Various authors

“ You have, I suppose, heard dreadful accounts of the nature of the soil, and with some show of reason, probably, as Fremantle, the great emporium of our trade is the vilest place on earth—nothing, in fact, but a huge mass of white sand; and the country, within two or three miles, partakes of the same valuable qualities; and there are many who pretend to give a description of the colony, who have never been more than an hour's walk into the interior. The land on the banks of the Swan, commencing at Perth, is decidedly good, up to the hills ”

“ I frankly confess that I am a novice in botany, and botanical phrases, or I would have given you the proper names of each of these grasses: however, I have vanity enough to suppose I know what kinds of grass are suitable for sheep and cattle; and I give it as my opinion, that the before-mentioned grasses are of the right kind. The climate on this side the mountains I like much, not being ao hot, by several degrees, as on the Swan; the air is fresh and bracing, the dews heavy in the night ”

“ The whole of this land is lightly wooded; a species of gum and green wattle are the kinds which prevail most; here and there is to be seen the sandal wood tree. We halted by a small stream for the night. Our evenings have been very agreeably spent.
Oct. 28th.—Up early as usual. After breakfast walked to the foot of Mount Bakewell—this mount is remarkable on account of its peak and height. The best soil I have seen since I left England is about the base of this hill; the grass, also, is truly good and thick set. ”

“ The great scarcity of working cattle, has very materially retarded the progress of the settlers in their agricultural pursuits, and has prevented the colony from arriving at that state of improvement and prosperity which it otherwise would have done. When a sufficient quantity of bullocks and sheep can be obtained to satisfy the wants of the settlers, and a portion of those settlers can be established on the Avon River, as graziers, the colony will be in a fair way for supplying itself with all the necessaries of life, produced on its own soil. ”

“ The kangaroo, when properly prepared, is excellent food; the flesh of the large ones, when roasted, resembles beef, but destitute of fat; the young ones, when nicely managed, eat very much like ham; it also makes very nutritious soup. Begun to travel again about one o'clock, and continued until evening, when we found another stream; here we put up our tent, and bivouaced for the night. ”

“ EXTRACT OF A LETTER from Swan River, dated 27th January, 1833.
⁠Land increases in value daily on the Swan; a grant that the owner would have readily sold for 25l. ready money, a twelvemonth ago, will now fetch 100l.; indeed, I do not know a better war of investing a small sum of money, than in land on the Swan: a grant I gave 200l. for, I could let, for grazing sheep, at 20l. per annum, and your land is improving all the time. ”

“ Young stock thrive remarkably well, and are as large when nine months old, as the same description of stock would be in England at twelve months. I think this is owing to the vary fine climate, which permits them to graze throughout the year, without being obliged to house them for six months out of twelve, and keep them on dry fodder, (as is the case in England,) which very materially hinders their growth. Sheep do well and increase very fast ”

“ Dale and Brockman before: the land here is very good and covered with grasses of excellent quality, even to the tops of the hills; and, in a short time, this part will be found peculiarly applicable to breeding and grazing sheep and young cattle. In my opinion, I never saw a finer country for sheep. November 4th.— After breakfast we crossed the stream, walked over valley, found another rivulet, ascended a high hill; from this eminence we had a view of Mount Bakewell, hearing N. twelve miles off; it is all hill and dale in the intermediate space, with every appearance of good land. ”

“ There is much good land about the base of these mountains, what there is beyond is not for us to determine, that work must be left to other explorers in after-days; however, it is some satisfaction, that we left good land at the eastern extremity of our route. After dinner we steered S., in order to change our course a little; in this direction we found land of excellent quality, capable of producing good corn, and very suitable for sheep. Having travelled six miles we encamped by a stream for the night.
Nov. 1st.—Set off at 6 o'clock, S.S.W., first mile or two tolerably good land ”

“ People who had grants on the Swan, in the earlier period of the colony, thinking them worthless, literally gave them up, conceiving, that as land was given away, and no one appeared to derive any benefit from the culture, or rather never attempted such culture, that it was useless to retain them ”

“ Arose before 5 o'clock, breakfasted, and bent our course home due W. Our stock of provisions being rather low, we could not spend more time in examining the country; the first five miles after leaving the stream was very hilly, but the land good, with huge pieces of granite rock here and there. The land in the vicinity of this place is well watered; even in the tops of some of the highest hills, water may be had all the year round. Plenty of stone may be procured for the purposes of building houses, out-houses, and fences. ”

“ There are no large trees on the good land, but plenty of black or green wattle, which gives it a very pleasing and picturesque appearance; there is also a species of gum; these two kinds of wood will do very well for the farmer at first, and there is plenty of mahogany and some red gum, within a few miles. The limestone ridge opposite Mount Bakewell, will also be of very great service to this part if no other can be found nearer. ”

“ The kangaroo must be very numerous in the interior, if we may judge from the quantity seen in walking a straight line.
I am of opinion a large portion of the good land seen south of Mount Bakewell, will keep a sheep and a half per acre. They allow three acres for a sheep on the other side of the island. ”

“ We took the lining of a tent to keep off the heavy dews in the night, and to refresh ourselves under in the heat of the day. A small axe and spade answered the purposes of cutting down a pole for the tent, and of trying the land where we travelled ”

