"3rd. The great advantage of fresh water springs of the best quality, and consequent permanent humidity of the soil—two advantages not existing eastward of the Blue Mountains.
"4th. The advantage of water carriage to their doors, and the non-existence of impediments to land carriage."
It would not be difficult to estimate the effects of such bright reports as these on the minds of adventurous people. In those anxious to apply their energies where they might quickly obtain wealth, who wished to escape the trammels and artificialities of old civilisations and societies, and in those who may be termed ne'er-do-wells, who ignorantly thought to woo riches in a new country where they would be removed from the reproachful eyes of their relatives, these glowing descriptions naturally aroused curiosity and stimulated a latent and unconscious spirit of adventure. The stories of sunny lands, unlimited areas of fertile soil demanding little toil to prove productive, beautiful and brilliant flora, a strange race of men, an expansive tree—embowered river, where fish and game abounded, and the honour and courage which were thought to be attached to pioneer efforts, were especially calculated to excite and attract. And imagination might well run wild under such circumstances. Add to this transcendent picture the subsequent liberal offers of broad acres of rich land as would put the largest ancestral estates in Great Britain in the background, making them puny holdings in comparison, and the results of the reports of Captain Gilbert and Mr. Fraser will be appreciated.
Indeed it was no unusual feature of the journals and reports of early explorers of coastal country in Australia to write something descriptive and attractive. It not only marked those journeys made in Eastern Australia, but was a characteristic of expeditions made after a settlement was inaugurated in the west—even when the somewhat fulsome hopes of the pioneers disappeared before the difficulties which soon confronted them. As this narrative will show, their reports were frequently over-painted. Perhaps the explorers were so impressed by the knowledge that they were the first to view these scenes—that they were privileged to obtain the first glance by civilised man since the creation—that their preparedly receptive minds, active imaginations, impressive sensations, caused them to paint the verdure with borrowed and exaggerated colour, and detect potentialities in the soil which were not existent.
These reports were presented to Governor Darling immediately after the return of the Success to Sydney, who was exceedingly interested in the sketches of so promising a country. After deliberation, he forwarded them to the English Government, and in all probability Captain Stirling returned to England at the same time. Governor Darling acted the more hurriedly because the French annexation of parts of Australia was apparently as possible as in the previous year. He was anxious that the whole of Australia west of New South Wales boundaries should be annexed by Great Britain as speedily as possible, and a colony proclaimed and a settlement established which should utilise the splendid advantages of soil and climate.
Upon his arrival in England, Captain Stirling seems to have circulated among his friends favourable reports of the goodly country open to settlement on the Swan River. Not only this, pamphlets were published and distributed and avidly read, and later a paper—the West Australian Gazette—formed the medium by which the best information was disseminated. Curiosity was attracted, and after that some well-connected gentlemen determined on formulating a scheme by which a settlement could be established. Because of the supposed dangers of the French forestalling them in New Holland, the English Government lent a more kindly support to representations which were made than they would otherwise have done.
It may therefore be considered that the ruling reasons which culminated in the foundation of Western Australia were the fears entertained in New South Wales and England of a foreign nation—France—occupying a portion of the continent. That these fears were unfounded was decided a few years later. The stated objects of the several French expeditions—the first to search for the La Perouse expedition, the more recent for scientific purposes—were evidently the true ones. At any rate no instance is recorded where a French expedition was equipped to colonise Australia. Moreover, the Earl of Ripon himself decided that the fears were groundless. Writing in 1833 (vide Parliamentary paper, 1840) he said:- "The present settlement at Swan River owes its origin, you may perhaps be aware, to certain false rumours which had reached the Government of the intentions of a foreign power to establish a colony on the west coast of Australia. The design was for a time given up entirely on grounds of public economy, and would not have been resumed but for the offer of a party of gentlemen to embark in an undertaking of this nature at their own risk upon receiving extensive grants of land, and on a certain degree of protection and assistance for a limited period being secured to them by the Government."
CHAPTER V.
FOUNDATION OF THE COLONY.
FATHERS OF WESTERN AU5TRALIA—COLONISING ASSOCIATION PETITIONS SIR GEORGE MURRAY—REPLY OF GOVERNMENT—TERMS OF MR. PEEL’S GRANT—A SECOND PROPOSED SETTLEMENT UNSUCCESSFUL—GOVERNMENT DECIDE TO PROCLAIM THE COLONY—GOVERNMENT CIRCULAR—BASIS UPON WHICH ESTABLISHED—THE PEOPLE WHO WERE ATTRACTED—CAPTAIN STIRLING APPOINTED LIEUT.-GOVERNOR—THE TRANSPORT PARMELIA HIRED TO CONVEY CIVIL ESTABLISHMENT, WITH H.M.S. SULPHUR AS CONSORT—CAPTAIN FREMANTLE HOISTS BRITISH FLAG ON BANKS OF THE SWAN—AT KING GEORGE'S SOUND—PROVISIONARY ACT OF PARLIAMENT—CAPTAIN STIRLING MAKES ALL PREPARATIONS—CIVIL OFFICERS—PARMELIA SAILS AND IS JOINED BY THE SULPHUR—PARMELIA PASSENGER LIST—DESCRIPTION OF VOYAGE—DEATH OF ASSISTANT SURGEON AT THE CAPE—ARRIVAL IN COCKBURN SOUND—PARMELIA GROUNDS—PIONEERS LAND ON GARDEN ISLAND—GOVERNOR STIRLING'S FIRST PROCLAMATION.
ABOUT two years after Major Lockyer founded the King George's Sound Settlement the official application was made to the British Government which resulted in the establishment of the Colony of Western Australia. The story told by Captain Stirling in England had excited that virile quality for colonisation so characteristic of Englishmen. The Swan River country, it was said, offered magnificent opportunities to the wealthy, the energetic, and the courageous. It rejoiced in a healthy climate, large areas of fructive soil, and was so situated as to serve with products and live stock several neighbouring countries and islands. Needless to say, these representations, combined with the descriptive reports of Captain Gilbert and Mr. Fraser, made numbers of wealthy and even influential people think seriously of investing their capital and applying their strength to such a promising field.
Captain Stirling and Mr. Thomas Peel were practically the fathers of Western Australia. The former was enthusiastic in his efforts to extend the sphere of British influence, and establish a colony which should bring much wealth to both the settlers themselves and the mother country. The latter, who was closely related
