John Walter Gregory, Timothy Augustine Coghlan and Mary Anne Broome

“ Administration.—In 1890 Western Australia, up to that time a crown colony administered by a governor, was granted responsible government. The legislative authority is vested in a parliament composed of two Houses—a Legislative Council, whose thirty members are elected for six years, and a Legislative Assembly of fifty members, elected by adult suffrage (men and women) . As a portion of the Commonwealth, Western Australia sends six senators and five representatives to the federal parliament. In a country so sparsely settled municipal government has little scope for operation. ”

“ Thunderstorms often supply almost the only rainfall in the interior. The south-western corner, the seat of settlements, is the only portion where rains can be depended on for cultivation; but even there few places have a rainfall of 40 in. As one goes northward the moisture lessens. The north-west and all the coast along to Kimberley, with most of that district, suffer much from dryness. The north-east comes in summer within the sphere of the north-west monsoons, though just over the low coast-range few showers are known. ”

“ The west is not so rich as the east of Australia in birds. Many forms are absent and others but poorly represented, though some are peculiar to the west. The timbered south-west has the greatest variety of birds, which are scarce enough in the dry and treeless interior. Of lizards the west has 12 genera not found in eastern Australia. Of snakes there are but 15 species to 3 in Tasmania and 31 in New South Wales. While the poisonous sorts are 2 to 1 in the east, they are 3 to 1 in the west. The turtle is obtained as an article of food. The freshwater fishes are not all like those of the east. ”

“ In the interior the climate resembles that of the south-west in regard to the occurrence of two seasons only. The winter, however, has much less rain than on the coast, and is cold, clear and bracing. The summer is, as a rule, hot, but is tempered in the south by occasional cool changes, though unrelieved as the tropic is approached. Within the tropics there are two seasons, the wet and the dry. The wet season is most unpleasant, the temperature rarely falling below 100° ”

“ Judged by the number of persons arrested, crime is more prevalent than in any other part of Australia The gold-fields have attracted some of the best and most enterprising of the Australian population, at the same time many undesirable persons flocked to the state expecting to reap a harvest in the movement and confusion of the gold diggings. These latter form a large part of the criminal population of the state The arrests in 1905 numbered 14,646, of which 2104 were for serious offences; so that for every thousand of the population 49 were arrested for trivial and 8 for serious crimes. ”

“ Under the head of fisheries may be mentioned the pearl oyster, which is dived for by natives at Shark’s Bay; the trepang or beche-de-mer is also met with in the north. Insects are well represented, especially Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera and Diptera.
Climate.— With little or no cold anywhere, the heat of summer over the whole area is considerable. Western Australia differs from the country to the east in having no extensive ranges to collect vapour, while the trade winds blow off the dry land instead of from the ocean; for these two reasons the climate is very dry. ”

“ Flora.— Judged by its vegetable forms, Western Australia would seem to be older than eastern Australia, South Australia being of intermediate age. Indian relations appear on the northern side, and South African on the western. There are fewer Antarctic and Polynesian representatives than in the eastern colonies. European forms are extremely scarce. Compared with the other side of Australia, a third of the genera on the south-west is almost wanting in the south-east. In the latter, 55, having more than ten species each, have 1260 species ”

“ The average rainfall at Perth is 33 in. falling on no days; the mean maximum temperature is 74·9° and the minimum 54·8°; at Coolgardie the mean maximum is 77·8° and the mean minimum 52·4°, at Wyndham, on the north-west coast, the mean maximum is 93·9° and the minimum 75·4°.
Population.—Population made very slow increase under the old conditions of settlement, and even when gold was discovered in 1882 at Kimberley, and five years later at Yilgam, no great impetus was given to the colony, and at the census of 1891 the population was still under 50,000. ”

“ Instruction is imparted only in secular subjects, but the law allows special religious teaching to be given during half an hour each day by clergymen to children of their own denomination Children can claim free education on account of inability to pay fees of living more than a mile from school, or of having attended school for more than 400 half-days during the preceding year. ”

“ The chief towns of Western Australia are: Perth—the capital—56,000, Fremantle 23,008, Kalgoorlie 6780, Boulder 5658. The number of people in all gold-field towns fluctuates very greatly. Coolgardie, for example, was returned in July 1894 as having within its municipal boundaries 12,000 people ”

“ Not much good wood is got within 20 m. of the coast. The coachbuilder’s coorup rises over 300 ft. Morrel furnishes good timber and rich oil. An ever-increasing trade is done in the timber of the south-western forests. ”

“ The hare-like Lagorchestes fasciatus is a great leaper. The Hapalolis of the interior has nests in trees. Beaver rats and other small rodents are troublesome, and bats are numerous. The dingo is the wild dog. ”

“ On the subject of defence there could be but one opinion, in favour of Federation, but that was hardly enough to counterbalance the fears of the local producer, who had become accustomed to a protective tariff. ”