Page:History of West Australia.djvu/90

68 that "although individuals may have suffered in the undertaking, the settlement is now securely established, and its future prosperity no longer doubtful. Much has yet to be accomplished for its advancement, and there will probably be much individual disappointment and distress; but with a healthy climate, abundance of good land, an advantageous position for trade, and some valuable indigenous products, I trust the issue of the undertaking will not disappoint public expectation."

The poverty engendered by original rashness had not diminished, and the numbers of dissatisfied people were being continually augmented by new arrivals, whose impossible hopes rapidly vanished. There was a slight decrease in immigration in 1831. The majority of the people had still to live on their capital, and the prices of supplies alternated in unison with the arrival or non-arrival of ships. With no local supply, and no regular vessels to bring provisions to the colony, there was often the danger of a famine. The first vessel arriving after a long period of waiting commanded the market, and sold her cargo at enormous prices. The accusation was frequently made that the ships' masters held long-expected letters until their cargo was cleared, so as to coerce settlers into early buying. In their remote situation and practical banishment from their friends, settlers were almost as anxious for their letters as for their food, and the mortification and heartthrobbings attendant upon disappointment or unnecessary waiting made them complain. On the other hand, a settler, some time separated from his home in Great Britain, wrote :—"The receipt of a packet is a great and happy event; its arrival an epoch, anticipated with anxiety, hailed with excitement, and referred to as a period from which one dates the lapse of time."

Some ships held a most remunerative monopoly in the supply of provisions, and were wont to time their arrival at Swan River when supplies were scarcest. Prices were bound to fluctuate until a settled line of ships was established. At the end of 1830 they were moderate, occasioned by several vessels putting into Fremantle within a short period, all ladened with food supplies. Sugar sold at 7d. per lb., rice at 2½d., coffee at 8d., and arrack at 6s. 6d. per gallon. Flour was cheap. Two months later prices had risen, but in March, after the arrival of different ships, they were lower than before, and flour was bought at 3d. a lb., sugar 3d. to 5d., tea 4s. 6d., rice 2d., salt beef and pork 6d. to 8d., and rum at 6s. a gallon. A half-ton of flour cost £27; fresh meat was 1s. 6d. a lb. Soap was an expensive and much-prized article of the toilet, for which 2s. 6d. a lb. had to be paid. In December, 1831, no vessels had put into port for some time, and prices rose in consequence. The unfortunate settlers who had expended all their money in useless machinery, furniture, and ornaments, were brought exceedingly low by the high prices, while the poorer people suffered considerably in not having their wonted variety of food. At times ordinary articles of food were unprocurable, even for money, and for weeks and months the delicate palates of ladies, bred in luxury at home, had to take tea and coffee without sugar or milk, and perhaps do without tea and coffee altogether. Flour was dealt out with scrupulous care when supplies were depleted, and many people had to do without the primary article for weeks together. Coming out of a land of plenty to such privation occasioned useless regret and bitter complaint, for it was not the precarious supply alone which placed them in their unfortunate position. In November and December flour was 7d. a lb., and American pork £8 a cask, while other foods were hardly to be obtained. The outlook began to assume a serious aspect.

The chief source of satisfaction during this period was the possession of a sufficiency of vegetables, and the foods obtainable by the hunter. Settlers planted all sorts of vegetables as experiments, and, to their great surprise, those who had tilled carefully witnessed a rapid and large growth. Cabbages, turnips, peas, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, in short, nearly every vegetable, thrived and gave them a plenitude. But not all the settlers were wise; some planted at the wrong time and in the wrong place; some planted carelessly, and did not watch over and assist growth—they were rewarded by a lesser variety of eatables than their neighbours. So necessary an article of diet did kangaroo flesh soon become, that the bush and hills were daily scoured for the timid marsupial. Much time was spent in the hunt with gun and dogs, and the gentry formed many parties, and found great delight in catching the game. The single lonely hunter had to exercise the greatest care not to lose his way. Wandering through the decidedly monotonous bush, now in this direction, now in that, he was apt to forget his bearings. Such a sameness characterised the Swan River country scenery that landmarks were not discernible, and the hunter could hardly tell that he had advanced at all, except for the wave-like undulations of the land. Dogs fast enough for kangaroo hunting were exceedingly scarce, and enormous prices were paid for a good animal. Greyhounds sold at £15 and upwards in 1831, and lucky holders were able to turn their canine friends to considerable profit. Some people got their livelihood by hunting kangaroos and selling the flesh to settlers, 1s. 6d. a lb. often being paid. When other provisions were plentiful, the table of pioneers was as varied and delectable as could be wished. With mutton, they obtained such delicate dishes as fish from the river, kangaroos, ducks, turkeys, quails, pigeons, cockatoos, &c., which not only delighted the appetite, but supplied entertainment in securing from their native haunts. When these were served with vegetables, pastry, and occasionally with wine, the table was attractive as any in the Old World, minus, however, the luxurious surroundings. The well-to-do pioneers on the rivers did not always live on hard fare, but those in the outer country lived not so well.

The crops of 1831-2 gave renewed encouragement to the farmers. From their slight and not altogether satisfactory experience of 1830-1, several farmers were pessimistic of the potentialities of the soil, but the more experienced were now quite sure that it would produce any grain, fruit, vegetable, tree, or shrub common to the same latitude. They believed the earth needed little preparation, and in the more sandy country merely ploughed in the grain. Moreover, they were convinced that the country was capable of producing two crops a year, which with returns from such indigenous plants as tobacco, hemp, flax, eringo, celery, and parsley, would rapidly give them agricultural prosperity. But they made the mistake of being over-experimental, and instead of planting crops which would supply them with immediate subsistence, they tilled seeds of all kinds merely to discover what variety of potentialities lay in the soil, and in what crops their future success was to be found. It was surely possible to the community congregated in the colony with sufficient wheat for their own consumption, but they devoted so little thought to this, and so much time to experimental crops, that they were compelled to live on their capital much longer than was necessary. Hence in 1831 such crops as maize (Indian corn), tares, flax seed, rye, castor oil, lucerne, red and white clover, trefoil, and hay seeds were tilled to the detriment of the more necessary wheat. The largest farmers cultivated little more than twenty acres, while the most tilled from one to eight. Agriculturists generally did not consider it would pay to carefully prepare the soil for crops, but others went to the other extreme, and trenched their fields elaborately.