Settlers were entering more extensively into pastoral pursuits, and private persons were importing ventures of live stock from other settlements and selling them locally. In the latter part of 1834 and in 1835 the stock in the colony was largely increased by these means. Shipments of hundreds of sheep arrived, and were sold at £2, £2 15s., and £3 each. Practical shepherds were in great demand. Settlers owning flocks too small to warrant the engagement of a shepherd, came to arrangements with other settlers, by which their respective flocks were united. A charge of £25 per hundred was made for pasturage, or else a proportion of the annual increase was awarded. Herds of wild cattle were occasionally seen on the Murray, and their splendid appearance proved how excellent was the vegetation there for them.
On 6th November, 1834, a Cattle Show was held in Perth, under the auspices of the Agricultural Society. Some splendid horses, cattle, and sheep were exhibited, and supplied a useful lesson to the assembled pastoralists. A dinner was held in connection with the show, when didactic speeches were delivered by the more experienced colonists.
Numerous and unknown deaths continued to take place in the flocks. The opinions promulgated by Mr. Harris were still believed in, and various methods were adopted to defeat the deadly effects of the epidemic. Numbers of stock died in 1834, and when the settlers began to send their flocks and herds over the mountains to the Avon River the list of mortality greatly increased. Some thought that the young and succulent grass was causing the evil; others that the change of climate and the weakness engendered by rough travelling were to blame. Flocks in the Swan River country were attacked by a strange blindness, and blood-letting was largely resorted to. Indeed the deaths of sheep and cattle were becoming exceedingly serious. One settler, in March, 1835, sent a herd of goats over the mountains, and to the astonishment of all 53 took suddenly ill and died. Another pastoralist despatched stock in the same month to the Avon, and he lost on the journey 93 sheep, 3 bullocks, and 14 goats, and his troubles were accentuated by natives attacking his drovers. No one yet divined the true cause of this heavy death rate.
These figures of the Agricultural Society, though puny enough, denoted some progress; the signs were many. The visitor arriving in the colony and inspecting the settled districts saw numerous evidences of man's struggles with a sullen nature. On sailing into Cockburn Sound, to make a general tour of the settlement, his roving eye rested on a large octagonal building of white cut stone, whose bold position commanded attention. It was situated near the edge of the precipice at Arthur Head, and was used by the Government. Fremantle had merged into a small but neat village with a few streets, some of which had been macadamised. The houses were constructed either of white stone or of painted wood. There were several hotels, and the principal one greatly resembled in comfort and appearance an English country inn. This was a favourite resort of invalids from India, whence vessels often sailed to Swan River. Perth could be reached either by horseback or by boats on hire. A regular system of passenger boats was established, and the trip up the river was pleasing and even romantic. Ferries were stationed at Preston Point, Mount Eliza, and Guildford, on the Swan, in 1834, by which horsemen or footmen could cross the river. A road led direct from Preston Point to Perth; over billowy hills and through an open forest exhibiting a bright garniture of colours. The half-way house established at Claremont, was built of stone, and stood two storeys high.
Perth was much more scattered than Fremantle. It presented a pretty sight as it lay half concealed among the fine trees which the woodman's axe had spared. St. George's Terrace extended for about a mile along a ridge running parallel to the Swan River. Most of the houses were of wood, but some were of brick. The quarters which had been erected for the officers and private soldiers, the Gaol, and the Commissariat Stores, were the most conspicuous features in the picture. Several shops and merchants' stores ranged in promiscuous array among small private houses; signs upon the doors or windows, often painted in primitive designs, acquainted one with their special business. Straggling over the immediate landscape were modest houses shaded by old monarchs of the woodland; openings in the streets and trees disclosed views of the somnolent river flanked by dark bushy banks and hills. Across the river at Point Belches Mr. Shenton early in 1834 erected a mill which stood sentinel at the entrance to Perth by boat. Perth now enjoyed the comfort of several inns, and one in particular, kept by a discharged soldier of the 63rd Regiment, was an unexpected delight to travellers.
Horses and boats were to be had on hire as in Fremantle. Either means was used to get to Guildford. By road the distance was reckoned about seven miles, and by water, now the canal across the flats was completed, nine miles. This canal was but a quarter of a mile long and yet it was estimated to shorten the distance by three miles, so sinuous was the river's course. Numbers of pleasant looking homesteads nestled on the banks of the Swan above Perth. By perseverance and skill the land had been greatly improved. The most notable estates were those of Messrs. Hardy and Clarkson on the "Peninsula." These gentlemen utilised their properties for agriculture and grazing. They had reared a race of handsome horses from English and Cape breeds. Mr. Joseph Hardy erected, almost wholly with his own hands, a neat and comfortable dwelling, and his out buildings and whole arrangements bespoke the work of a careful and experienced man. The house was constructed of stakes driven into the ground, and interlaced with wattles. Mud was used for mortar, and the whole was plastered and made to present a smooth surface. The roof was fixed without nails, except those fastening the rafters. The lathing was secured by rope yarn; the covering was a thatch of fine rushes.
Other farms ornamented the Swan to Guildford, then an industrious village containing a store or two and numbers of small cottages standing back, each surrounded by two acres of ground. Flowers clustered near the walls, which with gardens and neatly fenced fields gave a charming air to the sleepy village. Most of the cottages were inhabited by small farmers, who received town grants from the Government.
Upon the Helena, joining the Swan at Guildford, was some of the richest soil cultivated in the colony. The first estate was that of Sir James Stirling—the Woodbridge. His rustic country residence was beautifully situated on a high bank which overhung the river, and commanded a view of two fine reaches of water. The estates and residences within a mile or two of Woodbridge were principally those of Messrs. Walcot, Tanner, MacDermott, Ridley, Whitfield, Thompson, Trimmer (2), Wells, Lewis, Boyd, Brown, Drummond, and Captain Meares, late of the Life Guards. These evinced numerous examples of becoming thrift, and were so charmingly situated that, though quiet, they made enviable rural residences. Lieutenant Roe owned an estate
