text:
Loughborough University
Leicestershire, UK
LE11 3TU
+44 (0)1509 263171
Loughborough University

Loughborough University Institutional Repository

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/9610

Title: Measurement of underwater noise arising from marine aggregate dredging operations
Authors: Robinson, Stephen P.
Theobald, Pete D.
Hayman, Gary
Wang, Lian-Sheng
Lepper, Paul A.
Humphrey, Victor F.
Mumford, Samantha
Issue Date: 2011
Publisher: Marine Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund (MALSF) © Crown Copyright
Citation: ROBINSON, S.P. ... et al., 2011. Measurement of underwater noise arising from marine aggregate dredging operations. MALSF Report.
Series/Report no.: MEPF;09/P108
Abstract: This is the final report for project MALSF MEPF 09/P108, funded by the Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund, the aim of which is to provide data for the typical underwater radiated noise levels from marine aggregate dredgers in the UK fleet during normal operations. The work is aligned with the stated aims of the ALSFMEPF to reduce the environmental footprint of marine extraction of aggregates, and follows directly from the key knowledge gap identified in the initial scoping study conducted in MEPF Project 08/P21 [Thomsen et al, 2009]. The key finding of the study is the noise output of dredging vessels is similar to a ‘noisy merchant vessel’ and is substantially quieter in terms of acoustic energy output than some other anthropogenic noise sources such as seismic airguns and marine pile driving. This project has been an extensive study of the noise generated by the UK’s fleet of trailing suction hopper dredgers during marine aggregate extraction. The objectives of the work were (i) to develop a suitable methodology for measuring underwater noise radiated by dredgers, (ii) undertake measurements on UK dredgers at up to four sites and report, whilst disseminating the results to the wider stakeholder community. In the report, data is presented for 6 vessels, measured across 3 different areas around the UK’s coast.
Description: This is a report.
Sponsor: Marine Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund (MALSF)
Version: Published
URI: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/9610
Publisher Link: http://www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/alsf/projects/direct-and-indirect-effects/09p108.aspx
ISBN: 9780907545576
Appears in Collections:Official Reports (Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering)

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Duo to the Death

Blokus has taken over my life

XF Rubik, two lines of defence

Posted by nand on April 6, 2010

XF Rubik is one of the two most frustrating openings to play against (the other being XF Lerpy) since (1) there are some well-mapped lines that violet can play automatically to win by a good-to-excellent margin and (2) it’s not obvious what to do to make the loss at least up-for-grabs rather than inevitable if violet is at least moderately competent (or has a memory stocked with the more common lines). Anyway, here are two lines of defence that I think were examined a year or two ago, discarded, but have been revived. Like most old/new lines they may be flawed but since the exact reasons why they are flawed are now forgotten (or were worked out by players who are no longer frequenters of the site) and since blokus strategy has gotten subtler over the years, they are definitely worth a second look. At the moment they’re having a lot of success on the site but… well, now I’ve written a post I’m expecting that they will get a little less successful.

Variant 1:

Variant 2:

The bottom one looks better, since the 1-2 series of holes created to the left of orange F is something one instinctively avoids in duo. Yet the first one does force violet to play the ugly I5 on left if he wants to stretch past it. The good thing about both of these ones is that violet F is easily cut off & so violet is tempted to defend on right on move 3, & if that occurs orange has a lot of strong moves on the left (probably Y or L5), & I think the game is orange’s to win then. But I think the circling game doesn’t look great for orange: here’s a line that works with either positioning of orange F:

(Note that if orange plans to block on the bottom on turn 4, then orange Y should probably be L5 or even a kiss move like T4 or T5. But that looks kinda suicidal to me.) Anyway, so violet’s got two perfect series of jaggies for orange to climb over, & meanwhile violet has lots of nice moves on either side: Z5 or W on bottom, L5 kiss or hang on top. Am I missing something or is this a writeoff?

Posted in openings, XF Rubik | 4 Comments »

Oldmanc (backstepped) F, close-X line 1

Posted by nand on April 1, 2010

Here’s a line I’ve used a lot lately with a fair amount of success.  I think it’s probably flawed but because the flaw comes in the midgame not early on it takes a very shrewd or lucky violet player to see the problems here.

If violet blocks on the bottom this is an easy win for orange–play N on the top (F12rrur) & violet’s defence crumbles. The tricky part comes if violet instead blocks with V5(H12uurr) or T5(H12uur), because the blocking in orange’s area is really awful–you basically end up giving away at least a 4-piece &/or being forced to use the I1. That said, I think this line is worth exploring further. Orange’s continuation on the bottom is of course Z5 or T5–I think Z5 is better but have not conclusively proven this.

Posted in blokus, Oldmanc backstepped F, openings | Leave a Comment »

Duo Freestyle

Posted by nand on March 11, 2010

I talked to pentti today & he (uh, assume it’s a “he”, pentti…? :)) tells me that with modifications the freestyle idea is feasible for duo also. Player A picks pieces for both colours (violet and orange); Player B decides whether to play violet or orange.  (I suspect that one should further refine this by permitting specification of exact positions for pieces if Player A wishes–this would be key for X and F openings.) Worth trying out. The best thing about this is that it would open up a lot of mirrorable first moves, as Player A can specify a non-mirror reply.

Posted in blokus, variants | Leave a Comment »

Blokus variants

Posted by nand on March 5, 2010

Because blokus in its various forms is (1) deterministic (no random or hidden element in play) and (2) weighted towards one player (the one who moves first), there have been various efforts at devising variants that would compensate for those characteristics.

There are many possible trivial changes–e.g. moving the starting locations of pieces–which don’t seem to me very interesting.  But there are 3 major ones that are of serious interest.

1) Freestyle

This was devised, I’m told, by Bernard Tavitian himself (creator of blokus). Though in principle it could be used for any Blokus variant, I’ve rarely encountered it with Duo; it has however become the standard means of play among top-level C2 players. (I can’t vouch for Trigon as I never play or watch it.)

The idea is that there’s a preliminary round before actual play begins. Player A names two starting pieces for blue and red to play. Player B then has the option of either (1) taking blue & red & being required to use those pieces on his first move with each colour; or (2) ceding first-move advantage to Player A; Player A then is required to play the pieces he/she named.

The beauty of this variant is that it gets away from predictable openings without totally changing game play. Player A will not name a standard, powerful opening (e.g. L5/N), because then this is just handing that advantageous opening to Player B. But neither will Player A name something absurdly weak (e.g. I1/O4) as then Player B will surely decline it & Player A will be stuck playing that absurdly weak opening as blue/red. So Player A will name something that’s neither overpoweringly good nor obviously wrong.

Though this solution could be used for Duo, I think it tends to be disfavoured because the game has so little margin for error or less-than-optimal play. Nonetheless, I think it would be worth experimenting with. So if anyone wants to give it a whirl with me….. I think this would probably require some further refinement, since whereas with C2 placement of the first pieces has little scope for choice (since two sides of each starting corner are blocked off), with Duo’s mid-board starting points you could play an optimal piece in less-than-optimal conditions. (For instance, Player A would be foolish to call out “X”. But he could certainly call out “X with centre on the dot” & that would be a good call: neither a terrible opening nor a totally strong one.)

2) Glofus

Not sure who thought of this one, or who thought up the name. It’s the most obvious but least interesting variant: whoever gets fewest rather than most points wins.  One big disadvantage of this one is that it can only be played in Training, since the software won’t recognize this variant & will thus dock points from the “winner” rather than the “loser” of a game of Glofus. — Experience shows that orange can usually win this one without much trouble, as you’d expect; possibly if people worked harder on strategy then it would be easier to devise ways to win as violet, but I don’t think this variant is interesting enough that anyone will put the necessary time in to do this. It’s more of a stunt or a pass-the-time amusement.

3) Forza

This one is devised by a player called pentti79. I’ve encountered it with Duo, but there’s no reason it couldn’t be used in C2 or Trigon too. The rules are simple: you are only allowed to play a piece named by your opponent, but you can play it wherever you like. In addition (to avoid running down your opponent’s clock unfairly), you must place the piece AFTER you name the piece your opponent must play on the next turn. (Thus this game is not amenable to very short clock times–like 5 minutes–as you need to allow for time to type piece-names; this is especially crucial in endgames as there is only one clock running then, & the endgame is of course dictated by the player who runs out of pieces first.)

This sounds awkward and silly, but it’s actually a fascinating twist to the game and deserves to become a more widespread variant. The amount of pretzel-logic required to see ahead even two moves is quite formidable, and while I imagine that eventually the opening and midgame strategy will be mapped out in more detail for the moment even basic strategy is not well-known. From the few games of it I played the other night with iwk, it appears that (1) the temptation (bad or good, I don’t know) is to call out the small pieces first, of course; (2) calling out very awkward pieces like I5, O4 or V5 at the right time is the real building-block of strategy.

Posted in blokus, variants | 1 Comment »

XF Tetris-Time packing

Posted by nand on February 21, 2010

By request, here’s the 1-point loss for orange for one key line of XF Tetris-Time. There are a few different possible packings in top right but the key is to use I3 and V3.

