September, and their principal recommendations had to do with mineral lands, which they advised should be sold at the fixed price of £5 per acre, in blocks of not less than 80 acres; £1 to be paid on approval of application, and £1 in annual instalments. In regard to other regulations, when fee-simple grants were held, it was suggested that the proportion of stock to be allowed free pasturage on surrounding waste lands should be one head for every ten acres. They also advised that a preferential though not positive claim be given to Class B lessees for renewal at the expiration of their term. The Government asked for expressions of opinions on these suggestions, and the squatters and agricultural societies were not backward in seeking for concessions. They desired that expiring Class B leases be renewed for a further eight years, asked for a redistribution of Class A boundaries, and for several technical alterations. A meeting of delegates of agricultural societies was held in Perth on 13th January, 1864. Among the decisions was the request to have mineral lands thrown open and leased in 100 acre blocks at a rental of 2s. per acre for the first year, at 3s. for the second, with the right of purchase at the end of two years at £2 per acre. It was found difficult to satisfy all parties. New regulations were proclaimed in August, 1864, and remained in force for a number of years thereafter—an abortive attempt being made in 1867 to have them altered. Mineral leases were eventually issued in blocks of not less than 80, nor more than 160 acres, at a rental of 8s. per acre. Mining licenses could be taken out, and mineral lands were sold at a fixed price of £3 per acre. The leasing regulations followed, almost without exception, the committee's report; the alterations were not appreciable. Substantially they gave satisfaction.
Mr. W. Padbury, who arrived in the colony as a boy soon after its foundation, had by thrift and hard work attained a deserved position. His father died in 1830, and the lad was left without relatives, friends or means. The first few years of his colonial life were passed amid stern and bitter disappointments, but his sturdy nature refused to give way. After various unenviable employments, he began shearing and shepherding in the rural districts, and saved a little money. This he invested in a business in Perth, until getting modest means he took up land and became wealthy. With the characteristic enterprise and caution of a "self-made" man he went out to the frontiers, after carefully measuring the risks. Before the end of 1862 he sent to Victoria for stock for the northern country, and prepared to proceed to the scenes of Gregory's explorations. It was an expensive and even dangerous enterprise; the stock must be conveyed by ship, large food supplies must be laid in, and the party must be large enough for mutual protection. Early in 1863, Mr. Padbury procured a coastal vessel, the Mystery, to maintain communication between Nickol Bay and Fremantle, and chartered another ship, the Tien-Tsin, to convey his party, stock, stores, &c., to the former place.
On the 4th April, the Mystery, with Messrs. C. C. Hunt and Turner, proceeded up the coast to take soundings of harbours, and on the 24th April the Tien-Tsin sailed for Nickol Bay. On board the latter vessel were Messrs. Padbury, Samson, Ridley, McCourt, Nairn, Brown, Jones, Swift, and five natives, with 11 horses, 6 bullocks, and 540 sheep. Messrs. Hunt and Turner inspected the mouth of the De Grey, which they found unsuitable for landing stock. They communicated this information to Mr. Padbury, and a harbour was chosen east of Point Lambert and west of the De Grey, and was at once named Tien-Tsin Harbour. The process of landing the stock was accomplished without casualty, though one bullock and forty sheep died through drinking salt water while walking over the shallows at low tide. No suitable locale was then chosen, and Mr. Padbury, after going down the Harding with Captain Jarman, Messrs. Samson, Turner and Nairn, returned to Fremantle, leaving members of his party in charge of the stock. He was greeted with effusive compliments in Perth, and his hardy enterprise was enthusiastically praised at a banquet given in his honour in June.
The Tien-Tsin sailed back to Nickol Bay in the same month, with 515 sheep and 17 horned cattle. On arrival at the port, neither the Mystery nor the land party was seen, the latter having evidently proceeded some distance away for suitable pasture. The stock was landed with a loss of 30 sheep (from drinking salt water), and Mr. McCourt took charge of them. Mr. J. Wellard was the next squatter to settle in the north, and on 6th August he sailed in the Tien-Tsin, accompanied by Messrs. S. Hall, H. Logue, W. Scott, and four others. Mr. Wellard took as a nucleus of stock, 370 sheep, 26 cattle, and 9 horses. He quickly learnt that Mr. Padbury's party had moved to the De Grey River. While crossing the Harding, a native attack was made on one of Mr. Padbury's black servants, who fired at and wounded an assailant. On two occasions, also, the aborigines caused annoyance to the men on the Mystery, but were easily repulsed. Stones and clubs, instead of spears, were the chief weapons used by these natives. A heavy fall of rain took place on llth May, when the De Grey rose five feet, and every bush on the plain not over eighteen inches high was submerged.
Mr. Ridley, attached to Mr. Padbury's first party, was a Government Surveyor, and in his report wrote flatteringly of the district. The example of the pioneer was therefore early followed by other gentlemen. By May, 1863, Messrs. K. Brown, S. Hamersley, A. Brown, B. Clarkson, F. Pearse, and Dr. Martin had chartered a vessel—the Flying Foam, Captain Cooper—to convey them to the Glenelg River. The Glenelg was reached on the 30th June, and the ship proceeded as far as the rapids, about twenty-eight miles from the coast. Then the equipment and stores were landed, and Messrs. K. Brown, Clarkson, and Dr. Martin left the camp on 6th July with five horses for Camden Harbour, in the north. They experienced few difficulties, and returned on 10th July. They reported of the intervening tract:−"A very fine country, with abundance of good grass and water—one of the finest countries in the world." The experiences of a second party were not so pleasant. Messrs. Clarkson and Hamersley proceeded on the 16th July on another northerly course, and returned four days later with their horses so fatigued as to be unfit for travel. Much of the country they entered was exceedingly rough.
The rise and fall of the tide at the rapids, according to Captain Cooper, was about twenty feet. On the 25th July two boats, manned by Captain Cooper, Messrs. Brown Brothers, Clarkson, Hamersley, and Taylor, went about ten miles up the river. While they were looking for water in a mangrove thicket some thirty powerful savages prepared to attack them. The natives shipped their large spears and approached. Captain Cooper fired and brought down one who appeared to be the leader; the others did not stop, and Mr. A. Brown then shot and wounded a second, and Mr. Clarkson a third. At the last report the blacks gave way, and with an awful yell disappeared in the thicket. Captain Grey had reported that the valleys in this country were as rich as any part of the globe, and that the grass was so high that he could not see over it. The present explorers were astonished at the luxuriance of the vegetation, and Captain Cooper considered the grass to be higher even than Captain Grey led him to expect. On the banks of the river, he said, thousands of tons of hay could be cut. The country back
