era, wool and timber stood first. Circulating capital with labour and better roads inspired confidence and enterprise. The pastoralist allowed the caldron to corrode with rust; the woodcutter sharpened his axe and bared his arm. Pastoralists languished no more, and were only too anxious for their increase. Leasing regulations were liberalised; there was more encouragement to purchase land; and so capital was invested in sheep, and the spring-time usually brought a good harvest. The Champion Bay or Victoria district now ran large flocks over its pastures, and east of Northam, York, and Beverley flocks went until they approached the boundaries of the desert country. At York pastoralists said the grass was improving where stock was run. At Kojonup, and on the Williams, Hotham, Vasse, Capal, Bunbury, and Murray Rivers larger areas were utilised, which previously waited in vain for stock. The annual export of wool tells the result. In 1840 the export was £3,125; in 1850 it was £15,482; and in 1860 in was £49,261. Each year shows an encouraging progress:—In 1854 wool was exported valued at £22,341; in 1855, £24,723; in 1856, £25,672; in 1857, £35,886; in 1858, £33,969; in 1859, £44,599; and in 1860, at £49,261. The wool was no sooner clipped than it was carted to port, where pastoralists were certain to obtain a cargo ship within a reasonable time. The sheep in the colony in 1860 were divided as follows:—York, 87,115; Toodyay, 65,247; Victoria, 48,786; Plantagenet, 36,186; Swan, 11,762; Wellington, 4,821; Murray, 2,987; Sussex, 2,400; and Perthshire, 850. The Victoria district, including Champion Bay, Greenough, and the Murchison was thus drawing into the front ranks. Captain Sanford was one of the chief employers of labour there. He cleared a large breadth of country, and on his land, and on that of others throughout the district, grain of fine quality was being raised: In fact, in 1860 it was confidently stated that enough wheat was grown in those districts to annually supply Perth and Fremantle with bread. The erection of a flour mill in Champion Bay was contemplated by Mr. E. Whitfield in 1858. The town of Geraldton was growing, and in January, 1859, four building lots were sold above the upset price—£15. In February, fifty acres were sold for £254, and ten acres for £90.
Timber was becoming an increasing source of wealth. Convict ships served an excellent purpose in the timber and other trades—they provided a regular means of transport. They carried from England her tainted outpourings; they carried to her, minerals, wool, timber, oil, &c. Numerous ticket-of-leave men were engaged felling timber, and some conditional pardon men embarked in this industry on their own account, where necessary employing ticket-of-leave men to help them. Exciting tales are told of these woodcutters; of their sometimes depraved life amid the woods, or at a country inn; of their quarrels between themselves. Bullock waggons conveyed the timber to port, and the sight of them, and the road parties and lonely woodcutters, cheered many a melancholy traveller on his way to country farms and stations. As already mentioned, specie was still scarce, and a large barter trade was carried on between storekeepers and woodcutters. The storekeeper received and shipped the timber, and gave in return goods, provisions, or "orders." Here again, it is said that the storekeeper made the bigger profits. The life of the woodcutter had some rugged romance in it.
Toodyay, York, Bunbury, the Murray and Clarence were the busiest places in the timber and sandalwood trade. Some large shipments of hardwoods were sent to the Admiralty in England, to India, and to eastern colonies. In 1855 the largest quantity was exported, viz., 1,538 loads, valued at £12,076. From a few hundred pounds worth in previous years, the export had grown into thousands. The amount from 1854 to 1860 was £51,541, divided as follows:—In 1854, £7,022; in 1855, £12,076; in 1856, £9,671; in 1857, £9,449; in 1858, £2,340; in 1859, £6,051; and in 1860, £4,932.
Prices in sandalwood did not brighten until 1856 and 1857, when colonists again determined to take full advantage of the rise. The foreign money obtained for this article greatly added to the value of exports for many succeeding years. No sandalwood was exported from 1854 to 1856 inclusive. In 1857 the export was £2,524, in 1858 £7,455, in 1859 £17,259, and in 1860 £16,360. It was no unusual occurrence to see several vessels in Fremantle Port at one time taking in Western Australian products for foreign markets. The "blackboy" was being put to use. Captain Wray suggested that gas could be extracted from it, and in 1855 a shop was lighted in Perth with gas thus obtained.
Before turning from the subject of advance in colonial wealth we must mention whaling as still contributing its share to the exports. At Albany, in particular, whaling was carried on with renewed activity. With increased capital local people could branch out on a more extensive scale in this as well as in other industries. The gleaning of whale oil at Albany received momentum when the convict system was well established. Local whalers and Americans supplied a ready market for the producer, and at all the centres along the coast at Albany, Vasse, Bunbury, and Fremantle, people considered this industry a reliable source of wealth to them. The gardener and the pastoralist were not alone in obtaining benefits; the innkeeper and the storekeeper secured their share. A whaling station was opened at Port Gregory in 1854 by Captain Sanford, and good catches were soon announced. The value of whale oil and bone was:—In 1854, £830; in 1855, £2,880; in 1856, £3,458; in 1857, £3,491; in 1858, £5,321; in 1859, £2,180; and in 1860, £2,277. An effort was made in 1860 to prevent whaling by foreign ships in Western Australian waters. Beyond £522 received in 1854, and £452 received in 1855, the Government obtained no benefits from the guano deposits for many years. In February, 1856, the Thane of Fife returned from a voyage to Sharks Bay and reported that the guano beds were exhausted. This report was not correct.
Considering these advanced figures in various items of export, there is good reason for deciding that the convict system was materially beneficial to Western Australia. Truly, if it was neither reformatory nor penal so far as the convict was concerned it gave prosperity to the colonist—the cost was quite another matter. Governor Fitzgerald told the House of Lords Committee that convicts had saved the colony. There was one eyesore in the picture; it stood in the foreground. Certain foodstuffs had to be imported for the convict, and, as in previous years, farmers protested that such a course was unfair. It was announced in 1854 that several hundred tons of flour would be imported during the year; farmers resented the purpose of the authorities and cried shame. Owing to a shortage in the harvest prices rose in that year. The quotations in July, 1854, were:—Flour, £42 a ton, 5½d. a lb.; wheat, 18s. a bushel; barley, 10s. a bushel; eggs, 3s. a dozen; butter, 3s. a lb; beef, 8d. a lb.; and mutton, 7d. a lb. The commissariat had no alternative but to import and import they did.
