THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE 
 
 OF 
 
 LOS 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 CALIFORNIA 
 ANGELES
 
 WESTERN AUSTRALIA 
 
 A REPRODUCTION OF ARTICLES WHICH HAVE 
 APPEARED IN 
 
 THE WEST AUSTRALIAN REVIEW, 
 
 18931894. 
 
 BY 
 
 ALBERT F. CALVERT. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT <fe Co., LIMITED. 
 
 1895.
 
 PRINTED I'.Y WALTERS & CO.,. 
 WESTON-SUPER-MARE.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 MANY of the readers of the West Australian Review may 
 not be aware that it started its career under the title of 
 Calvert's West Australian Mining Register in September, 
 1893. For some years I had taken a very deep interest 
 in the mineral resources of the colony, and had written a 
 few books upon this and kindred subjects. Encouraged 
 by the favourable notices which my efforts called forth, 
 and foreseeing that the gold fields were destined at a very 
 early date to proclaim their great importance to the 
 investing public, I resolved to depart from the ordinary 
 traditions of journalism and issue a weekly paper devoted 
 exclusively to the discussion of Western Australian topics. 
 The colony being so distant, so obscure, and so utterly 
 unfamiliar to the large majority of English readers, it 
 was pointed out to me that such a paper, published in 
 London, could not hope to succeed. Even the larger 
 and more important Australian colonies were content 
 with one journal, which represented their interests col- 
 lectively ; it was not therefore to be supposed that a 
 West Australian organ, pure and simple, would meet 
 with adequate acceptance or encouragement. 
 
 Nevertheless I launched the -Review in unpretentious 
 form not without misgivings it is true but firmly 
 evinced that before many months had passed, the name 
 of Western Australia would be as well known in the 
 metropolis of the world as even South Africa, in spite of
 
 the unexampled advantages of free advertisement, pos- 
 sessed by the latter colony. Within six months' time 
 35,000 worth of quartz and gold from Bayley's Reward 
 Claim was exhibited in the City and West End of 
 London. Then came news of other great discoveries, 
 followed by what has been called the " West Australian 
 Boom." This has all occurred since I started the humble 
 Register, whether, or how far, it contributed to this 
 result it is not for me to say. 
 
 After running for six months under the above title, 
 for reasons which are immaterial, the paper became the 
 West Australian Review, having by this time a largely 
 increased circle of readers, both in the United Kingdom 
 .and the Colonies. It was recently suggested to me that 
 many of the earlier articles which appeared in the Regis- 
 ter and the Review before Westralia's notoriety was 
 established would be worthy of reproduction in a concise 
 form. The following pages have therefore been compiled 
 from the issues of 1893-94 ; and will be found to contain 
 both prophecies and commentari es on the passing ev 
 of the most important epoch of Western Australia's 
 history. 
 
 ALBERT F. CALVERT. 
 Authors' Club, S.W., 
 
 January, 1895.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I. Concerning our Objects ... I 
 
 II. Concerning Difficulties and Dangers . . 3- 
 
 III. Westralia's Minerals : A Retrospect . . 7 
 
 IV. Early Gold Discovery . . . . . 1 
 
 IV. Concerning other Mineral Resources . . 24 
 
 V. Relics of a Sunken Wreck . '",. . . 28 
 VI. A Plea for Specimens at the Imperial 
 
 Institute ....... 34 
 
 VII. Concerning the Homesteads Act . . 38 
 VIII. Albert F. Calvert at the Royal Colonial 
 
 Institute ....... 42 
 
 IX. A Momentous Question : Water ... 46 
 X. Concerning our Change of Name . . .53 
 
 XI. A Noble Specimen of Westralia's Wealth . 56- 
 
 XII. Bars and Quartz for the Imperial Institute 62 
 
 XIII. Gold to the Rescue : A Comparison . 64 
 
 XIV. Shall Westralia Federate ? ... 68 
 
 XV. United we Stand 7* 
 
 XVI. The Institute of Mining Engineers Seek 
 
 Information . . . . . .76 
 
 XVIL A United Australia 8O 
 
 XVIII. Law- Abiding Australia : Lawless America 84 
 XIX. " A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous 
 
 Thing" 88 
 
 XX. A Bad Carver Helps Nobody Well . . 91
 
 XXI. Bayley's at last Finds a Rival ... 97 
 XXII." Swear not at all " . . . . 102 
 XXIII. On ' Jumpers ' and their Wicked Ways 105 
 XXIV. The Government and the Water Question 108 
 XXV. -Siege of Londonderry. Huxley's Defence 113 
 XX VI. Prospecting again Rewarded . . .116 
 XXVII. Western Australia's Chief Need : Popula- 
 tion 120 
 
 XXVIII. Advice Gratis is apt to be Worthless . 125 
 XXIX. Declined with thanks . . . .130 
 XXX. Ex Uno : Disce Omnes . . . .134 
 XXXI. An Advisory Syndicate . . . .138 
 XXXII. The Command of the Sea . . .142 
 XXXIII. -" Better to bear the ills we have, than 
 
 to fly to others that we know not of .147 
 XXXIV. A Product of Joint Stock P]nterprise : 
 
 The Promoter 152 
 
 XXXV. " Sun "-Light on West Australia . .156 
 XXXVI. Audi Alteram Partem . . . .162 
 XXXVII. A Vain Regret .- -. . .166
 
 I. -CONCERN ING OUR OBJECTS. 
 
 THIS journal makes its appearance with the one main 
 object of promoting the interests of Western Australia. 
 In our opinion this can be best accomplished by making 
 known as widely as possible the immense mineral wealth 
 of the Colony. There are at present three great obsta- 
 cles to her progress. The first is unalterable her vast 
 size. The second, the scantiness of her population, is 
 being slowly removed. The third can readily be sur- 
 mounted if confidence in her great mineral resources 
 is once inspired. We refer to her lack of capital. When 
 capital flows into Western Australia, population will 
 follow. Her huge area of a million and sixty thousand 
 square miles will cease to be a drawback, and will 
 furnish a noble field for engineering triumphs. Money 
 will cure the ills from which she suffers, and for this 
 money she can offer ample security. To make known 
 the riches of the unrivalled gold fields of this colony, 
 to record what has been done, and to point out what 
 can be done, Avill probably best attain the end we have 
 in view. 
 
 The West Australian L'emew is designed to record, 
 week by Aveek, the latest and most trustworthy reports 
 from the gold mines and alluvial diggings through- 
 out the colony. It will also deal with the search after 
 other metals, such as silver, tin, copper, <fcc. Diamonds 
 h:ive been found on the Nullagine, and leases have been 
 
 A
 
 2 CONCERNING OUR OBJECTS, 
 
 granted by the Government to dig for them. Any 
 success in this direction will have due attention. The 
 colony possesses both coal and iron, and full accounts of 
 the workings will be furnished. 
 
 It has been suggested that the pearl fisheries on the 
 north-west coast come within the scope of this paper, 
 and the strong interest that is felt in this subject will be 
 our reason for devoting space to the concerns of this 
 industry. Pearls, of course, occupy a solitary place in 
 the great economy of nature, and as they are always 
 .associated with gold and other gems, it is only right to 
 include them in a paper dealing with the most valuable 
 products of the earth. 
 
 The ungathered wealth of Western Australia is so 
 stupendous that such facts and figures as can be set down 
 in these columns will give but a faint idea of her mighty 
 possibilities. If however the light can be let in through 
 such a chink as The West Australian Review proposes 
 to furnish, its object will be gained ; for when once 
 the immense mineral stores of the colony are made 
 known to the world, brains and skill will not be wanting 
 to turn it into minted sovereigns.
 
 CONCERNING DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 
 
 II. CONCERNING DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 
 
 THE first number of our paper has been before the public 
 for seven days. As we read it with critical eyes, the 
 thought occurs that it is just possible that our objects 
 may be misconstrued. This is the common fate of 
 journals such as we have initiated. Once and for all 
 then let us declare our intentions and motives. We seek 
 nothing but the welfare of Western Australia. That 
 giant colony, crippled in its birth by mismanagement ; 
 driven to such desperation as to accept such vile outcast 
 scum of the earth as is ever held between the decks 
 of a convict ship ; yes ! and thankful at the time for even 
 that miserable means of assistance. None more forlorn 
 than the " Cinderella of the South." But Western 
 Australia, sneered at by Dampier, unvisited by Cook, 
 has turned out to be pregnant. Pregnant with Gold ! 
 No richer reefs have gladdened men's eyes than lie un- 
 touched in that vast territory. It has been said that a 
 hopeless region existed east of the 121st meridian of 
 longitude and south of the 20th parallel of latitude. 
 Nonsense, we answer ; for that very virgin territory is 
 full of that which makes men rich. Gold is there in 
 enormous quantities, and if that be so, what fear can 
 there be for the " Coming Colony " 1 If we can show 
 this to be the case, as we contend we can, our main object 
 is fulfilled. Money can buy the highest quality of brains.
 
 4 CONCERNING DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 
 
 and such engineers as bridged the Forth, or tunnelled 
 the Severn, will not be wanting if gold is there. But 
 just as of old and always men have been led to cast 
 scruples to the winds when money is at stake, so, as is 
 natural, men are trading on the tidings of expectant 
 wealth, and Lilliputian John Laws take a glance at a 
 piece of ground, acquire the claim from the Western 
 Australian Government, and start to business on the 
 Stock Exchange. In fact they, in plain terms, want to 
 " boom " Western Australia, with a very obvious object 
 in view. Now " booming " has well-nigh destroyed 
 Victoria, and weakened Australian securities generally in 
 an alarming degree. 
 
 We have good grounds for asserting that several gold 
 mining companies are being prepared for the British in- 
 vestor. We sincerely hope that special caution will be 
 exercised and every prospectus submitted to closest 
 scrutiny. It is in the interests of the colony that we 
 speak. A few bogus concerns forced on the market 
 would mean something not unlike ruin to Western 
 Australia. Yet nothing but capital and a population 
 which surely follows will open up her vast mineral 
 resources. The English public know little or nothing of 
 this distant land. Still they have the testimony of such 
 explorers as Sir John Forrest, Eyre, Giles, Warburton, 
 and Messrs. Gregory. Nature has put such a veto against 
 her advancement that nothing but the utmost resources 
 of science will enable her mineral wealth to be developed. 
 Water famine in many districts will jealously guard 
 her golden stores. We speak not on our own authority,
 
 CONCERNING DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 5 
 
 although we know something by experience of the dreary 
 wastes which lie between Cambridge Gulf and Albany. 
 But listen to Eyre, who with his faithful servant Baxter, 
 two natives, and the boy Wylie, started in January, 
 1841, along the weary twelve months' trip from Adelaide 
 to Perth. " No water, no water ! " is the constant cry. 
 After an interval of some thirty years, through the 
 weary wilderness went John Forrest. Thus runs his 
 journal, " This is the third day without a drop of water 
 for the horses, which are in a frightful state." And 
 again. " The land from Eucla to the head of the bight is 
 entirely destitute of water." Nevertheless these starv- 
 ing, thirsty explorers have achieved their grand object. 
 They have encountered the difficulties and the dangers, 
 and told the gold miner what he had to expect. 
 
 Now the point we have in view is this. We know 
 Western Australia to be anything but a " land flowing 
 with milk and honey : " from the time that Dampier stigma- 
 tised the place as the most miserable spot on the globe, 
 right up to the present day the world have had their 
 eyes pretty well opened regarding the colony's draw- 
 backs. No one would attempt to deny them with any 
 show of reason. Nevertheless, now that it has been 
 proved to be probably more full of gold than any other 
 place on earth, it attracts the eye of the promoter of 
 companies. The latest rush was in the Coolgardie direc- 
 tion, and leases have been taken up in this quarter by 
 men who are utterly ignorant of the science of mining or 
 mineralogy. To take up a claim and to write a pro- 
 spectus is one thing ; but to find gold and to make it
 
 6 CONCERNING DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 
 
 pay is another. As we have stated, nature appears in an 
 exceptionally antagonistic form in Western Australia ; 
 and skilled men only can decide on the merits of a gold 
 claim. We have no desire to make enemies : quite the 
 contrary. If in speaking the plain truth, however, regard- 
 ing certain matters we incur dislike, we care not. We 
 think it would be a grievous thing if this great golden 
 colony should suffer at the hands of a few adventurers 
 who have nothing to lose and everything to gain, by 
 foisting worthless gold mines on the British public.
 
 WESTRALIA'S MINERALS : A RETROSPECT. 
 
 III. WESTRALIA'S MINERALS: A 
 RETROSPECT. 
 
 DOWN the centuries has come a faint echo declaring Terra 
 Incognita or Terra Australia, to have been known as Terra 
 Aurifera that is a Gold-bearing Land. Uncertainty and 
 doubt, however, surround all questions of early Australian 
 discovery, both as regards the country itself, and its pro- 
 ducts. It is therefore impossible to state positively 
 whether a Hollander, a Portugese, a Frenchman, or a 
 Spaniard first set foot on the continent of Australia. The 
 navigator who first landed on these desolate shores was 
 almost certainly driven there against his will by adverse 
 winds ; and the coast upon which he landed must have 
 been Western Australia, which lay nearest Africa and the 
 Indies, in the direct track of weather driven vessels. 
 Whether any of these fifteenth or sixteenth century 
 mariners really discovered gold is extremely doubtful. 
 Webbe, who accompanied William Dampier on his 
 memorable voyage to the southern hemisphere, claimed 
 to have come upon a territory of surpassing richness in 
 both gold and silver. He even essayed to organise an 
 expedition, and to raise capital for the purpose, but he 
 failed in the attempt. Had he succeeded in his object, and 
 had the diggings proved productive, Western Australia 
 might have had a very different history. " Island of 
 Gold," "Land of Gold," "Terra Aurifera," "Provincia
 
 8 WESTRALIA'S MINERALS : A RETROSPECT. 
 
 Aurifera," all these titles show the bent of the early- 
 navigators' and cartographers' minds. But in those days 
 the alchemists were expecting to discover the Philoso- 
 pher's Stone, which would have saved the trouble of 
 prospecting and mining. People were more credulous at 
 that time. They liked to have their spirits raised by 
 tales of buried treasures of all kinds, nor did they even 
 disdain to seek for a pot of gold where the end of a rain- 
 bow touches the earth. Transmutation of metals, however, 
 has proved to be a fable ; but we have over half a 
 century of reliable West Australian history upon which 
 we can take a firm stand, in connection with her mineral 
 resources. 
 
 In 1840 lead and copper Avere discovered in the 
 Champion Bay District, and the lodes were worked by 
 English Companies. Then in 1846, the Messrs. Gregory 
 discovered coal on the Irwin Eiver, the field that is now 
 in the hands of the Midland Railway Company. 
 
 In 1836, Mr. John Calvert wrote a book entitled 
 "The Universal Distribution of the Metal Gold." In 
 1837, to further establish and illustrate his theory, he 
 sailed to Sydney, and going up country discovered gold 
 at Black Man's Swamp. Ten years elapsed during 
 which he had found gold in New Zealand and South 
 Australia, and in 1847. in command of the brigantine 
 Scout, which he had purchased, Mr. Calvert cast anchor 
 in Exmouth Gulf ; and going inland discovered a rich tract 
 of auriferous country on the Upper Murchison and the 
 Upper Ashburton. 
 
 The first geologist employed by the Government was
 
 WESTRALIA'S MINERALS : A RETROSPECT. 9 
 
 Dr. Von Sommer, who made explorations between 1847 
 and 1851. Then Mr. A. C. Gregory and Mr. F. T. 
 Gregory conducted expeditions, and published a geological 
 map in 1860. Captain Roe, about the same- time gives 
 some valuable geological notes in his notes on his 
 travels. Mr. H. Y. L. Brown made a geological examina- 
 tion of the colony in 1870-71, reporting on a strip of 
 country some 50 miles wide, from the Murchison River 
 to the south coast. Then in 1882 the late Mr. E. T. 
 Hardman examined the Kimberley district ; and it was 
 his report of the same territory three years later which 
 led to the establishment of the gold mining industry in 
 Western Australia. 
 
