Page:An Australian Parsonage.djvu/342

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SCHEMES FOR COLONIZING.
313

the French had named Buache, and the alteration of which to Garden is the only instance, I believe, of Captain Stirling having changed any of their denominations. Whilst the 'Success' lay off Swan River a garden had been made and fenced round upon Buache Island, and hence the alteration of the original name to one which English sailors would find more familiar. Two goats were left upon Garden Island when the 'Success' sailed away, and as I have heard that there are goats there to this day I conclude that they are descended from the original pair.

I must now hasten on to describe the causes that led to the colonization of Western Australia, and the manner in which it was conducted. According to a work entitled 'The Three Colonies of Australia,'[1] i.e. New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, an impression prevailed, at the time of Captain Stirling's inspection of Swan River, that large fortunes, equal to those which had been already made in New South Wales, might be realized with even greater facility in a new colony unshackled with a convict population. Mr. Peel, a gentleman who had influence with Government, and who was also a cousin of the statesman, combined with certain Sydney merchants to found a colony of this experimental kind. A fitting locality was alone wanting, and the favourable reports which Captain Stirling had given of Western Australia induced Mr. Peel and the merchants to conceive that they should find in Swan River all the requisites that were necessary for the carrying out of their scheme.

"Geographical[2] reasons led the adventurers

  1. The Three Colonies of Australia,' p. 90. Samuel Sidney. London: Ingram Cooke & Co. 1853.
  2. Ibid.