at which town lots would be put up for sale were:—In St George's Terrace, Adelaide Terrace, and Waterside, £22; in Hay Street, £17; and in the back streets, £12. It was announced in the same year that another company was formed in England to take up land for settlement purposes in Western Australia. The report said that the land of Sir James Stirling had been purchased, and that this scheme of colonisation was based on the principle of assurance societies. The scheme was abortive.
Besides the erection of numerous public buildings, improvements were gradually being made in the condition of colonists. Foremost was the increased regularity of mail communication with the United Kingdom and between local settlements. Early in 1849 the Government sanctioned the employment of natives, under guarantee of the contractor, for the carriage of mails through the country districts. These letter-carriers were first tried between Fremantle and Bunbury, and proved so trustworthy that a more extensive use was made of them. One result of the agitation in previous years for better communication with England was demonstrated in 1849. In June Mr. G. Shenton arranged with the Government to obtain by the brig Arpenteur all mails that might be at Singapore or Batavia, charging £15 and £10 respectively. But the despatch of mails, via Singapore or eastern colonies soon became unnecessary. The R.M.S.U. Company arranged in 1852 to run a line of steamers direct to Australia, and determined to make Albany a coaling station. In July, 1852, three ships were discharging coal at that port, and it was obvious that the departure would serve a double purpose. It would not only supply Albany with a new source of income, but would also supply Western Australia with regular and frequent mail communication. Captain Doutty arrived at Albany on July 12 as agent for the pioneer company, and in the same month the first steamer—the Australian—landed the mails. Two pack-horses conveyed the budget—a large one—to Perth in six and half days. The Chusan—a P. and O. steamer—conveyed mails from Singapore in August, 1852. A public meeting was held in Perth in August, supplicating the English Government to arrange with the P. and O. Company to land mails at Fremantle, or else to charter a steamer for that purpose. In June, 1853, a bullock cart, of all strange things, was on the road conveying mails direct from Albany to Perth. Says one newspaper:—"This eccentric mode of conveyance has not the redeeming qualification of being sure as well as slow. The patient animals have succumbed under the weight of their precious burden—have, in fact, knocked up."
On 27th April, 1853, a public meeting in Perth resolved to establish a Chamber of Commerce; on 11th May the chamber was organised. Mr. Dyett was elected the first chairman, and Mr. King the secretary. In some respects this body took the place of the defunct Agricultural Society, without its wide sphere of influence and power. In March, 1851, it was proposed to establish a Mechanics' Institute in Perth. Good fortune attended the proposal, and on 25th May, 1852, the foundation stone of the Swan River Mechanics' Institute was laid by Governor Fitzgerald. This institution proved a great convenience. The Western Australian Magazine, contributed to by colonial literary men, was produced for the first time in August, 1851. The Vineyard Society collapsed in 1849.
In 1849 efforts to remove the bar in the river at Fremantle were renewed, and it was exultingly stated that the current was widening the opening. The Governor hoped that all colonial vessels would be able to enter the river in three years' time. The lighthouses at Rottnest and Arthur Head twinkled across the bay to each other early in 1851. Two wrecks occurred, one in 1849, the other in 1852. The first was the Arpenteur, which was driven ashore at Cheyne's Beach on 7th November, 1849, while taking in oil during a strong gale. The second was more serious. On 3rd September, 1852, the Eglinton, from London, went ashore 28 miles north of Perth. Several lives were lost; all on board—51 persons—had a narrow escape. The vessel rapidly broke up, and the beach, for miles along the coast, was strewn with wreckage. On board was specie valued at £11,000, which sank 10 feet in the water, but was afterwards recovered.
Two revered pioneers succumbed in 1849. On the last day of May George Leake died, and early in July Samuel Moore followed him. Both were Justices of the Peace, had been members of the Legislative Council, and were strong links in the chain of historic events. In commerce and in mining they were of the most enterprising.
The natives did not prove of much trouble, except at the new settlement in the Champion Bay district. Mrs. Camfield, Mr. Armstrong, and other altruistic workers, laboured constantly to improve their condition. In their schools they had no lasting success. Up to a certain age the black children were quick, but when the reflective work was begun all efforts to help them became futile. The Island of Rottnest ceased to be a penal settlement for natives in 1849, and was delivered over to Mr. Dempster, the lessee. It was computed that 500 natives were employed in the more populous districts in 1849—chiefly as herdsmen. As police constables, they were proving of excellent assistance, specially by reason of their tracking propensities. Orders were given in 1851 to shoot all native dogs; these animals had so increased that they had become a never ending nuisance. A constable in obeying this order in Perth narrowly escaped being shot by a native. The latter's gun snapped.
Religious interests developed in sympathy with the colony. Additional churches were opened, and more stability began to surround the New Norcia native mission. Father Salvado, with indefatigable energy and inflexibility of purpose, devoted his life to the aborigines, and after securing their goodwill, began to teach them in schools and in the field. Father Serra separated from the mission.
In 1848 reports were circulated in religious circles in Perth of an alleged disagreement between Protestant and Roman Catholic officials. They arose chiefly because of the refusal of the Roman Catholic Bishop to sit on the Board of Education. Colonel Irwin, who was Governor at the time, with less diplomacy and wisdom than he usually showed, mentioned in a despatch to the Secretary for the Colonies that irritation existed. He was probably wrong in his report, but when what he had done became known locally, there certainly was "irritation" at his "unwarranted" action. Earl Grey rebuked Colonel Irwin with a caution. A joint meeting of Roman Catholic and Protestant residents was held in Perth in January, 1849. A resolution signed by 106 persons affirmed that Colonel Irwin's report was false, as it was unjust, and declared that the greatest harmony existed between the two sects.
A more serious disturbance however, took place among the Roman Catholics themselves. In 1852, Dr. Serra, who had become attached to the church in Perth, accused Bishop Brady of holding his elevated position in opposition to the authority of His Holiness the Pope, and that he (D. Serra) was the