 The " Cinderella of the South," as the colony has 
 been called was well stricken in years when the gold 
 iever attacked her at least she had attained the respect- 
 able age of 56. 
 
 Each of her colonial sisters had been seized with the 
 epidemic in turn. First New South Wales, then Victoria ; 
 then South Australia (at Echunga) ; New South Wales 
 had another attack at Snowy River ; Queensland, at 
 Gympie ; New Zealand, Tasmania, and the Northern 
 Territory of South Australia were all victims in turn. 
 Lastly came Western Australia, and, judging from 
 appearances, her ailment promises to become chronic, for 
 truly her gold fields are so vast in extent, and so rich 
 in the precious metal, as to be practically inexhaustible. 
 
 Mr. A. F. Calvert has made three explorations through 
 the North West District, having started from London in 
 April, 1890, and organised an expedition at his own
 
 10 WESTRALIA'S MINERALS : A RETROSPECT. 
 
 expense. In April, 1891, he was engaged by the General 
 Exploration Company, of London, to make further 
 investigations in the same line of country, and in 
 December, 1892, on the formation of the British 
 Australian Exploration Company, he made a third journey 
 on their behalf. He has also visited every sea port from 
 Cambridge Gulf to King George's Sound, and made trips 
 inland of various duration and with various objects in 
 view. 
 
 Mr. John Calvert has been already referred to. He was 
 and is a thoroughly practical miner, as well as a scientific 
 geologist ; and among the theories which he formulated 
 from time to time in the forties, was one which had 
 special application to Western Australia. He contended 
 that gold would be found in parallels running across 
 Australia, and that the western parallel would be the 
 richest. Mr. A. F. Calvert was his pupil for many 
 years, and has endeavoured to follow up some of his 
 teacher's early investigations of half a century ago. 
 
 The great auriferous wealth of the western parallel 
 has been abundantly proved. A belt of gold-bearing 
 country extends from Phillip's River in the south up 
 through the Yilgarn, Murchison, Gascoyne, and Ash- 
 burton Gold field. Then there seems to be a parallel 
 further to the east, extending from Dundas Hills in the 
 south, to Ularring and Kimberley Range, then passing 
 the heads of the Murchison and Ashburton Rivers, and 
 possibly reaching to Marble Bar and Nullagine, where 
 the belt may possibly be intersected by another, which 
 running east and west cuts it at right angles. This.
 
 WESTRALIA'S MINERALS : A RETROSPECT. II 
 
 latter assumption is not put forward as an ascertained 
 fact, but merely as a possible suggestion as to the general 
 run of the gold reefs. 
 
 It is impossible to exaggerate the magnificent out- 
 look on these vast tracts of auriferous territory. With 
 the progress of exploration and discovery, new sources of 
 wealth are appearing, and immense openings are reveal- 
 ing themselves for the employment of capital and labour. 
 
 Many of the alluvial deposits have already yielded 
 large returns without the use of machinery. These 
 cannot however be reasonably expected to last. The 
 future prosperity and permanency of West Australian 
 gold fields lie in the working of her great quartz-reefs. 
 To efficiently do this demands enterprise on a large 
 scale, backed by capital and a scientific skill. Then will 
 the element of chance be reduced to a minimum, and gold 
 mining be conducted on a basis of systematic calculation,, 
 like any other branch of industry. 
 
 Distance, drought and scarcity of timber, from which 
 some districts suffer, are difficulties of nature which, how- 
 ever can be largely overcome by science ; and the vast 
 mineral wealth to be secured, will amply justify the 
 employment of the best means known to man.
 
 12 . EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY. 
 
 IY. -EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY. 
 
 In the early days of the colonization of New South 
 Wales, a convict named Smith, anxious to break the 
 monotony of prison treatment, arid perhaps hoping to 
 shake the manacles off his toil-worn limbs, made a state- 
 ment to the effect that he had discovered a veritable gold 
 mine. He offered to reveal its locality on certain con- 
 ditions, and on being called upon to show his treasure 
 find, after much coaxing, he at last pointed to a little sand 
 run in Sydney Cove towards the "Heads." For a few 
 feet around the spot there were evidences of some brass 
 filings having been scattered and mixed with the sand 
 for a few inches down. The fraud was immediately 
 detected, and the poor wretch had to pay a heavy price 
 for the few days relaxation he had obtained, for he was 
 ordered the lash and a reduction of his scanty rations. 
 
 After this occurrence no more was heard about gold 
 until Mr. John Calvert who had already issued a 
 pamphlet, in which he had claimed that gold was 
 universally and generally distributed in nearly every 
 part of the world voyaged to Australia for the express 
 object of establishing his theory, by practically extracting 
 the precious metal from its various ores and matrices. 
 In 1837, he landed at Sydney, and instead of following 
 the example of the convict in looking for gold in the sand-
 
 EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY. 13 
 
 stone around Sydney, he boldly struck out for the ranges- 
 to the west, and was not long in attaining his object. 
 
 All the tributaries of the Macquarie River, that he 
 investigated, he found to be auriferous ; but at Black 
 Man's Swamp near the Canobolas, he discovered a most 
 interesting and very strong system of gold reefs. A 
 portion of the outcrop consisted of earthy oxide of iron, 
 richly bespangled with fine native gold gave very good 
 results by simply crushing, with the assistance of the 
 blacks ; and by rough washing the ironstone an appreci- 
 able amount of gold was obtained. Some years afterwards, 
 during the reign of " Billy Wentworth " in those parts, 
 this same ironstone was used in the construction of a 
 bridge, he being a disbeliever in the existence of gold at 
 that time. This the Turon gold-diggers in 1852 got 
 scent of, and in spite of " Billy Wentworth's " re- 
 monstrances, the whole of the bridge was demolished in 
 a few days, the rich ironstone pulverised, and its shiny 
 particles turned into bullion. 
 
 In 1838, Mr. John Calvert sailed to New Zealand, 
 making a short stay there, sufficiently long however to 
 establish the fact, of his declaration as to the universal 
 distribution of the metal, gold. He then returned to 
 Sydney, en route for England, arriving in London in 
 1840. Several works thereafter issued from his pen, 
 and in 1843 he sailed for the Southern Continent 
 in the Augustus (Captain Hart), in company with his 
 friend, George French Angus. He spent some time in 
 South Australia, after which he continued his journey 
 to Sydney and gathered a large amount of bullion, some
 
 14 EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY. 
 
 of which he sold to a Mr. Cohen, jeweller in George 
 Street, Sydney, who exhibited it in his shop window, 
 to which fact many old colonists -now living can testify. 
 
 The following is an extract of a letter that appeared 
 in the Sydney Star of September oth, 1890 : 
 
 " Mr. Joseph Levy, of Balmain, writes confirming the 
 .assertion made in the interview that Mr. John Calvert 
 was first to discover gold in these colonies , and stating 
 that he (Mr. Levy) remembered seeing as a boy the first 
 specimens displayed in a shop in George Street." 
 
 It is of interest to note that in 1844 Mr. Calvert sent 
 home to Sir Roderick Murchison a letter stating how 
 successful he had been in verifying the statements he 
 had put forward in his works, more especially in " The 
 universal distribution of the metal Gold," and that now, 
 by actual survey and travel, he had established the fact 
 that Australia had many rich veins of gold associated 
 with quartz and other minerals, and also that over vast 
 tracts of country, gold might be obtained by washing the 
 alluvial and river drifts. He also forwarded to Sir 
 Roderick a small piece of veritable gold quartz. 
 
 After Mr. Calvert had investigated the mineral 
 districts of South Australia and the North West, he 
 concluded from their geological formation that the gold 
 ores of the eastern and western parallels were richer. 
 Accordingly he proceeded to Sydney, and attempted to 
 induce the Government to take the matter up, but 
 without success. 
 
 The leading officials in those days failed to perceive 
 the expediency of fostering the mining industry. The
 
 EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY. 15 
 
 Governor, the Colonial Secretary, and the Surveyor- 
 General, all treated the discovery as a matter of 
 very little consequence. The feeling in official circles 
 may be gathered from a letter written on the subject to 
 Mr, Calvert by Sir Thomas Mitchell, in which he said : 
 u We are a pastoral and agricultural community and do 
 not desire inducements held out for people to dig holes 
 for our sheep and cattle to tumble into." 
 
 Having brought away numerous specimens, Calvert 
 divulged his knowledge to several scientists of the day, 
 including the Rev. W. B. Clarke, who afterwards wrote 
 -a book re-enunciating Calvert's theory of gold in parallels 
 under the thin disguise of latitude and longitude. 
 
 With the accumulation of several years gold digging, 
 in 1847, Mr. Calvert bought a brigantine of 240 
 tons. It was called the Scout ; and was well manned and 
 equipped. In this vessel he first visited Port Macquarie, 
 Van Diemen's Land, to search the mountains there for 
 gold, which he found. Subsequently, in the same year, 
 he sailed for Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia. 
 
 The shadowy tales of old voyagers who had been 
 driven by adverse winds on the desolate shores of Western 
 Australia, gave hints of their having found gold in these 
 wild regions. The old map-makers of the sixteenth 
 century rang the changes between aurifera and incognita 
 in naming Terra Australis in their atlases ; and moreover, 
 Mr. Calvert had formulated a theory that gold would be 
 found in parallels running across Australia, and that the 
 Western parallel would be the richest. Recent discoveries 
 are every day adding strength and confirmation to this
 
 16 EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY. 
 
 doctrine. The Scout cast anchor in Exmouth Gulf, when 
 he disembarked his equipment, and unloaded his horses ; 
 and after following up the Ashburton for a considerable 
 distance, he left the valley, and ascended the range 
 dividing the waters of the upper Ashburton and upper 
 Murchison. Here he found occasional outcrops of gold 
 quartz, and he came upon a quartz blow, which he con- 
 sidered the richest surface out-crop of gold quartz he had 
 ever seen. 
 
 Early in 1849 Mr. Calvert was again in London, 
 where he endeavoured to float a company to work the 
 gold-mines of Australia, but met with little encourage- 
 ment. Had he been successful in floating this company, 
 it was his intention to proceed direct to the Murchison, 
 West Australia, but having failed in his attempt he made 
 up his mind to return to his first discovery. He there- 
 fore started again for Australia in the Mount Stewart 
 Klphinstone, and determined to start working for himself, 
 taking with him various gold-saving appliances. He 
 landed at Adelaide and washed gold in South Australia, 
 a few of the leading men following him by invitation 
 into the field, which formed subject matter for the 
 Adelaide papers of that date. Moreover a full page 
 engraving was given in one of the illustrated papers of 
 .January, 1850, entitled "The run for gold," and some of 
 the gold-saving machines he had brought out from 
 England were depicted in that illustration. 
 
 Before the end of 1850 he had accumulated con- 
 siderable gold to the west of the Blue Mountains ; but 
 inasmuch as he employed white as well as black labour,
 
 EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY. IT 
 
 his doings were soon the talk of the little town of 
 Bathurst. About this time a blacksmith named 
 Hargreaves, who had returned from California, as a. 
 penniless and unsuccessful digger, arrived in the neigh- 
 bourhood and sought to reinstate himself as a blacksmith 
 in the town of Bathurst. Mrs. Lister, who kept a road- 
 side inn, gave him shelter, and at her drinking bar 
 Hargreaves met Toms, who had been employed by Mr, 
 Calvert, and had seen him wash gold in Summer Hill 
 Creek. When Hargreaves heard the story from young" 
 Lister and Toms, an idea struck him that he might better 
 his fortunes and create a sensation by washing gold in a 
 new locality. He therefore bargained with Toms and 
 Lister to show him the spot, and promised them half of 
 any reward or advantage that might be obtained. The 
 bargain was struck, and the next day a Californian tin, 
 dish was made to Hargreaves' pattern. Toms and Lister 
 fulfilled their part of the contract by taking him to the 
 exact spot that they had seen Mr. Calvert wash gold. 
 They were not aware at the time that other parts of the-. 
 Creek would have given gold. It is needless to recount 
 the subsequent story which has been often told. 
 Hargreaves made a claim upon the Government, which 
 they handsomely responded to ; but he was not honest 
 enough to keep faith with his partners Toms and 
 Lister. In consequence of this, they for years harassed 
 the Government with their claims, denouncing Hargreaves 
 as an imposter. Indeed, it was not until the Govern- 
 ment had referred to Mr. John Calvert, who was on a 
 visit to Sydney in 1890, and supported the Toms and 
 B
 
 18 EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY. 
 
 Lister story, that they seriously looked into the matter. 
 A committee was appointed by the Government, who 
 unhesitatingly deprived Hargreaves of all his assumed 
 honours, and for ever set aside his claim as the discoverer 
 of gold in Australia. 
 
 The Rev. \V. B. Clarke and Hargreaves had both 
 made a claim upon the Government to reward them for 
 the parts they had played in connection with the 
 discovery of gold. At the time the matter was under 
 consideration Mr. Calvert had returned to England, and 
 not being on the spot he did not make any counter-claim, 
 nor did he in any way dispute their pretentious. 
 
 He was consequently at a loss to understand the 
 reason for the severe attacks made upon him over the 
 signature of Hargreaves, and the several leading articles 
 which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, emanating 
 from the pen of the Rev. W. B. Clarke. They both 
 knew what a serious opponent he would be, should he 
 come to the front, hence, the scurrilous attacks antici- 
 pating his prior claims in that field of discovery. Mr. 
 Calvert treated their vituperation with contempt, as he 
 felt their design was too transparent to deceive anyone 
 concerned. 
 
 On Mr. Cal vert's return to England he was rather 
 ttstonisheil to find that Sir Roderick Murchison had laid 
 claim to discovery of gold in Australia. He saw, how- 
 ever, that -his hypothesis was unsound, inasmuch as he 
 had ignored the silurian rocks of North Wales, which 
 Mr. Calvert knew from former investigations were 
 auriferous. He, therefore, resolved to challenge him
 
 EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY. 19 
 
 upon the subject, and for that purpose he read several 
 papers upon gold in Australia and gold in Great Britain. 
 
 The best defence Sir Roderick could make was that 
 "he did not expect to find gold in our home rocks." The 
 following extract is from a report of a paper read at the 
 Hull meeting of the British Association in 1853 : 
 
 "Mr. Calvert went on to say, 'Although you have 
 written much to prove the identity of the Welsh rocks 
 with those of the Ural, still you have been silent as to 
 their being auriferous.' He concluded his speech by 
 asserting that the Welsh rocks were extensively aurifer- 
 ous, and offered to meet Sir Roderick and his friends on 
 the Welsh mountains, where he would point out rich 
 veins of quartz." 
 
 The challenge was duly accepted. The parties met 
 at Dolgelly, and Mr. Calvert took them to Clogau, broke 
 gold from the rocks, and turned the tables on his scientific 
 antagonist. 
 
 Mr. Calvert had called attention to the vast mineral 
 wealth of Western Australia in his paper at the British 
 Association meeting of 1853. This was chiefly founded 
 on the observations he had made during his expedition to 
 the Upper Murchison in 1847, and also in the second 
 edition of his work entitled " The Gold Rocks," where it 
 was even more strongly dealt with; and a copy of which 
 he had presented to Sir Roderick. Nevertheless, in 1844 
 Sir Roderick promulgates one of his greatest blunders 
 upon the subject of gold, which will for ever dispose of 
 his authority as a gold expert. 
 