Moves: 1. X – X / 2. F – N / 3. N – V5 / 4. W – F / 5. T4 – L5 / 6. L4 …. and the rest is packing.

Posted in openings, XF Tetris-Time | Leave a Comment »

FW solution: more pieces to the puzzle

Posted by nand on January 8, 2010

OK, here’s a few more installments in my continuing battle against this opening. In my view Z5 is probably the strongest 3rd move for violet (now that I think I’ve dealt with Y-kiss). So here’s some lines that I think should do it for orange.

1. F – X / 2. W – N / 3. Z5 – F / 4. I5 – W / 5. X – Y / 6. U – L5.

…. 4. N – L5 / 5. X – Y / 6. U – P.

This is the trickiest line as orange has no combined block+attack on bottom. Here’s one possible line. I won’t spell out the moves as they follow the same pattern as above.

This is where I get uncertain. Suppose violet ignores orange F? What is orange’s best move on top? (If orange blocks the N with e.g. T4 then this is about a 4-point loss for orange IMO.) The game becomes very open, with orange having the smaller area but two leaks into violet’s area; violet has only one leak into orange’s. I THINK that this orange Y is probably the best move but would have to work it out in more detail. (The other obvious moves: turn the knob on the Y the other way; use Z4(G12rdr) for an unblockable move in anticipation of blocking on bottom right on the next turn. Probably others too.)

Posted in blokus, flawed openings, FW, openings | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

Blokus wishes for the New Year

Posted by nand on December 17, 2009

I know that probably there’s little incentive for Mattel (the new owners of Blokus) to do a lot of tinkering with its site, since membership is free & thus there’s no monetary reason to hire a computer tech guy to make it run better… but a guy can’t help wishing, can he?

So here’s what I think would make it a better site.

  • A warning bell for when the timer drops below 1 minute. This would take, like, about 2 minutes of a programmer’s time to add… it’s unbelievable that despite this being frequently requested by players, this never gets added.
  • 3D Duo in the Competition room, not just in Training.
  • Add grid coordinates along the sides of the board–in duo: A through M on the X axis, 1 through 14 (bottom to top) on the Y. (This could be a toggle button: SHOW COORDINATES/HIDE COORDINATES.)
  • Add an option to number pieces according to the move they’re played on, so you can actually figure out the entire sequence of play at a glance at the board. (This could just be a toggle button: SHOW MOVES/HIDE MOVES.)
  • Install anti-spam software on the forum. I’ve never come across a more spam-prone online forum — it’s truly embarrassing. They eventually get around to cleaning it up by hand, but there are much better automated ways of ensuring this stuff never gets posted in the first place.

  • Add an option to permit players — within the Competition room — to choose sides rather than being assigned them randomly. This would obviously require BOTH players to consent (they would each have a button). This would save a lot of headache when players are trying to resume a match (currently, the only solution is to keep quitting & returning, hoping that the other player is not such a schmuck as to penalize).
  • Fix the poorly-conceived censorship in chat. (For now, let’s set aside the question of whether there should be censorship.) If it’s going to be done, at least program it competently. First: It should not be triggered by part-words. It’s dumb to turn words like “assuming” or “culminate” into “***uming” and “***minate”: if you want to guarantee that it catches both “fuck” and “fucking” then simply put BOTH words in the blacklist. Second: given that virtually all chat takes place in English, no words should be censored that are innocuous & commonplace in English: e.g. “pot”, “con” and “fan”.

  • The best solution to online misbehaviour would be to get rid of the censorship entirely & use a different system: give some trusted players “moderator” status, with the ability to silence unruly players or eject them if necessary.

Posted in misc | 6 Comments »

FY open (vertical): possible line of defence?

Posted by nand on December 17, 2009

This is one of those really tricky lines for both players. No idea which player to name it after–HRF likes it but I’m not sure if it’s his originally. I have not got a surefire defence against it but can usually make life difficult for violet. Here’s the start of one line I’m working on:

1. F – X / 2. Y – N / 3. T5 – P / 4. N ….. I vaguely recall that for move 3, violet L5 to close the centre (H8rrru) is bad, but it’s not obviously bad, so I’d better actually go & prove that another time…

Obvious next move for orange is Y or L5 (I think Y) off the X — haven’t decided what’s the best orientation yet. In general, it’s vitally important for orange to play through the hole the moment he gets the chance — it’s too soon this turn, but I would recommend it on the next turn no matter what. The trick is to avoid messing up the nice 1-2 leak off the top of orange P by letting violet block both leaks simultaneously.

Posted in FY open, openings | Tagged: | 1 Comment »

FW rethought: Kissing

Posted by nand on December 17, 2009

OK, so I’m trying to rethink my approach to this, in part because there are some good midlevel players who still insist on using it despite its evident weakness. (It can win big against low- or midlevel players, I’ll admit; I’m purely concerned with optimal play, though.) Anyway, the most formidable of the “kiss” variants is one where violet tries to use Y and then Z5 or (better) T5 to round the corner, killing off all orange’s useful corners in the bottom left. Here’s the start of my line against it:

Moves: 1. F – X / 2. W – N / 3. Y – F / 4. X – W. Note that it’s a good idea to hang on to Y as a last-ditch block in the midgame (I1uur), though if it becomes freed up then it’s a major threat on top (L14ddl).

If violet is so foolish as to play N on top rather than X then you get one of my favourite positions, eminently winnable for orange:

Moves: …. 4. N – Z4 / 5. T5 – I5. This is an elegant example of an unblockable leak, since the only block (V5[F14ddr]) produces a horrendous I2-T4-I3 series of holes. You can see the violet T5 “corner kill” in action here — not that it does him much good.

If violet plays T5 on move 4 (or Z5) it’s a different line, I still think bad for violet. Will unpack it later on…

Posted in flawed openings, FW, openings | 3 Comments »

XF Yasu, preliminary proposals

Posted by nand on December 17, 2009

Sorry for the nonposting here lately… I always tend to be a feast-or-famine blogger anyway, & it’s been a weird last few months with the new job. I’ve also been gradually thinking more about the game, though it’s hard to be too systematic. Gradually I’m learning that it’s really nearly impossible to “solve” ANY opening, even the weakest…. there are simply too many possibilities. I think there are 2 types of players — the ones who try to keep to the “known” & the ones who welcome the “unknown”. I wish I were more of the latter type of player — great instances would be Toutatis and Kolub68 (neither of whom seem to be on the site anymore, alas), & often Bobby_Bob too. Nowadays lerpyfirth (previously known for the repetitive use of the infamous XF Lerpyfirth opening) is of this type: to some extent it can be just a sign of someone bored with “the normal game” (or someone who specializes in 5-minute games), but it can also in the right hands be a powerful “ice-axe to break the frozen sea” of standard play.

But I’m not usually that type of player — I tend to stick to familiar openings & try to thoroughly understand them & judge them by optimal play. Anyway, it’s served me in good stead… as well as leading to a few disasters.

Anyway, I wanted to get back to the infamous FW opening, in part because I think my posting below is wrong. But in the meantime, I think I’ll start trying to put more useful info on this site.

So, XF Yasu. I’ve been thinking harder about this one lately. It’s a fave of mid-level players, but it’s rather weaker than XF Rubik in my view. Nonetheless, it can be tricky, & I have not come across an airtight orange response. Here are two of the more usual defence formations. In my view, these are flawed, but will — with good play, which I’ll try to flesh out in future posts — get you a close game or a win versus anything less than top-notch violet play.

Orange has an unblockable left side, and is threatening I5(D7u) on left or some variety of block on the right (usually T5 or L5 — I’ll let you figure out the orientation). I usually use this one — despite its flaws — simply because newbies and even midlevel players have no idea how to handle it as violet.

This may be better, though:

This gives you the option of I5, I4, N or something else on the left, depending on what violet plays on the right (assuming he DOES play on the right). I’m less familiar with this line & look forward to exploring it.

Posted in openings, XF Yasu | 1 Comment »

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Taco Tuesday SLOdown

Taco Tuesday SLOdown

Tuesday is a special day of the week for me. I grew up in a city in Southern California named Santa Ana. It is a city rich in Mexican culture, and Tuesdays always meant authentic, delicious tacos for only a buck. Taco Tuesday is perhaps one of the easiest promotions a Mexican restaurant can run, and most people have at least a dollar to shell out for tacos (get it?).

Unlike my last post, which was a straight review, I will be comparing the different Mexican restaurants in town

For me, good Mexican tacos have a few traits:

  • Firstly, the meat needs to be grilled, tender, and spiced. Traditional Mexican meat is spiced in the preparation stage, and should be able to stand on its own with a distinctive, rich taste.

  • The next category is flavor. Mexican food is renowned for its wide variety of spices and sauces. Galic, cilantro, onions, jalapeños and other chiles are prominent in Mexican cooking.

  • My final category is consistency. Many taco joints can’t seem to get this last one right, but it is vital to the perfect taco. Greasy meat, extremely watery salsa, and flour tortillas that disintegrate on touch are common mistakes made at taco joints across the country. A diner should also be able to distinguish between each main ingredient, sometimes one gets the impression they are eating Mexican mush instead of a taco.

