were good in Swan River, and that there was a fair chance for all who were willing to work. It is needless to refer to the past, and now that transportation has ceased the whole aspect of the case is altered; but I would ask those who know the colony well to say whether it is not the truth that the great majority of the respectable labouring and artisan classes who have been sent out as free emigrants during the last ten years has left the colony for Melbourne and Adelaide, and carried an evil report of its prospects away also?
Since we landed, in December 1863, several important additions to the public buildings have been made, which have much improved the general appearance of the town. Of these the new Town Hall deserves the first mention. It is a fine building, upward of 170 feet in length by 80 feet in breadth, accommodating two thousand persons. It is constructed upon arches, so that the basement may form a market-place, a convenience much wanted previously, and it is surmounted by a tower 130 feet in height, and of an ornamental character. As far as it was possible to form a just opinion upon a building still in progress when we left the colony, this new hall seemed likely to add much to the aspect of the town, the tower especially promised to be very effective in the more distant view when approaching from Guildford or Fremantle by the road.
During the last year or two a handsome church has been erected by the Wesleyan body, which is now, I believe, completed and opened. It is described as having a very church-like and graceful exterior, with a lofty, though light spire, and good windows, so that it must
