scenery in all Western Australia. It required no little hardihood to go boldly into such wild country, and his unchallenged course brings into bolder relief the harmless, peaceable disposition of the aborigines. Dr. Wilson and his companions were the means of supplying highly valuable information to the Government of the colony, but even to-day much of the country he passed through is almost unchanged. He concludes his description of the journey with a high compliment to the fertility of the country, which "contained as much, perhaps more, land fit for all rural purposes than any portion of equal extent in New South Wales." It was well watered, contained magnificent timber, and presented stirring scenery.
CHAPTER VII.
INCIDENTS AND PROGRESS IN 1830.
INEFFICIENT PIONEERS—SCENES ON FREMANTLE BEACH—TRIALS OF THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR—SETTLERS LEAVING—THEIR BAD REPORTS—INSUFFICIENT READY CAPITAL—USELESS GOODS—STIRLING'S DESPATCHES RE INEFFICIENT PIONEERS—HIS REPORT CONCERNING CLIMATE, SOILS, WATER SUPPLY, AGRICULTURE, AND PRODUCTS SUITABLE TO THE SOIL—ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY PAPER—ARRIVAL OF VESSELS, PASSENGERS, AND STOCK IN JANUARY AND FOLLOWING MONTHS—SIMILAR CLASS TO PREDECESSORS—WAGES—BOATS—PROVISIONS AND STOCK OBTAINED FROM NEIGHBOURING SETTLEMENTS—IDLERS STILL AT FREMANTLE IN AUTUMN—INDUSTRIOUS SETTLERS AT WORK, TESTING LIMESTONE, MAKING BRICKS, CLEARING, BUILDING DWELLINGS, AND PLANTING—FLOODS, DISTRESS, WRECK—ROCKINGHAM—ESCAPE OF CATTLE; WILD HERDS—SCAB IN SHEEP—PROGRESS IN PERTH—INNS—COURT OF QUARTER SESSIONS—SURVEY DEPARTMENT—PEEL'S GRANT—GRANTS IN 1830 ON SWAN, HELENA, CANNING, AND MURRAY RIVERS—STIRLING ESTABLISHES MILITARY SETTLEMENT AT LESCHENAULT, AND ROE EXPLORES—GRANTS AT LESCHENAULT—TWO NEW COUNTIES DECLARED; LESCHENAULT AND PLANTAGENET—STIRLING'S SELECTIONS—AUGUSTA FOUNDED—EXPLORATION—PRESTON GOES ALONG THE COAST TO MOUNT FAIRFAX—DALE DISCOVERS MOUNT BAKEWELL AND THE AVON—LIEUTENANT ERSKINE EXPLORES AVON VALLEY—STIRLING EXAMINES THE AVON, AND DALE GOES FARTHER EAST AND SOUTH—SITES OF THREE INLAND TOWNS DECLARED, VIZ., YORK, BEVERLEY, AND NORTHAM—FIRST GRANTS ON THE AVON—GUILDFORD FOUNDED—THE CROPS LATE IN 1830—THE ABORIGINES, TWO MURDERS—ANOTHER COLONIAL OFFICE CIRCULAR—LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORS SUPREME CONTROL—CHARTER FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
WHEN serious, practical work was well started it was evident that numbers of the original settlers were very ill suited to pioneering. The community assembled at Fremantle and on the banks of the Swan contained men of diverse attainments, but unfortunately few who were able to battle with the bush, and institute order in the wilderness. The conclusions of one writer who reached the colony in September, 1829, are representative, and exhibit the qualifications of many of the forefathers of Western Australia. Immediately after leaving England their want of courage was proven, and this writer—a young farmer—depicts the scenes which took place on board his emigrant ship in the Bay of Biscay. The children, who were half dead with fright and sickness, were unattended below decks, for their parents and other grown-up passengers were absolutely crying with fear and agitation. When the bay was crossed more peace prevailed, and the passengers became communicative. Of those on board his vessel this farmer wrote, "It was with no small surprise that I discovered not one passenger in ten knew anything about farming, although they all professed their object to be the acquisition and occupation of land. Several of them resided in London and large towns all their lives, and scarcely knew wheat from barley."
Their arrival at Fremantle was typical of that of too many immigrants. "Most of them," records the young farmer, "were so dejected at not finding themselves upon the richest country in the world, that they seemed to require consolation and advice to go up the river and look about them, rather than afford any assistance to those who kept up their spirits, and resolved to 'put their shoulder to the wheel.'" They huddled together on the beach, or made their way at once to Perth, where the Lieutenant-Governor was pestered by their ignorant questions. He was expected to tend their every wish, and was openly blamed for attracting them to he colony. Some of them, so our chronicler says, assumed consequential airs, and seemed to consider that the Governor was more their servant than the King's representative. Captain Stirling's temper was often severely tried, but, although he was occasionally hasty, he was extremely considerate even when the most ridiculous requests were made of him. Whenever he rode or walked out he was constantly being stopped by these foolish people and asked silly questions and favours. The representative of Royalty held many impromptu levees beneath the banksia trees. He worked hard and constantly, and his health suffered severely during the first few months. While leading a party of explorers, who were examining the Swan River country on a hot day, he became heated from his exertions, and incautiously bathed in a cold stream which was met in the woods. He was seized with a cold and fever, and was laid up for some days.
Even at this early period many settlers left the Swan River, and, wherever they went, gave the most doleful and exaggerated accounts of the sterility of the country and the hardships of the settlers. So persistent were these reports that it took some years to dispel their baneful influence; indeed, it would seem that they were not dispelled until very recent years. Several persons arrived from Sydney and Hobart Town in 1829, who, when their hopes—generated by the glowing reports received from London and elsewhere—were disappointed, returned to their former stations or went to Cape Colony, and told a dismal tale to all who would listen to them. And this before the country was surveyed, or in the slightest degree tested from a productive standpoint! Some of those who came from England, and lounged idly on the Fremantle beach, sent home by the first opportunity loud complaints, but as their letters did not reach their destination for a long period, their effect in that quarter was protracted. No just opinion could be expressed at so early a period on the resources of the Swan River.
Not only were these people discouraged and impotent when they did not find the conveniences and beauties which exist only in imagination, but they were without the necessary means to cultivate the soil. The capitalistic class too often invested nearly the whole of their money in goods and stock so as to obtain a large grant of land. They therefore had little left to
