Charles Macfaull

“ The Vines in the Botanic Garden, are flourishing most luxuriantly; and the rapid progress the Vine has made in the Colony wherever properly attended to, has established beyond a doubt, that both the soil, and climate are admirably adapted for its cultivation. We have not the slightest doubt, that a peculiarly rich flavour, would be imparted to the grape, the growth of this country; if we may judge from the exquisite perfection of other fruits. ”

“ King George's Sound is a settlement that well deserves the praise I had heard bestowed upon it—it possesses every natural advantage, the most sanguine emigrant can desire, and is blessed with a climate it is impossible to eulogize too highly. ”

“ Sire, I dare not longer address your Majesty than to present our last bill of supply, entitled 'An act to supply a sum out of the consolidated fund and the supplies of ways and means to the service of the year 1832, and to appropriate the supplies granted in this session of parliament,' to which, with all humility, we pray your Majesty's royal assent. ”

“ Every material for building is most abundant, at King George's Sound—the lime Stone is excellent, but the sea shells are piled up, in such enormous heaps upon the Beach, between the two harbours, that I should infinitely prefer them to any other lime. ”

“ One man told me that the whole country was a desert of sand,—another man with affected commiseration, lamented the fate of the unfortunate wretches, who were doomed to starvation there, and a third, assured me, that he spoke of the poorness of the soil, from personal observation, though I found upon enquiry that he had never quitted the shore about Fremantle. You might just as well judge the richness of an inland country in England, by the bleak downs on the Sea Coast near Brighton. ”

“ Their taking, to them, so distant and dangerous a voyage, shews in a most marked manner the beneficial confidence, which an uniformly humane, and kind treatment pursued since the earliest settlement of King Georges Sound, by every rank of inhabitant towards the Natives, has instilled, not only into the minds of these individuals, but into the whole of their tribe, with whose full consent they embarked. ”

“ To defer the improvement of the York road until the arrivals we have every reason to anticipate, pour in upon us, would we feel convinced retard the future prospects of the Colony, and impose a difficulty upon the Emigrant, where it is the policy, and evidently the disposition, at the present day, of the home Government to afford every relief. ”

“ Their cattle all died from fatigue, and they were themselves reduced to subsist entirely on shell fish, picked up from the rocks. Happily they fell in with a tribe of good, humane natives from King George's Sound, by whom they were generously succoured, and conducted at length to the end of their eventful and enterprising journey—worn down to the last extremity poor fellows, by famine, fatigue, and all their concomitant evils. ”

“ The day we trust is not far distant when through the representations of Captain James Stirling our late highly esteemed Governor, the tide of Emigration will again set in upon our shores, and will ensure to Emigrants to this Settlement equal privileges to those extended to other Colonies. ”

“ There is a substantial house on the property. 10 acres of superior soil (red loam) have been cultivated and were under crop last season, and 20 more have been cleared of wood. There is excellent pasturage on the Estate, well-watered by fresh water springs, and the river is navigable for four miles up wards. There is an abundance of fine Mahogany timber on the grant, which is in the form of a square, so that one angle touches the Swan River opposite Perth and of course has a river frontage on the Swan, an advantage that no other grant in the Colony is possessed of. ”

“ It is reported at Oporto that 3,000 men, consisting of Polish refugees and Portuguese emigrants, had left France to join the constitutional army, and that Don Pedro's cavalry was to be augmented with 400 horse, of which he stands in great need. The two armies may with propriety be compared to two boys quarrelling: Don Miguel, being the strongest, talks very largely, and threatens to visit his smaller opponent with a severe castigation, but has not the courage to put his threats in force; and Don Pedro has not at present the strength to punish the insolence of his haughty and swaggering foe ”

“ A question of some importance to the Mercantile interest, as well as the Colonists at large, has been the subject of warm discussion, within the past week at Fremantle, and has given rise we are informed, to some delay in landing a portion of the cargo of the Cygnet. The question alluded to, as far as we can collect, is, whether a Captain is bound to land goods above high water mark, which according to the usual tenor of a bill of lading, are to be delivered at the Port, and it so, whether he is borne out in placing the goods upon a private Jetty at the risk and expense of the consignee. ”

“ Even to preserve roads in repair, after they are first formed, is not only expensive in itself, but it requires also that the countries through which they pass, shall be well peopled, and capable of affording the necessary labour. If therefore the horror of having Convicts within sight of a man's property, shall operate so forcibly with my friends at the Swan, as to prevent them from being sent to the Colony at all, I really do not see that the Settlers have any prospect of solid enjoyment, beyond their own rural habitations, for a very long time. ”

“ I will not extend this communication farther, but these recollections lead me to hope, that in process of time, large flocks of travelling sheep, may, and will be kept over the Darling Range. That near to the sources of the Swan, and the Canning rivers, where of course the water is perfectly fresh, sheep, washing establishments may be formed and houses built, for the shearing, sorting, and packing the wool. The expence of these would be comparatively small, whilst the advantages to the flock masters and the Colony, would be incalculably great. ”

“ Fifty acres of this rich soil, the Governor has given me a grant of, and I have called it Torrens, in memory of the steadiest and warmest friend that man was ever blessed with.
To the East of the large inlet which contains the Sound or outer anchorage, there is another harbour called Oyster harbour. The entrance to which is too shoal for vessels of any burthen, but a capital Basin for small craft. ”