 In his Presidential Address to the Royal Geographical
 
 20 EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY. 
 
 Society, in May, 1844, which can be found in the Journal, 
 page 100, Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, after pointing 
 out the similarity of the rocks forming the great chain 
 running down the eastern side of Australia, and re- 
 continuing into Tasmania, to those of the Ural mountains,, 
 speaks as follows : " But it " (referring to the Australian 
 chain) differs from the Ural and many other meridian 
 chains in having as yet offered no trace of gold or 
 auriferous veins." 
 
 Again, in 1864, as may be seen in the Proceedings of 
 The Geological Society (vol. viii., 1864, page 32), a man 
 named Hargreaves read a paper on the non-auriferous 
 character of the rocks of Western Australia. Sir 
 Roderick occupied the chair as president. Here is the 
 report of his remarks : 
 
 " The President, in expressing the customary vote of 
 thanks to the author for the paper, said, Mr. Hargreaves 
 was the first practical explorer of gold mines in Australia. 
 He had been sent out by Government to see if Western 
 Australia would prove auriferous. He had stated what 
 certainly was a fact, that he (Sir R. I. Murchison) never 
 had the remotest idea of suggesting that Western 
 Australia would prove auriferous on the contrary ; he 
 knew very well that from what had been previously said 
 of the structure of those rocks, and from the fossils and 
 organic remains which had been brought before them by 
 Mr. Frank Gregory, who had explored the country, that 
 there were none of those ancient slaty rocks in the 
 regions examined with quartz veins in them in which 
 gold could be discovered."
 
 EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY. 21 
 
 From the first quotation it seems clear that Sir 
 Roderick merely drew attention to a similarity between 
 the rocks of Eastern Australia and certain other gold- 
 bearing rocks in other parts of the world ; and in the 
 second he gives as his opinion that gold would not be 
 fonnd at all in Western Australia. Sir Roderick's mis- 
 take did much to retard the development of the gold 
 fields of Western Australia. 
 
 Mr. John Calvert was deeply engaged in the per- 
 fecting of his decomposing process ; and had no leisure 
 to devote to Western Australia. From time to time, 
 however, he made allusion to the rich outcrops of gold 
 quartz that he had seen in the Murchison, and it is 
 just possible that one of his finds, which has been called 
 the Treasure reef, was despoiled by Palmer and his party 
 in 1891, shortly after the diggers rushed to that locality. 
 In a cutting from a West Australian paper of that date 
 a tent full of rich gold quartz is described, and the 
 appearance of the reef is similar to what Mr. Calvert 
 remembered of it. One particular statement made 
 by Mr. Calvert is contained in a letter to the Times 
 of December 28th, 1887, of which the following is an 
 extract : 
 
 " Some extraordinary and glorious evidences of pack- 
 ing occur in the Western ranges of - Tasmania, also New 
 Zealand and New Guinea, but in Western Australia I 
 found the most wonderful evidence of the surrounding 
 country having been robbed to the benefit of a small 
 area of about 50 yards, the gold being packed against a 
 stop which had arrested it during its charge while in
 
 22 EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY. 
 
 solution. No bunch of gold I have ever seen in North 
 or South America, or in any other part of the world, 
 approaches in richness or value to this outcrop." 
 
 This letter was, no doubt, the means of calling 
 attention to the then undeveloped rich gold fields of 
 Western Australia. Mr. John Calvert was beseiged by 
 letters, both from home and from the colonies, and all 
 kinds of propositions were laid before him inviting 
 him to locate the spot from memory. The discovery 
 of the Murchison in 1891 was no doubt owing in a 
 great measure to the sensation caused by the corres- 
 pondence that ensued. 
 
 One local paper, the Geraldton-Murchison Telegraphy 
 of January 13th, 1893, in an article, made the follow- 
 ing allusion to Mr. Calvert : 
 
 "Mr. John Calvert, now 80 years of age, was, and 
 is still, a remarkable man. An enthusiastic student of 
 the science of geology, his name has for sixty years 
 past a prominent one in the scientific world. The 
 geology of Australia, particularly of Western Australia, 
 always possessed for him a special interest, and if we 
 are not mistaken it was he, and not the eminent Sir 
 Roderick Murchison, who prophesied such great things 
 for this colony, and who indicated that North- West 
 Australia would prove a fruitful field for the future 
 gold-miner." 
 
 The Irwuirer, of Perth, January 21st, 1893, said : 
 
 " As regards the senior Mr. Calvert's wonderful 
 reports and prophecies concerning the mineral riches 
 of Western Australia, this at least may be said, that
 
 EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY. 2$ 
 
 he was far more accurate in his observations than men 
 like Hargreaves and other reputed authorities on gold 
 mining, who affirmed that the precious metal would 
 never be found in the colony in payable quantities."
 
 24 CONCERNING OTHER MINERAL RESOURCES. 
 
 ic 
 
 X 
 
 IV. CONCERNING OTHER MINERAL 
 RESOURCES. 
 
 The ring of gold seems to silence the jingle of baser 
 metals, just as the forest is hushed to stillness when the 
 lion lifts up his mighty voice. Gold is another name for 
 riches, power indeed pretty nearly everything this 
 world affords, except health and happiness. The gold 
 fields of Western Australia are a heritage of vast import, 
 .and it is not to be denied that upon their skilful and 
 successful working, combined with truthful representa- 
 tion, much of the colony's future prosperity depends. 
 
 We should be doing her an injustice, however, did 
 we not refer to her other mineral treasures, which, even 
 if gold had never been discovered, would deserve atten- 
 tion. 
 
 As we have before stated, this journal has no inten- 
 tion of ' booming ' any particular mine or gold field, or 
 promoting any individual special item. We desire to lay 
 a plain statement of facts before our readers, unaffected 
 by bias or private interest. Gold will of necessity claim 
 the chief place ; but it will not monopolise our paper to 
 the exclusion of such important industries as are con- 
 nected with tin, copper, coal, iron, lead, and other 
 minerals. According to their merits, as we receive news 
 of progress in these directions, they shall have due 
 attention.
 
 CONCERNING OTHER MINERAL RESOURCES. 25 
 
 The discovery of one metal often leads to the dis- 
 covery of another, and in working the ores with one 
 main object in view, other secondary objects are often 
 attained by the liberation of metals which lay in com- 
 bination, and which scientifically treated, immensely 
 enhance the profits, and lessen cost of production. In 
 short we want to show that Western Australia is a great 
 mineral country, and that when the eyes of the world 
 are opened to this fact, her resources are bound to be 
 developed. Her gold may be depended upon to give 
 the impetus needed. It can open most locks, and solve 
 most problems. Still, as we have stated, her mineral 
 endowments are not confined to the precious metal. 
 
 Probably before gold was known at all, tin played 
 a prominent part in shaping the destinies of mankind. 
 Copper may be said to have been an equally important 
 factor in the world's progress. The reason is not far to 
 seek. Bronze was the forerunner of iron, and bronze is 
 a blend of copper ancj tin. Prehistoric man had long 
 fashioned stone into rude implements of agriculture and 
 weapons of war ; but what inroad could the blunt stone 
 axe make upon the virgin forests of -the world ? A metal 
 was needed sufficiently hard to keep a keen edge. In all 
 likelihood copper was tried first, but although more 
 easily shaped than stone, it was too soft to be of practical 
 value. At length, by some happy accident, a combina- 
 tion with tin was made, and found to produce a fairly 
 hard metal, and thus was begun that great epoch of 
 bygone time known as the " Bronze Age." From thence- 
 forward man emerged from savagery and advanced
 
 26 CONCERNING OTHER MINERAL RESOURCES. 
 
 towards civilization. Hard metal implied smelting, cast- 
 ing, &c., and gradually led up to hundreds of useful arts. 
 
 Then observe how tin affected commerce and naviga- 
 tion. Up to very recently there were only two parts of 
 the world where it could be procured in large quantity, 
 viz., Cornwall and the Malay Archipelago. This neces- 
 sitated a sea-going trade in tin, and first tempted the 
 Phoenicians past the Pillars of Hercules to brave the 
 terrors of the Atlantic. Thus it may be said that the 
 foundation of England's early commerce was tin. It was 
 probably shipped from the old port of Richborough in 
 the time of the Romans ; but a trade in this metal was 
 carried on long centuries before the Roman occupation of 
 Britain. 
 
 The remains of a very old road, traversing England 
 from Cornwall to the Isle of Thanet, still exists ; and 
 along this track the ancient Britons were wont to bring 
 their ingots of metal to the port of shipment. 
 
 The value of gold is, of course, largely artificial, and 
 owes its origin, not to its practical utility for industrial 
 purposes, but to its comparative rarity, and its adoption 
 as the money standard of the world. As a useful metal 
 for making a sword, a plough, or a battle-axe, the modest 
 penny would be more serviceable than the lordly 
 sovereign. We will not dispute the rank and grandeur 
 of gold however ; for at its will all metals are melted 
 and moulded to a thousand shapes. The iron glows and 
 ascends the throne as king of useful metals, ploughing 
 the seas in ships, spanning rivers in bridges, engirdling 
 the earth in railways ; and in flashing swords or
 
 CONCERNING OTHER MINERAL RESOURCES. 27 
 
 thundering cannon, spreading devastation and conferring 
 glory. 
 
 Tin is a vastly important metal, nevertheless, and the 
 few preceding remarks have been introduced in order 
 that it may be appreciated at its proper value as one of 
 nature's greatest gifts to mankind. Again, curiously 
 enough we find " Tin " used as a synonym for money a 
 sort of colloquial and slangy recognition of its import- 
 ance. The same may be said of " Brass," however, so- 
 we will not venture to touch on verbal eccentricities.
 
 28 RELICS OF A SUNKEN WRECK. 
 
 Y. RELICS OF A SUNKEN WRECK. 
 
 A great reef off the coast of Edel's Land in Western 
 Australia is known by the title of " Houtman's Abrolhos." 
 The name is curious and rather enigmatical. The first 
 word is Dutch, the second Portuguese. Frederick 
 Houtman was the commercial chief of an expedition 
 undertaken by the Dutch in 1595. Whether he ever 
 saw Western Australia is uncertain. He probably found 
 the money, and he seems to have assumed the title of 
 "" Captain-General." His name, however, is attached to 
 the reef in question, although probably the honour of 
 discovering the rocks has been falsely conferred upon 
 him. So much then for the Dutch moiety of the appel- 
 lation. The second half is, as we have stated, of Portu- 
 .guese origin, and signifies " Keep your eyes open " It 
 is not hard to imagine how this came about. We can 
 well imagine the terror of the Portuguese captain if he 
 happened to be on the look-out when he found his little 
 ship, battered and tempest-tossed, heading on for the black 
 rocks, veiled by the surges of the Indian Ocean. It was, 
 indeed, a case of " Keep your eyes open " in that wild 
 hand-gallop over those stormy seas. It may well be 
 supposed that the captain wrote " Abrolhos " on his 
 chart, and offered up a prayer of thankfulness for his 
 escape. Some think the discoverer was Menezes in 1527, 
 but it is not probable. Galvano, his historian, does not
 
 RELICS OF A SUNKEN WRECK. 29" 
 
 say so. Very soon after his voyage, however, the carto- 
 graphers got to know of these rocks, for they are marked 
 on their atlases. The word " Abrolhos," however, only 
 appears on the chart of Pierre Desceliers in 1550. 
 Desceliers was a priest, and they knew most things in. 
 those days. 
 
 Everything, however, has its use in the great economy 
 of nature, and so it is with Houtman's Abrolhos. These 
 rocks are the home of the seabirds, and the guano 
 deposits are valuable. Mr. Broadhurst had the contract 
 when Mr. A. F. Calvert was in Perth,and knowing the keen 
 interest he took in early Australian history, he brought 
 round to the hotel some silver coins which had been 
 found by his men in the course of their excavations. 
 Some of these were Spanish, and bore the superscription, 
 " 1616 Hispaniarum Rex." Evidently some Spanish 
 navigator had come to grief, in spite of the warning of 
 his rivals to " Keep your eyes open." Mr. William John 
 Gordan has reproduced one of these coins on the cover 
 of his book, " The Captain-General." What brought the 
 Spaniard into that quarter at that date it is hard to say. 
 With the commencement of the seventeenth century, 
 they had practically resigned their dominion on the sea ;. 
 and the down- trodden Netherlander was coming to the 
 front. When Pedro Fernando de Quiros died at Panama 
 in 1614, the last great captain disappears from Spanish 
 history. Britannia ruled the waves later on, and we 
 held the power and glory of Spain pretty cheap when 
 the " Invincible Armada " was blown off the waters, not 
 altogether by British cannon, however. " Give the Devil
 
 30 RELICS OF A SUNKEN WRECK. 
 
 his due " is a phrase sometimes used, but we are not prone 
 to have very kindly thoughts about King Henry VIII. 
 Nevertheless, had it not been for that same monarch 
 brutal as he was his daughter Elizabeth would have 
 had less confidence when she reviewed her army and 
 navy at Tilbury. Our naval supremacy is a matter of 
 comparatively recent date. 
 
 But to return to Houtman's Abrolhos, Sir Malcolm 
 Fraser lent the proprietor of this journal, a photographic 
 presentment of some relics which have recently come to 
 light by the guano workers. 
 
 Much as the shores of Australia were dreaded by the 
 Dutch mariners by reason of the many shipwrecks which 
 had occurred, the Dutch East India Company took pains 
 to fill their coffers by means of maritime adventure. 
 Their avarice was insatiable, and regarding their ways 
 and means history may well be silent. " De Mortuis nil 
 nisi Bonurn" is a proverb of noble sentiment. A great 
 poet, Shakespeare by name, scarcely echoes the Latin 
 writer, when he exclaims, " The evil that men do lives 
 after them." Still, let us content ourselves with the 
 verdict of "Nil," regarding the Dutch East India 
 Company. They remembered the names of their ships, 
 but forgot those of their captains. They darkened the 
 light of history by their concealment of records, and still 
 they achieved success. No country has ever fought such 
 a battle with nature as the Dutchman. To him we 
 render the credit which it is impossible to deny. 
 
 The following is an extract from Mr. Calvert's recently 
 published work on " The Discovery of Australia " :
 
 RELICS OF A SUNKEN WRECK. 31 
 
 "Between the years 1720 and 1730, several Dutch 
 vessels were lost on Houtman's Abrolhos when journey- 
 ing from the East Indies. Among these were the 
 Zuysdorp in 1711, and the Zeewyk in 1727. In 1840 an 
 English commander, whose name is given as " Crawford 
 Pako " (but. no such name is so written in the Navy List 
 of that date), found here various remains of shipwrecks, 
 viz : a brass gun, Dutch bottles, large buckles, and 
 copper coins, dated between 1620 and 1700." 
 
 We do not happen to have at hand a Navy List of 
 that date ; but would hazard a guess that " Parker " 
 might be the name intended. 
 
 Now the relics above referred to, the photograph of 
 which we have been permitted to inspect through the 
 courtesy of Sir Malcolm Fraser, are described as " Eelics 
 from the Dutch vessel Zeewyk, wrecked on Houtman's 
 Abrolhos, Western Australia, in the year 1727." 
 
