barren), the channel being unimpeded: it then bends to the northward, and, after a course of three or four miles, joins the Swan, as already mentioned.
The united rivers (whose banks are now miserably sterile) pursue a serpentine course, inclining withal to the southward, till they fall into the sea by a channel 330 yards wide; only one-fifth of that width, however, affording sufficient depth even for the passage of a small boat.
The channel is rather intricate; but the deep water is chiefly on the right bank, and, to say the least of it, boats heavily laden, or small craft, may be used, without much risk, between Perth and Freemantle.
The length of the Swan, in a direct line, is about thirty miles, and of the Canning, twenty miles: taking, however, their various windings into account, the distance may be doubled.
This account certainly does not agree with some others, especially the one which states "that vessels of large burden are enabled to sail seventy miles from its entrance."
Perth, the embryo capital of Western Australia, situated on the right bank of the river, about twelve miles from the sea, has, as yet, only the appearance of a straggling tented field; but I have no doubt its aspect will, in a short time, be very different. The Governor has got a commodious wooden house nearly finished, and the government officers were commencing to follow his example.
