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 Rh tide them through the usual period of unremunerative toil which takes place in every colony, and because they could not employ labour or pay those servants they had the colony suffered in being ineptly tried, and the gentlemen settlers had themselves to become labourers. This was a prevailing cause of depression in the settlement for some years, but was more pronounced some months later. Many, also, invested in stock and goods that were of no possible value, and were, indeed, a burden. One vessel arriving in 1829 carried a passenger who after selling his store in London invested part of his money in the purchase of pointers, greyhounds, pheasants, and rabbits. His wife was accompanied by a favourite lap dog, for which a sea passage of five guineas had to be paid. This couple had several children with them. Another adventurer obtained the services of a man who had been twenty years in the marines, whom he designed for the dignified position of bailiff. Others landed pianos, travelling carriages, expensive furniture, and luxuries to which they had been accustomed in England, but which crippled their resources in Western Australia. It was as if they expected to find a mansion prepared for their reception, instead of a houseless country in which they would have to plan and labour long before these things could be enjoyed. A promiscuous list of unnecessary goods were strewn on the Fremantle beach—the relics of civilisation which served to remind every new arrival of the foolishness of those who had gone before. As there was no proper place of storage for such goods, many of them were destroyed by exposure.

That among the settlers were those whose minds and bodies were quite unfitted to encounter the struggles and distresses which are the unavoidable concomitants of a new settlement is without doubt, "and," says Captain Stirling in his despatches of January, 1830, "many if not all have been more or less disappointed on their arrival, either with the state of things here, or their own want of energy to surmount the difficulties pressing around them—not greater, however, than such as must necessarily be experienced in the beginning of every new colony; and, it may be added, far less severe than those which the American colonists had to encounter, or those who first established themselves on the opposite side of Australia." Always hopeful, he was convinced "that from this state of depression the active and stout-hearted have now recovered, and ten or twelve of the leading men having occupied their lands, and having declared themselves fully satisfied with the quality of the soil, and the condition of their cattle, the undertaking is safe from the effects of a general despondency which at one time threatened to defeat the views of His Majesty's Government." But he did not desire that any more unsuitable people should be attracted to the colony, and strove to make this known in England. "If it be possible," he wrote, "to discourage one set of people, and encourage another, I would earnestly request that, for a few years, the helpless and the inefficient may be kept from the settlement, whilst to the active, industrious, and intelligent may be a confident assurance of a fair reward for their labours."

In January, 1830, Captain Stirling summed up his conclusions of the first few months of settlement. Referring to the climate in summer, he said it was at first deemed prudent that the workmen should not toil exposed to the sun between the hours of two and three in the hot months. But their observations soon proved that the heat did not produce that lassitude which was anticipated, even while they were undergoing great exertion. He adds that, with the exception of ten or twelve days, the summer had been tempered by southern breezes, and was thereby rendered very agreeable. Rain had not fallen for about three months, but this drought fortunately occurred at the season proper for harvest. The grasses and other herbage were much injured by the great glowing heat of the sun, and it was noticed that the plants on sandy soils sustained the heat much better than those on the clay. None of those whose roots were near the surface escaped the effects of the baking which this latter kind of soil sustained.

He preserved a cautious attitude in regard to the productive power of the soil and the effect upon it of the climate:—"The most skilful of the farmers who have come from England profess themselves at a loss to form a judgment here, as processes in vegetation are going forward before their eyes, even in mere sands, which are wholly irreconcilable to their pre-existing notions and modes of judging. I think, however, I am safe in stating that the sandy soils on the coast produce a shrubby herbage on which horned cattle, horses, and sheep have lived now throughout the hottest and the coldest parts of the year; that there is between the hills and the sea a breadth of red loamy soil on which grain and artificial grasses may be produced; that the banks of the rivers and numerous streams offer the richest alluvial loam, and that the hills themselves, although occasionally very rugged, are capable of becoming good sheep pasture, as the soil on their sides, where it exists at all, is invariably excellent, resting on granite and ironstone."

The supply of water for the people and cattle was described as abundant. The rivers, though small, served as so many canals for boat navigation, while lakes, streams, and springs were found in every direction, and on the seashore wells were rarely sunk in vain. Because of this abundance, and the considerable provision of food for live stock which the territory seemed to possess, he believed pastoral pursuits would be found more profitable than agricultural, and would be chosen by the large bulk of settlers. The settlers, he said, contemplated tillage for gardening only, and farming for their own consumption. Grain could be imported from Java, New South Wales, and Van Diemen's Land at a cheaper rate than it could be produced in the settlement. The special products for which he thought the soil was adapted included flax of a superior kind, and a species of hemp, both of which grew spontaneously. The abundance of timber might find a profitable market, and wines, olives, figs, opium, and tobacco might be looked to as future sources of export. All these would have to wait until, by securing a stock of the necessaries of life, the subsistence and comfort of settlers were provided for.

In 1830 the Royal Geographical Society was founded, and the first paper read before the original members dealt with Western Australia. This was compiled by Sir John Barrow, an officer in the Admiralty Service, who was a founder of the famous body. After referring to the advance made during the first few months by the settlers, he appended a sketch of the aborigines and their language, taken from the reports of Dr. Scot Nind, and an interesting paper by the eminent botanist, Robert Brown.

There was no abatement in the influx of population for many months. In January, 1830, nine vessels arrived. These were the Norfolk, Nancy, Leda, Skerne, Minstrel, Industry, Eagle, Lady of the Lake, and the Wanstead, carrying in all 242 men, women, and children, 11 horses, 156 cattle, 826 sheep, and about 40 pigs, besides fowls, wine and spirits, and general