still failing to attract settlers, and it was becoming increasingly clear both that the 1844 works had come too late, and that the settlement was unsustainable. Visiting the settlement in December 1848, soon before its closure, British scientist Thomas Huxley wrote that Port Essington was "most wretched, the climate the most unhealthy, the human beings the most uncomfortable and houses in a condition most decayed and rotten". Abandonment Finally, in 1849, Port Essington was, like the two previous attempts, abandoned. The demise of the settlement saw the end of British attempts at occupying the north coast. There would be one further unsuccessful attempt, by the Government of South Australia and Frederick Henry Litchfield in 1864, at Escape Cliffs (also known as Palmerston) near the mouth of the Adelaide River, before the first permanent settlement was established at Darwin (also initially known as Palmerston), in 1869. The ruins of Port Essington still exist today, and while access is difficult, it is possible to do so by several means. It is possible to fly in through tours that can be arranged in Darwin, or to travel to the area alone by four-wheel drive or boat – although, as the ruins lie on Aboriginal land, a permit must be obtained first. Cabins and some camping sites are available at Black Point Ranger Station. The Australian industrialist Essington Lewis was named after Port Essington. References Further reading Cobourg Peninsular historic sites: Gurig National Park. Darwin, N.T. Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory. 1999–2000. 7 volumesv. 1. Cobourg Peninsular historic sites conservation plan – v. 2. Executive summary – v. 3. Raffles Bay heritage precinct – v. 4. Victoria Settlement heritage precinct – v. 5. Port Essington heritage precinct – v. 6. Cape Don Lighthouse complex – v. 7. Cobourg Peninsular historic sites original reference documentation. Record at the National Library of Australia Alan Powell, World's End: British military outposts in the ring fence around Australia, Melbourne University Press, 2016. Jim Allen, Port Essington: The historical archaeology of a north Australian nineteenth-century outpost, Sydney University Press in association with the Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology, 2008; . A typescript of the 1969 thesis on which this book is based is available at the Australian National University's Open Research Library Mark McKenna, From the Edge: Australia's lost histories, Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2016. External links Port Essington, NT Place Names Register Extract Photographs in 2009