Page:The Visit of Charles Fraser to the Swan River in 1827.djvu/43

 about seventy persons, who landed there on the 25th December, 1826. They have erected several little cottages, or rather huts, made of wood and plastered with mud, but even in the commandant's house the wind blows through in every part. The expectations formed of King George Sound have by no means been realised; the soil is wretched, and with the utmost care and attention they have not hitherto been able to bring anything a few inches above the ground. The town is situated at the foot of an immense mountain. The harbor is excellent, and there is sufficient water for a three-decker up to the town. The people had only thirty days' provisions at half-allowance at the time we arrived, and it was thus fortunate that we touched there, for we found, to our surprise, that the cutter had not reached there. We had but a month's provisions remaining, and we had a voyage of upwards of two thousand miles to go before we could again be supplied, The captain, however, consented to give them all over a fortnight's provisions for the ship's company, and thus supplied them for two months at the same allowance. The day after the people arrived here, from some misunderstanding, the natives attacked a party of six or seven men, who had strayed a short distance from the spot they had fixed on for forming their town, and obliged the party to make off with all speed back again. One man was severely wounded, being speared through the thigh and the back. Another spear was sent through the fleshy part of the arm, which entered his side, thus pinning his arm to his side. In this condition he managed to reach his companions. He still exists, but is entirely maimed for life. We brought him to Sydney. The natives are in other respects perfectly harmless; they have ingress and egress to any of the huts, and never attempted to take anything unless given to them. They appear to be very ill-used by the sealers, who frequent this part of the coast, by forcibly taking their women away, and shooting them for the slightest offences. Just before our arrival the commandant had caused seven sealers to be apprehended for taking four natives to Michaelmas Island (a small barren rock in the Sound), killing one, and leaving the others there with the evident intention of starving, and for violently taking two of their women away and landing them on some part of the mainland directly away from the tribe they belonged to. They are to be tried for murder the first opportunity that offers to bring them to Sydney. Here, as well as at Swan River, they are naked, with the exception of a seal or kangaroo skin, which they throw over their shoulders and which reaches no lower than their waist. There is no other apparent difference between them.

The scenery as we entered the Sound was bold and magnificent. The lofty mountains in various shapes, the curiously-formed islands, and the sea breaking violently on the rocks, give it a most striking effect; but there is, at the same time, a barren appearance in the landscape that soon fatigues the eye of the spectator.