Page:Handbook of Western Australia.djvu/76

62 Fish are abundant in all the waters; mullet, bream, taylors, cobblers, schnappers, whiting, herring on the coasts and in the estuaries of the rivers; whales and seals are still found, though not so abundant as formerly; sharks are common, especially on the North coasts, where alligators are also said to be found occasionally; cray fish are abundant an all the coasts, and a small species in the fresh waters; oysters in many places; pearl oysters from. Sharks Bay, Northward, where also the dugong is found, a marine animal yielding oil of especially good quality, and having its skin of great thickness, and very valuable for making leather. The trepang or bèche-de-mer is abundant on the North coast.

If West Australia does not possess any great number or variety of useful native animals, her climate and vegetable productions are admirably suited to the life of those most useful to man; sheep, horses, cattle, goats, and pigs run wild when permitted, and, with the exception of sheep, have thus in some parts increased until they become a nuisance, and have to be destroyed; gallinaceous birds also thrive wild in the bush. In fine, there are none of the necessaries, and few of the luxuries of life which may not be produced with moderate care, labour, and expense in the Colony, few physical wants that are not already supplied, and more that might be. There are some natural pests in West Australia as in other countries: flies are the plague of the North, green ants of the sandstone ranges of the N.W., and mosquitoes near water throughout the Colony.

The mineral wealth of the Colony is undoubtedly very great. The precious metals have not yet been found in any considerable quantities, though gold has been in many places, as at Kendenup the upper valley of the Palinup, and near Glengarry on the