Page:History of West Australia.djvu/140

108 Imperial Government supported such an appointment. Mr. Mitchell was a zealous officer, and translated the Lord's Prayer and the Commandments into the native language.

The Society which had been formed in Dublin and London, under the auspices of the Church of England, for the purpose of sending a missionary to Western Australia was able to begin its active work in 1836. The name of the body was changed to that of the Western Australian Missionary Society. An Italian gentleman, the Rev. Dr. Giustiniani, was appointed missionary, and arrived in Perth in July, 1836. He was in precarious health at the time, but was apparently animated with zeal and hope regarding his mission to civilise and Christianise the aboriginal race. After some consideration a church and a schoolhouse were erected at Guildford, and a farm was established on the Swan River, where the labour of the blacks could be used in conjunction with the mission.

While some residents in the colony believed that Dr. Giustiniani was a suitable person to conduct this mission, others objected to a foreigner having been chosen. The reverend gentleman wrote to England referring to the relationship between the Europeans and natives in strong terms, which greatly incensed colonists and caused the managers of the society to recall him to England in January, 1837.

Ministers of religion were much needed in the colony. The Rev. Mr. Wittenoom still acted as colonial chaplain, and private individuals conducted divine service at outstations. In 1836, a few months before the arrival of Dr. Giustiniani, a meeting, held at Guildford, forwarded to the Archbishop of Canterbury an address proclaiming a desire to have additional religious instruction. Mr. Sherratt performed divine service in a building set apart by himself at Albany, and services were conducted by laymen in various parts of the colony. A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was erected by voluntary contributions in Perth, where services were held, and to which a minister was eventually appointed.

Several excursions into unsurveyed country were made during the period under review. Sir James Stirling was associated with a number of these, and while he gave graphic descriptions of scenery, he now began to recognise that he was not a judge of soils. On one occasion he plainly mentions this. His journeys were mostly made in the south-west country, in the vicinity of Leschenault, over the Murray and Williams Rivers, and along the southern lands towards King George's Sound. Lieutenant H. W. Bunbury explored in the Williams district in 1836, as also did Mr. Hillman.

Mr. G. F. Moore made a notable excursion north of Perth. During a respite from legal and other business he, with Mr. Heffron and a black boy, went forth late in April, 1836, to discover a river which natives told him existed to the northward. The party proceeded along the base of the Darling Range, and fell in with numerous natives, who directed them to water, and guided them to the river they sought. The country thereabouts resembled, so said Moore, that of York; flats stretched out from the banks, and beyond were gentle receding hills, with soil of the best brown loam. The stream was named the Moore, in compliment to the energetic Advocate-General. A large salt lake was also observed, which led Mr. Moore to conjecture that Spencer's Gulf, in South Australia, extended into the heart of the continent, and that this lake was one of its branches. The early belief of a large inland sea was generally subscribed to, and considered as a highly probable feature of central Australia.

An expedition, some months later, under Surveyor-General Roe, proved the difficulty of forming an opinion of the value of country by travelling in a direct course. Mr. Roe went south-east from York, and for about fifty miles discovered few spots that were adapted for settlement. Dale and his companions, including Mr. J. W. Hardey, in 1830 described this area as exceedingly promising, but they pursued another course and did not observe the tracts traversed by Mr. Roe. This fact was further exemplified subsequently by a tour made by Messrs. P. Foley, P. Meares, and S. Parker. These gentlemen made a slight variation in the course taken by previous explorers E.N.E. of York, who described the country as barren. Messrs. Foley, Meares, and Parker reported that much of the land was equal to the best in any part of the colony.

The English Government despatched two expeditions to north-west Australia in 1837, to elaborate the survey of the coast, and to explore the interior. Captain Wickham, R.N., in the tried world-rover, the Beagle, conducted the coastal party, and Lieutenant George Grey, now the noted pro-consul, Sir George Grey, took charge of the land party.

Lord Glenelg, then Secretary of State or the Colonies, instructed these expeditions to prosecute their work simultaneously. On the 5th July, 1837, the two well-equipped bands left Plymouth for Australia in the Beagle, and on the 20th September rounded the Cape of Good Hope and anchored in Simon's Bay. They there separated. Lieutenant Grey learned at the Cape that it would be impossible for him to obtain a vessel at Swan River suitable for his purposes, and he thereupon disembarked from the Beagle. He hired the Lynher, a schooner of 400 tons, rapidly equipped her, and left port for Hanover Bay in north-west Australia. He was accompanied by Lieutenant Lushington, Dr. Walker, surgeon, and ten other men. On the 12th October the Beagle weighed anchor, and set sail for Swan River, where she arrived on 15th November.

We will first follow the progress of Grey and his party. The leader was exceedingly anxious to quickly begin his interesting work, and his journals bear evidence that he was imbued with the true explorer's ardour, and was not averse to undergoing hardship so that he might acquire information. His descriptions of scenery, and the fertility, or otherwise, of the country he traversed, while clever, and even sometimes brilliant, are not now esteemed as always to be relied on. Apparently he committed the same errors as did the earlier explorers in the south-west.

The Lynher reached Hanover Bay on 2nd December, 1837. Grey, Lushington, and Dr. Walker landed immediately, and while the camp was being fixed, made a short excursion into the country. The coast-line was rocky, and the contiguous land barren and arid, sparsely covered with small trees of so scant a foliage that they afforded no shelter. At that time of the year the heat was intense and the party anxiously sought for some congenial spot where water was plentiful, and where was forage for the thirty sheep and other stock they had brought with them. They were thirsty, and after hunting about Grey observed cockatoos rise from the ground some distance away, and going to the spot he found water.

The stock and stores were landed on the 4th December; then Grey went up the Prince Regent's River. After his return and on the 17th December he hoisted the British Flag and took formal possession of the North West. The party now made a longer excursion inland. The way at first led through what Grey termed enchanting scenery, whereupon it quickly changed to the sombre heaviness of sandy soil and thick spinifex. Then gradually the country improved, and lofty trees, with depressing charred bodies, caused by fires, were viewed. Here and there rose isolated pinnacles of sandstone rock of fantastic shapes, frequently ornamented by graceful creepers. In other places gigantic ant hills stood boldly forth, round which kangaroos grazed.

At the extremity of a tableland protruded a narrow ravine