 They consist of the following miscellaneous articles : 
 
 Three large and 24 small cannon balls; 15 flagon- 
 shaped bottles ; 10 square gin bottles; one earthenware 
 jar; 14 rosary beads; nine lead sinkers; 22 pftpes and 
 stems ; five copper fish hooks ; five knives ; six pieces 
 of lock flint ; seven brass buttons ; five lead weights ; 16 
 pistol bullets ; two kettles ; one brass tap ; one pot ; one 
 copper vessel, with cover for pad locking; one leaden ink- 
 pot ; one wine glass ; two colored tumblers ; two pieces 
 of ordnance ; one silver coin ; three copper coins ; and 
 many sundry odds and ends, including a small piece of 
 copper marked " Zeeland," and two remains of block 
 sheaves. These are all lying in the Museum at Perth,
 
 32 RELICS OF A SUNKEN WRECK. 
 
 Western Australia ; and we shall hope to have a more 
 definite description from some competent judge, who can 
 speak as to the nationality and the period they represent. 
 Meantime we fail to see how upon the evidence before 
 us the relics are specially connected with the Zeewyk. 
 Many other vessels went to pieces on those rocks, as, for 
 instance, the Zuysdorp in 1711 and the Batavia in 1629. 
 In fact the Dutch East Indiamen were constantly coming 
 to grief. They carried enormous crews, besides numer- 
 ous passengers, and in case of accident they were totally 
 unprovided for. Thevenot's account of the last-named 
 disaster is painfully graphic. On the night of the 4th of 
 June, 1629, the ship struck, and its immense freight 
 managed to get upon the rocks. At daylight an island 
 nine miles off was sighted, which the passengers and crew 
 managed by many painful journeys to reach ; but could 
 find no fresh water. Francis Pelsart, the captain, and a 
 few of the sailors then sailed for the mainland, and find- 
 ing it as barren as the rocky islet they had left, 
 determined to make for Batavia. This they reached, and 
 Pelsart, In the yacht Saardam, returned to rescue any of 
 the shipwrecked survivors. On his return he discovered 
 that they had actually found water ; but the supercargo 
 Cornelis had formed a dastardly plot to seize the Saardam 
 and go on a pirating expedition. He and his conspirators 
 had actually massacred 125 of the people men, women 
 and children and came off in two boats with the view 
 of murdering their rescuers. Their conspiracy was 
 happily detected, and many were hanged. Two had 
 possibly a worse fate, for they were put ashore on the
 
 RELICS OF A SUNKEN WRECK. 33 
 
 mainland, and probably died of starvation. Fifteen 
 years afterwards we read in Tasman's 'Book of Des- 
 patches ' that he was instructed to endeavour to fish up 
 a chest of rix dollars lost in the Batavia's wreck, and to 
 look out for Pelsart's marooned mutineers, to see if they 
 had found out anything which might be of service to the 
 Company. 
 
 Then again, Spanish caravels, Portuguese and French 
 vessels must have been shattered on the terrible reefs. 
 We should like to know, moreover, something of the 
 coins found. Were they Dutch 1 And lastly, were the 
 Dutch likely to use rosary beads ? It is much to be 
 desired that all such relics obtained should find their 
 way into the Government museum ; for it is impossible 
 to assert that there may not be yet found some precious 
 memorials of the past, which may help to clear up much 
 of the mystery which surrounds the early history of 
 Western Australia. The finders of such relics should b& 
 amply rewarded when they surrender them to the 
 authorities. Their intrinsic value may be small ; but 
 they may be of inestimable worth in their relations to 
 the problem which has not yet been solved as to the 
 First Discoverers of Australia.
 
 34 A PLEA FOR SPECIMENS AT THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. 
 
 YI. A PLEA FOR SPECIMENS AT THE 
 IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. 
 
 " Western Australia and its Welfare." These words 
 sum up the aim and objects of this journal. Having 
 seen for ourselves her wondrous mineral wealth, her 
 splendid possibilities, it was our desire and ambition to 
 make these matters known in England, and by publish- 
 ing a colonial journal in London, to form a connecting 
 tie between the old country and the new. The results 
 of all such efforts, whether in the religious, social, 
 political or commercial world, show themselves very 
 slowly as a rule, and frequently remain invisible. 
 Naturally we have often asked ourselves the question 
 Cui bono ? Have we really done any solid and lasting 
 good for the colony to which we are devoted 1 At length 
 through the clouds of indifference, neglect, and perhaps 
 jealousy, which have at times darkened our horizon 
 there bursts a joyous gleam of encouragement. 
 
 In our first issue, some four months ago, we strongly 
 condemned the apathy of the authorities in Perth, who 
 allowed their grand and growing colony to be represented 
 (or rather misrepresented) at the Imperial Institute in 
 South Kensington, by "a beggarly account of empty 
 boxes, thinly scattered, to make up a show." We sug- 
 gested that it would be better either to shut up the show 
 altogether, or send to the care of Sir Malcolm Fraser,
 
 A PLEA FOR SPECIMENS AT THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. 35 
 
 something worth exhibiting, and representative of the 
 " Coming Colony." " Victoria," we remarked in the 
 same issue, " has a dazzling display of models of big 
 nuggets won from the earth, ever so many years ago. 
 Let this be capped by some wise purchases of the real 
 metal and rich quartz, which would necessitate insurance 
 and the constant attendance of a policeman to guard the 
 treasure, which latter precaution would be an invaluable 
 standing advertisement at a nominal cost." 
 
 It was depressing in the extreme to see the boundless 
 resources of the Land of the Black Swan thus ignored 
 and forgotten in this great national representative 
 Colonial Temple ; and the proprietor of this journal 
 endeavoured in some slight degree to supplement defi- 
 ciencies from his private collection. The gold specimens 
 he sent, however, only seemed to make the deficiency 
 more obvious, for nothing short of a national effort will 
 adequately represent national products. 
 
 It is, however, most encouraging to learn that our 
 suggestions have been taken up by the Government and 
 the Press of Western Australia, with the result that strenu- 
 ous exertions are being made to furnish an exhibit which 
 will redound to the credit of this rising mineral colony. 
 The work of making such a collection has been entrusted 
 t* the Museum authorities at Perth, who have sent 
 circulars round the colony asking aid in the way of sug- 
 gestions, and seeking for objects of special colonial 
 interest. From both private individuals, and through 
 editorial channels in the Press, a ready response has been 
 given.
 
 36 A PLEA FOR SPECIMENS AT THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. 
 
 One paper, The Geraldton-Murchison Telegraph, gives 
 us credit for having initiated this most desirable move- 
 ment. After quoting our remarks in connection with 
 the purchase of specimens, &c., already referred to, and 
 commending our suggestions, our contemporary goes on 
 to say : " Especially should it be made clear to the Old 
 World public, that whereas some rivals, who shall not be 
 named, are in certain mineral respects more or less 
 rapidly becoming extinct volcanoes, Western Australian 
 riches are still comparatively untouched, and the Coming 
 Colony, with only 60,000 folk to share it, has mineral 
 wealth enough for the whole world." 
 
 The chief newspaper organ in the colony, The West 
 Austral'uin, devotes a leading article to the same question, 
 and urges its importance upon the Government in the 
 following practical words : 
 
 "For a few hundred pounds the Curator of the 
 Museum can get together a very salient collection of gold 
 and other specimens. But the Government might do 
 more than this they might determine to purchase the 
 next instalment of gold and specimens which arrive from 
 Bayley's claim, and keep them on view at the Institute 
 and elsewhere for some months. This might cost 10, 000 
 or more, the interest on which they would of course lose 
 for the period during which the specimens and bullion 
 were on view, but this loss of interest would be far more 
 than made up by the influx of wealth into Western 
 Australia which would certainly result. It would, in 
 fact, be an investment of the best possible character. The 
 gold could not run away unless it were stolen, which is.
 
 A PLEA FOR SPECIMENS AT THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. 37 
 
 not likely, and thousands would flock to see the precious 
 metal in the form in which it has recently been shown 
 to admiring crowds in Melbourne." 
 
 We are indeed grateful for these tokens of apprecia- 
 tion. Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of 
 flattery, and the imitation of our sentiments, or the 
 adoption of our views, we apprehend, is so sincere as to 
 deserve a better name than flattery. We look forward 
 eagerly to the comsummation of our hopes in the direc- 
 tion of the Imperial Institute, and we hope to see a day, 
 in the near future, when the British public will crowd 
 into the West Australian section of the Imperial Insti- 
 tute, and gaze with admiration on a noble collection of 
 quartz and nuggets fresh from mother earth, solid, silent, 
 and undoubted witnesses of the greatest gold fields in 
 the world.
 
 38 CONCERNING THE HOMESTEADS ACT. 
 
 YII. CONCERNING THE HOMESTEADS ACT. 
 
 With the view of giving the widest publicity in our 
 power to the generous provisions of the " Homesteads 
 Act, 1893," we have devoted four pages of our paper, for 
 the past three weeks, to the full text of Sir John 
 Forrest's wise and liberal measure. It gives the pro- 
 prietor of The Register the utmost satisfaction to thus 
 give effect to his keen and absorbing interest in the 
 welfare of Western Australia. 
 
 Now that the Act has become law, after somewhat 
 prolonged discussion, our first feeling is one of thankful- 
 ness that " all is over." That feeling, which, in a much 
 more concentrated form, has lifted a load from many 
 a manly heart, when the announcement came to his 
 anxious ear that the population of the world had been 
 increased through his instrumentality. To carry out 
 the parallel a little farther, the next feeling is one of 
 gratitude. And now the analogy ceases, for the cordial 
 thanks and congratulations of the whole Colony nay, 
 of the countless multitudes outside the Colony who may 
 take advantage of the Act are due to the parent of this 
 great and comprehensive Land Act Sir John Forrest. 
 
 Well might he say with Horace, " Exegi monumentum 
 cere perennius" The Latin poet was alluding to his own 
 works Ms odes, his epistles, aud his satires and like 
 many other poets he was a vain, conceited man, which 
 no doubt, in a sense, he had every right to be. This
 
 CONCERNING THE HOMESTEADS ACT. 39 
 
 consummation of the Premier's strenuous and long- 
 sustained efforts is indeed a monument more lasting 
 than brass, and loftier than the regal summits of the 
 pyramids. Had he never done anything else for 
 Western Australia ; had his whole life not been devoted 
 to her interests ; he would have earned her lasting 
 gratitude and inscribed his name indelibly on her 
 archives by the inception and carrying through of this 
 most excellent measure. 
 
 Festina lente has ever been the motto of the Westra- 
 lians, and indeed they have sometimes carried the prin- 
 ciple of caution too far. It is all very well to " hurry 
 slowly," but there is a degree of slowness at which 
 motion seems to cease. A rash country is no doubt a 
 bad country ; but a stagnant country is worse. The 
 former at least lives, even if it lives too freely ; the latter 
 dies. On the whole, Western Australia may be said to 
 have adopted a medium course. She had of necessity to 
 "go slow." She was like an immense ocean steamer 
 with neither horse-power nor sails sufficient to give her 
 speed. Still she has not drifted. She has managed in 
 times past to keep off a lee shore, with the aid of a 
 storm try-sail. 
 
 Canada, the United States, South America, and 
 South Africa have been holding. out attractive offers 
 to emigrants, and it was high time the " Coming Colony " 
 followed their example. She can well afford to be 
 liberal, with nearly seven hundred millions of acres at 
 her command. 
 
 Our journal is, doubtless, devoted largely to mining,
 
 40 CONCERNING THE HOMESTEADS ACT. 
 
 as its name implies ; but everything Avhich concerns 
 Western Australia directly or indirectly has a wel- 
 come place in our columns. We cannot but feel assured 
 that the " Homesteads Act " will attract emigrants to 
 the colony, when the benefits offered by the Act itself, 
 and the capabilities of the country, are made widely 
 known. We will not now speak of her mining possi- 
 bilities, which are every day becoming more apparent. 
 But when intending settlers are made aware that the 
 Colony possesses one of the most salubrious climates in 
 the world ; that the mortality since its occupation has 
 not averaged l per cent. ; that it is subjected to no 
 extremes of heat or cold ; that the hills and valleys and 
 grassy plains are unexampled fields for the energies of 
 the agricultural or pastoral farmer ; and thi.it poverty for 
 the i/idustrioas is impossible; then may we expect to see 
 the full fruition of the Homesteads Act. 
 
 Without having the precise figures before us, we are 
 unable to make a comparison of the fees payable by free 
 selectors. But we may say with confidence that they 
 are much lower than those of the United States of 
 America, where, after all, the costs of "entering," "proving 
 up," &c., are comparatively small. In the Great 
 Republic certain abuses of the system have, doubtless, crept 
 in. We know of men, now living in Colorado, who have 
 taken up hundreds of claims on the " dummy " plan. A 
 friend of the writer's was once offered to be placed in 
 free possession of 160 acres of land that is, all prelimi- 
 nary expenses, &c., to be paid on condition of his allowing 
 his name to be used, and the land-operator, who was to
 
 CONCERNING THE HOMESTEADS ACT. 41 
 
 pay all, was merely to have for his share all the timber on 
 the land. It would have been a bad bargain, for the 
 timber was the only thing of any value on the claim 
 in question, which was on a slope of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains. Moreover, for making a false declaration, the 
 bogus free selector rendered himself liable to a sojourn 
 in a State prison. The offer was declined, as it hap- 
 pened, but many new comers to the States are induced 
 to take up land in this Avay for the benefit of a few 
 shrewd and unscrupulous American capitalists, who 
 thereby acquire thousands of acres. It has been said 
 that " a coach and four can be driven through an Act of 
 Parliament." This is extremely figurative, but bears a 
 true enoiigh interpretation. Laws cannot be framed 
 perfectly so as to cover all contingencies, and the best 
 are liable to be undermined by unprincipled men.
 
 42 A. F. CALVERT AT THE ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE. 
 
 ALBERT F. CALYERT AT THE ROYAL 
 COLONIAL INSTITUTE. 
 
 It is gratifying to find that the progress of Western 
 Australia is becoming a subject of absorbing interest 
 among all classes of society in the United Kingdom. 
 Capitalists, railway contractors, engineers, mining 
 experts, miners, farmers, artisans and labourers, are being 
 attracted to this colony, whose mineral resources, agri- 
 cultural and pastoral capabilities have more and more 
 displayed themselves to the view of the civilized world. 
 If our humble efforts in these columns have in some 
 measure contributed to this end, our labours will not 
 have been in vain. " Western Australia and its Welfare " 
 has been our watchword, and it has been from the first 
 our aim and object to present the public each week with a 
 clear and consistent account of her steady advance and 
 development. 
 
 Many of our readers are familiar with that august 
 body known as " The Royal Colonial Institute," who 
 have premises in Northumberland Avenue, London. 
 For the enlightenment of those who are not acquainted 
 with its foundation and objects, a few words of explana- 
 tion may be needful. The Institute was founded in 
 1868 ; and afterwards, in 1882, incorporated by Royal 
 Charter. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales is President, and 
 the list of Vice-Presidents includes some of the most 
 distinguished names in England, as, for instance, H.R.EL
 
 A. F. CALVERT AT THE ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE. 43- 
 
 Prince Christian, the Duke of Argyle, the Marquis of 
 DufFerin, the Marquis of Lome, the Earl of Dunraven, 
 the Earl of Rosebery, Viscount Monck, Lord Brassey, 
 and others. "United Empire " is the motto of the 
 Institute, and its purpose is to provide a place of meeting 
 for all gentlemen connected with the Colonies and India, 
 and likewise for those who take an interest in Colonial 
 and Indian affairs. To establish a reading room and 
 library, where recent and reliable information on Colonial 
 and Indian subjects may be obtained ; and also a Museum 
 for the exhibition of Colonial and Indian productions. 
 To facilitate the interchange of experiences amongst per- 
 sons represented or interested in the various British 
 dependencies, and to furnish opportunities for reading of 
 papers and holding discussions. Likewise, to undertake 
 scientific, literary, and statistical investigations in con- 
 nection with the above subjects. In short, the design 
 and purpose of the Institute is to extend knowledge 
 respecting the various portions of the British Empire, 
 and to promote the cause of its permanent unity. 
 