  • I compared five Mexicans hotspots in San Luis Obispo: Chilie Peppers, Taco Roco, Chinos Rock and Tacos, Taco de Mexico and Tacos de Acapulco

  • I ordered what I consider to be the quintessential Mexican taco. One soft-shell flour tortilla carne asada taco, with everything. What “everything” is I left up to the restaurant

  • If the restaurant didn’t serve carne asada, I ordered shredded beef.

  • For a second opinion, I went taco tasting with my roomate and good friend, Jono.

  • For those who are visual learners, I’ve added a scientifically-developed Taco Rating Index based on Meat, Flavor, and Consistency. Maximum 5 tacos per category.

Chilie Peppers

Chilie Peppers Front

Outside Chilie Peppers

Runner-up for best Mexican food in SLO county, Chilie Peppers enjoys a wide following with Cal Poly students partially because of one of the restaurant’s location right off Foothill and Santa Rosa. The other location is  on Broad and South street, and is, in my opinion, clearly the better of the two. It’s cleaner, offers great outdoor patio seating, and the cooks are much friendlier.

Chilie Peppers Cooks

These cooks are happy to make me tacos. I am happy to eat them.

The taco had:

Chilie Peppers Tacos

Chilie Peppers Tacos

  • Carne Asada
  • Sour Cream
  • Cilantro
  • Onion
  • Shredded queso blanco
  • Red salsa

This taco was wonderful. The meat was especially good, and definitely had a rich, spicy-yet-herbal character that comes with time-tested techniques and practice. The taco had a great, spicy kick in the beginning, and finishes off very smoothly. There was not too much of the spicy sauce, and I could really taste the different flavors and textures of the taco. One part about this taco I didn’t like was the fact that I didn’t get enough meat. I ended up eating a lot more veggies and tortilla than meat, which was disappointing. My partner had the same problem with his taco, though we both agreed the meat we did get was succulent and flavorful. These $1 south of the border tastes are totally worth it.

chilie peppers rating

Taco Roco

Taco Roco Front

Taco Roco Front

Personally, I usually go to Taco Roco to get their al pastor meat, which is heavily marinated pork slowly roasted on a spit. But in the spirit of the challenge, and due to their lack of carne asada, I ordered the shredded beef taco for $1. This place was absolutely packed when I went in, a sure sign of success I hoped.

Taco Roco Inside

Taco Roco was really busy! Not too busy to give me tasteless tacos.

This taco had:

  • Shredded Beef
  • Shredded cheddar and white cheese (Monterrey jack?)
  • Light green lettuce

    Taco Roco Tacos

    Taco Roco Tacos. The foil-wrapped container was the nicest part of this meal.

The first bite of this taco flooded my mouth with its hot liquid. Ok, wait… let’s rephrase that. The shredded beef was extremely juicy and tender, but didn’t really have much in the way of independent flavor. The rest of this taco was deplorable. Which means pretty damn bad. This taco tasted even worse than Taco Bell’s dogmeat concoctions, and that is saying something. The tortilla was undercooked and crumbly, the lettuce added absolutely nothing to this taco but a lot of tasteless green stuff to chew. The cheese blend did nothing for this taco. From Jono, “I was not satisfied whatsoever. The taco falls apart, and it leaves this weird, grotesque taste in my mouth.” Ew, this thing was bad. Sorry Taco Roco, you must be Mucho Loco if you think this is acceptable.

I also wanted to note that we stopped to pick up a drink here, and two times in a row the styrofoam cups had tiny holes that leaked everywhere. One is understandable but two in a row? Disappointing.

tacoroco rating

Chino’s Rock & Tacos

Chinos Rock & Tacos

Chinos Rock & Tacos. Obviously a match made in heaven.

When we showed up at Chino’s, the line was out the door. This is the only place on my stop I had never tried before, so I was excited to see what all the fuss was about. The place definitely had the cleanest and most professional feel out of any of my stops on this trip. Extremely clean and decorated with a unique combination of rock and roll memorabilia, Mexican cultural trinkets and Spanish language signs (The name makes sense now), the owner of Chino’s definitely has a good aesthetic sense. $1 tacos and $2 beers can’t go wrong for most students either, but let’s get to the important bits.

Chinos Line

Lines out the door always are never a bad sign

The taco had:

  • Shredded Beef
  • Shredded yellow/white cheese blend
  • Dark green lettuce – the same type they serve at the Chipotle chain
Chinos Taco

A taco from Chino's. I got a headstart on the camera.

Compared to Taco Roco, the Chino’s taco, which had pretty much the same ingredients, was a whole different world. It’s like talking to the older brother that has a great career, gave up drinking and drugs, and can tell you some great stories. Maybe that isn’t the best analogy, but I think you can get the idea. This taco was pretty average, which made it better in every way shape and form than its counterpart at Taco Roco. The lettuce offered a nice crunch without overdoing it, the shredded beef was spiced and had a good taste and texture to it. But again, the cheese blend was something the taco could do without. Putting cheese on tacos is a strictly American tradition, one that I prefer not to perpetuate. Different cheeses, specifically the crumbly white queso panela can be good on tacos, but again, that’s not very authentic. Alexa, another diner, offered her insight on Taco Tuesdays at Chino’s. “I like coming here because of the atmosphere and the deals are good. This isn’t the best taco I’ve ever had, but for the value and location in the heart of downtown, it makes Chino’s worth it for us.

I had nothing bad to really say about the Chino’s taco, but nothing that stood out to me as particularly well done. Free chips and salsa with the meal is nice. Decent on all fronts.

chinos rating

Taco de Mexico

Taco de Mexico Front

Taco de Mexico front

Taco de Mexico is the only place where I saw actual Mexican people eating, which is always a good sign. Ethnic restaurants that attract people of the same heritage are usually dialed-in on the culture and often have authentic recipes that have been passed down through generations. Taco de Mexico definitely feels like a mom-and-pop Mexican diner, though I will say this place always seems to be close to empty. Such was the case when I walked in that night. The lighting is a little dark, and the restaurant suffers from feeling cramped, in a way I can’t really describe. But the staff was extremely friendly, and even let me snap a few photos of the cooking process, which I really appreciated.

Taco de Mexico Cook

This is Tegulcio and he makes the tacos. Say hello to all your fans Tegulcio

Taco de Mexico Meat

Beef...its what's for tacos

The taco had:

Taco de Mexico Tacos

Taco de Mexico tacos are happily cheese-free

  • Carne Asada
  • Cilantro
  • Onions
  • A red sauce with some jalapeno seeds

This is a taco I am more used to. The meat was excellently spiced, but had a slightly chewy texture which signified a bit of overcooking. The flavors in the red sauce were perhaps the best I have tasted in this city. It combined spicy with tangy, while letting the fresh cilantro boldly tie the two together. I personally prefer the jalapeño seeds, though not all do as they can be a bit too spicy. However, the insides of the taco were let down by the outside. The flour tortilla, like Taco Roco’s, had that crumbly, I’m-gonna-break-in-half-if-you-even-dare-to-bend-me texture, something that unfortunately detracted from the otherwise great meal. Maybe that is because they are using precooked tortillas reheated on a grill, though I seem to recall Chilie Peppers doing the same thing without issue.

José, a San Luis Obispo local for three years, gave me his opinion on Taco de Mexico. “I like it here, almost everything is good. But in this city the food is not as authentic. Real Mexican food has more spices in the food and spiciness in the meat.” I was happy that he also agreed with my cheese issue, no real Mexican tacos have cheese. Luckily, Taco de Mexico was using traditional recipes that passed up cheesy tacos, something we can be grateful for.

I have to mention that Taco de Mexico does not actually run a Taco Tuesday promotion, and I paid full price, $2.15 for single taco.

tacomex rating

Tacos de Acapulco

Taco de Acapulco

Tacos de Acapulco

Tacos de Acapulco was next to empty when I walked in, and though they had three people working the kitchen, nobody seemed to be paying attention to the front end, which had two dirty tables and some trash on the floor as well. I’ve only been here once, and to be honest it was terrible. Many Mexican eateries in the Central Coast tend to drape on guacamole, sour cream, and red sauce on top of already-prepared burritos or tacos, and Taco de Acapulco is one place that sticks out in my mind for doing this. But I ordered the same as all the others. One carne asada taco with everything.

Taco de Acapulco Inside

The only other diners in the restaurant

Taco de Acapulco Cooks

Must be hard to hold that bag with all the grease in the kitchen.

The taco had:

  • Carne Asada
  • Onions
  • Cilantro
  • Red Sauce
  • Guacamole
Taco de Acapulco Taco

Tacos de Acapulco tacos. And they look so innocent....

