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Sir Charles Macarthy in August, 1837, and
liis first position . under the Government
was tliat of pilot. Two years later Captain
Quin was appointed Assistant Harbounuas-
ter, under Captain Lipson. Subsequently,
on the arrival of Sir George Grey, he, with
others, was retrenched, and reduced to the
position of eliief pilot. In 1819 he took
charge of the GovernmenttugAdelaide,and
he held this position for five and a half
years. , Eventually he had superintendence
of the tug, and was at a later date appoint
ed Harbourmaster, which position he
occupied for twenty-six years, resigning
olUce in June, 1882.
Amongst the earliest vessels to arrive at
I'ort Adelaide were the Rapid, Tarn o'
!81ianter, William Hutt, and Mary Ann.
These all arrived prior to June 1, 1837,
and were thus the forerunners of
a long line of sailing vessels and
steamers which have made Port Adelaide
a place of call. It is instructive - as well
as interesting to compare some of the early
shipping records with those of a later-
period. Thus there were at Port Adelaide
at the time of its proclamation tire follow
ing vessels:—Courier, 102 tons, from EoiO-
don; Ituna, 221 tons, from London; Mar
tin Lrrther, 445 tons, from Greenock;
Mary Dugdale, 375 tons, from Bristol and
Lublin; John Pirie, 106 tons, from Kan
garoo Island; Victoj-ia, 28 tons, from Kan
garoo Island; Truelove, 133 tons, from
Kangaroo Island; Rairid, 153 tons, from
Port Plrilhp; Frances, 216 tons, from Ho-
bart Town; Governor Gawler, 15 tons, from
Lucounter Bay; Jane Flaxman, 15 tons,
from Port Lincoln; Alice, 30 tons, from
Port Lincoln; Gnina, 256 tons, from Singa
pore; and Enterprise, 155 tons, from Lon
don. Compare this list with the vessels
in harbour on the corresponding day of
1899. Tliere were at tl-uit date thirty-
seven vessels at the wharfs, of which ten
^ere oversea traders, seven were intercolo
nial, and the remainder coasters. The lar
gest Was the steamer Wilcannia, of 3,887
tons. The aggregate tonnage of the extra-
colonial vessels was 15,455 tons, and inter
colonial 6,340 tons. Ships now-a-days re
main in poi't for so short a time that even
a week may aJord a great contrast in the
matter of tonnage. Thus, if the enormous
growth of trade is to be truly gauged, Octo
ber 14, 1840, with its aggregate of 2,250 tons
of shipping at Port Adelaide should be
compared with October 7, 1899. At the
latter date. Port Adelaide was particularly
busy. Tliere were at tlie wharfs vessels
representing 44,000 tons, of wliich 11 were
steamers of 31,369 tons. These figures speak
eloquently of the growth of steam. It is
further interesting to note tliat of the 11
steamers 5 with an aggregate tonnage of
21,351 tons were deep-sea traders.
In the early days the trade of Port Ade
laide was largely confined to interchange
with the neighhonring colonies. During
tlie fii-st quarter of 1844 the tonnage which
entered the Port amounted to 2,168 tons, of
which 1,388 tons was engaged intercolo-
nially. During the third quarter of the
same year 17 vessels arrived, of which only
one was a deep-sea craft. An idea of the
growth of the shipping trade will be ob
tained fiom the following figures, showing
the arrivals at Port Adelaide for the years
mentioned:—
Year.
No. of Ships. Tons.
1817
150
31,701
IStS
215
10,610
1819
277
80,623
1859
338
87,880
i
1S09
108
]3-2,-t:i9
i
1879
032
328,779
1
1889
021
811,5:18
1S9S
815 1,513,200
The growth of tonnage has been continu
ous, thougli this has not altogether been the
eiuic with the number of vcs.-iel3 visiting the
poi't.
Tlie facilities for handling cargoes in the
early days were not to bo compared with
what they are to-day. In the fifties tlie
landing of 130 tens of goods at Maclaren
Wharf in ten hours was considered to he
a smart piece of work. Nowadays Port Ade
laide stei-edores, who have gained a repu
tation for efBcicnry which extends to the
other colonies, can handle as much as 800
tons of cargo in the same space of time. A
gi-cat transformation has been efliected in
the method of stowing wool, and for this
Mr. Joseph Stone, who still resides at Port
Adelaide, is largely to be thanked. As far
hack as 1844 Mr. Stone dumped wool in
Fort Adelaide for a little ship called tlie
Ouiiga. Tlic work was done hv the aiil of
a small liydratilk- ]iress, in a shed where the