Perth

“ Many a stranger comes and goes at Perth without guessing what charming prospects may be sought out on its environing heights. But half an hour’s stroll through the streets must make him aware of those Inches that prompt a hoary jest concerning the size of the Fair City. The North and South Inches, between which it lies, properly islands, green flats beside the Tay, are in their humble way its Hyde Park and Regent’s Park. ”

“ Perth could be reached either by horseback or by boats on hire. A regular system of passenger boats was established, and the trip up the river was pleasing and even romantic. Ferries were stationed at Preston Point, Mount Eliza, and Guildford, on the Swan, in 1834, by which horsemen or footmen could cross the river. A road led direct from Preston Point to Perth; over billowy hills and through an open forest exhibiting a bright garniture of colours. The half-way house established at Claremont, was built of stone, and stood two storeys high.
Perth was much more scattered than Fremantle. ”

“ Homes seen along the railway track were of red brick.
When Perth—with a population of 60,000—was reached—well, it looked like one of the busy cities of the North. Smokestacks, streets crowded with people, splendid buildings, all work being done by Europeans, all vehicles drawn by good horses—no oxen in sight; streets asphalted—in that far-off land one will find as busy and as up-to-date a city as exists anywhere. Credit for this substantial condition of things is more strongly emphasized when it is remembered that West Australia is very hot, more suited to black races than white. ”

“ Look you, the villains have struck him down behind his back, for there is not a man within ten Scotch miles of Perth, gentle or simple, Highland or Lowland, that would have met him face to face with such evil purpose. Oh, brave men of Perth! the flower of your manhood has been cut down, and that by a base and treacherous hand. ”

“ West Australia, of which Perth is the capital, is eight hundred miles in width and thirteen hundred long from north to south, actually covering about one third of the continent. It embraces all that portion lying to the westward of the one hundred and twenty-ninth meridian of east longitude, having an area of [Pg 240] about one million square miles,—or, to make a familiar comparison, it is eight times as large as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It has but few towns, ports, or settled districts, and Perth itself has less than eleven thousand inhabitants. ”

“ Perth, boasting, as we have already mentioned, so large a portion of the beauties of inanimate nature, has at no time been without its own share of those charms which are at once more interesting and more transient. ”

“ There was more patriotism than parity in the comparison. The Italian river is a Rhine in history, but a mere Goose Creek within its actual banks compared with the Tay. In history, Perth has its full share of “love and murder,” rhyme and romance, sieges, battering and burning, royals and rebels. In the practical life of to-day, it is a progressive, thriving town, busy, intelligent, respected and honorable. The two natural features which would attract, perhaps, the most special attention of the traveller are the two Inches, North and South, divided by the city. ”

“ Near Perth are a great number of extensive fine bleaching grounds. The chief manufactures of the town are cottons, and the printing them; also great quantities of men's shoes and boots are made at Perth, and sent to the London market.
The following is the legend of the name of Kinnoull Hill.—Formerly the old town of Perth was situated near the junction of the river Almond with the Tay ”

“ This, however, was superseded by Captain Stirling, on his arrival with the first immigrants, in the ship "Parmelia," in June, 1829, by placing the capital, Perth, about twelve miles from the port, at which he settled the town of Fremantle. The elucidation of the naming of Perth after the birthplace of Sir George Murray, the then Secretary of State for the Colonies, in honor of whom also towns in New South Wales, Tasmania, and Canada were named, and the origin of the naming of Mount Eliza after Lady Darling, should set aside many absurd stories for these nomenclatures. ”

“ Other towns not blessed with equal gifts from nature have at vast expenditure been made comfortable and habitable. Perth requires no costly effort; a slight assistance to nature and to ordinary sanitation is all that is required to place her among the most pleasant and healthy cities in the world." In 1876 there were 801 houses in Perth, and a population 4,606 persons. The other centres of more than fifty houses were:—
Roads Boards were established in 1871 for the rest of the colony. ”

“ Perth, the embryo capital of Western Australia, situated on the right bank of the river, about twelve miles from the sea, has, as yet, only the appearance of a straggling tented field; but I have no doubt its aspect will, in a short time, be very different. ”

“ Another charming place to see, 28 miles from Perth, is Kelmscott, nestling in its bed of flowers. Everything looked delightful on the morning that I went there. Nature never appeared more beautiful; it seemed cruel to pluck the flowers from their beds and crush the sweet grass with the horse’s hoofs. I felt almost like Mr. Ruskin, who was such a passionate defender of nature that he would never pluck a flower. Two miles from Kelmscott is another sweet little village called Armadale. I put up at the picturesque inn and enjoyed a few days’ quiet rest among the beautiful surroundings. ”

“ It is to be remembered, friend, that your craft, which doth very well for a living in the douce city of Perth, is something too mechanical to be much esteemed at the foot of Ben Lawers and on the banks of Loch Tay. ”

“ One of the most beautiful points of view which Britain, or perhaps the world, can afford is, or rather we may say was, the prospect from a spot called the Wicks of Baiglie, being a species of niche at which the traveller arrived, after a long stage from Kinross, through a waste and uninteresting country, and from which, as forming a pass over the summit of a ridgy eminence which he had gradually surmounted, he beheld, stretching beneath him, the valley of the Tay, traversed by its ample and lordly stream; the town of Perth, with its two large meadows, or inches, its steeples, and its towers ”

“ Although Perth is making very rapid progress, everything is as yet somewhat quieter, more picturesque and on a smaller scale than in the great capitals of the eastern States. On the outskirts of the city, especially overlooking the river, are the gardens and houses of the wealthier residents. ”

