WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
EARLY SETTLEMENT--MISTAKEN LAND SYSTEM--CONVICT LABOUR--THE
SYSTEM ABANDONED--POISON PLANTS--PERTH--KING GEORGE'S
SOUND--CLIMATE--PEARLS--PROSPECTS.
[Illustration: SHEEP-SHEARING.]
[Illustration: PERTH.]
Western Australia, as its name implies, is the tract of country lying
upon the western side of the great island continent of the south. A
glance at the map shows that the eastern side of the island, and much of
the southern, is occupied by the colonies of South Australia, Victoria,
New South Wales, and Queensland, the land in which is taken up by
squatters, by agriculturists and miners for hundreds of miles inland,
while the coast-line is studded with large cities, like Melbourne,
Sydney, and Adelaide, and with numerous flourishing settlements. On the
other side is the enormous tract of Western Australia, 1300 miles in
length from north to south, and 800 miles in breadth, thus embracing in
extent one-third of the continent. Here, instead of ports, of towns,
and of settled districts, we find only a few scattered settlements, and
this is the case though the colony is an old one, and one for which much
has been done. By virtue of seniority of settlement, it ranks next to
New South Wales. It was founded in 1829, under Government auspices, and
with a great flourish of trumpets, mainly in consequence of a very
favourable report prepared by Captain Stirling, R.N., afterwards Sir
James Stirling, first Governor of the colony. To induce settlement,
enormous grants of land were made to men of influence and capital, who
in return were to bring out a proportionate number of labourers, and
perform other 'location duties.' Thus a Mr. Peel, a relative of Sir
Robert Peel, obtained 250,000, Colonel Latour 103,000, and Sir James
Stirling 100,000 acres.
It appears now to be agreed that this grant system was as injudicious as
it was lavish. Middle-class capitalists came to reside on their estates,
and not to work, and the settler of humbler but more useful pretensions
was led to believe that the colony was closed to him. The settlement was
hapless from the first. Old colonists give lively descriptions of how
ladies, blood horses, pianos, and carriages, were landed on a desolate
coast, while no one knew where his particular allotment lay. The
settlers found that they had no control whatever over the men they
brought out, and in some instances they were left to establish their
homes in the wilderness as they best could by themselves. Many, deciding
from the arid appearance of the place that there was no prospect of
success, abandoned it. Some who believed at one time that the Garden of
Eden lay on the banks of the Swan River, and that colonisation was a
perpetual picnic, returned wiser, poorer, and sadder, to the more
congenial sphere of settled and civilised England. Others, like the
Messrs. Henty, sought more favourable fields, and ultimately, in
_Australia Felix_, acquired both riches and reputation. Many of those
who remained do not seem to have possessed the stuff the real settler is
made of, but thought more of giving entertainments and seeking pleasure
than of work. When the supplies they had brought from England ran out,
they were very nearly starved, and they had to expend much of their
capital in importing provisions.
In after years their numbers were but little increased. Considerable
doubt existed about their progress being sure, and none whatever about
its being slow. Never well-to-do, they felt very severely the depression
general throughout Australia in 1848. People looked to their
money-chests only to see if they had sufficient left to take them away.
Casting about for relief, the York Agricultural Society suggested that
convicts should be applied for, and the proposal found favour with the
people. Backsliding seems as easy with communities as with individuals.
The colonists who had met more than their share of difficulties and
obstruction, while proceeding in the straight-forward path of
settlement, found everything prepared for them when they turned aside.
