and instructive. The colony was well represented at the Indian and Colonial Exhibition in London a few years later. In August, 1887, the Legislative Council voted £3,000 for the establishment of the Victoria Public Library, Perth. There is nothing of special importance to chronicle in Church matters. The foundation-stone of the new St. George's Cathedral, Perth, was laid by Sir William Robinson on 2nd November, 1880, and on the 5th August, 1888, the first services were held.
Among other numerous enactments of the Legislative Council during 1879-88 was the Public Health Act of 1886. For several years the question of sanitation in Perth and Fremantle had been under serious consideration. In 1885 a Sanitary Committee was appointed. Under the Public Health Act, councils of municipalities were empowered to make and levy a special rate not exceeding 3d. in the £ for sanitation purposes. Perth and Fremantle came under the operation of the Act in December, 1886; Guildford, in 1887, and Albany, in January, 1888.
In 1880 the chairman of the Perth Council received the dignified name of Mayor. Mr. G. Shenton, in 1880, was the last chairman, and Mr. S.H. Parker the first mayor; Mr. Shenton succeeded from 1882 to 1884, Mr. G. Randell in 1885, and Mr Shenton in 1886-7-8-9. In 1883 the Fremantle municipality became a corporation, with a mayor as chief citizen. In September, 1883, the Legislative Council voted £2,000, to be paid in four annual instalments of £500, towards the erection of a Town Hall at Fremantle. The building in High Street was placed under construction, and was opened on 22nd June, 1887. In September, 1885, the chairmen of the Councils of Albany and Geraldton were raised to the rank of mayor. Municipalities were declared in Northam on 28th October, 1879, and Cossack and Roebourne on 30th November, 1887.
There were several deaths of notable men. Sir Archibald P. Burt, the Chief Justice, died on 21st November, 1879, aged, sixty-nine years. As the single judge in the colony the Chief Justice often occupied trying positions, and it was, therefore, hardly to be expected that his judgments would at all times satisfy litigants resorting to the Supreme Court. For eighteen years he occupied this onerous position, and maintained a character significant for uprightness, fearlessness, and courtesy. A high official with such characteristics was especially valuable in a community like the Western Australian.
In the previous July H.M. Lefroy, J.P., died. He was for some years the Superintendent of the Fremantle Convict Prison and was besides an enthusiastic vine and fruit grower. On 6th November, 1881, William Knight (79), J.P., some time Auditor-General, died. That respected pioneer, Henry Trigg (91), died at Perth on 15th February, 1882. Mr. Trigg arrived in the colony in 1829, and took an active part in the development of public works. On 15th May, 1885, died John Wall Hardey (83), and on 24th May, 1885, Samuel Evans Burges. Each gentleman was a leader in pastoral and agricultural pursuits, and helped in the political history of the colony. Mr. Hardey, as a nominee member of the Legislative Council, had taken a prominent part in constitutional debates. Mr. F.T. Gregory (68), the energetic explorer, died at Brisbane, Queensland, in November, 1888. He became Commissioner of Crown Lands in that colony, and in 1874 took a seat in the Legislative Council, which he occupied until his death.
Governor Broome pursued a lively policy with regard to the natives. During his term of office some interesting disclosures were published, and further attempts to protect and assist the aborigines were made. In the Gascoyne and North-west districts murder became much less frequent, and in the Kimberley and the other northern divisions aboriginal shepherds were almost exclusively employed. Indeed, intending pastoralists were wont to reckon on this cheap assistance when about to select land. Periodical presents of blankets and other articles were awarded to the natives, and it was still possible under the regulations for the Governor-in-Council to allot them grants of land. It is doubtful whether the policy of giving them blankets is wise. The natives in the past were not in the habit of wearing such apparel, and it is certain that blankets and articles of dress shorten rather than prolong their lives. In his indolence the native does not change this impedimenta when it is saturated with rain; he allows it to dry upon him. Fatal and rapid consequences are inevitable. Dried or tanned kangaroo or even sheep skins are decidedly preferable. Sometimes these hopeless beings hypothecate their blankets for a mug of beer.
Bishop Salvado, at New Norcia, had by this time what Governor Broome termed, "a mediaeval monastery, with its religious and laborious life in chapel and field." The settlement had become eminently important, and was by far the most successful of its kind in Australasia. In outdoor exercise it combined wheat growing, grazing, and gardening. In 1884 the mission paid about £1,000 a year to the Government for its grazing rights. Cattle, sheep, and horses roamed the fields. Wheat, grapes, olive, figs—all kinds of produce—were (and are) cultivated on the extensive farms. Australian natives not only sang in church and studied in school—they were engaged side by side with the monks in agricultural and other industries; they played the violin and other instruments in the mission band, and cricket in the mission eleven, which visited Perth for an occasional match, and was often victorious. The mission produced (and produces) excellent tobacco, olives, dried fruits, and wines. Large buildings stand near the site of the pond so devotedly assailed in 1845; orchards and farms are scattered round it; numerous wells have been sunk in the vicinity of the place where the reverend fathers suffered such pangs of thirst after the vicissitudes of their long journey. Indeed, the devoted head of this Spanish aboriginal mission has carried on a noble work. From a temporal point of view, it has obtained a well-merited success; but Bishop Salvado himself would confess that in other aspects it has fallen short of his ambition. Large numbers of natives have there experienced the fleeting joys of civilisation, and portions of its learning; but their own natures have prevented them from altogether overcoming their spontaneous passions and appetites; their love of a wild life, with its attendant repulsive features. No amount of teaching and example can eradicate in them the habits begot by a long past. The native has no hope of obtaining a place in a civilised community, and there are few to encourage him to try, to welcome him when he conquers. The historian and antiquary of a thousand years hence will revere Bishop Salvado's name for his secluded labour.
In 1881-2 serious statements were made of the depredations of natives in the Upper Murchison district. Mr. Fairbairn, R.M., had on two occasions enquired for the Government into the coloured labour question among the pearlers and on the coast, and Governor Broome again despatched him to make an investigation, a step that was welcomed by the settlers. Mr. Fairbairn's report of 12th July, 1882, was impartial and fearless. He found that the extent of the depredations were greatly exaggerated. The settlers stated that they had suffered severely from the loss of sheep, but they could give no reliable estimate of those losses. Nearly all their flocks were in charge of native shepherds, chiefly women, camped in the bush miles away from the head station, without white supervision beyond an occasional visit during the week. Looking at the temptations placed in their way, Mr. Fairbairn thought it would have been sur-
