in 1835, and their report encouraged settlers. In the Hotham district, about 130 miles from Perth and 50 from Port Leschenault, they found excellent pastoral reaches containing an abundance of water. The atmosphere near the river was cool, and even in the midst of summer the grass was green. Pasturage was so plentiful that innumerable kangaroos bounded before them on every side, and the district seemed to be the native home of the cockatoo. The loud discordant notes of these fine but noisy birds so filled the air that it was difficult for the explorers to hear each other speak. In every way the trip was a successful one.
In September, 1835, the Governor again went across the Darling Ranges to the valleys of the Avon and into the surrounding country. He calculated that he examined over 300 square miles of prime grazing ground, and this announcement caused an additional leaning towards pastoral pursuits over the hills.
In October it was reported to Sir James Stirling that a remarkable journey had been made by two boys east of King George's Sound. The lads accompanied a party of sealers along the southern coast, and becoming disgusted with the depravity and barbarity of their companions, ran away from them when about 400 miles to the east of Albany. They trailed along the coast towards the settlement, and after laborious travelling, severe privations, and constant dread of being lost in the wilderness, they reached Albany, principally by means of the friendly assistance of the natives. The particulars and confirmatory accounts of the journey are meagre.
A second expedition set out to explore the Hotham River in October, 1835, and the members of it determined to push on to the Williams River, as well as contiguous country. Sir James Stirling, Lieutenant Roe, Mr. Norcott, Captain Bull, and several others went forth on this occasion. After making their way over the hills, they came to the Williams and Hotham districts, and there separated; some returning home by way of York, some through Kelmscott, while the Governor and Lieutenant Roe went further to the south-east. Captain Bull described the country as disappointing in the general quality of the land. It was suitable for sheep pasturing, but contained little alluvial land for wheat. Sir James Stirling considered the same country to contain large stretches of good grazing land. It was undulating; the hills were grassy; the soil was a light red sandy loam; the rocks were represented by whinstone, granite, and ironstone, and the trees mainly by the casuarina. An abortive scheme was set on foot at Sydney in 1834 by Captain Bannister and Mr. Clint to mark out an overland stock route to Perth.
The pioneer, Mr. Thomas Peel, had during these years been in great tribulation. His labour was not applied to the best advantage; his servants were dissatisfied and caused him constant trouble; and he was in sad need of ready money. He had been compelled at intervals to sell off part of his stock to obtain capital to go on with, and he sold at less than half the original purchase money. By his indentures with his servants he was bound to pay them daily wages, generally three shillings per day; like others, he invested most of his capital in stores and live stock, leaving very little for current expenses to tide him through the development period to a self-supporting stage. Hence he suffered keenly, and he early found it convenient to allow his people to work for other settlers, with the reservation that he could recall them when he chose. He arranged that if any servant desired to be discharged from his indentures he would relieve him upon payment of the passage money. This opportunity was availed of by some servants; but with the remainder he still had his difficulties. Law was often resorted to, and several of his people were imprisoned for breaches of their indentures. Among the large number introduced was a splendid class of experienced men, and in this regard Mr. Peel conferred salutary benefits on the colony. Not only did he suffer as already described, but he lost considerably on his stores and his live stock by destruction.
The Governor more than once repaired to Mr. Peel's grant to improve matters. In 1834 he went down to choose a more convenient site for the headquarters than Mr. Peel's original station. Pinjarra was his choice, and there he determined to establish a town. Mr. Peel had made extensive improvements, considering the obstacles he had to level, and it was deemed regrettable that one who had been such a primary instrument in establishing the colony, and had introduced so much capital and so many people within its boundaries, should be placed in a distressing position. Despite impediments he had sufficiently improved his grant of 250,000 acres as to obtain the fee simple in 1834, and he immediately offered 100,000 to a projected company for 2s. 6d. an acre, but a bargain was not made.
Colonel P. A. Latour, who introduced large capital in stock and servants, and received grant of land amounting to 113,100 acres on the Swan and Helena Rivers and at Leschenault, also suffered. So disappointed was he with the land he obtained, and the early evanishment of his capital, that he determined to leave the colony. The dimensions of his investments were nearly half those of Mr. Peel, and, as with the pioneer, he served the colony well in introducing large numbers of people, but he had not heart enough to remain in it through its first struggles.
The Government was still pestered by the demands of the unemployed. Immediately a man required a situation he applied to the Government for assistance, and the Colonial Secretary's Department often resembled a labour bureau. The officials arranged with settlers to give the most needy of these men employment on special terms, and the Government itself placed them on improvement works.
In July, 1834, a sensation was caused in Perth, when rumors were circulated by natives that a wreck had taken place thirty days journey north of the Swan. The aborigines averred that they were informed of the fatality by the blacks of the north country. The wreck, they said, had taken place six months before. Men, women, and children were still alive on the shore in tents. The ship was quite destroyed by the sea, but a large quantity of money like dollars lay on the beach. The rumor was of painful and absorbing interest both to the Government and the settlers. The site of the wreck was calculated to be Shark's Bay, and numerous suggestions were made for procuring the relief of the supposed wrecked people, whose sufferings were conceived to be intense. It was at first proposed to send out an expedition on horses, but finding that £500 was the least capital necessary the idea was abandoned. A small vessel was commissioned by the Government to sail direct to Shark's Bay, and thence to scan the coast north and south. The native Weeip, who was now an outlaw, was approached by a settler and asked to convey messages to the scene of the wreck. Weeip agreed to certain terms and set off, but found no shipwrecked people. The vessel returned with a like result. It was at first considered probable that the alleged wreck was the ship Mercury, which sailed under the auspices of the Calcutta Colonisation Company in 1833.
