Page:History of West Australia.djvu/263

 Rh

This youth had proved himself to possess such an amiable spirit that he was the hope of all his friends, who did not even have the consolation of knowing where or by what special means he met his death. Speculation was eager for many months, and several vessels hurriedly scanned the coast and neighbouring islands for signs of the Emma. The lost passengers with Mr. T. C. Sholl were:— C. Nairn, Captain J. E. Abott, R. Toovey, R. Williams, J. Vincent, L. Blagrar, W. F. Tays, G. Gregson, W. Rogers, Corporal Wittle, J. Barr, E. Radford, E. Goodall, J. Farrell, J. Byrne, J. Purviss, M. Breadman, D. Brown, S. White, J. Foster, J. Fowler, M. McGrath, C. Sutton, C. Smith, J. Stainer, J. Hogan, five natives, Captain J. H. Baback, and a crew of eight men.

Another small vessel, the Brothers, sailed from Fremantle on 19th February for Nickol Bay, and was lost. She had six persons on board. A few weeks earlier the New Perseverance stranded at Nickol Bay. Up to July, over sixty persons were drowned on the Western Australian coast in 1867.

These vessels were the provisioners of the settlement, and their non-arrival almost caused a famine. Settlers were compelled to live on a reduced diet, and sometimes subsisted on a quarter of a pound of barley a day, without tea or sugar. Their situation was so straitened that Mr. C. Harper was asked at a public meeting to lead a party to Champion Bay. With Messrs. McRae, Judge, and a native, he started on horseback from Roebourne on 29th May. The season was a dry one, and feed and water were consequently scarce. On 29th June Mr. Harper reached Geraldton, after thirty-three days of severe travelling. The Flying Foam was sent to relieve the dearth at Roebourne, and arrived there none too soon.

During the year nine runs, comprising 1,015,000 acres, lapsed in the north-west districts, but others were taken up; the number of selections held at the end of the year was sixty-one, representing 5,805,000 acres, against forty-nine runs and 4,720,000 acres in December, 1866. Two of these were surrendered in 1868, when the figures stood:—Fifty-nine runs, 5,605,000 acres. The statistics of stock in the north-west in December, 1868, were:—Sheep, 38,580; cattle, 444; horses, 208; and goats, 23. Within five years the way was paved for the utilisation and further exploration of the great north-west. The pioneers were worthy captains in the British army of colonists. Amid heat and danger and death they fought bravely and quailed not.

Concurrent with the extension of settlement in the north-west was the discovery of large areas east, south, and south-east. Settlers worked together to search for pastoral lands beyond the limits previously considered safe or expedient for settlement. Those in the eastern districts were particularly zealous, and foremost, perhaps, were the Dempster Brothers. As Western Australian-born sons of an enterprising pioneer, the bush had an attraction for them; moreover, they had the young Britisher's love for adventure and the exploiting of unknown country. The Dempsters had already made trips into the east, and very soon their enterprise extended from Cow-cow-ing to Esperance. Mr. Charles Harper, possessing similar characteristics, was a thorough bushman, and was best pleased when surmounting the obstacles which the Western Australian bush so frequently places in the paths of explorers. He too, was enterprising, and eventually went to the north-west, where, on the De Grey River, he was among the most energetic pastoralists. He it was who in 1867 made the difficult journey to procure relief for settlers against impending famine. The Clarkson family were equally energetic and at home in the wilderness. The pioneers of this well-known Western Australian house were experienced English agriculturists, and were among the first settlers in the York district. For some years misfortune followed them with relentless persistency, and whether in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, or as sanguinary martyrs to treacherous natives, they suffered keenly and long, and did not obtain in the colony the rewards they often merited.

On 3rd July, 1861, Messrs. C. E. and A. Dempster, Charles Harper, B. Clarkson, and a native, left Northam with fifteen horses for the eastern thickets. They hoped to discover good pastoral stretches, and proposed to go out beyond the limits of previous explorations. They succeeded in the latter attempt, and before their return on 23rd August they reached a point estimated to be 280 miles east of Northam. About 100 miles out a limited area of fair pastoral land was surveyed, but otherwise the country was barren, and contained little vegetation that was not stunted and almost leafless. Cypress and acacia thickets had to be literally cut through; white gums of limited growth stood out in groves like grim skeletons. Water was found at first by the native, who led them to lonely springs and rock holes, but this fellow decamped, and the young men had to depend on their own instincts and the assistance of occasional natives met with. Once they were without water for two days and three nights. The Dempsters and their companions claim to have traversed on this trip Golden Valley, since rendered famous by the Yilgarn Goldfields. Mr. Harper gathered and carried away a collection of geological specimens. The last seventy miles of the outward journey lay along the margin of a lake, upon the banks of which lay salt, thick and fine like Liverpool salt. It would seem that they got into the plain beyond Southern Cross towards Coolgardie. As the first to penetrate this now noted region the trip must be considered a historical one.

The natives again demonstrated that they possessed fertile imaginations. From time to time they have been responsible for the most sensational stories. On this occasion they repeated an old statement that Central Australia was composed of an immense sea. Ten or twelve years before, they informed the Dempster party, three white men had reached the bank of that sea and died. It was supposed that these men might be members of Leichardt's party. Then prior to beginning the journey the young explorers were told by natives of monkeys living in the eastern wilds. They made enquiries during the trip, and elicited quite a sensational narrative. The monkeys, which were called Chinabas, were about the height of black men, and sometimes walked on all fours. They had long tails, and lived in holes and recesses amid large high hills covered with bright flint stones of various colours. One native confessed to the explorers that he had even been attacked by these monsters who chose such harmonious abodes; he was bravely rescued by his companions. The natives pretended to live in continual dread of the ferocious animals. Messrs. Dempster Brothers, Harper, and Clarkson observed what they described as a tiny species of antelope, about six inches high, which, however, was so fleet that they could not catch it. The Government made the explorers a small grant. A few months previously Messrs. Sinclair and Glass discovered good country east of York.

In August, 1862, the Dempster Brothers and Mr. Clarkson attempted to go still further into the interior. It was a year of floods. The party went about seventy miles south from York intending to push on in a south-east,and finally a north-east, course into unknown parts. The country, whether clear plain, or forest, through which they passed was alike boggy, and the horses had to wade knee-deep in mud. The explorers were, therefore, compelled to turn back. The York Agricultural Society, in January, 1868, held a meeting with the object of encouraging exploration in