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Escape Cliffs - Culture and History
Escape Cliffs
Location of an early attempt at settlement of Australia's northern coastline.
The name Escape Cliffs refers to a part of the cliffs which rise on the eastern shore of Adam Bay near the mouth of the Adelaide River. The area was first explored when the HMS Beagle surveyed the coast of the Northern Territory in 1839. During the survey a party was sent onshore to get accurate measurements from their compasses. They were, so the story goes, spotted by some local Aborigines who appeared on the top of the cliffs shouting and threatening the invaders. The party being unable defend themselves someone got the idea of singing and dancing with the aim of scaring the Aborigines away. The result was that the imaginary war dance amused the Aborigines. Thus the area became known as Escape Cliffs.
When South Australia gained control over the Territory in 1863 it was decided that a settlement should be established on the north coast. Already three attempts at a settlement of Australia's northern coast - Fort Dundas, Raffles Bay and Port Essington - had all failed.
The government in Adelaide chose the soldier, surveyor and ex-MP Boyle Travers Finniss as their government Resident in the Northern Territory. Against common sense and the advice of his juniors, Finniss chose an area of mosquito infested mud flats near Escape Cliffs. The decision was disastrous. The local Aborigines stole supplies from the settlement and Finniss sent out a punitive raid to curb their thefts. He fought with his officials and was disliked by the 80 settlers who had accompanied him. Eventually his assistants complained to Adelaide.
In May 1865 thirty of the settlers set out from the settlement and sailed 3220 km in a whaleboat to Chapman Bay in WA. There story, and the sad history of the settlement, is told in Frank Clune's book The Forlorn Hope.
Finniss was recalled and a Royal Commission censured him for poor judgement and for wasting £40 000 of public money. Finniss' second-in-command, J.T. Manton, continued to run the settlement but it was agreed that the situation was impossible. The settlement was abandoned on 11 January 1867.
Access to the site is now restricted to enthusiasts who are prepared to sail from Darwin around the coast and cross the Adelaide River estuary. There is no land access and, obviously, no facilities.
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