A graphic of 'Hump Bong' from the Picturesque Atlas Of Australia:
The Brisbane Courier Friday 19 July 1867 Page 3
REDCLIFFE RESERVE.
(BY A CORRESPONDENT.)
"Of the agricultural condition of this part of the Redcliffe Reserve, vulgarly called Humpy Bong, very little has been said, as it is rather an out-of-the-way place, but still it deserves some mention in your excellent paper, as things look very thriving down there. Humpy Bong is, as many are aware, a peninsula, joined to the main-land by a neck of land not, in some places, more than a mile and a half wide. It contains about 7 or 8 square miles, and is washed on three sides by the waters of Moreton Bay, on the remaining side is Hay's Inlet, which is about half a mile at the mouth, and is navigable for vessels of 50 or 100 tons some 6 miles of it. The eastern shore is bold and rocky, with a magnificent sandy beach, and from some of the headlands, such as Redcliffe Point and "Cooturumba", beautiful views may be had of Moreton Island, Bribie's Island, the Bay, and shipping."
"The soil is various; the eastern and north-eastern parts of Humpy Bong have a fine red soil, similar to that at Cleveland and Redland Bay, but along the edge of Hay's Inlet is by far the finest soil, this consists of rich black and chocolate-colored soil, of great depth, flats lightly timbered, and in the wettest seasons never flooded, The farm of Mr. J. Tyson on this creek is very fine land; he has, we believe, some 300 acres well adapted for sugar or cotton, or any other colonial produce.
When I visited it everything here looked promising, some 12 or 15 acres of land were already cleared, and much more very soon would be. The crops of oats and lucerne looked remarkably well, as also about half an acre of Tasmanian wheat, sown as an experiment. I believe he intends planting cotton on rather a large scale this season, and I should say there is no land in the colony better suited for its growth.
Two teams of bullocks were busily engaged drawing off logs and ploughing, while some fencers were erecting a substantial hardwood fence.
The house of Mr. Tyson is placed on a high ridge a little back from the bay, and is a substantial wooden building raised on blocks from the ground ; from the front there is a pretty view of Sandgate and the bay, while just below in the creek his cutter rides snugly at anchor. I pass on to Dr. Ward's residence, adjoining Mr. Tyson's land; it is on a point of land jutting out into the bay, and commands, I think, one of the most charming views in Queensland. From here is seen on the left the shipping, Moreton Island, St. Helena, and the mouth of the Brisbane River, straight ahead is Sandgate and the Nudgee shore, on the right the mouths of the Pine River and Hay's Inlet, while in the background is the range of mountains called Taylor's Range, the soil here also seems capable of growing anything, as Dr. Ward's well-stocked garden proves.
The settlers on the eastern and north-eastern side, Messrs. Bonie, Warburton, Mitchell, Sutton, and Bailey, have some very good land, the farms of the two former chiefly red soil. Here I saw a nice little patch of sugar cane, looking very healthy and strong, and proving that the soil is well suited for its growth. Sweet potatoes seem to do well here, on the farm of Mr. Wolfe I was shown some enormous ones. There are still hundreds of acres of rich land open for selection, and I should say if the place were better known the land would be rapidly taken up, as the distance from Brisbane by water is not more than 30 miles, and there are two or three cutters going backwards and forwards to town every week. A Post Office seems to be wanted very much here, as all the settlers have to go to Sandgate for their letters, and as two or three of them have boats, one of them would be, I should think, very glad to fetch them across once a week for a small sum. On the whole I was much pleased with my visit to Humpy Bong, and some future time I shall have something more to say about the place, but must not now trespass any further on your valuable space"
Original Trove article: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1285942
From our Pictorial History of Redcliffe Book 1824-1949 - available to purchase at the following link: https://www.redcliffebook.com/product-page/the-pictorial-history-of-redcliffe
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