It so happened that, just before this time, the effects produced by the
vast influx of convicts into Tasmania had shocked the British public,
and provoked a spirit of resentment and resistance in the Australian
colonies such as had never existed before. The whole of the eastern
settlements stood arrayed against the mother country, and the conclusion
was forced upon the Imperial Government that the system must be
terminated. Earl Grey, who was then in office, and who had initiated
important improvements in the management of convicts, endeavoured to
find for the flood of British criminals a new outlet where these plans
could be tested. He addressed a circular on the subject to the colonies
of New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, New Zealand, the
Cape, the Mauritius, and Ceylon, explaining the improvements it was
proposed to make in the management of the convicts, promising to send a
free emigrant for every convict shipped, and asking whether, under these
conditions, the colonies would consent to receive criminals. The answer
was "No" in each instance, with the single exception of Western
Australia. Her reply was favourable, and a bargain was soon struck.
Western Australia entered into the contract upon the understanding that
the annual imperial expenditure should be sufficiently large to be of
importance to the colony, and in the hope that cheap labour would
attract capital to it.
The system was continued until 1868, when, in deference to the protests
of the sister states, and because also expectation had been greatly
disappointed as to the results, convict importation was finally closed
and determined. The protest was carried so far that it was proposed by
one Government to exclude from the ports of the free colonies ships that
had come from the convict settlement; and this decision would have shut
out the mail steamers. And Western Australia found that, while it
obtained convict labour, it frightened away free men, while immigrants
avoided the place as though it were a plague-spot. Now it may be said
the past is forgotten, the taint is dying away, and Western Australia is
awakening into life.
The country is being opened to the northward, but up to within the past
few years the bulk of the settlement was in the south-western corner of
the colony, in the neighbourhood of the Swan River--a stream which
possesses the peculiarities of being short, broad, and shallow, and
which, in consequence of its bar and its flats, is well-nigh useless as
far as navigation is concerned. At the mouth of the river lies
Fremantle, with a population of about 5000--the seaport of the colony.
Ten miles higher up is Perth, the capital city, possessing 2000 more
inhabitants than Fremantle. A like distance farther on is pretty
Guildford, and seventy miles from the seaboard, separated from it by the
Darling ranges, are the agricultural settlements in the Avon valley. The
town of Bunbury lies on the western sea-coast; and Albany, a settlement
of equal size on the southern coast, is indebted for its existence to
its harbour--King George's Sound--being a place of call for the mail and
numerous other steamers. Geraldton and Roebourne are northern ports--the
latter the centre of the pearl fishery trade.
Looking at its vast size, and the dispersion of its thin population--the
whole not equal to that of a Melbourne suburb--Western Australia can
only be described by one image--it is the giant skeleton of a colony.
A clever Yankee once described the colony of Western Australia as having
been run through an hour-glass. The American, however, possessed the
failing common to many humorists: he economised the truth for the sake
of uttering a smart saying. It is only to be expected that in a country
like Western Australia, possessing an area of a million square miles,
that sandy tracts are to be met with; but to assert that the colony is a
vast sandy waste--a Sahara--is to convey a wrong impression of its
physical features. In the far north the richest of Australian tropical
vegetation exists; fine rivers flow through tracts of splendidly grassed
territory, and the conformation of the country is bold. It is farther
south, where the tropical growth gives place to level plains and bush
vegetation, that the dreary sandy plains exist in parts, though not to
the extent sometimes imagined.
Along the south-west coast, however, where the splendid forests of
jarrah and other varieties of eucalypts are found, the soil is richer
and better watered, but the prevalence of dangerous poison plants
renders it less useful for pastoral purposes. Some districts are
infested with strong quick-growing bushes, the juices of which are fatal
to animal life. There are no less than fourteen known varieties of these
plants, but only four are commonly pointed out. These are the York-road,
the heart-leaf, the rock, and the box-scrub--the _Gastrolobium bilobum_,
the _Gastrolobium calycinum_, _Gastrolobium callistachys_, and the
_Gastrolobium anylobiaides_. The most common is the York-road plant, a
low bushy scrub, with narrow fresh green leaves, and a light coloured
stem. After a bush fire this plant is the first to spring up. Its young
shoots have a particularly green and attractive appearance; the sheep
feed eagerly upon it, swell to a great size, and die in a few hours. A
single mouthful at this period is sufficient to destroy them. The plant
is also very dangerous when in blossom, as then also the sap is fresh
and plentiful. In summer, when it is dried up, the sheep do not care
about it, and may even be fed on country where it is not very thick. It
is destructive to horned cattle, but it does not affect horses much.