“ About 10 o'clock, having walked nine miles, we cut upon two large lagoons; here we halted; there is strong presumptive evidence that these lagoons contain water all the summer; we shot at a brace of musk ducks here; these birds cannot fly. There are plenty of kangaroos here, without going out of our tract we saw at least twenty. The kangaroo appears to be the ancient and almost sole proprietor of these extensive wolds. ”

“ The last year, 1831, has convinced me that when the land can have tillage and proper management, it will grow wheat, barley, oats, rye, potatoes, and turnips, in great abundance: very good specimens of the aforesaid articles were produced the last year—the average weight of wheat from sixty-two to sixty-five pounds per bushel. As it respects the seed time, it is as long and favourable as we can wish ”

“ I have met with several individuals here, who, on leaving England, were great sufferers from dyspepsia, and disorders of the digestive organs generally, from the nervous affections which so often accompany these—from hypochondria, from asthma, and from bronchial diseases—who have recovered their health in a remarkable degree since their arrival. Some of slight figures have become more robust and stronger. ”

“ In December, January, and February, the weather in general is hot, and the grass much burnt up, but the cattle do well and keep their condition the year round; when the grass fails they feed on the grass tree and the tops of the brush-wood. ”

“ In making these several concessions, the Government considers it will have accomplished all that the settlers ought to expect. In the advancement of their particular pursuits, in the cultivation of the soil, and in the conversion of its natural resources into a productive state, the colonists could not derive any solid or permanent benefit from the assistance of government, and in all such matters they must therefore rely upon their own means and industry. They will be protected by a local government ”

“ I am now inclined to doubt, whether any euch disease can exist here under the ordinary circumstances of the atmosphere; no case of measles, small pox, scarlatina, or other contagious disease. has hitherto been met with. Syphilis is unknown, and vaccination, after repeated trials, has failed.
Scurvy has not been either so common or so formidable as last year. The increasing comforts of the settlers arc gradually undermining and will soon eradicate this disease.
The cases of disease have been, on the whole, fewer in number, and milder in character this year than the preceding. ”

“ Because the Australian copyright term in 1996 was 50 years, the critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1946.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”

“ The appropriation of a ship of war to services exclusively connected with the new colony cannot be afforded; but it will be visited at proper intervals by ships belonging to the station, and for the purpose of enforcing the port regulations, the colonial vessel will probably be armed. ”

“ There are only two sorts of people who can get on here, the one with a capital, the other the labouring man, who gets a three acre grant, cultivates it two days in the week, and works out the other four days, supporting himself, and bringing his grant into cultivation. ”

“ Parturition with the female sex is expeditious and safe, being accomplished by the efforts of nature alone within from three to six hours. No woman has died in child-birth in this colony since its commencement, nor am I aware of any who died within a month after. ”

“ Children thrive remarkably well; and I may add, every description of live stock, although collected from different climates,—England, India, South America, Africa, &c., and various plants and vegetables collected from as many different sources, find here a congenial temperature. ”

“ When exploring the country, for several days, and sometimes weeks, have these people been exposed to the sun, fatigued in the evening after a day's exertion, slept in the open air, and that repeatedly in wet weather, without suffering in the slightest. ”

“ The crops have turned out very abundant, but the Van Diemen's Land seed has proved generally indifferent, and has introduced a good deal of smut; the farmers, however, seem well satisfied on the whole. ”

“ The black kind live on the buds of large trees and shrubs. About 12 o'clock, we made the river, and were in some measure disappointed. At the time it was discovered by Messrs. Dale and Brockman, it would be from one hundred to two hundred yards across in some places, marks of inundation being discoverable to that extent; in other parts thirty, forty, or sixty yards wide, with rather high banks. When this circumstance is taken into consideration, it was in the midst of the rainy season, Messrs. Dale and Brockman are very excusable for taking it for a river. ”

“ Oct. 29th.—Rose at 5 o'clock, as usual, and got breakfast immediately. We walked about half an nour over fair soil; a few useful farms might be got here, but I think they would be small. On the S.W. may be seen large hills, with considerable patches of land on them, completely clear of timber. After walking six miles we found a stream running to the S. There is likely to be water here all the year; in some places it is rather deep. Two miles distant we found another stream. ”

“ This work is in the public domain in Australia because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. According to Australian Copyright Council - Duration of Copyright, the following works are public domain:
published non-government works whose author died before January 1, 1955, anonymous or pseudonymous works and photographs published before January 1, 1955, and government works published more than 50 years ago (before January 1, 1973) . ”

“ I hope you will be able to get the sale of lands here deferred for some years, as it is generally supposed to operate strongly against our getting an increase of settlers of late, when such a spirit of emigration has manifested itself at home. ”

“ After some little preparation, we sat down on the ground, and regaled ourselves by drinking tea, and perfuming the air by burning a celebrated "Indian weed:" smoking is more helpful here than in England ”

“ It is therefore proposed to provide for it certain civil and military establishments, upon a scale inexpensive, but, in my opinion, sufficient for the administration of government and law, and for the protection of the settlers. The civil establishment will be more efficient, but not more costly than that which has existed hitherto ”

“ The subsequent charges will be for the construction of roads and public works; the erection and support of schools; relief to destitute persons; and such other appropriations as may seem most conducive to the general welfare. ”

“ Passed two native huts, superior in size and architecture to those we are accustomed to see. Oct.30th,—Set off at half-past 6 o'clock, walked a mile, and saw Mount Bakewell W. 3° S. There is a nice farm in the valley we have just crossed, perhaps 1000 or 2000 acres. This valley is surrounded on three sides by sandy commons. ”