21 / 25
]5
yoar.? later lie became master of tlie tug. In
1S5G he was sent as Head Keeper to the
newly-constructed Troubridge Lighthouse,
and in 1862 was transferred to Cape Wil-
loughby as Head Keeper. This position he
retained until the end of 1893, wlien he re
signed owing to an accident. In spite of
his mi.shap Mr. Carter i.s still hale.
The present Port has been at least twice
threatened with destruction. In 1840 the
new settlement was swept by a disastrous
lire, and on November 9, 1857, there was a
serious conflagration. In 1866 an unusuallj'
high tide swamped most houses, and des
troyed the greater par-t of the contents. It
may be mentioned that scai'cely anj' \ei-y
old landmarks o.£ -"he early Port are stand
ing to-day. Almost the only exceptions arc
the wooden house near the To\ni Hall, the
framework for which wa.s imimrled from
hhigland; the chaff-store in Nile-slreet, for
merly occupied by IMessrs. Jones,Parry,and
Co., and a couple of coltage.s. For some
years the first-named was the head-quar
ters of the Trinity Board. In the first
year of its existence Port Adelaide enjoyed
"but one mail from Adelaide a day. Under a
new arrangement which came into-effect
that year, it wa.-^ announced that the Port
Adelaide po.stinan would leave the General
Post-Oflice at 11 o clock in the morning,
and proceed direct to the Port. The chief,
if not tho only source of .su|iply of fresh
water was a well sunk by the -South Austra
lian Oorapany on a sandy patch near where
Mr. Pletoher's slip is now at Birkenhead.
Tlie water was taken aci-oss the river in
casks by means of a flat pontoon, and, in
the absence of horse power, the casks were
rolled to the customers. Reference has been
made to the building up of the Port with
silt taken from the river. It is noteworthy
that the fi-i-st dredging was done, not by
steam, but by suoon barges worked by
•hand.
hfr. A. E. .Sawtell has in his possession
an interesting old chart of the Port Ade
laide River, and from it some idea can be
obtained of the deepening which has been
done. Tlie depth of waller at the outer
harbour in 1839 is shown as 12 ft, and at
different spots in the natural channel 18 to
24 ft. At the inner bar in the vicinity of
Schnapper Point there nais but -9 ft'., add
thence onwards to a point opposite the
North Arm, the site of the '"future port
already surveyed and sold,"- from 12 to
21 ft! Here anchored ""the'lai-gest vessel
that has yet entered fdie harbour, the Asia
of 525 tons." "Where the Ocean Steamers'
IVIiarf now stands the depth was not more
than 18 ft. To-day the outer bar has "25 ft.
of water, and throughout the whole course
of the channel soundings reveal from 23 up
to 27 ft. The historic chart was compiled
from the survey of Colonel Light.
mQiguO
'ft
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W.If, ThoniM & Co.,Printers,Orenioll Street, Avlelalde.