 In the Report of Proceedings for 1892-93, we find 
 that at the first ordinary meeting of the Institute Sir 
 Malcolm Fraser read a paper on " The Present Condition 
 and Prospects of Western Australia." Lord Brassey, who 
 is a large holder of land in the Colony, presided, and 
 with true hereditary instinct strongly advocated the con- 
 struction of railways. We need hardly say that the 
 Agent-General's interesting and exhaustive paper was 
 cordially received and highly commended, emanating as 
 it did from a distinguished member of the Govern-
 
 44 A. F. CALVERT AT THE ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE. 
 
 ment, with twenty-two years experience of Western 
 Australia. 
 
 On Wednesday last, the 24th of January, Mr. Albert 
 Calvert, F.R.G.S., the founder and proprietor of this 
 journal, read a paper before the Fellows of the Royal 
 Colonial Institute on " Western Australia and its Gold- 
 fields." After shortly alluding to her scantiness of 
 population, her lack of capital, and her water difficulty, 
 he gave a rapid sketch of the first discovery of gold in 
 1847 by Mr, John Calvert, and referred to his theory of 
 gold being found in parallels across Australia, the most 
 western line being the richest. He also quoted Sir 
 Eoderick Murchison's words in 1864, in which that great 
 savant denied the generally-believed assertion that he had 
 predicted the finding of gold in Western Australia. Then 
 ^followed a description of the various goldfields, including 
 Dundas Hills, Yilgarn, Coolgardie, Murchison, Gascoyne, 
 Pilbarra, Marble Bar, Bamboo Creek, and Kimberley. 
 Mr. Calvert wound up his address with a comparison 
 between Western Australia and South Africa. It appears 
 that seventeen years elapsed before the latter fields had 
 produced 200,000 worth of gold, while the former 
 fields in the seventh year had exceeded that amount. 
 Moreover, the output for the first seven years in Western 
 Australia is more than double that of South Africa for 
 the first seven years ; and also in the first fourteen years 
 Western Australia exceeds by 70,000 the output of 
 South Africa ; and this notwithstanding the fact that the 
 former has been but slightly prospected and inefficiently 
 worked.
 
 A, F. (JALVERT AT THE ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE. 45 
 
 In the discussion which followed, Mr. Matthew 
 Macfie spoke hopefully of the water question, and would 
 postpone railway construction until this problem had 
 been effectually solved. He fully agreed with the 
 speaker's statements regarding the auriferous wealth of 
 the Colony, and strongly deprecated over-capitalisation 
 of mines. Finally he advocated the sending of qualified 
 experts, in order that genuine mines might be selected by 
 English syndicates, and concluded by recalling a remark 
 made to him by Sir Frederick Weld, to the effect that 
 although it was said that Western Australia was nothing 
 but. sand, still he (Sir Frederick) had always contended 
 that it was sand which would grow anything if you 
 only gave it water. 
 
 In the course of the discussion Mr. Calvert alluded to 
 worthless leases being made the basis of mining specula- 
 tion, and the subject proved so attractive that an 
 adjournment till Wednesday, the 31st inst., was agreed 
 upon, when the topic will be resumed. 
 
 Whilst rejoicing in this manifestation of interest in 
 Western Australian affairs, we fully appreciate the com- 
 pliment paid to Mr. Calvert, and through him to the 
 West A ustralian Mining Register.
 
 46 A MOMENTOUS QUESTION : WATER. 
 
 IX A MOMENTOUS QUESTION : WATER. 
 
 No problem in human economy is of greater antiquity 
 than the Water Question. Moses was in grave perplexity 
 at Mount Horeb, and only got over his difficulty with 
 divine assistance. The Superintendent of Water Supply 
 has Coolgardie on his mind, and it is interesting to note 
 that the Lands Department appear to have taken a leaf 
 out of the great Law Giver's book. 
 
 There are doubtless differences in the mode of pro- 
 cedure, and very possibly only a fractional proportion of 
 faith on the part of the modern water-seekers ; but the 
 same implement is used, viz., the Rod. 
 
 Our esteemed contemporary, the Western Mail, is 
 rather sarcastic in its remarks upon the subject, and 
 characterizes the system of finding water by means of a 
 Divining Rod as a failure, except in its humorous 
 aspect. It seems that the Rod and its Keeper have been 
 perambulating the wilds of Coolgardie, and for a long 
 time gave no indications of the whereabouts of water. 
 At last however, they struck water ; but the fluid was salt, 
 and the supply of this saline draught was at the limited 
 rate of about a quart every five minutes. This is a little 
 disheartening, and no doubt was a great disappointment 
 to the keeper of this magic wand, more especially when 
 disappointed Coolgardians declare that they could have 
 got a supply of salt" water without its assistance. We
 
 A MOMENTOUS QUESTION : WATER. 47 
 
 have no particulars upon which to form an opinion, and 
 must content ourselves with an expression of sympathy. 
 Still even in this country Divining Rods and their dis- 
 coverers are apt to be taken with a grain of salt. 
 
 We have in old books of science, fantastic, alchemical 
 notions of the middle ages ; for the savants of that period 
 firmly believed in the Divining Rod as an infallible test 
 not only for water, but for minerals. A rod of this 
 stamp would indeed be a boon on the Coolgardie field, 
 especially if it possessed sufficient intelligence to dis- 
 criminate between salt and fresh, and between gold and 
 copper. This is not exacting a higher standard than 
 that expected from any schoolboy who runs errands for 
 his mother. 
 
 Dr. Brewer is very severe in his definition of a 
 Divining Rod : " A forked branch of hazel, suspended 
 by two prongs between the balls of the thumbs. The 
 inclination of the rod indicates the presence of water- 
 springs, precious metal, and anything else simpletons will 
 pay for." Sir Walter Scott has immortalised Douster- 
 swivel in " The Antiquary." The readers will doubtless 
 remember that this gentleman was a German schemer 
 who obtained money under the promise of finding 
 hidden wealth by a Divining Rod. 
 
 A gentleman, who lived in Somersetshire a few years 
 ago, relates that he lived on the side of a rocky hill in a 
 house dependent on rain-water for its supply. One day 
 his servants announced that a " Dowser " wished to see 
 him. Not knowing what was meant by this term, he 
 went to his door and met an old man who offered to
 
 48 A MOMENTOUS QUESTION : WATER. 
 
 find a spring by means of the " Dowsing-twig." On 
 giving his assent, the man immediately went to a haw- 
 bush and cut a forked twig, which he trimmed to the 
 proper size. He then began a slow march round the 
 garden, followed by the gentleman and his family. To 
 their surprise in reaching a certain spot they saw the 
 twig twist round in his fingers and bend towards the 
 ground. Here the " Dowser " declared water was 
 certain to be found. And sure enough they came on a 
 spring at a very shallow depth. 
 
 In writing to the London Standard the same authority 
 states : " I have tried the experiment frequently in 
 strange places, and without having the least idea where 
 wells or springs might be, and invariably the twigs 
 turned so vigorously towards the spot where water is, 
 that it is with the utmost difficulty I could retain my 
 hold on them." We do not profess much knowledge 
 upon such an occult science as the above, but we are 
 given to understand that it is based on a theory that 
 certain plants, having a strong affinity for, or need of 
 Avater, are promoted by some strange instinct to bend 
 when in its proximity. Whatever grain of truth there 
 may be in this assertion, it does not account for the 
 finding of metals by the same means. In this case the 
 keeper would be invaluable, for while the plant showed 
 an affinity for water, the former would doubtless be 
 possessed of a craving for gold, so strong as possibly 
 to cause the twig to indicate another Bayley's Reward. 
 
 History is said to repeat itsslf, and here we have a 
 curious instance. Timbuctoo, that strange and mysterious
 
 A MOMENTOUS QUESTION : WATER. 49 
 
 city of Central Africa, which was occupied on the 10th 
 of January by Colonel Bonnier, in the name of the 
 French Kepublic, and where a portion of his column met 
 with serious disaster, was founded by the Touaregs in 
 the 5th century. Not until the 14th century, however, 
 did the fame of its wealth reach the ears of European 
 merchants. It was then rich and prosperous, and known 
 far and wide for its trade in gold and salt. And to-day 
 the town of Timbuctoo does a notable business in gold, 
 salt, and kola nut. It would therefore seem that gold 
 and salt run in couples, and that salt is not altogether 
 to be despised as an article of commerce. 
 
 Another very old-fashioned, but much more practical 
 method of finding water, is by boring. The Artesian 
 well is the modern type of those used in Artois, France, 
 where they were first employed in Europe, but these wells 
 were known in Egypt, China and elsewhere at a very 
 ancient date. If at any place the strata bends into a 
 trough or basin, with its concavity upwards, and if two 
 impermeable beds are separated by one or more strata, 
 which water can penetrate, then the rain will percolate 
 into the porous beds at any point where an outcrop takes 
 place, and, prevented from moving far up or down by 
 the impermeable strata, will accumulate till it reaches 
 the outcrops. If now a bore be made in the centre of 
 the basin, the water will be forced up by that standing 
 at a higher level than itself, and may reach, or even rise 
 above the surface of the ground. This is roughly the 
 principle of an artesian Avell, subject to certain variations. 
 There has been a difference of opinion as to their feasi- 
 
 D
 
 50 A MOMENTOUS QUESTION : WATER. 
 
 bility in the Yilgarn Goldfield, of which Coolgardie forms 
 an important section. 
 
 Speaking generally, however, one of the most notable 
 physical features of Western Australia, and, indeed, all 
 over the Island Continent, is the absence of rivers and 
 surface waters. The scanty and intermittent rainfall 
 does not account for this, because it is nowhere altogether 
 wanting ; and the water which does fall from the clouds 
 should be amply sufficient to supply numerous lakes, and 
 to fill many rivers and streams. 
 
 We find a reason for their extreme scarcity in the 
 geological structure of the country, which presents for 
 the most part a porous surface, quite unfavourable to 
 the retention of water. Since evaporation accounts for 
 but a fraction of the rainfall, we are driven to the con- 
 clusion that the water in seeking its level is received into 
 great underground reservoirs, wherever impermeable 
 rock favours its retention. Thus we may conclude that 
 the geological and meteorological conditions of Western 
 Australia are for the most part highly suitable for the 
 sinking of artesian wells. 
 
 A considerable number have already been sunk, and 
 attended with conspicuous success in the other Colonies. 
 For example, as Dr. A. R. Wallace tells us, at the 
 Buckalow Station, near the Stanley Range, close to the 
 Boundary between New South Wales and South 
 Australia, a copious now was obtained at 160 ft. depth. 
 In the cretacious deposits of Queensland, near Mount 
 Wilson, a boring of 488 feet was made, and the water 
 rose within 90 feet of the surface ; while at Wee Watta,
 
 A MOMENTOUS QUESTION : WATER. 51 
 
 in a bore 144 feet deep, the water rose 26 feet above the 
 surface, and discharged 60,000 gallons a day. But the 
 most remarkable results have been obtained on the 
 territory of our neighbour, South Australia, where, in some 
 of the most arid districts, true artesian wells have been 
 found. Thus in the ninety-mile desert, crossed by the 
 Inter-Colonial Railway to Victoria, water was obtained 
 in 1866, and flows above the surface. In the interior, 
 along the Northern Telegraph Line, and Transcontinental 
 Railway, there are already four large wells, the water 
 from which flows above the surface in large quantities. 
 At Hergott 100,000 gallons a day, at Coward, 1,250,000 
 gallons a day, at Strangways the same immense daily 
 quantity, and at Mungamurtiemurtie 53,000 gallons a 
 day, the last named being 580 miles from Port Augusta, 
 or almost in the centre of the desert interior. The 
 Water Conservation Department of the South Australian 
 Government has now ten drills in constant use, capable 
 of boring holes from three to thirteen inches in diameter, 
 and to a depth of 3,000 feet. 
 
 We do not now refer to the works on the Irrigation 
 Colonies of Mildura and Renmark on the Murray River, 
 which are in full working order, and promise to yield 
 abundant returns. All these scientific triumphs make 
 us more and more sanguine regarding Western Australia. 
 When a man is known to have great money-making 
 powers, he is not likely to perish from hunger or thirst. 
 And so it is with a country. When it is proved to be 
 rich in precious metal, capital will send forth brains, 
 muscle, and machinery to transform the desert. It is
 
 52 A MOMENTOUS QUESTION : WATER. 
 
 no new project either. Seven hundred years before the 
 Christian era Isaiah wrote these words : " I will open 
 rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the 
 valleys ; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and 
 the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the 
 wilderness the cedar, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I 
 will set in the desert the fir tree and the pine." Isaiah 
 was a prophet, and we look for a fulfilment of his words, 
 in some of the arid wastes of Western Australia.
 
 CONCERNING OUR CHANGE OF NAME. 53 
 
 X. CONCERNING OUR CHANGE OF NAME. 
 
 " O be some other name," cries Juliet to Komeo, in 
 Shakespeare's incomparable play. Then she goes on to 
 exclaim : " What's in a name ? That which we call 
 a rose ; by any other name would smell as sweet ; " and 
 so on. After a few prosperous months of literary life, 
 we have determined to change the name of Calvert's West 
 Australian Mining Register" Not that we are by any 
 means ashamed of its former ; and not that we contemplate, 
 for a moment, altering the line of policy which we have 
 up to now adopted. But we have felt that perhaps the 
 designation we had chosen was a shade too narrow to 
 indicate our scope. 
 
 We shall henceforth appear as the " West Australian 
 Review" and we do not hesitate to call attention to the 
 artistic headpiece which crowns our journal. It is the 
 work of Cynicus, and is designed to illustrate some of 
 the riches with which Western Australia has been pro- 
 digally endowed. 
 
 Perhaps there is something in a name after all. In 
 olden days some names were supposed to strike fear 
 into the hearts of those who heard them spoken. A few 
 may be mentioned. Attila was a bogie man to the latter 
 Komans. Bob, son of Odin, was used (Sir William Temple 
 tells us) by the Gothic captains in order to scare their 
 soldiers. Warton tells us that the Dutch frightened their 
 children with the same word ; and we have all heard of
 
 54 CONCERNING OUR CHANGE OF NAME. 
 
 "Bo to a goose." The name of Bonaparte was, early in 
 the century, a name of terror throughout Europe ; and 
 Camden, in his " Remains," reminds us that the proud 
 appellation of " Coeur de Lion " was employed by the 
 Saracens as a name of dread and terror. Says Gibbon, 
 in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," regard- 
 ing the lion-hearted monarch of England : "His tremen- 
 dous name was employed by the Syrian mothers to 
 silence the infants ; and if a horse suddenly started from 
 the way his rider was wont to exclaim, ' Dost thou think 
 King Richard is in the bush." Tamerlane's name kept 
 the Persians in terror em ; and going back once more to the 
 greatest poet who ever lived in any age or in any country, 
 Shakespeare, " the myriad - minded and the honey - 
 tongued " makes the outraged Lucrece exclaim : " The 
 nurse to still her child will tell my story ; and fright her 
 crying babe with Tarquin's name." 
 
 " Give a dog a bad name and hang him " is a well- 
 known adage. To a great extent this proverb has been 
 verified in regard to the early history of Western 
 Australia, when for a period she had reason to dread the 
 presence of the goal-bird and the gibbet. She has fought 
 through the troubles of those days by the aid of the 
 brave men domiciled on her stubborn acres, and now 
 England rings with the tidings of her unsuspected wealth ; 
 unsuspected that is by even her own inhabitants, but 
 foreseen by the light of science in the person of the 
 veteran mining geologist, John Calvert. 
 
 Australia herself had several cognomens before she was 
 so called. Terra Australis, Terra Incognita, Terra
 
 CONCERNING OUR CHANGE OF NAME. 55 
 
 Aurifera, Jave la grande, were a few of her ancient titles, 
 till Tasman christened her New Holland We almost 
 forget who baptised her "Australia." It may have been 
 at the suggestion of Flinders. 
 