“ But if a man be affluent, compelled to leave India, on account of health, and anxious for employment to protect him from ennui, he cannot possibly have a finer field for his abilities, than by freighting a Vessel of 200 Tons and proceeding direct to King George's Sound—he should take with him a good establishment of Artificers, to commence Building a house immediately, and he should be supplied with a store of every thing he may require, for his family and servants during the space of one year ”

“ We are informed a public School similar to those at Perth, and Fremantle, is upon the point of being established at Guildford, and one of the Passengers by the Cygnet, George Gladman has been appointed Master. A portion of land prudently reserved for the purpose of a public school, will supply a portion of the necessary funds, and the benevolent contribution of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, will it is to be hoped, make it vie with the more populous towns of Perth and Fremantle. ”

“ The Rules and regulations of a "Benefit Society" recently established at Perth have been placed in our hands. It is gratifying to see Institutions of this nature, rising up amongst us. This society from the judgment exercised in framing the resolutions, is founded on a basis which will secure to it every encouragement. It has our hearty wishes for its success. The subscribers we believe are already very numerous. We could wish to see a "Saving Bank" set on foot in this Colony. ”

“ The quantity of flour, or other articles bought from the "Cornwallis" by the wife of this individual (for the assertion that it was bought for him or her, as they state, is a wanton falsehood,) is a point with which the public have no right to meddle. His Officers certainly have no such right. The supposition, that it is impossible for his wife to carry on any trade or business, because she can neither read or write; is contradicted by the actual experience of cases occuring within the Colony; cases so notorious, that only wilful forgetfulness can have overlooked them. ”

“ But unluckily, he defines "the Settlers" to be persons, who have come to this Colony to establish themselves in some trade or business; a definition which is strongly indicative of his own particular interests and motives, and will satisfy most of his readers, that he has really in view the interests of only a very small portion of the Settlers, of whom the great majority, it is confidently believed, will readily admit themselves to have received a decided benefit from the petty traffic carried on by the Soldiers wives at Perth ”

“ I hope I shall be pardoned for saying, that in my humble judgment, there could not possibly have been selected, a man more fit for the arduous, irksome, and responsible situation he fills, than Captain Stirling. ”

“ Disease, which has long lain at the core, will break out, and the sufferer will not be able to recover before it is too late to rescue himself from the torrent of distress which hurries all before it to misery. ”

“ The good land in the immediate neighbourhood of the town, may be said to run in patches of fifty and a hundred acres. The site of the Government Garden, which I have already noticed, is of the richest possible soil. The Scotch Gardener told me, there was nothing on Earth that would not grow upon it. The vein continues down the face of the mountain, towards the sea about one hundred acres possibly, until it arrives at an extensive swamp and back water, where the soil becomes poor and sandy. ”

“ This period of its existence must necessarily be a season of struggle and exertion, and calls forth all the means and strength of the Settler in establishing himself; all his outlay and expenditure, without chance of any immediate return, capital becomes transferred from the pocket to investments in buildings, stock, and labour, and every support and indulgence is necessary to enable the most skilful and industrious to stand against the heavy demands, until the time comes when he ought reasonably to expect a reaction from the fruits of his labour ”

“ It was in vain I understand that Governor Stirling represented the insecurity of the anchorage, the Masters persisted in braving the dangers of the season, and the consequence was inevitable, that a great many merchant Ships were successively driven on shore. It is unnecessary to dwell upon the unfavourable impression, which the public must have received, from these unlooked for misfortunes. ”

“ In principle it is desirable that the duties of absent Officers should be performed by the Officer next in the order of appointment in their own respective departments, but as it may not be found practicable in all cases to act upon that rule, it is still to rest with the Governor, or Lieutenant Governor for the time being, to select the Officers, of Government to whom they shall think proper to entrust the duties of the absent officers. ”

“ That the time, manner, and place of performing quarantine, shall be directed by a Government Proclamation, and that until quarantine be performed, no person or thing shall leave the ship,
That the Governor with the advice of Executive Council, may have the power to issue special orders relative to any vessel arriving under suspicious circumstances although from a Port not proclaimed as infected, to shorten the time in particular cases, and that all such extraordinary orders, shall have the same force and effect as Government Proclamations relative to Quarantine. ”

“ Fremantle is supplied from its own garden and the farms on the Canning. In Mr. Lamb's garden at Fremantle we are informed are some of the finest rock, musk, and water melons the Colony has produced. The garden is not more than 50 yards from the sea beach. ”

“ There is also a dangerous ledge of rocks running seaward, from the land, immediately North of Cape Lewin, on which a fine ship was lost, a short time ago. How the wise acre managed to get his vessel, upon so palpable a danger, is matter of astonishment to any Man, who knows any thing of Navigation. ”

“ After shearing, and when the culld sheep, and lambs, are sorted either for the home farms, or the market, the flocks would again ascend the hills, having gained additional strength by the charge of food, and climate, by this periodical visit, and after having borne upon their backs, to the water communication with the sea, their annual, and increasing tribute of wealth, to their enterprizing owners. ”