There was one thing that stuck out above all other factors when I first took a bite of this taco and the was the grease. My partner-in-crime Jono couldn’t have put it better when he said the taco “was scooped out of grease.” The meat actually had a decent flavor to it but it was completely overshadowed by the fact that I felt like I was sinking my teeth into a ball of solid animal fat. A pleasant image, I know, but to be honest I can’t think of how else to describe it. We journeyed on, hoping the taco would be better in the middle, but the grease only thickened. It covered every part of this taco, which was particularly large. The spices on it were decent but the texture and meat were ruined by the fatty fiesta in my mouth. I didn’t expect much from Taco de Acapulco in the first place, but this was ridiculous. The fact that this place doesn’t offer a Taco Tuesday promotion only makes me more certain that I will never want to endure this restaurant again. For what I got, I should be paying 50 cens, not $2.25 a taco. Ridiculous!tacoap rating

Ninety minutes and five tacos later, I think I can say I got a pretty decent taste of the basic Mexican cuisine of San Luis Obispo. I have to say, while this city doesn’t quite match the authenticity, selection and taste that Santa Ana can, students who are craving decent tacos can satisfy themselves locally. Taco de Mexico is great but not amazing, though, and with a few adjustments they could be contenders for the best Mex in town. Chino’s is good if students are looking to mingle with their peers in the middle of downtown. From personal experience, I know Taco Roco has some food that can actually hold its ground against other eateries, specifically their al pastor meat and most of their burritos, but stay away if you are looking for value for your dollar on Taco Tuesday. Don’t even bother with Tacos de Acapulco, I have a feeling they won’t be in business much  longer.

For the best Taco Tuesday deal, Chilie Peppers on Broad Street is my clear favorite. The overall quality and value of their tacos is a step-ahead of anything else I found in SLO, and the workers are always friendly. This was my second time in the restaurant, and both times the cooks have offered me something special they are making for themselves that isn’t on the menu. This time it was this shrimpy-dip thing that, while I had no idea what was in it, was pretty delicious. And for free, you can’t go wrong.

For the best Taco Tuesday deal, Chilie Peppers on Broad Street is my clear favorite. The overall quality and value of their tacos is a step-ahead of anything else I found in SLO, and the workers are always friendly.

Shrimp Dip

Shrimp Dip Chip. Looks good? Free things always do. Thanks again Chilie Peppers for a great meal and value.

Two other notable San Luis Obispo restaurants, Tonitas and Pepe Delgados, were left out of this comparison due to budget and time restrictions.

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text:
Narrative of the overland expedition of the, by F. and A. Jardine

A description of the settlement at Port Albany, Cape York, at the time of the arrival of the Brothers has been carefully drawn up in the shape of a report to the Colonial Secretary of Queensland by Mr. Jardine. It is so full and interesting that I cannot do better than publish it in extenso. It first appeared in the ‘Queensland Daily Guardian’ of 24th June, 1865. A letter from Mr. Jardine to Sir George Bowen, reporting the arrival of the sons, and epitomising the events of the journey, together with the report of Dr. Haran, R.N., Surgeon in charge of the detachment of Royal Marines, on the climate of Cape York, showing its great salubrity, are also added:—

Somerset, March 1st, 1865.

Sir, — My former reports to you having been, to a certain extent, necessarily taken up with matters of detail in reference to the formation of the new settlement of Somerset, and that object being now in such a state of completion as to enable me to say that it is fairly established, so far as the comfort and safety of the present residents are concerned, I now do myself the honor to lay before you the result of such general observations as I have been able to make on what may be termed general matters of interest.

2. The portion of the country to which my observations will particularly apply is that which, I think, may correctly be termed the “York Peninsula proper,” and comprises the land lying to the northward of a line drawn from the estuary of the Kennedy River, at the head of Newcastle Bay, to the opposite or north-west coast. The general course of the Kennedy River runs in this line, and from the head of the tideway to the north-west coast the breadth of land does not exceed six miles. The mouth of the river falling into the sea a short distance to the southward of Barn Island will be nearly met by the western extremity of this line.

3. The land on the neck thus formed presents singular features. There is no defined or visible water shed; a succession of low irregular ridges, divided by swampy flats, extends from coast to coast, and the sources of the streams running into either overlap in a most puzzling manner. The large ant-hills which are spread over the whole of this country may be taken as sure indicators of the nature of the soils; on the ridges a reddish sandy loam, intermixed with iron-stone gravel, prevails; on the flats a thin layer of decomposed vegetable matter overlays a white sand, bearing ‘Melaleuca’ and ‘Pandanus’, with a heavy undergrowth of a plant much resembling tall heath. Nearly every flat has its stream of clear water; the elegant “pitcher” plant grows abundantly on the margins. The timber is poor and stunted, chiefly bloodwood and ‘grevillea’; and the grass is coarse and wiry.

4. Leaving this neck of barren and uninteresting country, the land to the northward rises, and a distinct division or spine is formed, ending in Cape York. From it, on either side, spurs run down to the coast, frequently ending in abrupt precipices overhanging the sea; in other places gradually declining to the narrow belt of flat land which occasionally borders the shore. The formation is, I may say, entirely sandstone, overlaid in many places by a layer of lava-like ironstone. Porphyry occurs occasionally in large masses, split and standing erect in large columns, at a distance resembling basalt. The sandstone is of the coarsest quality, almost a conglomerate, and is soft and friable; exposure to the air might probably harden it if quarried, when it would be available for rough building. The ridges, with very few exceptions, are topped with large blocks of ferruginous sandstone, irregularly cast about, and are covered with a thick scrub, laced and woven together with a variety of vines and climbers, while the small valleys intervening bear a strong growth of tall grass, through which numerous creeping plants twine in all directions, some of them bearing beautiful flowers. Among them I may particularise two species of ‘Ipomea’, which I believe to be undescribed, and a vine-like plant, bearing clusters of fruit much resembling in appearance black Hambro Grapes, wholesome and pleasant to the taste. The scrubs are formed of an immense variety of trees and shrubs, far too numerous for me to name, were I able to do so. Some of them have fine foliage, and bear handsome flowers and agreeably tasted fruit, and would form most ornamental additions to our southern gardens and pleasure grounds. Several species of the numerous climbing plants produce a fine and strong fibre, from which the natives make their fishing lines. Some fine varieties of palm are found on the moister lands near the creeks, two especially elegant, a ‘Seaforthia’ and a ‘Caryota’. A wild banana, with small but good fruit, is also found in such localities. On the open grounds the bloodwood, Moreton Bay ash, and a strong growing acacia are the principal trees. Timber for building is scarce, and of very indifferent quality. The iron-bark and pine are unknown here.

5. The soil on these grounds is a reddish loam, more or less sandy, and thinly covered with a coarse ironstone gravel. Much of the ironstone has a strong magnetic property — so much so as to suspend a needle; and it was found a great inconvenience by Mr. Surveyor Wilson, from its action on the instruments. As the land descends, the soil becomes more sandy. Near the creek patches with a considerable mixture of vegetable loam are found, which would be suitable for the growth of vegetables, bananas, etc. The grass is generally long and coarse, and soon after the rainy season ceases becomes, under the influence of the strong south-east winds, withered and dry. Horses and cattle keep their condition fairly, but sheep do not thrive; the country is quite unsuited to them. Goats may be kept with advantage; and pigs find an abundant supply of food in the scrubs and swamps.

6. In the Zoology of the district, the careful researches of Mr. M’Gillivray — the naturalist attached to H.M.’s surveying ship Rattlesnake — have left little room for the discovery of many positive novelties. I have, however, been able to note many interesting facts in the economy and habits of the birds, especially such as relate to their migration. Several of the species found here are season visitors of New South Wales, and it is interesting to compare the times of their arrival and departure in this place with those in the southern colony.

7. The animals afford small variety. The dingo, or native dog, four species of the smaller kangaroos, and two other marsupials are found. One, an elegant little squirrel-like opossum, striped lengthways with black and white, I believe to be new.

8. The birds are more plentiful. My collection comprises more than one hundred species of land birds, many of them remarkable for beauty of plumage, and peculiarity of form, structure, and habit. Among them the most remarkable are the great black macaw, (’Microglossus Atterrimus’) the magnificent rifle bird, (’Ptiloris Magnifica’) and the rare and beautiful wood kingfisher, (’Tan Ts-ptera Sylvia’). The latter first made its appearance here on the 30th of November last. On the afternoon and night of the 28th and the 29th of that month there was a heavy storm of rain, with wind from the north-east, and the next morning the bush along the shore was ringing with the cries of the new arrivals. To my constant enquiries of the blacks for this bird, I was always told by them that when the wind and rain came from the north-west the birds would come, and their prediction was verified to the letter. They also say the birds come from “Dowdui” (New Guinea). I think this probable, as several of the birds described by the French naturalist, M. Lesson, as found by him in New Guinea have also appeared here for the breeding season. The ‘Megapodius Tumulus’ is also worthy of mention, on account of the surprising structure of its nest. The mound resembles, and is composed of the same materials as that of the brush turkey (’Talegulla’), but is very much larger in size. Some that I have measured are upwards of thirty (30) feet in diameter at the base, and rise at the natural angle to a height of fifteen (15) feet or more. It is wonderful how birds so comparatively diminutive can accumulate so large a pile. These birds live in pairs, and several pairs use the same mound. The eggs are deposited at a depth of from one to three feet; the heat at that depth is very great, more than the hand can bear for any length of time. I cannot say whether the young, when released from the mounds, are tended by the parents; they, however, return and roost in the mounds at night. The flesh of the ‘Megapodius’ is dark and flavorless, being a mass of hard muscle and sinew. birds, which may be called game, are not numerous. The brush turkey (’Talegalla’), the ‘Megapodius’, several species of pigeon, with a few ducks and quail, comprise the whole.