 May we be pardoned if we introduce a curious inci- 
 dent in the life of Lord Palmerston, illustrating the 
 wonderful readiness of that great statesman. Palmer, the 
 poisoner, had made the name of the town of Rugeley 
 notorious. The citizens sent a deputation to the Prime 
 Minister, requesting that the name of the place should be 
 changed. His lordship naturally recognised a dangerous 
 precedent, and demurred. " What would you say to 
 calling it l Palmer's Toum,' he remarked ; and they realised 
 that on similar principles Palmerston might find it 
 desirable to change his own name. 
 
 We may have rambled a little in the course of this in- 
 timation and apology, but can only hope that the " West 
 Australian Review " may never have cause to regret its 
 re-christening. Under a new guise may we hope to give 
 increased satisfaction to the public who have taken an 
 interest in our pages. We know full well that we are 
 not " everybody's paper." We deal with a specialty, 
 and in one sense we are quite exceptional. We have 
 ventured to start a newspaper in London, devoted 
 entirely to one distant and little known colony. Never- 
 theless we have great reasons for thankfulness, both to 
 the press and the public, that we have been enabled to 
 surmount our initial difficulties, and we trust go forward 
 in a sanguine hope of doing our duty and achieving 
 eventual success.
 
 56 A NOBLE SPECIMEN OF WESTRALIA'S WEALTH. 
 
 XI. A NOBLE SPECIMEN OF WESTRALIA'S 
 WEALTH. 
 
 For the last ten days a metallic display of great 
 significance has been on view at Messrs. Spink & Sons' 
 establishment, in Gracechurch Street. It consists of 
 forty-one bars of gold, weighing 6,886 ounces, and forty- 
 four specimens of quartz, giving 760 ounces the whole 
 being valued at 35,000. It attracted the gaze of 
 thousands, including bankers, bullionists, mineralogists 
 and others ; and set many people wondering at the 
 marvellous wealth of Coolgardie. We cannot but 
 reiterate our profound satisfaction that the Western 
 Australian Government has acted in a wise spirit of 
 enterprise and liberality, and we feel assured that their 
 colony will reap a well-deserved harvest of advantage. 
 
 Few people realize how largely our prosperity is 
 affected by the vicissitudes of gold mining, and it may 
 be interesting to roughly sketch how the world has been 
 supplied during the last forty-three years. 
 
 After the Australian discoveries, and between the 
 years 1851 and 1860, the average annual production 
 throughout civilized countries was valued at about 
 28J millions sterling, according to the acknowledged 
 authority, Dr. Soetbeer. In the next decade, the 
 average fell to 26 millions sterling ; and between 1881 
 and 1894 it further fell to 19| millions a decline of 
 more than one-third from the highest point of pro- 
 duction. Since 1885 three quite new sources of supply
 
 A NOBLE SPECIMEN OF WESTRALIA'S WEALTH. 57 
 
 have been discovered. South Africa, which is now 
 yielding about 5| millions ; Western Australia, which 
 last year produced about half-a-million ; and India, 
 which has yielded about the same amount. The develop- 
 ment of the first-mentioned colony has been quite 
 phenomenal. Seven years ago the entire output of 
 South Africa was about 20,000 ounces, roughly valued 
 at 70,000. And yet she has actually, since 1886, added 
 1 8,000,000 to the world's stock of gold. 
 
 At present the production of gold is rapidly rising 
 partly owing to these three discoveries, but by no means 
 altogether attributable to these discoveries alone. We 
 have more than once insisted on the enormous waste of 
 precious metal in all parts of the world, caused by 
 unskilful treatment and inadequate machinery ; arid we 
 feel assured that it is the gradual adoption in South 
 Africa of the most improved methods that has enabled 
 her to show such a magnificent output. Not that she 
 crowns the list ; by no means. Australia is still to the 
 front, as the undernoted statistics will show. In 1893 
 we find that there were four great sources from which 
 the bulk of the world's gold was won, namely : 
 Australia, South Africa, Russia and the United States. 
 There were other minor sources, of which India is one. 
 The yield of these four was as follows, according to the 
 best authorities : 
 
 Australia 6,560,000 
 
 South Africa 5,623,250 
 
 Russia 5,394,170 
 
 United States 5,050,000
 
 58 A NOBLE SPECIMEN OF WESTRALIA'S WEALTH. 
 
 The total product of the world in 1893, including 
 about three -and -a -half millions from various other 
 quarters, amounted to 26,228,600; and this showed 
 an increase of about two-and-a-half millions over the 
 product of 1892. 
 
 It can hardly be doubted that gold will always 
 dominate the course of exchange and the price of com- 
 modities, as long as England remains mono-metallic ; 
 nay, even if she became bi-metallic, the yellow metal 
 would probably hold the mastery over the commercial 
 world. Not only is gold the great medium of exchange, 
 but it is a vastly important article of commerce, and the 
 chief reason of its great value as a monetary medium is 
 its immense utility for many other purposes. 
 
 We find that gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, and even 
 iron have been used as a means of exchange in all 
 historical ages. With the exception of the latter these 
 metals are all peculiarly indestructible, and undergo but 
 little deterioration when handled or hoarded up. In fact 
 some metals seem to have been by nature singularly 
 adapted for employment as money, either from their 
 malleability, colour, density, hardness, or other causes. 
 
 We may at once dismiss iron as a money-metal, 
 though, from the statements of Aristotle, Pollux and 
 others, it was extensively employed for coinage in early 
 times. Not a single specimen of such money is now 
 known to exist, because, of course, the metal has 
 naturally rusted away. Up till quite lately, however, 
 iron was used in Japan for small coinage, and small bars 
 are still used in trading by the natives of Central Africa.
 
 A NOBLE SPECIMEN OF WESTRALlA'.S WEALTH. 59 1 
 
 Lead has often been used in currency, and is occa- 
 sionally so mentioned by Greek and Latin writers. 
 Moreover, so late as 1635, leaden bullets were used for 
 change at the rate of a farthing a-piece in the State of 
 Massachusetts. It is still current in Burmah, being 
 passed by weight for small payments, but it is obviously 
 too soft for coining in its pure state. 
 
 Tin has been employed as money at various times, 
 and in 1680 tin farthings were struck by Charles II., a 
 stud of copper being inserted in the middle of each, so 
 as to hinder counterfeiting. In the reign of William 
 and Mary (1691) halfpence and farthings were likewise 
 struck out of this metal. 
 
 Copper is in many respects well adapted for coining. 
 The earliest Hebrew coins were of copper, and until 
 B.C. 269, Aes an impure copper was the currency of 
 Rome. 
 
 Silver has been coined in all ages, and may be said to 
 take the middle place between copper and gold. When 
 suitably alloyed it is sufficiently hard to stand severe 
 wear and tear, and it well deserves the second place in 
 the monetary system. 
 
 Platinum was attempted by the Russian Government 
 in 1828, but many objections presented themselves, into 
 which we need not enter; and nickel is still used in 
 alloy by the United States Government for 2 and 5 cent 
 pieces. 
 
 Gold the monarch of metals possesses qualities 
 quite unparalleled among those we have enumerated. Its 
 rich and brilliant colour, its high specific gravity, ita
 
 60 A NOBLE SPECIMEN OF WESTRALIA'S WEALTH. 
 
 unmistakeable ring, its wonderful malleability, its free- 
 dom from corrosion, make gold stand at a far higher 
 level than any other of the precious metals. " L 'or est 
 une chimere" " GTold is a chimera" are words occurring 
 in the celebrated opera of " Robert le Diable." We 
 cannot consent to this. Gold is not a vain and foolish 
 fancy, but a great reality. 
 
 The world well knows this, and hence Western 
 Australia is a centre of interest at the present time. 
 With every disadvantage to contend against want of 
 men, want of money, want of water, and a thousand 
 other obstacles to fight with she has achieved 
 wonders in the way of gold-mining ; and we do not 
 hesitate to say that if the same energy, capital, skill and 
 advertisement, which have made South Africa prolific, 
 were applied to " Westralia," she would prove a worthy 
 rival to her Colonial sister. 
 
 We can only hope, now that the riches of Coolgardie 
 gold-field are known in England, more attention will be 
 directed to opening up the other vast auriferous resources 
 of the colony. Can it be for a moment supposed that 
 this mine accidentally come upon by Messrs. Bayley 
 and Ford is an isolated reef, or that it is the richest 
 reef in Western Australia 1 Such a theory would be 
 preposterous. To imagine that any two men could go 
 out into a wilderness, measuring millions of acres, and 
 within a few weeks discover the only rich reef, or the 
 richest reef, in that vast district, would be to say that it 
 is quite a simple matter to find the proverbial needle in 
 a haystack.
 
 A NOBLE SPECIMEN OF WESTRALIA's WEALTH 61 
 
 No. Western Australia has displayed a fair sample of 
 her treasures, and she invites the world to come out and 
 help her to find them Distant she is no doubt, but 
 science has reduced distance to a minimum ; and 
 scientific skill, backed up by capital, will yet disclose the 
 buried millions of bullion which lie sleeping in the reefs, 
 which stretch over a thousand miles from Kimberley, in 
 the North, to Dundas HillSj on the South. Western 
 Australia is a land pregnant with gold, and a few more 
 years will show how high she ranks among the territories- 
 which supply the raw material of the world's wealth.
 
 2 BARS AND QUARTZ FOR THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. 
 
 XII. BARS AND QUARTZ FOR THE IMPERIAL 
 INSTITUTE. 
 
 Last week we alluded to the display of gold in bars 
 and quartz at the establishment of Messrs. Spink, in 
 Gracechurch Street. There it was viewed by thousands 
 whose daily duty takes them into the heart of the City 
 of London. No more appropriate place could have been 
 chosen for the purpose of exhibiting this splendid trophy 
 of West Australian gold. But there are many who 
 " never go east of Temple Bar," except on such rare 
 occasions as Dividend Day at the Bank of England, and 
 such like. It was therefore but natural that Messrs. 
 Spink should give the dwellers in the Wast End an 
 opportunity of seeing the bullion in their well known 
 Piccadilly house. 
 
 Messrs. Spink inform us that many hundreds of ladies 
 and gentlemen, representing such of the rank and fashion 
 of the metropolis as are at present in town, responded to 
 their invitation to a private view of the bars and quartz 
 in question. The exhibition was held in the rear of the 
 establishment, where the firm happen to have a room 
 well fitted for the purpose. It is lighted from the roof 
 by ample skylights, and was plentifully adorned with 
 flowers. At the end, on cushions of silk plush, lay thirty- 
 five thousand pounds worth of bullion. One man only 
 seemed to take but little interest in the display. He
 
 BARS AND QUARTZ FOR THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. 63 
 
 seemed more taken up with the appearance of the 
 visitors. As yet he does not appear to have recognized 
 any familiar faces, and it is to be hoped that his active 
 assistance will not be needed. Two others of his pro- 
 fession were on guard outside in uniform. 
 
 There was also on view a fine assortment of jewels, 
 brilliants, emeralds, and pearls, roughly estimated to be 
 worth about 15,000. These were examined with 
 interest, and the tenth commandment sadly shattered 
 we fear. A good many of those who attended the show 
 of gold, diamonds and so forth, were glad to turn from 
 the contemplation of filthy lucre to the magnificent and 
 unique collection of English medals and jettons, com- 
 memorating famous battles by land and sea, celebrated 
 statesmen, naval and military commanders, poets, 
 painters, and savants. This splendid collection was 
 illustrative of English history back to the 15th century, 
 and among other rarities in gold we noticed the following 
 medals : Lord Essex, Sir Thomas Fairfax, the famous 
 " Blake " medal, Cromwell, " Culloden " medal, Louis- 
 bourg, etc. The lot were valued at .12,500. 
 
 Till Friday, the 27th, the gold will remain on view, 
 and next day, in charge of three assistants, and the 
 inevitable detective, it will be conveyed in a covered 
 van, and handed over to the representative of the West 
 Australian Government at the Imperial Institute.
 
 64 GOLD TO THE RESCUE : A COMPARISON. 
 
 XIII. GOLD TO THE RESCUE : A COMPARISON. 
 
 In the course of his speech at the opening dinner of 
 " Anglo-African's Writers' Club," Mr. H. Rider Haggard, 
 the hon. president, in speaking of the disasters and 
 troubles which preceded South Africa's rise to her 
 present position of splendid prosperity, rose to consider- 
 able eloquence. The Boers had just utterly defeated 
 our troops. " Never, gentlemen," he said, " if I live to 
 the age of 100, shall I forget that scene upon the market 
 square in Newcastle, when the news of our surrender 
 went home to the intelligence of the three or four 
 thousand refugees loyal Boers, English, and natives who 
 were gathered there that night. Never do I wish to 
 see such another scene, or to hear such curses as were 
 uttered by these ruined, dishonoured men. I confess 
 that I felt it myself. I felt it so much that I left South 
 Africa, which at the time I did not consider a fit home 
 for an Englishman. Then followed dark days, etc." 
 And then Mr. Haggard goes on to say: "Then light arose 
 in darkness, and that light, the Johannesburg gold. The 
 naked veld, which I have trekked over in an ox-waggon, 
 was proved to cover wealth in countless millions, and 
 where, but some few years since, there was nothing to 
 be seen but troops of wandering game, a great city has 
 arisen, peopled by Englishmen and financed wich English 
 capital. Thus was the" balance restored, and the evil of 
 the past, if not undone, at least put on the way of
 
 GOLD TO THE RESCUE : A COMPARISON. 65 
 
 undoing." So much for the celebrated novelist's interest- 
 ing retrospect of South Africa, its sorrows, and its 
 ultimate triumph, through the discovery of all powerful 
 gold. . 
 
 Let us turn to the financial statement of Sir John 
 Forrest, K.C.M.G., made January, 1892, in which 
 the Premier of Western Australia uses words of very 
 similar import. " I know," he says, " that in a large 
 portion of the colony there is a dark cloud hanging over 
 and darkening the very doors and houses of the people. 
 The drought is not over yet. Certainly there are signs 
 of its dispersal, but, the end is not yet, and whatever 
 the results may be, years and years must pass before 
 persons who have invested their capital and embarked 
 their fortunes in that part of the colony, can recover 
 what they have lost. But, while we know this, and the 
 fact appeals to us in more ways than one, yet the colony, 
 notwithstanding this calamity, has prospered and is pro- 
 gressing. I can only put down the improvement in our 
 position to the gold discoveries, which have come to the 
 rescue. The impetus which has been given, by the dis- 
 covery of gold and the development of our mineral 
 resources, has done away with the great depression 
 which .otherwise must have followed the drought in the 
 north;. . 
 
 We deem it a matter of no small significance to note 
 points of similarity in these remarks by two men 
 eminently well-fitted to speak on their respective topics. 
 Sir John Forrest's speech was made just two arid a 
 quarter years before that of Mr. Haggard. The Premier 
 
 E
 
 6 GOLD TO THE RESCUE : A COMPARISON. 
 
 may be said to have spoken prophetically, the Novelist 
 retrospectively. " Gold to the rescue " is the burden of 
 both orations. We cannot but wonder if Sir John fore- 
 saw, or anticipated, the extraordinary wealth of gold now 
 revealed by Coolgardie ; or if in his mind's eye* he saw 
 Western Australia represented in the Imperial Institute 
 "by 35,000 worth of bullion, and all the great London 
 newspapers recounting the richness of her goldfields. 
 We venture to think the Premier's hopes of two years 
 ago have been more than realised. No man, however, 
 knew better the possibilities of these inland deserts. 
 Twenty five years ago the Hon. John Forrest, pioneer 
 and explorer, with his brother Alexander as second in 
 command, traversed these wilds and encountered the 
 perils Eyre had experienced thirty years previously. He, 
 who led three expeditions into the interior, may well 
 now have the chief voice in the administration of 
 Western Australia. 
 
