Page:The Coming Colony Mennell 1892.djvu/137

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THE COMING COLONY.
107

There is work for all able to do it, and there is much work that ought to be done that is perforce left undone, for want of the willing and capable hands, that would be well paid for doing it.

"To the tourist in search of the picturesque, Western Aus­tralia has few attractions. There is no scenery in the easily accessible parts of the colony comparable with what may be found in a hundred places on the east coast of the continent. There are places that may be called 'pretty,' but nothing grand or majestic. But to the botanist the whole of the southern portion of the colony is a paradise of wild flowers, No other part of Australia produces them in such profusion or in such varieties. In the spring months, from September to November, millions of acres of wild bushland are carpeted with the most brilliant colours, which seem to light up the landscape in all directions. A very admirable description of the country under this aspect will be found in a little book by Lady Broome, entitled 'Letters to Guy.'

"Enough has been said, it is hoped, to rouse some interest in Great Britain in the progress and the welfare of this vast and sparsely populated colony. If the right sort of people are attracted to assist in its development, it needs no further prophet to say that within twenty years it will take its place on a footing of equality with the other n1embers of the great Australian commonwealth."