There is room for two or three tolerably sized vessels in Victor Harbour,
which is in longitude 138 {188 in published text} degrees 38 minutes 0
seconds and in latitude 35 degrees 32 minutes, and in certain seasons of
the year it may be deemed secure, if it were not liable to other
objections, but I have heard it stated by an experienced seaman,
one whose intimate knowledge of this part of the coast of South
Australia is indisputable, that there is anchorage under the lea of
Freeman's Nob, and a small island off it, sufficient for two or
three vessels of 250 or 300 tons, altogether preferable to either
of those I have mentioned, as being more sheltered, and having better
holding ground--but we must not forget that it is deeper in the bay,
and there would consequently be a greater difficulty in beating out;
but the truth is that the importance and capabilities of these
harbours will only be developed as the wants of the colonists
render it necessary for them to have ports in this vicinity. When the
country to the eastward of the mountains shall be more thickly peopled,
and when the rich and fertile valleys of the Inman, the Hindmarsh and
Currency Creek, and the available country between the two last, be more
generally cultivated, and when the mines at the Reedy Creek and other
places are at full work, the want of a harbour at Encounter Bay will be
sufficiently apparent.
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