 We do not for a moment suppose, however, that 
 Sir John Forrest, even during his last and most arduous 
 journey into the interior, ever suspected the presence of 
 gold in theseregions. The results of this expedition are 
 thus summed up in his own words : "The whole of the 
 country from Champion Bay to the head of the 
 Murchison is admirably suited for pastoral settlement, 
 and in a very short time will be taken up and stocked ; 
 indeed some has already been occupied * * * * 
 * * The general character of this immense tract is a 
 gently undulating spinifex desert. It is lightly wooded, 
 and there is a great absence of any large timber."
 
 GOLD TO THE RESCUE : A COMPARISON. 67 
 
 Whether or not, the then Hon. John Forrest, of the 
 Survey Department, ever dreamt of the riches of the 
 Murchison fields in those distant days is no business of 
 oui*s. Suffice it to say that as an explorer he has gained 
 imperishable laurels.
 
 68 SHALL WESTRALIA FEDERATE ? 
 
 XIY SHALL WESTRALIA FEDERATE ? 
 
 We cannot help being interested 'in the address given 
 by Sir Henry Parkes, at the Perth Town Hall. It is 
 reported in oratio obliqua ; hence we lose much of its 
 force. It is not for us to dictate ; nevertheless we cannot 
 but express our opinion that it would be well for our 
 esteemed contemporary, the Western Mail, if such an 
 important speech as that of Sir Henry Parkes was 
 reported in the first person, and exactly as spoken. 
 
 It is not easy for us, living at the other side of the 
 world, and knowing but little of Australian ways and 
 manners, to give an opinion as to the momentous question 
 of " The Federation of the Australian Colonies." Never- 
 theless, on the principle that the onlooker sometimes 
 sees most of the game, we will venture to make a remark 
 or two on the somewhat fluent speech of Sir Henry 
 Parkes. We pass over the preamble, which recapitulates 
 several items of Australian history,and some very interest- 
 ing statistics. And we do likewise with some extremely 
 flattering allusions to William Charles Wentworth, Mr. 
 O'Shannassy, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy and others. Sir 
 Henry, however, becomes gradually a shade facetious, if 
 not flippant, and at last settles down to business. 
 
 He gives us some examples First the German 
 Confederation. No doubt Prince Bismarck's genius 
 exhibited itself wonderfully here. But we venture to 
 say that the conditions differed very much from those
 
 SHALL WESTRALIA FEDERATE? 69 
 
 which exist now in our Australian Colonies. The 
 German Empire, surrounded by armed hosts and in a 
 constant attitude of defence, cannot be safely contrasted 
 with a huge, thinly populated dependency of England, 
 despised and disdained by the greediest adventurers that 
 ever swept the sea : the Spanish, the Portuguese and the 
 Dutch. To bring into union the German Empire was an 
 absolute necessity. The German generals recognised this, 
 and accomplished the design. Still, we fail to appreciate 
 the force of his argument, nor do we appreciate the 
 analogy between Australia and Germany. We need 
 not trouble our readers with statistics. They are at 
 every one's command. Nevertheless we may remind Sir 
 Henry Parkes that Prussia alone, with an area of 137,000 
 miles, has 29 millions of inhabitants ; Bavaria 6 millions ; 
 Wurtemburg 2 millions ; Saxony, 3 millions ; Baden, 
 1,600,000. We need not enumerate the other German 
 States. Their population reaches 50 millions. To 
 compare the countries is evidently ridiculous. Then 
 again, Sir Henry talks of the United States of America. 
 God forbid that Australia should follow their miserable 
 example. The brand of Cain is on the great Republic, 
 as I think Mr. Wakefield said in the "Nineteenth 
 Century " a year or two ago. And why ? Perhaps 
 because they have no morality, no power of government, 
 no respect for law ; nothing but a miserable adulation for 
 the dollar. We question if there is a civilised country in 
 the world that stands so low among the nations as 
 America ? Corrupt to the core ; inheriting the curse of 
 slave owning ; still keeping alive the miserable party-riot,
 
 70 SHALL WESTRALIA FEDERATE? 
 
 dignified by the name of the American War. Why to 
 see the so-called veterans, belonging to that curious 
 organisation called the ' Grand Army of the Republic/ is 
 a painful example of human weakness and little self- 
 conceit. The Americans have deceived themselves, and 
 the truth is not in them. 
 
 Sir Henry then refers to the Dominion of Canada, 
 and, so far as can be gleaned from the slender report of 
 his speech, makes a few fairly sensible remarks. He does 
 not, however, clear up the stupendous difficulty which 
 arises in America, through the seat of Government at 
 Washington being so remote from the AVestern States. 
 It is pretty severe on a United States Senator to have 
 to make a two or three thousand miles journey in order 
 to represent his constituents. But we do not hope to 
 take an example from America. Surely, Sir Henry 
 cannot suggest that we should copy the very worst form 
 of Republic Government which the world has ever seen. 
 Let us hope not. It may be that the shores of Western 
 Australia are without lighthouses and beacons. That is 
 perhaps a sad state of affairs, but we scarcely think that 
 Federation will illuminate her coasts. Nay,every nightthat 
 the Western Australian goes to sleep can we not safely 
 send up an earnest prayer of thankfulness that he was born 
 under the " Union Jack." Gracious heavens, think of 
 lighting up the coast of Western Australia. No. Western 
 Australia has kept herself clear of the recent woes which 
 have beset some adjacent colonies. Western Australia 
 has happily bided her time ; and now, because she has 
 shown her metal, is she to be honoured by admission to
 
 SHALL WESTRALIA FEDERATE? 71 
 
 the society of, and invited to take part with, the other 
 Colonies. " Brethren in blood," says Sir Henry, but 
 surely that can be said likewise of the Americans. 
 
 Doubtless, now that Western Australia has not only 
 remained solvent, but shows great promise of abundant 
 wealth, the other Colonies are naturally a little anxious 
 for her company. We have seen something like this in 
 England. " Birth, genius, or a million will admit to 
 London Society," said the late Lord Beaconsfield. 
 Western Australia has been a modest wench, and can 
 wait.
 
 72 UNITED WE STAND. 
 
 XY. UNITED WE STAND. 
 
 A contemporary says : " Vice - Admiral Sir John 
 Hopkins, commanding the British cruisers Blake and 
 Tartar, which have been visiting Roslin, yesterday even- 
 ing, made a statement, says Reuter, to a number of Press 
 reporters, that the distance which parts England and 
 America lessens every day. The ties which unite them 
 grow every day stronger. Against this silent and inevit- 
 able drift of things the spirit of narrow isolation, on 
 either side of the Atlantic, struggles in vain. It is 
 possible that the two branches of the English people may 
 remain for ever separate political existences. It is likely 
 though that the older of them may again break in twain, 
 and that the English in the Pacific may assert as distinct 
 a national life as the two English peoples on either side 
 of the Atlantic. I trust that in the near future a real 
 and higher Federation of our naval forces may occur, and 
 that the glorious flags of your country and mine may 
 guarantee abiding peace and protection throughout the 
 world." 
 
 Now, regarding the statement of this British Admiral, 
 we have a few words to say. None more than ourselves 
 would rejoice to see a coalition of English-speaking races. 
 Such an alliance if it could be brought about would 
 undoubtably be the Head Arbiter among the nations. 
 But is such a thing possible 1 We think not. What is 
 the American Republic composed of ? Are we wrong in
 
 UNITED WE STAND. 73 
 
 saying that the United States is at present a horrible 
 hotbed of vice, iniquity and evil government. May we 
 not likewise say, that, although called the "United 
 States," they have no " unity " whatever. Their great 
 men there are a few of them for example J. Russell 
 Lowell, Longfellow, Washington Irving, Oliver Wendell 
 Holmes, and perhaps another dozen or so, have always 
 bewailed the horrors which exist under the present style 
 of American Government. We know what wickedness is 
 in London. Multiply that a thousand fold, and we have 
 some faint conception of the quagmire of vice in which 
 the United States Republic is content to wallow, all roll- 
 ing themselves in filth and corruption for the sake of the 
 Almighty Dollar. Of course their women are innocent 
 and exempt, and occasionally fling themselves into the 
 arms of our impecunious aristocracy. 
 
 Take not example Australians from that great 
 American Republic, rushing to its ruin. Cling to England 
 in the meantime. She has much money to lend ; she has 
 many sons and daughters to send to you. It is hard in 
 a measure to lead our rambling discourse back ; but we 
 look upon Western Australia as the coming colony of the 
 world. Far greater is her prospect than that of Cape 
 Colony. Glance at the two territories on the map and 
 judge. Compare their magnitude. There are of course 
 very few men with the exceptional advantages of Mr. 
 Cecil Rhodes. Money rarely runs with brains. But 
 with such as Sir John Forrest, and others who assist 
 him, we doubt not that the ultimate success and 
 triumph of Western Australia is secured.
 
 74 UNITED WK STAND. 
 
 Sir John Hopkins's remarks are a little vague, as 
 reported. He talks about the distance between America 
 and England " lessening every day." Of course he 
 alludes to our better knowledge of how to build such 
 steamships as are independent of Atlantic storms. The 
 War of Independence, to our view, proved that for 
 the moment England had a weak-headed king and a 
 rascally government. Burke, our undoubtedly greatest 
 orator of the period, thundered against our folly. 'Twas 
 hopeless. Mark Antony cried to the Roman populus, 
 according to Shakespeare, " Ye Blocks, ye Stones, ye 
 worse than senseless things." Burke did his best, yet Ave 
 lost America. After all, we on this side can do little 
 more than advise. Perhaps it is our province also to enter- 
 tain, in some small degree, those readers who scan our 
 pages, and help to make it worth while to publish our 
 paper. 
 
 So far we have been discursive ; but when we con- 
 template the splendid prospects of Western Australian 
 lands, we naturally look round on our own country going 
 to absolute destruction in many quarters. We quote 
 from a Parliamentary Blue Book, and beg our Western 
 Australian readers to judge how we are fixed. Diplo- 
 matists and Economists " read, mark, learn and inwardly 
 digest " the following. It is the report of Mr. Hunter 
 Pringle in respect to an agricultural district almost 
 within Avalking distance of the Bank of England. 
 
 " The ensuing year (1894) will witness a downfall 
 more disastrous in its consequences than any stranger to 
 Essex could possibly apprehend. If three- fourths of the
 
 UNITED WE STAND. 75 
 
 farmers, who have served notices to quit in 1 894, act upon 
 them, thousands of acres will be left tenantless ; and it 
 requires a stretch of imagination more t han I can make 
 to suppose that new tenants will be found." 
 
 Bankruptcy, loss, ruin, weeds, and waste are at present 
 the state of affairs in some parts of England. We suggest, 
 with all deference, that Western Australia may do much 
 to help us. She has too much land ; we have too many 
 people. England has gold in her vaults, safes, and strong 
 places, amply fitted to release some of the gold from the 
 Western Australian deserts. Able to fit out such 
 expeditions as would, not only find their way into every 
 corner of the colony, but would also open up her water- 
 springs, and preserve her rainfall. 
 
 Australia has suffered in one peculiar respect. She 
 has never needed England's interference for warlike 
 purposes. She would have been discovered long before 
 if she had lain the line for Alexander's or Caesar's march, 
 and we would know more of her interior. Brave men 
 have risked and lost their lives in the attempt to 
 penetrate and explore her deserts. Money is lavishly 
 expended on war. But the poor Australian savage, 
 with his wonderful, and most strangely devised weapon 
 the Boomerang has never been considered worthy 
 of the Maxim, the Gatling or the Nordenfeldt. Dirk 
 Hartog did something, Dampier did more, Tasman did 
 all that Dutch courage could do ; but after all Cook 
 gave England Australia, which she will yet find her very 
 grandest possession. Grand, because loyal and law- 
 abiding : rich in herself by the heritage of nature.
 
 76 INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS SEEK INFORMATION. 
 
 XYI. THE INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS 
 SEEK INFORMATION. 
 
 All contributions to our knowledge on the all- 
 engrossing subject of Western Australia are likely to be 
 welcome. It is only natural. Most other countries are 
 in the meantime " played out." Western Australia has 
 patiently waited her turn : and it has come. She now 
 has her innings, and it looks as if she was going to make 
 top score. It is quite possible that the magnificent exhibi- 
 tion of gold, in the shape of bars and ores, in the windows 
 of a leading firm in Gracechurch Street (Messrs. Spinks) 
 might have led the public to say : " Western Australia 
 has been pushed into a corner ; she is short of money, 
 and is now on the Boom." We cannot blame anyone 
 for entertaining such a thought : the advertisement was 
 palpable, tremendous, magnificent. But let us explain 
 the why and the wherefore of the whole affair. 
 
 W T estern Australia was wretchedly represented in 
 the Imperial Institute ; and we, for our part, thought it 
 was a mighty pity that such should be the case. We 
 said so. The gold came, and was exhibited. The 
 Colonial Government behaved handsomely, if they acted 
 tardily, and so it came about that the name of Cool- 
 gardie became almost an equivalent for Western 
 Australia. 
 
 A very high tribute to the absorbing interest 
 which has been awakened in Western Australia was
 
 INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS SEEK INFORMATION. 77 
 
 accorded on Friday, however, at a large and repre- 
 sentative gathering of Mining Engineers in St. George's 
 Street, Westminster. The ostensible object of the 
 meeting was to hear a paper read by Mr. R. Herbert 
 Lapage, who had just returned from Coolgardie. He 
 did not read his own paper, which is much to be 
 regretted. Although Mr. Walton Browne, the Secretary, 
 endeavoured to do it justice, " the paper," as Sir Malcolm 
 Fraser very truly put it, " lost half its force." Indeed, 
 had not most of the members been supplied with printed 
 copies it would have run the risk of losing all its force. 
 As may well be supposed, the only portion of the paper 
 of any value or interest was that which dealt with the 
 author's personal knowledge and experience. The rest 
 could have been easily dispensed with, since the matter 
 is at our disposal in handbooks and year-books. Never- 
 theless this congregation of Mining Engineers was an 
 occasion of great Jvalue and momentous importance to: 
 the colony of Western Australia. In our opinion no 
 other meeting has so strongly illustrated the growing 
 enthusiasm which England is beginning to evince regard- 
 ing the splendid prospects of her youngest independent 
 colony. 
 
 The Chairman of the meeting was Mr. Cochrane, one 
 of the best known men in English mining circles, arid it 
 need scarcely be said that he filled the post with con- 
 spicuous tact and ability. Mr. Lapage, as we have stated, 
 did not read his paper. It was a pity we think ; for 
 although he modestly disclaimed any pretention to: 
 rhetorical powers, still in his subsequent answers he
 
 8 INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS SEEK INFORMATION. 
 
 displayed a self-command and fluency for which he 
 would have scarcely given himself credit. 
 
 Sir Malcolm Fraser delivered a terse and telling 
 
 O 
 
 address, giving a resume of his wide and long colonial 
 experience, and tracing the marvellous growth of the 
 colony. Professor Boyd Dawkins spoke upon the coal 
 question ; and Professor Hull upon the discovery of the 
 Kimberley Field by the late Mr. Hardman. He described 
 him as the first discoverer of gold in Western Australia 
 in 1885. It happened, however, that there was present 
 John Calvert, the veteran mining geologist, who was 
 able to state that he found gold on the Murchinson in 
 1847. " A magnificently preserved specimen of the old 
 pioneer," said the chairman, when the acclamations 
 which greeted the conclusion of John Calvert's exposition 
 on meteoric waters had ceased. Then Mr. Moreing, 
 speaking on the dearth of water in Coolgardie district, 
 actually made the statement that the Government took 
 pains to frustrate the finding of water. According to 
 his gospel, if a man sunk a well and found water, the 
 authorities would claim it and prevent its being used. 
 This assertion, remaining uncontradicted for a time, 
 aroused the very natural indignation of one gentleman 
 present, who impeached the Government of the Colony 
 in strong terms. When the contradiction came Mr. 
 Moreing had vanished, which was to be regretted. 
 