9. — Fish are in abundance, and in great varieties; some of them of strange form and singular brilliancy of coloring. The grey mullet, the bream — a fish much resembling in general appearance the English pike — and several others, are excellent eating.

10. — Three species of turtle are plentiful during the season, that is, the period when they approach the shores to deposit their eggs, the green, the hawksbill, and another species, which grow to a much larger size than either of the above. The natives take large numbers of the former; indeed, from the month of November till February turtle forms their principal food. The green turtle are taken in the water by the blacks, who display great address in “turning” them; they are approached when asleep on the surface; the black slips gently from his canoe and disappears under water, and rising beneath the animal, by a sudden effort turns it on its back, and by a strong wrench to the fore flipper disables it from swimming. The fisherman is assisted by his companions in the canoe, and a line is secured to the turtle. This is hazardous sport, and deep wounds are frequently inflicted by the sharp edges of the shells, which in the female turtle are very sharp. A singular mode of taking the hawksbill turtle is followed by the natives here. This custom, though said to be known so long back as the time of the discovery of America by Columbus, is so strangely interesting that I will give a short account of it, as I have seen it practised. A species of sucking fish (’Remora’) is used. On the occasion to which I allude two of these were caught by the blacks in the small pools in a coral reef, care being taken ‘not to injure them’. They were laid in the bottom of the canoe, and covered over with wet sea weed — a strong fishing line having been previously fastened to the tail of each. Four men went in the canoe; one steering with a paddle in the stern, one paddling on either side, and one in the fore-part looking out for the turtle and attending to the fishing lines, while I sat on a sort of stage fixed midship supported by the outrigger poles. The day was very calm and warm, and the canoe was allowed to drift with the current, which runs very strong on these shores. a small turtle was seen, and the sucking fish was put into the water. At first it swam lazily about, apparently recovering the strength which it had lost by removal from its native element; but presently it swam slowly in the direction of the turtle till out of sight; in a very short time the line was rapidly carried out, there was a jerk, and the turtle was fast. The line was handled gently for two or three minutes, the steersman causing the canoe to follow the course of the turtle with great dexterity. It was soon exhausted and hauled up to the canoe. It was a small turtle, weighing a little under forty pounds (40 lbs.), but the sucking fish adhered so tenaciously to it as to raise it from the ground when held up by the tail, and this some time after being taken out of the water. A strong breeze coming on, the canoe had to seek the shore without any more sport. I have seen turtle weighing more than one hundred (100) pounds, which had been taken in the manner described. Though large numbers of the hawksbill turtles are taken by the Cape York natives, it is very difficult to procure the shell from them; they are either too lazy to save it, or if they do so, it is bartered to the Islanders of Torres’ Straits, who use it for making masks and other ornaments.

11. Although there is a considerable variety of reptiles, snakes do not appear to be very numerous. The common brown snake and death-adder are found; carpet snakes (a kind of ‘boa’), appear to be the most common, and grow to a large size. They have been very troublesome by killing our poultry at night. They seem to be bloodthirsty creatures, frequently killing much larger animals than they can possibly swallow, and are not satisfied with one victim at a time. One which was killed in my fowl-house had three half grown chickens compressed in its folds and held one in its jaws. A short time since I was roused in the middle of the night by the piteous cries of a young kangaroo dog, and on running out found it rolling on the ground in the coils of a large carpet snake. The dog was severely bitten in the loin, but in the morning was quite well, proving that the bite of this reptile is innocuous. This snake measured nearly twelve feet in length.

12. Crocodiles are found in numbers in the Kennedy River and a lagoon, which has communication with its estuary. They are also seen occasionally in the bays in Albany Passage.

13. Of the aborigines of Cape York I can say little more than has already been so often repeated in descriptions of the natives of other parts of the Australian continent. The only distinction that I can perceive, is that they appear to be in a lower state of degradation, mentally and physically, than any of the Australian aboriginal tribes which I have seen. Tall well-made men are occasionally seen; but these almost invariably show decided traces of a Papuan or new Guinea origin, being easily distinguished by the “thrum” like appearance of the hair, which is of a somewhat reddish tinge, occasioned no doubt by constant exposure to the sun and weather. The color of their skin is also much lighter, in some individuals approaching almost to a copper color. The true Australian aborigines are perfectly black, with generally woolly heads of hair; I have however, observed some with straight hair and features prominent, and of a strong Jewish cast. The body is marked on each shoulder with a shield-like device, and on each breast is generally a mark in shape of a heart, very neatly executed. The large cicatrices which appear on the bodies of the tribes of Southern Australia are not used here; nor is a front tooth taken out at the age of puberty. The ‘septum’ of the nose is pierced, and the crescent-shaped tooth, of the dugong is worn in it on state occasions; large holes are also made in the ears, and a piece of wood as large as a bottle cork, and whitened with pipe clay, is inserted in them. A practise of cutting the hair off very close is followed by both sexes, seemingly once a year, and wigs are made of the hair. These are decorated with feathers, and worn at the ‘corrobories’ or gatherings. The women hold, if possible, a more degraded position than that generally assigned to them among the Australian aborigines. They are indeed wretched creatures. The only covering worn by them is a narrow belt of twisted grass, with a fringe of strips of palm leaves in front. the men go entirely naked. The aborigines make no huts. In the wet weather a rude screen of leafy boughs, with palm leaves — if any happen to grow in the neighbourhood — is set up as a shelter.

14. The arms used by these natives are few and simple. Four sorts of spears, made from the suckers of a very light wood tree with large pith, headed with hard wood and generally topped with bone so as to form a point or barb, are the most common. The end of the tail of a species of ray fish is sometimes used as a point. It is serrated and brittle, and on entering any object breaks short off. It is said to be poisonous, but I do not believe such to be the case, as one of the marines stationed here was speared in the shoulder with one of these spears, and no poisonous effect was produced. The point which broke short off, however, remained in the wound, and could not be extracted for many months. The spear most commonly in use, and the most effective, has merely a head of very hard wood, from a species of acacia, scraped to a very fine sharp point. These are the only spears which can be thrown with any precision to a distance — they are sent with considerable force. I extracted two from the thigh of one of my horses; the animal had another in the shoulder, which had entered to a depth of five and a half inches. All spears are thrown with the ‘wommera’, or throwing stick. A rudely made stone tomahawk is in use among the Cape York natives, but it is now nearly superseded by iron axes obtained from the Europeans. I have seen no other weapons among them; the boomerang and nulla-nulla (or club) are not known.

15. The greatest ingenuity which the natives display is in the construction and balancing of their canoes. These are formed from the trunk of the cotton tree (’Cochlospermum’) hollowed out. The wood is soft and spongy, and becomes very light when dry. The canoes are sometimes more than fifty feet in length, and are each capable of containing twelve or fifteen natives. The hull is balanced and steadied in the water by two outrigger poles, laid athwart, having a float of light wood fastened across them at each end — so that it is impossible for them to upset. A stage is formed on the canoe where the outriggers cross, on which is carried the fishing gear, and, invariably, also fire. The canoes are propelled by short paddles, or a sail of palm-leaf matting when the wind is fair. Considerable nicety is also shown in the making of fishing lines and hooks. The former are made from the fibres of a species of climber very neatly twisted. The fish-hooks are made of tortoise-shell, or nails procured from wreck timber. They are without barbs, and our fish-hooks are eagerly sought for in place of them.

16. The food of the natives consists chiefly of fish, and, in the season, turtle, with roots and fruits. These latter and shell-fish it is the business of the females to collect and prepare. They may, however, be truly said to be omnivorous, for nothing comes amiss to them, and the quantity they can consume is almost incredible. I have seen them luxuriating on the half putrid liver of a large shark cast up on the beach, the little black children scooping up the filthy oil, and discussing it with apparently the greatest gusto.

17. These remarks apply to the four tribes which inhabit the territory within the limits mentioned at the commencement of this report — viz., the peninsula to the northward of the Kennedy River. These four tribes are not distinguishable from each other in any distinct peculiarity that I can perceive. They keep each to their own territory, except on the occasion of a grand “corroborie,” when the whole assemble. They are at present on terms of peace nominally. Should a safe opportunity of cutting off a straggler offer, I have no doubt it would be taken advantage of. They are cowardly and treacherous in the extreme. The “Gudang” tribe, claiming the land from Cape York to Fly Point, at the entrance of Albany Pass, is small in numbers, having, I fancy, been seriously thinned by their neighbours, the “Kororegas,” from the Prince of Wales’ Island, in Torres’ Straits, who frequently come down upon them. Paida, Mr. M’Gillivray’s ‘kotaiga’ (friend), was not long since killed by them. The “Goomkoding” tribe, who live on the north-western shore, I have seen little of. They and the “Gudang” seem to hold most communication with the islanders of ‘Torres’ Straits, the intermixture of the races being evident. “Kororega” words are used by both these tribes, and the bow and arrow are sometimes seen among them, having been procured from the island. The “Yadaigan” tribe inhabit the south side of Newcastle Bay and the Kennedy River; the “Undooyamo,” the north side. These two tribes are more numerous than the two first-mentioned, and appear to be of a more independent race than the others, and gave us much trouble on our first settlement, by continual thefts and otherwise. The tract of country which they inhabit is nearly covered with the densest scrub and with swamp, into which they took refuge with their booty as soon as any depredation was committed, so as to render it next to impossible for us to pursue them. These four tribes together do not number in all more than 250 to 300 men.