Millions of acres are overrun with this poison shrub, which, however,
when cleared, may be profitably occupied. For instance, in the mahogany
forests about the Darling ranges, there is a coarse grass growing which
would support sheep well, but, in consequence of the prevalence of
poison, at present the land remains unproductive and unoccupied. As one
goes north the poison plants disappear, and the flocks which Victoria
and Queensland and New South Wales are now pouring into the new pastures
there feed as securely as they would in the Western District of
Victoria, or on the famous Darling Downs.
The city of Perth is built in a picturesque situation above the broad
reach of the Swan River known as Perth Waters. Its streets are broad and
well defined, and, considering that it only contains a population of
some seven thousand souls, it is a remarkably compact town. The Town
Hall, built by convict labour, is a pretentious structure, and within
easy distance of it are to be found the Legislative Assembly Chamber and
the commodious offices devoted to the use of the civil servants. The
principal buildings are to be found in St. George's Terrace, a fine wide
street lined with beautiful trees. The soil of Perth is admirably suited
to the growth of many varieties of fruits and flowers, and the love of
the residents for these gifts of nature is indicated by the well-kept
gardens that surround most of the houses. Indeed, no colony can produce
finer fruit than Western Australia.
[Illustration: GOVERNMENT HOUSE, PERTH.]
Fremantle, the principal port of the colony, is a modest little town
with narrow streets nestling at the mouth of the Swan River. Here was
maintained for many years the great convict depot of the colony, and the
many public conveniences the residents possess are due to the efforts of
prison labour. The most remarkable feature about Fremantle is the
whiteness of its streets and buildings. This arises from the almost
universal employment of limestone as a building and road material. The
glare on a bright summer's day is both extremely dazzling and hurtful
to the eyesight. The Swan, which runs from Fremantle to Perth, is a
noble river. It opens out into splendid reaches of varying width. Its
banks are fringed with veteran gum-trees, whose rugged outlines are
reflected with mirror-like sharpness in the clear waters beneath. The
misfortune is that such a fine stream cannot be made practical use of
without considerable expenditure; but all entrance to it from the sea is
barred by a ridge of sandstone, which stretches, some six feet under
water, completely across its mouth.
The southern portion of the colony is singularly unfortunate in
possessing very few harbours. Fremantle is now an open roadstead, but
the State proposes by the expenditure of a large sum of money to give
effect to a scheme formulated by Sir John Goode, the eminent engineer,
which, it is believed, will render the port perfectly safe in all
weathers. King George's Sound, however, has been exceptionally favoured
by nature. The entrance to it is by either of the two passages which
surround the massive rock, appropriately named Breaksea, that rises up
with rugged abruptness in the centre of the channel. At the rear of
Breaksea the inlet opens into a grand harbour, where the largest ships
can lie with perfect safety in the roughest weather. The scenery along
the shores is diversified and beautiful, and no more charming place of
call could be found for the ocean mail steamers, which anchor there
regularly every fortnight. The little town of Albany is situated upon
the rising boulders of granite at the head of the sound; but its
isolated position has told against the prosperity of the place. The
harbour has been aptly stated to be the front gate of the colony, with a
blank wall behind it. That blank wall consists of the long tract of
dismal country lying between Albany and Perth; but the colonists hope,
with the aid of an English syndicate who have contracted to construct a
railway to join the Government system at Beverley, to abolish the
barrier which now cuts them off from Albany. They will then be able to
utilise the harbour and to elevate it to the position it should occupy.
Of late years the strategical importance of King George's Sound in case
of warfare has commanded the attention of Imperial and Colonial
statesmen.
