Page:Handbook of Western Australia.djvu/158

140 Essington on the North coast, without the limits of the Colony; those two missions failed within two years; the third, composed of the two Benedictine Monks Don J. Sena and Don R. Salvado, with some catechists, went to the North via Toodyay, in search of a site for their mission, which, guided by some aborigines they fixed on a pool of the river Maura about 80 miles from Perth, to which they gave the name of New Norcia. The principal object of this mission was to civilize and christianize the natives; so, following the example of St. Benedict, the two monks, aided by some natives, began to clear and cultivate some 50 acres of land granted them by the Colonial Government, and thus laid the foundation of "The Great Benedictine Mission," dedicated to the civilization and christianization of the aborigines.

The mission at Perth meanwhile progressed gradually. A convent for the Sisters of Mercy, school rooms, and residence for some native girls and for boarders were built. A house in Fremantle was bought and converted into a little convent, and a room set apart for a chapel, which was served on Sundays by a priest from Perth.

In 1848 the Bishop sent the Rev. J. Serra, his Vicar General, to Europe, to solicit alms and procure more missionaries for New Norcia; and 1,250 acres of land adjoining the mission were purchased with the collections made by him, and sheep and cattle for the support of the mission were pastured there. Father Serra was consecrated Bishop Coadjutor to Dr. Brady, and returned with large sums of money, and with missionaries in the ship of war "Ferrolana," which the Spanish Government had commissioned for that purpose, arriving in Fremantle in December 1849. This personal and material reinforcement gave new impulse to the missions. Chapels