18. All these people are much addicted to smoking. Tobacco is used by them in preference when it can be got. Before its introduction, or when it was not procurable from Europeans, the leaves of a large spreading tree, a species of ‘Eugenia’, was, and is still used. These leaves must possess some strong deleterious or narcotic property. I was for some time puzzled to assign a cause for so many of the natives being scarred by burns. Nearly every one shows some marks of burning, and some of them are crippled and disfigured by fire in a frightful manner. They smoke to such excess as to become quite insensible, and in that state they fall into their camp-fires, and receive the injuries mentioned. The pipe used is a singular instrument for the purpose. It is a hollow bamboo about 2 1/2 feet long, and as thick as a quart bottle; one of the smoking party fills this in turn with smoke from a funnel-shaped bowl, in which the tobacco is placed by blowing it through a hole at one end of the tube. When filled it is handed to some one who inhales and swallows as much of the smoke as he can, passing the pipe on to his neighbour. I have seen a smoker so much affected by one dose as to lie helpless for some minutes afterwards.

19. Thus much for the general appearance and habits of the Cape York natives. A very accurate vocabulary of their language has been published by Mr. M’Gillivary in his account of the voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake. Of their superstitions I am unable to speak with certainty. That they have no belief in the existence of a Supreme Being is, I think, positive. They are, like all the Australian tribes, averse to travelling about at night if dark; this, I believe, chiefly arises from the inconvenience and difficulty of moving about at such times, and not from any superstitious fear. They travel when there is moonlight. They are true observers of the weather, and before the approach of a change move their camps so as to obtain a sheltered position. They do not seem to give the slightest thought to cause or effect, and would, I believe eat and pass away their time in a sort of trance-like apathy. Nothing appears to create surprise in them, and nothing but hunger, or the sense of immediate danger, arouses them from their listlessness.

20. I am aware of the great interest taken by his Excellency the Governor and all the members of the Government of Queensland in the promotion of missionary enterprise. I much fear, however, that the mainland here will be found but a barren field for missionary labors. One great obstacle to successful work is the unsettled nature of the people. No inducement can keep them long in one place. Certainly a missionary station might be formed on one of the neighbouring islands — Albany or Mount Adolphus Island, for instance, where some of the young natives might be kept in training, according to the system used by Bishops Selwyn and Patterson for the instruction of the Melanesians.

21. With the Kororegas or Prince of Wales Islanders, who, from constant communication with the islands to the northward, have acquired a higher degree of intelligence than the pure Australians, I believe a successful experiment could be made. Missionary enterprise beyond the protection and influence of this new settlement at Somerset would, of course, at present be attended with considerable risk.

22. To the Banks and Mulgrave Islanders in Torres’ Straits, a similar remark will apply. Those people, however, seem to be of a more savage nature, although intelligent, and giving considerable attention to the cultivation of yams, bananas, etc. Both the good and bad features in their characters may, I believe, in a great measure be attributed to the strong influence exercised among them by a white man, called by the natives “Wini,” who has been living there for many years. This man, who is supposed to be an escaped convict from one of the former penal settlements in Australia, no doubt considers it politic to keep Europeans from visiting the island where he resides, “Badu”. The natives of Cape York hold him and the Banks Islanders generally in the greatest dread, giving me to understand that all strangers going to these islands are killed, and their heads cut off. The latter appears to be the custom of these and the neighbouring islands towards their slain enemies.

23. The natives of the islands more to the northward and eastward are said to be of milder dispositions, especially the Darnley Islanders — of whom Captain Edwards, of Sydney, who had a “Bech-de-mer” fishing establishment there during the last year, speaks in high terms as being of friendly dispositions and displaying very considerable intelligence, living in comfortable huts and cultivating yams, bananas, coconuts, etc., in considerable quantities. Among these islanders I should think missionaries might establish themselves without great difficulty, and with a satisfactory result.

24. I think that the simple fact of a settlement of Europeans being established at Cape York will very much tend to curb the savage natures of the natives, not only of the mainland, but also of the islands, and any unfortunates who may be cast among them from shipwrecked vessels will, at all events, have their lives spared; and I believe that, should such an event take place, I should soon hear of it from the natives here. The communication between the islanders and the natives of the mainland is frequent, and the rapid manner in which news is carried from tribe to tribe to great distances is astonishing. I was informed of the approach of H.M.S. Salamander on her last visit two days before her arrival here. Intelligence is conveyed by means of fires made to throw smoke up in different forms, and by messengers who perform long and rapid journeys.

25. I should like much to send one or two of the Cape York natives to Brisbane to remain there a short time. I believe that the reports which they would bring back to their tribe of the wonders seen among the white men would tend more than any other means to promote friendly feelings towards us, and to fit their minds to receive favourable impressions.

26. From what I have previously said of the soil here, it will be seen that no large portion of it is suited for agriculture. Even were the land good, the peculiar climate, which may be considered dry for eight months in the year, would not permit satisfactory cultivation to any large extent. During the rainy months, from December to April, vegetables suitable to the temperature may be grown in abundance.

27. Of the agreeableness and salubrity of the climate of Somerset, I can not speak too favorably. The wet season commenced here last year (1864) with the month of December, and continued till the latter part of March. During that time the rain was intermittent, a day or two of heavy wet being succeeded by fine weather. The winds from the north west were light, and falling away to calm in the evening and night. During this season the highest range of my thermometer was 98° in the shade; but it very rarely exceeds 90°, as may be seen from Dr. Haran’s meteorological sheets. During the calms immediately succeeding wet the heat was disagreeable, and mosquitoes appeared, but not numerously. The nights were invariably cool. The weather for the remaining seasons of the year may be termed enjoyable. A fresh bracing breeze from the south east blows almost continually, the thermometer averaging during the day from 80 to 85°. This temperature, with the cool nights, (sufficiently so to render a blanket welcome) and delightful sea bathing, prevent any of the lassitude or enervating influence so common to tropical climates elsewhere from being felt at Somerset.

28. During the time of my residence here no serious indisposition has occurred among the European residents. Occasional slight attacks of illness generally traceable to some cause, has taken place, but as far as can be judged there is no ‘local malady’. There has been no symptom of fever or ague, which it was apprehended would be prevalent during the rainy season, as in other hot countries. Dr. Haran, R.N., (the naval surgeon in charge) reports very favorably of the salubrity of the climate. I have every reason to believe with Dr. Haran, that at no very distant period, when steam communication through Torres Straits shall have been establish, Somerset will be eagerly sought by invalids from the East as an excellent and accessible sanatorium.

29. At all events, there can be no doubt but that the new settlement will fulfil admirably the objects for which it was founded, ‘i.e.’, a port of call and harbor of refuge for trade in the dangerous navigation of Torres Straits, and a coal depot for steamers.

30. I almost fear that in the foregoing remarks it may be considered that on some subjects I have entered too much into details, while on others my notices have been too slight. I have endeavored, as much as possible, to confine myself to subjects of interest, and you may rely on my statements as the result of personal observation. Should there be any particular point on which the Government may require more specific information, I shall be most happy, if it be in my power, to afford it.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,

Somerset, May 1, 1865.

Sir, — Since the date of my last report the most important intelligence which I have to communicate is the arrival of my sons, Frank and Alexander Jardine, with their overland party, all safe and well, after an extremely arduous and toilsome journey of five months, almost entirely over country which for the greater part may be termed barren, the distance travelled over being somewhat more than 900 miles.

2. The party, consisting of my two sons and four other Europeans (including Mr. Surveyor Richardson, attached to the expedition by the Government of Queensland), with four aborigines of the Rockhampton district, made their final start from Mr. J. G. McDonald’s station, Carpentaria Downs, in latitude 18 deg. 37 min 10 sec S., longitude 144 deg. 3 min 30 sec. E, (the farthest out-station on the supposed Lynd River), on the 11th of October, 1864, and reached this place on the 13th of March, ult. Rockhampton was the first point of departure, my second son leaving it, with the horses and men, on the 16th of May, 1864, making the journey for them about 1800 miles.

3. It would appear from the journals kept that a great portion of the country on the west coast of the York Peninsula, especially in the locality of the Mitchell River, is at times (I presume periodically) subject to inundation; the water, however, soon disappears from the flat and sandy land, and for the greater portion of the year, till the next rainy season, the country is destitute of water, and in other respects little better than an absolute desert.

4. It is a subject of great regret to myself, and in which I am sure you will share, that this long journey should be, so far as at present appears, productive of so poor a result to the public in developing new resources to the colony. However, a large and valuable addition to geographical information has certainly been gained; but at the same time few of the important discoveries in lands suitable for pastoral or agricultural occupation, or in minerals, etc., etc., and which might in so large a tract of country have reasonably been expected, have been made.

