between Queensland, the East, and Europe will be diverted northward, instead of passing, as at present, viâ Melbourne, the Cape, and Suez Canal. Thus the exports of gold, copper, tin, coal, wool, hides, tallow, frozen and preserved meats, from the Settlements possessing outlets on the eastern coast of Queensland, would be forwarded viâ Torres Strait.

It is evident, therefore, that to Queensland the possession of Torres Strait is commercially of vital importance. This importance will go on increasing with the prosperity of the Colony. Moreover, its strategical value in the event of war cannot be overrated. If the Strait were occupied by an enemy, the effect on the commerce of the Australian Colonies would be disastrous. If adequately protected, the trade of Queensland and the communication between the east and west coasts of the Colony would be covered, whilst a connecting link would be maintained between our naval stations in the East and the great naval depôt which should be established at Sydney.

The distances from Thursday Island to the undermentioned places should be noted:-Saigon, 3,000; Singapore, 1,000; Ceylon, 4,500; Batavia (Java), 2,400; Port Darwin, 750; Point Parker-the terminus on the Gulf of Carpentaria for the proposed Transcontinental Railway of Queensland-450; Brisbane, 1,400; Sydney, 1,880; and New Caledonia, 1,550 miles. The Queensland telegraphic system

* Under the authority of Letters-Patent, dated 10th October, 1878, and an Act of the Queensland Parliament (43 Vict. No. 1).

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