Hamilton and Hake.

In April 1864 a Government expedition of forty officers and men left Adelaide on the Henry Ellis under the command of Lt.-Colonel B.T. Finniss. Their instructions were to establish a settlement in the Northern Territory and, ignoring the advice of others in his party and intending settlers who arrived later, Finnis decided that Adam Bay would be the site for their settlement. A fort, stockade and some prefabricated wooden houses were erected.

The expedition proved a disaster. Finnis seemed to do nothing that was right and everything that was wrong. The settlers were disillusioned and in May 1865 seven of them decided to make their own way back to South Australia. They bought a 23-foot boat from the captain of the Bengal, named it the Forlorn Hope, and set sail for South Australia. Their intention was to head west and cruise along the coast until they reached Camden Harbour where they hoped they could board a ship bound for Adelaide or Melbourne.

Among the seven men on board the Forlorn Hope were Arthur Hamilton and Charles Hake who had been involved in surveying and photography at Adam Bay, their camera equipment in a chest stowed away with the few other personal possessions the party was able to carry. They reached Camden Harbour where they found there was no ship to take them south so, after a brief stay where Hamilton took some photographs of the camp, they continued their voyage.

After a hazardous sea journey of fifty days and two thousand five hundred miles since leaving Adam Bay they reached Geraldton, where Hamilton and Hake remained to take photographs while the rest of the party sailed for Fremantle on the Sea Bird. Their voyage was ranked by some as almost equal to that of Captain Bligh in the boat from the Bounty. They weathered fearsome gales, were blown two hundred miles out to sea, were followed by sharks and great sea snakes, were reduced to a small ration of flour and water, broke a rudder and lost a mast. The Forlorn Hope struck a reef, and after being got off struck another reef. At times their boat had to be rowed because sailing was unsafe. And this along a coast that was mostly uninhabited.

Below: One of the first photographs taken in the Northern Territory. Arthur Hamilton and Charles Hake photographed the settlement at Adam Bay (Escape Cliffs) in 1864. The palisades around the compound were erected for protection against native tribes.

End.