STEAMER N2

Western Mail, Perth, 19 May, 1916

COMMISSION ON CRUISE

ON BOARD THE N2.

BROOME TO FREMANTLE.

...If they have not made discoveries in respect 

to tropical agriculture, possibilities, it is because 

tide, time, and circumstances prevented inland 

investigation. Having taken the evidence of 

everybody concerned in the great pearling 

industry in Broome which lives and breathes 

and moves absolutely in M.O.P.- the commission 

departed from the metropolis of the .North-West 

on the evening of May 1, in the State steamer N2, 

in company with a consignment of between 250 

and 300 bullocks shipped at Derby.

The N2 is reputedly a good boat in rough

weather, she plods along steadily under

various conditions, without ever developing 

a turn of speed, but she is neither an ideal 

passenger nor an ideal cattle boat and her 

limitations, not to say deficiencies, are 

significantly outstanding.

One must not look a gift horse in the

mouth, or a borrowed steamer in the 

engine room ; and if we are obliged to 

use a German interned steamer, we 

cannot very well complain that this 

Teutonic "forced loan" is not up to par. 

Engine-room trouble commenced even

before leaving Broome. The boilers were

in default. Naturally the run to Hedland

was not a track record, and as the weather

was breathlessly calm and hot, the unlucky 

bullocks below suffered severely.

They did not complain - they simply died,

despite wind sails and all other alleviants

that could he applied in a boat not built

for cattle transport. Possibly it did not

matter so much about making good time

to Hedland, for when the N2 arrived there

in the early dawn, she found the Minderoo

anchored outside, waiting for flood tide

to enter. It is worthy of remark that the 

Railway Department's notorious 

punctiliousness about train-times is 

demonstrated most signally in respect to the

Marble Bar tram. The Minderoo and N2 were 

both lying outside all night; but the one train 

a week to the Bar, was religiously despatched 

to time next morning before two steamers with 

mails and passengers from North and South, 

could get into port.

The run to Balla Balla developed further weakness 

in the boilers ; and when the picturesque wreck 

relics of the great Koombana storm on Depuch 

Island where the battered stern and twisted ribs

of the old Crown of England, still bear testimony 

to what may happen in that anchorage were left, 

more bullocks had to be thrown to the sharks.

The run to Point Sampson jetty developed 

further eccentricities in the N2's machinery; 

and her cargo shipment had to be 

accomplished by the light of oil flares.

The German dynamo had struck and

darkness mitigated by candles in 

improvised holders, reigned aboard the State

steamer. The ingenuity and perseverance

of her engineers however prevailed before

Onslow was reached. There was no chance

of a run ashore at the metropolitan centre

of the Ashburton; no possibility of learning

at first hand anything about its inland lead

treasures, which donkey and camel teams

are to drag 80 miles to the port. Neither

was it possible to see anything of the

Norwegian whaling settlement at Point

Cloates, where according to report, whale

-flesh is converted into excellent fertiliser,

whale skeletons milled into bone dust, and

jetties, tram lines, and buildings testify

to the energy and success with which the

hardy Nörseman prosecutes an industry

which Australians practically ignore. More

bullocks went overboard before passing

Point Cloates and Nor'-west Cape - where

the stranded Mildura still perpetuates the

memory of a great cattle-shipping disaster; 

and where Exmouth Gulf provides excellent 

grazing ground for the succulent dugong.

Rounding the cape the sunny calmness

which had proved so fatal to so many

bullocks gave place to invigorating breezes

and a lower temperature; but the N2's

boilers were still in default, and it

was not till about 5 in the morning

that Babbage Island jetty was made. 

Hospitable Carnarvon intended to give the

Pearling Commission a reception; but all

that could be done was to take on board

what passengers had waited throughout the

night and push on to Sharks Bay.

The Commissioners, however, were not

destined to inhale the fragrance of Denham's

decaying pearl oyster sheds, or hear all

about dredging leases, the price of pearls,

and the low value of pearl oyster shell

a vastly different thing from W.O.P. A

big boat like the N2 rung serious risks

among the sandy shallows and uncertain

tides of Sharks Bay. The Koombana

roosted on a sandbank there for over 

a week on her first Nor'-West trip; but the

N2 had better luck. A beacon, had been

washed away months ago and the steamer

then some 16 miles from Denham took a

shoal. There was a gentle bump and sliding

motion and she stopped. She would not back 

off; anchors were got out, and hawsers tugged 

in vain. It was a case of waiting for next flood: 

and if that failed, there was with 10 days of 

neap tides following, the prospect of waiting 

for the next spring. In that case all the cattle

must have been sacrificed for fodder, and

especially water, would have utterly failed.

Luckily, however, the N2 came off at flood

tide, after 20 hours aground, and transferring 
what cargo and passengers she had for 
Denham to a lighter, made the best of her 
way back past Cape Inscription lighthouse,
and thence southward to Geraldton. 

The delays and detentions had caused the 

water supply to run short; the decrepit dynamo 

again temporarily defied the engineer, and 

when Champion Bay was reached in the early 

morning, there was nothing to be done but take

some Geraldton water aboard, and make

for Fremantle as speedily as possible. The

chairman and one of the Commissioners

proceeded to Perth by train; the rest

went on by the steamer, and learned by

practical experience the root and basis of

the Geraldtonians' objection to pay rates for 

their water supply. 

An uneventful - except for boiler deficiencies 

and a big list - run to Fremantle terminated 

yesterday morning a trip commenced at 

Broome on Monday May 1. The cattle 

mortality was heavy - 19 beasts being

officially reported as gone overboard. If 

the N2 cannot be laid up tor the thorough 

overhaul which her machinery most urgently

needs, it would seem that, at all events,

Sharks Bay should be cut out of her 

running list. 

Humorous and enlightening. The point is reinforced, the coastal service had clearly deteriorated since the glorious days of Koombana.

courtesy Trove.