Page:The State and Position of Western Australia.djvu/81

 of the Blackwood, for fanning operations; the Messrs. Bussell are reported to have already partially located themselves there.

A lady who is a relative of a family residing at Augusta, feeling the great disadvantage which that sequestered settlement labours under, for want of a provision for public worship, has set on foot a subscription, limited to a very small sum, for the erection of a church and parsonage, which, it is hoped, will meet with encouragement. The plan will be found in the Appendix.

Between Augusta and King George’s Sound no intercourse has yet been opened by land. The distance by sea is about 180 miles. This latter settlement had been occupied some years by the Sydney Government as a convict station; but was subsequently handed over to the Western Australian Government, and the convicts were withdrawn. The great attraction of King George’s Sound is its splendid harbour; it is also well situated for a whale and seal fishery station, both which kinds of fish abound on this coast.

Agriculture here has hitherto made but little progress. The land immediately adjoining the Sound is, in general, light and sandy, and, with the exception of a few patches, not at all calculated for the production of wheat. Settlers, therefore, who wish to possess arable farms, must go at least twenty-five miles into the country; and, as there is no water-communication with the interior of any description, no person should proceed thither at present, with a view to agricultural pursuits, who does not possess a sufficient stock of working bullocks or horses. Allusion has already been made to the circumstance that the land in the interior of King George’s Sound is considered equal to that of the York district; and so favourable an