AustLit

Meston here recalls stories of exploration and settlement associated with the coast of northern Cape York from Weymouth Bay to Somerset, a town expected to develop as a major port. He refers to the tragic Kennedy expedition of 1848, and praises the loyalty and rescue efforts of Jackey (Galmarra): 'Had that aboriginal not been one of the party, not a soul would have survived, and Kennedy's fate would have been shrouded in the dark, impenetrable mists that have so far concealed the fate of Leichhardt, lost for ever in the same year.' Meston gives some of the history of Somerset, on the basis of his own observations including visits to the cemetery, and provdes selected facts about the nearby Aboriginal population. He also describes the massacre of whites at Point Vallack, three miles from Somerset He praises the present owner of the property and his family, relatives of the Frank and Alick Jardine famous for overlanding cattle from Bowen to Somerset in 1864.