The following summary of correspondence between Governor Bowen and the Secretary of State for the Colonies gives information in addition to that furnished in "The Subdivision of Australia," page xiv., relating to the readjustment of the Queensland western boundary:—

On 30th September, 1860, Sir George Bowen—in transmitting an Address passed by the Queensland Legislature asking that "the western boundary of Queensland should be declared to extend at least so far as to include the Gulf of Carpentaria, without which declaration the Legislature would not feel authorised in taking steps towards the development of the colony in that direction"—referred to the opinion of Mr. A. C. Gregory, then Surveyor-General, that "a boundary at the 141st meridian would just cut off from Queensland the greater portion of the only territory available for settlement, i.e., the Plains of Promise, and the only safe harbour, i.e., Investigator Road, in the Gulf of Carpentaria." The Governor added that until receipt of the Duke of Newcastle's despatch of 21st October, 1859, enclosing the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown, the general belief here was that the western boundary of Queensland was identical with the eastern boundary of Western Australia, that is, with the 129th degree of east longitude. But now the Law Officers had declared expressly that the 141st meridian was the western boundary, he urged that the prayer of the local Legislature should be complied with by extending the boundary to the 138th meridian of east longitude.

On 8th December, 1860, Governor Bowen again wrote to the Colonial Office urging that the boundary should be extended, and contending that the question was of Imperial as well as colonial importance. Replying on 26th February, 1861, the Duke of Newcastle said that South Australia had asked for the territory desired by Queensland, and that certain gentlemen in Victoria were desirous of forming a settlement on the northern coast of Australia. His Grace added that there were doubts whether the Government had the power to annex the territory as desired, and if these doubts had any foundation he would submit a Bill to the Imperial Parliament to remove them. In September, 1861, Sir George Bowen again urged the annexation of the territory, remarking that "Queensland can gain little but trouble and expense from undertaking the management and protection of any future settlement on the Gulf of Carpentaria; for it is certain that so soon as it becomes self-supporting it will demand to be erected into a separate colony." On 14th December following the Duke of Newcastle wrote to the Governor stating that he had "no objection to the proposal that this territory should be temporarily annexed to the colony of Queensland, and accordingly that Letters Patent would be issued for giving effect to this arrangement under 24 and 25 Vict., cap. 44." But his Grace warned the Governor that the annexation would probably be revoked when the growth of population or other circumstances rendered separation desirable in the interests of the new territory. He closed with these words—"I am not prepared to abandon definitely, on the part of Her Majesty's Government, the power to deal with districts not yet settled, as the wishes or convenience of the future settlers may hereafter require."

APPENDIX B.