The climate of Western Australia is decidedly salubrious. For years past
the residents have sought to induce the Indian authorities to make it
their sanatorium for invalid officers, but so far nothing definite has
resulted from their representations. Sport is plentiful in every part of
the province, and the homely hospitable character of the people renders
a visit to the colony a most enjoyable experience. The great pride of
Western Australians is in the wild flowers that cover their plains in
the spring time. The surface of the earth is then carpeted with an
endless variety of the most beautiful forms of the floral creation.
Every crevice and cranny is filled with blossoms, whose bright colours
contrast vividly with the more delicate hues of the 'everlastings' that
abound in the more level country.
The pearl fisheries off the coast of West Australia, and especially at
Shark Bay, produce the true pearl oyster, the _Avicula margaritifera_.
For a long time this shell was supposed to be valueless, on account of
its thin and fragile structure; but now there is a great demand for it,
both in Europe and America. It is especially prized by French and German
artists for fine inlaid cabinet work. During the year 1883, 619 tons of
pearl shell were exported from Western Australia, valued at $4000, and
the value of the pearls exported during the same period was $20,500.
Several of these pearls were of extraordinary size and beauty, one
weighing 234 grains. A mass of pearls in the form of a perfect cross was
found at Nickol Bay, West Australia, in the early part of last year,
each pearl being about the size of a large pea, and perfect in form and
colour.
[Illustration: ALBANY.]
The oysters in the West Australian fisheries are generally removed by
passing an iron-wire dredge over the banks, but divers are also
employed, the diving being carried on from the end of September to the
end of March. Pearl oysters are gregarious in their habits, and whenever
one is met with it is almost certain that vast numbers of others will be
found in the immediate neighbourhood.
Writing of Western Australia, Sir F. Napier Broome, C.M.G., says: 'Many
of the farmsteads I visited in the country districts are such as their
owners may well be proud of. They represent years of arduous toil, and
of courageous struggle with many difficulties. I find in some of them
the grey-haired, sturdy early settlers of the colony, still strong and
hale, after nearly a half-century of colonisation, now able, I was
rejoiced to see, to rest from their labours, and to enjoy growing
comforts and easier circumstances, while the farm or the sheep station
was looked to by the stalwart sons. Wherever I went, I perceived that
Western Australia, though not a country of richness, was nevertheless a
land in which an honest worker of shrewd wit has rarely failed to gather
round him, as years went on, the possessions which constitute a modest
competence, and perhaps something more, enjoyed amidst the affections
and the ties of a home in which he can take life easily in the evening
of his days, and from which he can see his children marry and go forth
to such other homes of their own. I did not find the feverish,
brand-new, shifting and disjointed communities of a wealthy colony, but
I found a people amongst whom ties of kindred are numerous and much
thought of, who have dwelt side by side with each other all their lives,
and who have preserved among themselves a unity and friendly feeling
most pleasant to encounter, and social characteristics natural and
agreeable in their unaffectedness, simplicity and heartiness. Each
little township resembles an English village rather than the colonial
assortment of stray atoms one is familiar with elsewhere. The more one
sees and knows of Western Australia and its people, the more they win on
one.'
The most important circumstance in connection with the Western Australia
of to-day is the discovery that the north-western corner contains fine
pasture-land, permanent rivers, and good harbours. Explorers from the
east have visited the place, and have reported favourably upon its
prospects, and now there is a good deal of _bona fide_ squatting
enterprise being displayed. Companies have been formed, and syndicates
and flocks and herds have been sent from Melbourne and Sydney by sea,
and cattle are also being pushed across from Queensland. If these
ventures have only half the success which is predicted for them, there
is a great future in store for this part of Western Australia. And
recent reports from the colony disclose the fact that there is every
indication that an extensive gold-field exists in the country between
King Sound and Cambridge Gulf. A 'rush' has set in, and there is
considerable excitement throughout Australia about the matter.