5. My sons have experienced a severe disappointment to their hopes and expectations in the nature of the country around, and within a reasonable distance of this place, as well as a heavy loss in prosecuting their undertaking. However at their ages, 23 and 21 respectively, the spirit is very buoyant, and they are again quite ready for another venture. Their journey, which, from the nature of the country traversed, has been one of unusual difficulty and hardship; and it is surprising to me that, hampered as they were with a herd of 250 cattle, for which providing food and water in a barren and unknown country is in itself no easy matter, they should have come through so successfully.

6. Next to the general barrenness of the country, the difficulties they had to encounter were — first, the destruction of a quantity of their supplies and gear, through the camp being carelessly permitted to catch fire during their absence in pioneering the route. Next, the determined hostility of the natives, who were almost continually on their track, annoying them on every favorable opportunity; on one occasion, the crossing of the “Mitchell,” opposing them so obstinately that a considerable number were shot before they would give way. Then the loss of two-thirds of their horses (all the best) from eating some poisonous plant, and which necessitated the last 300 miles of the journey being travelled on foot; and last, the flooded state of the country during the season of the rains. And I think it is not too much for me to say, that nothing but a thorough knowledge of their business, supported by determined energy, could have carried them through what must be considered one of the most arduous tasks in exploration on record.

7. I will not attempt in the small space of a letter to give you more full particulars of the journey and its incidents. Mr. Surveyor Richardson has, of course, his journal and maps of the route as directed by the government, and from these, with the information gained by my sons in their numerous “offsets” in search of the best courses to follow, which will be placed at the disposal of the Government, I believe a pretty accurate idea of the nature of the country on the west coast of the York Peninsula may be gathered.

8. My sons have at present formed their station near Point Vallack, on the north shore of Newcastle Bay, between two or three miles from the settlement of Somerset. They are on good terms with the natives, and their black servants fraternise with them, but are kept under strict rule. The natives of Cape York from the first have shown a friendly feeling towards them, having, on their first arrival, met them about twenty miles from the settlement, and shown them the nearest way to it, and they have since been very useful in carrying timber to build huts, stockyards, etc., etc; and I believe that for the future, if well treated, they will offer no annoyance to the present settlers. The establishment of a cattle station in the neighborhood is of great advantage to the settlement, serving as an outpost to secure its safety, and in opening up the country, besides affording a ready supply of fresh meat. Already my sons and their blacks have cut good passages through the scrub to the settlement, and also through the various belts of scrub dividing their station from open grounds; so that now a large extent of country can be ‘ridden’ over without obstruction.

9. I have little else of importance to communicate. The affairs of this settlement have gone on slowly but steadily. The several works left unfinished are, under the charge of the acting foreman, Private Bosworth, Royal Marines, (and of whom I can speak most highly for his attention and work), completed, with the exception of the Custom House, which is well advanced.

10. The natives are on good terms with us, and work for us in various ways, being duly paid in food, tobacco, etc.

11. On the 23rd ultimo there was a slight shock of an earthquake felt distinctly by myself and other persons here. It occurred in the afternoon, about two o’clock, was accompanied by a rumbling sound, but lasted little more than a minute. The health of the royal Marines, and all other residents at the settlement, continues to be very good, as will be seen from the report of the surgeon Dr. Haran, R.N.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,

To the Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Brisbane.

Somerset, May 22, 1865.

It affords me much pleasure to have again to forward to your Excellency a most favourable report of the climate of this settlement, and of the uninterrupted good health of our small community, military and civil. the dreaded summer season, with its calms, light winds and heavy rains, has passed off without causing a single case of sickness, attributable to noxious exhalations, which prevail at that season in most tropical climates, but which, in my opinion, cannot exist here, owing to the preventive causes enumerated in my letter of the 13th January last; neither have we experienced that oppressiveness of the atmosphere which its saturated condition at that season through the sun’s direct influence in favoring evaporation in the surrounding seas would lead one to expect. Some slight oppressiveness was felt immediately before the rains, but speedily disappeared on their occurrence. I can only account for this valuable immunity by attributing it to some peculiarity of climate, in all probability to the same causes which counteract the evolution of noxious exhalations; for we did experience calms and very light winds, and the hygrometer during the greater part of the time indicated a very large amount of moisture in the atmosphere.

2. The meteorological sheets forwarded by this opportunity, contain full particulars regarding the winds, temperature, etc., for the last four months, and having been prepared from a series of observations, conducted with care and regularly registered, they cannot fail, amongst other important objects bearing on general climatology, to afford convincing proof that, as a climate, even during the summer season, that of Somerset, although in close proximity to the equator, possesses many advantages not attainable in higher latitudes, and is, in my opinion, from its mildness and equable character, especially suited for such as may have the misfortune to be predisposed to, or suffering from, pulmonary consumption.

3. The S.E. Trade ceased as a continuous wind in these seas on the 24th December last. Calms, light winds, from all points of the compass, but chiefly from the points between North and West to South, or against the sun’s course, and heavy rains, with electric phenomena of a comparatively mild character, succeeded and persisted until the 11th of March; when the sun’s more direct influence having been diverted from its course, and in a manner dissipated by the great heat and evaporation, again resumed its ascendancy, and has continued since without interruption.

4. On the 25th of January two of the Marines were seized with a severe headache and other suspicious symptoms while working in the sun during a calm; and I consider it my duty at once to recommend such alteration in the working hours as would protect the men from sun-exposure during its period of greatest heat. These alternations were adopted, and continued in force until the 22nd of March, when the former working hours were resumed, as no danger was apprehended from solar heat at any time of the day during the prevalence of the S.E. Trade wind.

5. One well-marked case of scurvy became developed at the end of January; and a few of several cases of cutaneous eruption under treatment at the time closely resembled the symptoms characteristic of that disease. the only anti-scorbutic dietary available, viz. — preserved meats and potatoes, compressed vegetables and lemon juice, was issued at once, and continued on the salt-meat days for three weeks, when all the indications of scurvy having disappeared, the usual dietary was resumed. Since then the entire adult community have enjoyed very good health.

I am, etc.,

T. J. HARAN, Surgeon, R.N.

His Excellency, Governor Sir G.F. Bowen, G.C.M.G.

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Economics Departments, Institutes and Research Centers in the World

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Government of Malta

Translation: National Statistics Office
Location: La Valletta, Malta
Phone: (356) 21 25997000
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Handle: RePEc:edi:cosgvmt
Areas or Functions: Statistical Offices

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“Dressed to the Nines: Oriental Feudalism and the Outward Appearance of Subordination”

Kayla Reddecliff

Extravagantly rich and exotic come to mind when thinking of the bygone world of Indian royalty, yet almost all of the 565 princely states abruptly and peacefully came to an end in 1947. In fact, the dazzling princely dress had come to represent subordination to the Queen of Britain. Because Indian rulers were unable to perform the princely duties of defending their state under colonial rule, Indian royalty directed their excess resources to the consumption of luxury goods. These goods, most notably represented in their dress, came to symbolize the ruling class’s increasing incompetence in the governing of their states.

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A New Adventure: Etsy

I’ve finally decided to get some artwork and handicrafts on Etsy for sale. Here’s a link to my shop. :) Right now, have just started with handcrafted pillows and treasure boxes (my favorite since I was a child), but am looking to move on to jewelry, prints, and who knows what else in the future!

Here are some pics from the work I’ve done so far:

Covered pillow with pieced quilting fabrics… The bright warm colors coupled with the animal print convinced me to title it “Saharan Sunset.”

Covered pillow with pieced quilting fabrics and grosgrain ribbon… It’s called “Why the Caged Bird Sings.”

And, last but not least, my favorite items to create: treasure boxes. The aqua and brown box is called “Wind & Sea,” and the green one is called “Sherwood Forest.” Both have a fabric lining. :)

image image

The interior (teal velour):

Here are a few of “Sherwood Forest”:

The inside is trimmed with a braided trim in off-white.

I’ve had a great time making these… If you’ve enjoyed any of my artwork in the past, would you please be so kind as to comment any ideas of what I should make next? Thanks so much! ^_^

Self Portraiture

“You are your cheapest model.”

The final project for my Painting I course was a self-portrait, done on a large-scale (~24″x30″) stretched canvas. Building the stretchers, cutting and stretching the canvas, and priming/sanding it was part of the course.

The piece needed to be conceptually complex–we were also being taught to use photo manipulation as a preparative tool for painting. I had the pleasure of being introduced to one of the most delightful photo manipulation programs. It is free and affords artists many of the same functions as typical photo manipulation software packages like Photoshop. The artist doesn’t even have to download software–it is self-contained on the website pixlr.com. I would highly recommend it–it has allowed me to perform many necessary, high-quality, quick photo-fixes that I would not have been able to perform otherwise.

There was an exercise that went along with the assignment, and involved thinking of a time when a very strong emotion was experienced. This emotion and experience was further explored through journaling.

At the time–and in recent times–I was dealing with a strong sense of nostalgia and an overwhelming amount of memories. The foreground of my painting–the figure itself–was taken in front of a window. I tried to capture the feeling of nostalgia with my expression and body language. The background of the painting–a sunrise in Socorro, NM–encapsulated the strong impression of beauty that we can have when viewing the past. Like a photograph, memories can never be fully complete. There will always be things that we don’t know and perspectives we didn’t have. There is always something just outside the frame of the camera, outside of our line of sight–that we can never recover because it was never observed or recorded in the first place.

