Leaving the subject of schools and tutors, I shall now pass on to that of holidays and merry-makings.
The chief festival season in our little town was the annual cattle-show and fair, which was held in the month of October, the time of year when the country was in its most beautiful dress and the weather most pleasant for travelling. The neighbouring settlers were in the habit of inviting their friends and relatives to gather around them during the fair week, and there was more gaiety and merriment in those few days than in all the rest of the year put together.
On the Sunday the church was crowded, and our little choir generally got up an anthem in honour of the visitors. On the Monday the day was employed in preparing the pens and enclosures for the cattle-show, and in decorating the Mechanics' Hall with devices, made of everlastings and zamia leaves, in readiness for the forthcoming festivities whatever they might be.
Sometimes a ball would be given by subscription among the principal settlers; another year the attraction would be a fancy fair; another season, perhaps, the hall would be taken up for a large tea-party, followed by a concert performed by the musical talent of the district, assisted by friends from Perth and Fremantle. Whatever might be the amusement chosen there was always some kind of gathering, and the young people thought about it and talked about it for weeks beforehand, and vied with one another in the composition of elegant garlands and decorations for the walls of the building.
On the Tuesday the cattle-show and fair was held, followed by the annual meeting of the Agricultural Society,