“ The most picturesque, if not the highest, hills are also to be found in the county of Perth. The rivers find their way out of the mountainous region by the wildest leaps, and through the most romantic passes connecting the Highlands with the Lowlands. Above, the vegetation of a happier climate and soil is mingled with the magnificent characteristics of mountain scenery, and woods, groves, and thickets in profusion clothe the base of the hills, ascend up the ravines, and mingle with the precipices. ”

“ Although this impression given by the first view of Perth is doubtless disappointing to anyone who arrives with the hope of making money therein, it makes the place much prettier than it would probably be if a larger trade were carried on there. There is a look of cheerfulness and brightness about the many gardens which surround the houses and the avenue of trees which lines each side of the main road passing from one end to the other of the town, that makes the new-comer feel that a home there might be a very pleasant one. ”

“ On a lovely bend of the river, ten miles from its mouth, stands the little city of Perth, the capital of the penal colony, and the residence of the Governor. It is a petty town to-day, of four or five thousand people ”

“ Now sunk in relative importance, Perth makes the central knot of Scottish railway travelling; so on the Eve of St. Grouse its palatial station becomes one of the busiest spots in the kingdom, though the main platform is a third of a mile long. To the stay-at-home public it may perhaps be best known by an industry that
PERTH FROM THE SLOPES OF KINNOUL HILL has given rise to the proverb “See Perth and dye,” one which might have darker significance in days when this low site depended for drainage on the floods of the Tay flushing its cellars and cesspools. ”

“ As the field increased in population and prestige, the stream of holiday or home-going capitalists made Perth their headquarters. Once there, the ‘Weld,’ an exclusive and fashionable club, naturally attracted notice, and afforded a more or less luxurious home for those who desired [119] to enjoy their sojourn by the waters of the Swan River, and to feel the ocean breezes on a sun-tanned cheek. ”

“ Perth (30) , the county-town of Perthshire, on the Tay, 22 m. W. of Dundee: is a beautifully situated town, with fine buildings, the only old one being the restored St. John's Church. Its industries are dyeing and ink-making. At Scone, 2 m. distant, the kings of Scotland were crowned; and the murder of James I., the Gowrie conspiracy, and the battle of Tippermuir are but a few of its many historical associations. "The Five Articles of Perth," adopted by a General Assembly held there in 1618, did much to precipitate the conflict between the Royal power and the Scottish Church ”

“ By the end of the year marked progress was made in Perth, on the Swan, Canning, and Helena Rivers, and Garden Island. Perth had grown from the rough camp stage, and possessed modest cottages, built with some attempt to uniformity and alignment in streets. But Fremantle was still camp, and continued to be the favourite resort of dissatisfied
people, and the sluggards who aspired to obtain fortunes which demanded no special exertion from them. ”

“ In the rapid influx canvas villages sprang up around Perth and Fremantle. Piles of luggage lay upon the wharves, at the Customs sheds, railway stations, and in the bush. House accommodation could not be procured, and tents were pitched on the slopes near Perth, around Fremantle, and contiguous to the railway line between the two centres. Many persons did not enjoy even this protection, and slept in the open. The permanent populations of Perth and Fremantle were considerably augmented, and building was pursued with astonishing rigour. ”

“ Among all the provinces in Scotland, if an intelligent stranger were asked to describe the most varied and the most beautiful, it is probable he would name the county of Perth. A native, also, of any other district of Caledonia, though his partialities might lead him to prefer his native county in the first instance, would certainly class that of Perth in the second, and thus give its inhabitants a fair right to plead, that—prejudice apart—Perthshire forms the fairest portion of the northern kingdom. ”

“ The country round Perth is very sandy. From Freemantle, the seaport, the road up to Perth, the capital, lies through sand. From Albany, the seaport at which the mail steamers stop, the distance to Perth is about 260 miles, and the traveller encounters a good deal of sand on the way. The clever Yankee who thought of the hour-glass probably did not go beyond Perth. There is much soil in Western Australia which is not sandy,—which is as good, perhaps, as any land in the Australian colonies;—but it lies in patches, sometimes far distant from each other ”

“ The whole mob of Perth will attend him to the gallows, each more eager than another to see the retainer of a nobleman die, for the slaughter of a cuckoldly citizen. There will be a thousand of them round the gibbet's foot. ”

“ The town of Perth is particularly favoured in regard to its social circle, and much friendly intercourse is kept up. To Lady Stirling, the very amiable wife of the Governor, the colonists are greatly indebted. The families of the civil officers of government, and those of some other individuals, contribute to make this a very agreeable place of residence. The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal, is published here under the auspices of the Government, and is ably edited by Mr. ”

“ We passed through an exceedingly fertile, and well-cultivated country, and arrived at Perth, a rising town, situated on the right hank of the South Esk, about twelve miles from Launceston. We crossed the river in a very convenient punt, and halted at the Government House, where, through the kindness of Captain Donaldson, we found an excellent breakfast in readiness for us. ”

“ In Perth, the watchfulness to allot the mayoralty by merit is sharpened by the fact that, while in most, if not all, of the neighbouring colonies, the election is made only upon the vote of councillors, in the capital of Western Australia the whole of the burgesses have a voice in appointing the civic head, so that none but an able man, and one of unblemished character, has any chance of receiving this laurel wreath of fame. ”

“ The adjacent city of Perth, with its Castle, its Cathedral, and its four monasteries, was the Winchester of Scotland, as Scone the Westminster. The early Parliaments met at Perth more often than at other towns that might suit the convenience of kings who had to be much on the move through their agitated dominion. During the English intrusion, Perth was garrisoned by the Edwards’ lieutenants, and suffered repeated attacks from Wallace and Bruce, who found concealment and rallying-place in the{7} wild woods within a few miles of the city walls. ”