I can see the incredible beauty of the sunrise because it was in the frame when I took the photo, but I can’t look back and see the other, perhaps less-than-perfect parts of the environment. It doesn’t matter–the image recollects some of the most lovely moments that I have ever experienced. Safely in the future, I can forget the less-than-perfect parts and love the others for what they are in my memory.

Once the manipulated photo that I was going to use was complete, I sketched the image onto the canvas and got to work, painting in oil paints. It took quite some time, a lot of paint, and much frustration, but I finally arrived at a stopping point.

My portrait could by no means be mistaken for the original photo, but its image has often been mistaken for one (by those who have never seen the original). I’d like to think that I’m good at capturing the spirit of people. It is entirely possible to take photos of people that look nothing like them, and it is quite common to encounter drawings that do not resemble the original subject. My painting does not look like the photo, but that does not mean that it isn’t a good likeness of the original subject. For example, in the painting, I painted my face with the chin tucked a little lower than it was originally. That does not make the painting “wrong”–who’s to say that my chin wouldn’t be lowered by that much? That’s just my philosophy (or perhaps I’m rationalizing my own shortcomings–you decide… ;) ).

I am ashamed to admit that I ran out of time, but I was forced to leave two areas of the painting under-developed: the ear and the lower right portion of the sunburst. I still have not finished these regions (despite having “finished” the piece about six months ago). Perhaps I will, someday. :)

The Ladies in Fur

“Old Master” Painting

Yes, the age-old “learn by copying” method of art instruction. In the Painting I course that I took, we used this method in the “Old Master” project. Each student was allowed to choose a centuries-old (and therefore,  copyright free) oil painting to copy. My indecisiveness was palpable… Girl with a Pearl Earring? La Belle Ferronniere? Dominique Ingres’ Self-Portrait? I finally settled on El Greco’s Lady in a Fur Wrap.

Lady in a Fur Wrap

The first step was to create the reference materials for the project. I printed a color photograph of the painting and created a black and white poster (using the ever-useful blockposters.com) of the artwork that was scaled my masonite board.

Layering the poster on top of graphite transfer paper and the gessoed board, I traced the major areas and borders of the painting.

Old Master 1

Then, the painting commenced. Where to start? My painting instructor–who does a great many “Old Master” paintings–always starts with the eyes. It makes sense–in any kind of drawing, we must select a portion that we will “believe” (as my Drawing II instructor says), and base all other placement and relations on that part. The eyes are one of the most important parts of the painting. When executed skillfully, they can make a painting real, even if the rest of the face isn’t fully developed. Still, viewers can recognize immediately if they are a little “off.” I began, painting the eyes first. The color photograph was absolutely indispensable in matching and mixing colors.

Old Master 2

During the next class period, I continued with the face, working outward.

Old Master 3

I started to paint the lady’s gauzy veil during the next session. The veil has icy white portions, but since I was working wet-on-wet, it was difficult to get the bright white. I lumped the paint on in an attempt to keep it white.

Old Master 4

I ventured into the black of the background when I returned to the piece, down onto the lady’s dress, and even made my way to her hand. While it was difficult to achieve a bright white using a wet-on-wet technique, it was nearly impossible to achieve deep dark shadows on the gauze covering the lady’s upper chest area. After being frustrated for several hours, I reached the crushing realization that I would be darkening the shadows another day. In case you’re wondering, the white area in the upper left corner is where I taped the color photograph of the painting while I worked. It is much easier to copy a work (or match colors) when your piece is physically as close to the reference material as possible.

Old Master 5

El Greco achieves this amazing “fur” effect by layering his paint. I was, then, not about to complete the fur shawl using a wet-on-wet technique. During the next session, I painted the under-painting for the shawl and sleeve cuff. I also added more detail to the hand.

Old Master 6

The fur, while somewhat satisfactory, was not what I was looking for. Perhaps what I lacked was a small enough brush (most likely the case–none of my brushes were small enough for fine lines), but it was very difficult for me to attain feather marks that were small enough. I left it vague and soft in form. I also added highlights to the sleeve cuff, the hand, and the ring. I fixed the face a little (one should always be open to improvement and revision).

Old Master 7

The final step was to fill in the rest of the black background and complete the finishing touches.

Old Master 8

Although I am somewhat happy with my copy, it is very clear that I am no art forger. In fact, in creating the featured image for this post, I placed my copy back-to-back with the original and noticed two things immediately: 1) my piece lacks the high degree of detail that El Greco was able to achieve, and 2) my Lady in a Fur Wrap appears almost mirthful, as if she is just about to laugh. Perhaps she is laughing at me and my attempt to paint her. “Yes,” she would say, “you’re ok, but you’re no El Greco.”

The Ladies in Fur

Six Squares: Socorro Plaza

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, although it doesn’t feel like it… It was quite a shock to see that my last post was from January of this year. So much has happened, but first I’d like to share with you some work from the rest of my semester in Painting I.

First image: a “six squares project” to demonstrate mastery of six painting techniques/color schemes. The assignment required six 6″x6″ squares of wood panel. The finished project could either be six parts of a cohesive image (the format that I selected), or the same image executed in different techniques. When I find the original photo that I used, I’ll be updating this post by adding it–just so you can see the image I worked from.

It was quite difficult to chose a photo that I thought would suit this project, mostly because two of the “techniques” were analogous colors and complimentary colors. The photo that I chose featured complimentary colors (red and green) in the top right corner and analogous colors (green, yellow-green, and yellow) in the lower left corner, so those two squares were already spoken for.

The other four techniques were palette knife (top left), sgraffito (middle left), glaze over grisaille (middle right), and dry brush scumbling (lower right).

The other reason that I chose this photo was because I took it about a year ago in Socorro, NM (where I went to college for Engineering & Business Management). There were many things that were not ideal about my time in Socorro, but the town still feels like an old friend. It’s like that person that you said you never wanted to see again, but still miss every day… ;)

The palette knife painting was done in just one layer, but the remaining three painting techniques required some degree of layering. Here are the under-paintings and the finished products, just so you can get an idea of what each technique looked like at each crucial point.

Sgraffito utilizes an under-painting that is first allowed to completely dry. Then, the next layer of paint is applied and a tool is used to scratch through to the first layer, exposing the color of the under-painting in scratched marks. I used vibrant color blocks for the under-painting that allowed me to take advantage of some brighter colors once my somber topcoat was applied.

Underpainting for Scraffito Socorro SquareScraffito Socorro Square

The word grisaille is derived from the French, and essentially means that the artwork has been completed in grayscale. The technique of glaze over grisaille, then, requires completing a painting of the image in full-value grayscale, allowing it to dry, and then adding color with thin coats of transparent color. Some oil colors are transparent, and some are not, so it was very important to keep that in mind when glazing the painting. An opaque paint would muddy the finished product. This technique–while amazing–is not my favorite. I’m used to a crisp image, and was frustrated by the way that the glazes wanted to travel all over the piece. Still, I came to peace with the end result. :) Here is the grisaille, followed by the finished product.

Grisaille Socorro SquareGlaze over Grisaille Socorro Square

This technique was one of my favorites. The under-painting for scumbling requires a thick, textured application of paint, painted in blocks (like a sgraffito under-painting), with little detail. Once the under-painting has dried, paint is applied by dragging the brush over the textured surface. Here is the under-painting, followed by the finished product (which has, unfortunately, been a bit “washed out” by the lighting present when the photo was taken).

Underpainting for Scumbling Socorro SquareDry Brush Scumbling Socorro Square

The six squares project took an interminable amount of time. Still, as with almost any permanent project, memory of the work (and pain and suffering) required will fade with time, but the piece will still remain fresh.

Palette Knife Painting

Palette Knife Painting

Yesterday I painted my first palette knife painting in Painting I class. It was a one-session deal, so we had about 2 hours to start and finish the piece. We were working from an organic still life, so there were several items to choose from (a pomegranate, bell peppers of differents colors, a pear, an avocado, a pineapple, an artichoke, etc.). Each was placed on colored construction paper (to give us more color to work from).

I’ll give you a little idea of what palette knife painting is all about (just in case you’re not familiar with it). The paint is applied to the canvas only with the aid of palette knives–blunt or sharp utensils that can be shaped like spades, butter knives, or spatulas. It is a bit like icing a cake. It can also be one of the most aggravating art experiences.

The most beautiful thing, though, about working with this technique is the mindset that one must adopt in order to relax into the process. Nothing is ever ruined and everything is fixable. Colors may go in entirely different places than where you intended them to be, they may mix when you don’t want them to, or you may put the wrong color on the painting. It doesn’t matter–it was bound to happen anyway. Just keep moving forward and thinking about the next step: what can I do next to make this painting even more like the painting I want it to be? To me, it seemed like a metaphor for life. Mistakes happen–that’s what makes this life so beautiful. Just keep moving forward; you can fix almost anything.

It was a very spiritual experience. I felt so relaxed, zen, and in control after entering this mindset. :)

Here is my piece. I painted the artichoke.

Palette Knife Painting


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