PORT MACKAY.
So far but little improvement in the Pioneer River appears to have resulted from the construction of the stone training walls. Raising the wall from Fisherman's Bank down stream to its present termination will have a beneficial effect, and remove the possibility of small vessels—when not under command—resting upon it at high water. Its additional height will also prevent the sand (as in February last, when the sea made a breach through East Point) from being carried over into the main channel and leaving a deposit of some 18 inches on the top of the wall. The upper stone wall commencing at Magazine Island has proved beneficial, by creating a scour resulting in the removal of the upper flats. At East Point the bar beacons have been removed again (for the third time in ten years), in consequence of the continual growth in a south-westerly direction of the extreme end of the sand spit.
The older portion of the wooden retaining wall on the south bank of the Pioneer River is in a most unsightly and dilapidated condition, owing to the combined ravages of white ants and cobra; the newer portion is also being quickly destroyed from the same cause. The stone retention wall which extends along part of River Street is, however, well constructed, and likely to prove of permanent utility.
The buoys and beacons within Port Mackay are in an efficient condition, and the lighthouse at Flat Top and dwelling-houses of all the Department's employees require but few repairs. The steam launch is a useful handy vessel, and is in good order.