 Mr. Albert F. Calvert's remarks on the paper were 
 received with applause, and have been fully reported by 
 our esteemed contemporaries, The Mining Journal and . 
 The Mining World.
 
 INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS SEKK INFORMATION. 79 
 
 Among the other speakers were Sir Charles Crawford, 
 Messrs. A. G. Charlton, E. Bainbridge, Jeremiah Head, 
 J. G. Binns, Hughes, Stoneham, Martin, Dr. Woodward, 
 and others. One speaker made the remark that, so far 
 as he could see, history was, as usual, repeating herself, 
 and Western Australia was destined to match South 
 Africa as a land of gold and precious stones. Let us 
 hope his prediction will be verified.
 
 XYII. A UNITED AUSTRALIA? 
 
 Sydney, June 14. 
 
 " Sir George Dibbs has forwarded to the Hon. J. B. 
 Paterson, Premier of Victoria, an important letter con- 
 cerning Federation. His consideration of Federation, 
 especially during the recent banking crisis, has led him to 
 the conclusion that it would be easier first to completely 
 unify the interests of Victoria and New South Wales, and 
 then to attract the other colonies into such union. " It 
 is not," he says, "a question of annexation, but of partner- 
 ship." The proposal of the convention would necessitate 
 744 State legislators and 189 joint legislators, 933 in all, 
 with eight Governors and fifty-six Ministers, while the 
 Colonies would retain their debts, railways, &c. Sir 
 George Dibbs then proceeds to urge that it would be 
 more beneficial to pool the debts, railways, and national 
 establishments generally of the colonies. He suggests 
 that New South Wales and Victoria could arrange the 
 terms of a union of interests more speedily than if the 
 other Colonies were to enter at the outset. 
 
 Thus runs Renter's despatch. We quite agree with 
 Sir George Dibbs. By all means let New South Wales 
 and Victoria make the experiment. Western Australia 
 will, we fancy, take leave to look on and see how Federa- 
 tion works. Sadly handicapped as she has been, since 
 the days when Captain Sterling initiated the Swan River 
 Settlement, she has hitherto managed to hold her own.
 
 A UNITED AUSTRALIA ? 81 
 
 Phenomenal success, either among men or nations, pro- 
 vokes question and arouses suspicion. But it soon 
 passes off, when reiterated assertions are found to be 
 true. 
 
 Still, looking at Federation from a general point of 
 view, we quite fail to see why Western Australia should 
 in the meantime be included in the scheme. The writer 
 has at the present time the privilege to know a lady who 
 lived in comparative affluence in the city of Bath. She 
 is now practically a pauper. And why, because she 
 unfortunately held shares in a Victorian Bank. " Pay 
 60 10s. a quarter, or forfeit your shares " came in the 
 shape of a summons from Melbourne. She had no- 
 alternative. And this then is the chief colony which 
 proposes to bolster itself up through an alliance with 
 Western Australia. Companions in distress are New 
 South Wales and Victoria ! 
 
 Modesty certainly has been the distinguishing 
 character of Western Australia, and she has earned her 
 reward. Such men as Sir John Forrest are not readily 
 influenced. They are made of that stern stuff which 
 founds, upholds, and builds up nations. Born in the 
 colony, brought up in the colony, and himself having 
 surveyed her dreary deserts, such a man is eminently 
 fitted to hold the reins of Government. Long may he 
 continue to hold them ; and it is not for a moment to be 
 apprehended that he has not carefully weighed in his 
 mind the subject of Federation. It is not for us to- 
 dictate. We see things from a long distant point of 
 view. But, notwithstanding the many leagues which 
 
 F
 
 82 A UNITED AUSTRALIA ? 
 
 separate us, our heart beats in unison with our brothers 
 of the Antipodes. Western Australia is in our opinion 
 safe as to her future, in spite of sneers regarding recent 
 loans. We have never hesitated to pronounce her 
 always safe and solvent, confident as we are in the 
 marvellous Avealth of her lands, however sterile. Let 
 her motto be not, " Advance Australia," but "Reviresco." 
 And we hope she will in the meantime keep herself free 
 from her neighbours, who are all too anxious, we imagine, 
 to share her riches. 
 
 To revert for a moment to the subject of an Australian 
 Commonwealth, we would remind our readers that about 
 three years have elapsed since the Sydney Convention, 
 when certain proposals were put forward. 
 
 The Pall Mall Gazette says that " A year is in the 
 history of a country as an hour is in the life of a man." 
 This is something like the truth, and Sir George Dibbs 
 is more or less to lie congratulated for having seized the 
 opportunity. He recognizes and he is not wide of the 
 mark that Victoria and New South Wales are the key 
 to the situation. Two-thirds of the population, and two- 
 thirds of Australian wealth, undoubtedly count for much. 
 The unification of these two colonies, under one Viceroy 
 and one Parliament, would almost mean forcing the 
 sister colonies to follow suit. We do not for an instant 
 wish to deny Sir George all the credit due to him in regard 
 to statesmanship and diplomacy. The customs tariff, 
 one joint debt, one defence administration, one viceroy 
 and one parliament reads well, sounds well, and would, we 
 suppose, be a good thing on the whole, if it could be well
 
 A UNITED AUSTRALIA ? 83 
 
 managed. But. as a contemporary points out, New South 
 Wales is a Free Trade Colony, while Victoria is intensely 
 protective. Here comes in a serious difficulty. Mr. 
 Hofmeyr has proposed a scheme, which, if adopted, we 
 should set up Free Trade within the Empire with an ad 
 valorem duty of 2 per cent, against the world. This 
 gentleman, we are told, is now on his way to the Ottawa 
 Conference, where it is to be hoped he will find those, not 
 only open to conviction, but willing to be convinced. 
 
 Meantime, as a contemporary points out, the colonies 
 are ridiculously over-legislated. The Sydney Convention 
 proposed 933 legislators from a population of 3,000,000. 
 
 However, we take leave to stick to our opinion, and 
 
 sincerely hope that Western Australia will adhere to her 
 
 present policy, and retain at the helm of Government 
 
 those men to which she owes her present position of 
 
 honour and prosperity.* 
 
 * Since the article was written the KUitor thinks t.iat this is an exaggeration.
 
 84: LAW-ABIDING AUSTRALIA : LAWLESS AMERICA. 
 
 XYIII. LAW-ABIDING AUSTRALIA : 
 LAWLESS AMERICA. 
 
 We have occasionally in these columns compared the 
 Peace of Australia with the War of America. We have 
 been accused of speaking somewhat harshly of the con- 
 dition of the so-called Great Eepublic. But we ask our 
 readers to mark how our predictions have been justified. 
 The United States of America are on the brink of Civil 
 War, and, in our opinion, this next war will shatter the 
 Union. 
 
 Stars and stripes are all very well in their way. 
 Good things to pray for, sing aboiit, and occasionally 
 fight for. Still if " the Great Republic " cannot enforce 
 her laws, and if Washington is confessedly incapable of 
 governing Chicago, the American flag will soon be the 
 laughing stock of the nations. Doubtless it would be 
 well if the people who use the English language were 
 joined in one great federation, bound by treaty to 
 arbitrate, so as to preserve law, order, and, above all 
 things, Peace. But look at America at the present 
 moment. From the Atlantic to the Pacific we hear of 
 nothing but rebellion. Why, we ask ourselves, is this 
 great nation incapable of self-control ? The heritage of 
 the slavery curse must be first taken into account. This 
 led the Americans of old to have a contempt for human 
 life and personal liberty. Then came that most horrible
 
 LAW-ABIDING AUSTRALIA : LAWLESS AMERICA. 85 
 
 of Wars, lasting from April the 15th, 1861, till April 
 14th, 1865, four years all but a day ; and their dead are 
 buried in no less than seventy-nine national cemeteries. 
 Most of these are in the Southern States. We mention 
 two only of these awful graveyards. In Arlington, 
 Virginia, 16,264 bodies lie; 4,349 are unknown. In 
 Beaufort, South Carolina, 9,241 dead men were buried, 
 4,493 unknown. In all 300,000 men repose in guarded 
 graveyards of the Great Republic, many of whom 
 perished in the loathsome prisons constructed or con- 
 trived during the most abominable war of history. For 
 example, Anderson ville, in the State of Georgia, has a 
 cemetery which contains 13,714 graves; and Salisbury 
 12,126, the majority unknown. It is impossible to 
 survey these events, and glance at the tidings flashed 
 across the Atlantic Ocean, without a feeling of congratu- 
 lation regarding our own well-ruled and salf-governed 
 Colonies. No envy, hatred in malice, disturbs the peace 
 of Western Australia. She has given our Foreign Office 
 little or no trouble, and she has put England to no 
 serious expense. Hampered, as she is, by her enormous 
 bulk of territory, and troubled as she is by lack of water, 
 we hear of nothing but the natural cry for men and 
 women to inhabit her lands. The mineral resources of 
 Western Australia have been abundantly tested and 
 abundantly proved. Half a century ago John Calvert 
 landed on her shores, and found gold where he knew it 
 would occur. That it is there is an indisputed fact. 
 And what next ? British Capital must flow towards the 
 youngest and biggest dependency of England. British
 
 86 LAW-ABIDING AUSTRALIA : LAWLESS AMERICA. 
 
 brain and muscle must follow in its train, and the vast 
 area of 1,600,000 square miles must be developed. 
 
 Such things, however, cannot be done in a moment. 
 The very name of Australia brings to mind ruined homes 
 and hungering children. But for the faults of the 
 Eastern Colonies Western Australia cannot be held 
 responsible. With such men as Robinson and Forrest 
 she can afford to feel comfortable. The former in touch 
 with England, and the latter calmly watching and 
 guiding the progress of his native colony. Jealousy and 
 suspicion Western Australia is bound to encounter. It 
 is the fate of every successful nation, and every successful 
 man ; but there cannot be a shadow of doubt but that 
 Cinderella is destined to wear the glass slipper. 
 
 It is extremely painful for us in England to note the 
 discontent which seems to exist in the North and North 
 West Districts of West Australia. The Nor' West 
 suffers under tremendous disadvantages, and Perth seems 
 to be to a certain extent oblivious to the needs of 
 Eoebourne and the neighbourhood. Now it is not our 
 place to interfere with West Australian politics ; still we 
 cannot close our eyes to the fact that there is a pressing 
 need for development in that direction. " Coolgardie, 
 Murchison and Dundas Hill are the only gold-finders 
 worthy of a trial," says the Nor* West Times of May 1 2th. 
 
 Now we do not intend to draw a comparison between 
 the Northern and the Southern districts of Western 
 Australia. This we will say, however. Parallel reefs of 
 gold run straight through the country from North to 
 South.
 
 LAW-ABIDING AUSTRALIA : LAWLESS AMERICA. 87 
 
 Mr. John Calvert, a man who for half-a-century has 
 devoted his attention to the question of finding gold, 
 has not only demonstrated on paper, but proved by 
 production of rich ore, that gold reefs run from north to 
 south through the colony of West Australia. Suspecting 
 as he did in New South Wales tliat the reef tended 
 westward, he investigated for himself, and proved his 
 theory through explorations on both the Ashburton and 
 the Murchison River. 
 
 He is now an octogenarian, arid little more can be 
 expected of him. Still he was able to speak a few words 
 the other day at the meeting of the Federated Institute 
 of Mining Engineers at Westminster. 
 
 The North and Nor' West tell us that they have 
 reasons to feel aggrieved. We can only say that the 
 Government of the Colony of Western Australia are 
 doing the very best in their power, but the age of 
 miracles is past.
 
 68 "A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING." 
 
 XIX. "A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS 
 THING." 
 
 We reprint a paragraph from The Manchester Courier. 
 It runs as follows : 
 
 " The next gold rush is likely to take place in South 
 Australia, the West Australian ' Boom ' already showing 
 signs of exhaustion. Much will depend upon the report 
 of the VVennecke expedition, which started a few weeks 
 back with the object of exploring the McDonnel range, 
 lying near the centre of the continent. It will not return 
 till the end of September or thereabouts, and meanwhile 
 matters are pretty quiet, though a few prospecting 
 parties are said to haA r e proceeded north-ward. The 
 South Australians are firmly convinced that they have 
 paying gold reefs in that Colony, and they are said to 
 exist besides in districts fairly accessible to transport, and 
 with a far better water supply than the West Australian 
 fields. The districts in everyone's mouth are those of 
 Mount Pleasant, Blumberg, Waukaringa, and Nellinghoo. 
 It must be confessed that the modest output of 15 dwts. 
 per ton from a Blumberg reef hardly encourages extrava- 
 gant hopes, especially as the other reefs have not been 
 worked at all. However, we shall be a good deal wiser 
 some six months hence." 
 
 Our contemporary appears to have a gift of prophecy 
 which we do not pretend to, although we have made 
 Australian goldmining a special study for many years. 
 We have no objection whatever to their remark that
 
 " A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING." 89 
 
 South Aiistralia is to be the object of the next gold-rush, 
 but we certainly take exception to the statement that 
 " the West Australian Boom is already showing signs of 
 exhaustion." In the first place we do not think that the 
 American expression " Boom " is applicable to West 
 Australia. The Westralians have never been given to 
 that sort of thing. If they had a fault it is entirely in 
 an opposite direction ; for they have been modest and 
 retiring from the very first ; too prone indeed to " hide 
 their light under a bushel." Again, the colony shows no 
 sign whatever of exhaustion. Quite the contrary. We 
 believe that the gold discoveries have scarcely well begun. 
 We look forward to seeing every field, from Kimberley, in 
 the North, to Dundas, in the South, in full swing. Does 
 our contemporary for a moment imagine that the mere 
 handful of miners and prospectors, who have turned their 
 attention to Australia, have made a complete investiga- 
 tion of the gold-fields of Western Australia 1 Why, 
 Kimberley alone is much larger in area than either 
 Scotland or Ireland, and almost as large as England the 
 latter measuring 50,823, and the gold-fields 4,700 square 
 miles We wish South Australia all success in her search 
 for gold, and we hope that the Wennecke expedition will 
 bring back golden tidings, both literally and figuratively. 
 The colony is our next neighbour, if we may be allowed 
 to speak from a Westralian point of view, and we can 
 scarcely fail to share in her good luck, if such befall her, 
 just as she is bound to participate in ours 
 
 Our contemporary tell us that the water supply is far 
 better than on the West Australian fields. This observa-
 
 90 "A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING." 
 
 tion is so extremely indefinite that it carries little force 
 or meaning. Doubtless there are some districts in South 
 Australia ; but the converse holds good, and we can point 
 to West Australian fields more bounteously supplied with 
 both timber and water than some of the mwe arid and sterile 
 tracts of South Australia. 
 
 The Courier's concluding sentences are instructive, and 
 almost seem to contradict the unfavourable prognosti- 
 cations and contemptuous tone in which they have 
 opened fire on our youngest colony. " It must be con- 
 fessed that the modest output of 15 dwts per ton from a 
 Blumberg reef hardly encourages extravagant hopes 
 (regarding South Australia), especially as the other reefs 
 have not been worked at all. However, we shall be a 
 good deal wiser some six months hence." Regarding 
 this last statement, we can only hope that such will be 
 the case. Before committing itself to such statements it 
 would be well if our contemporary looked a little more 
 closely into the facts of the case. 
 
 Perhaps the writer of the paragraph in question 
 never even heard of Pilbarra gold-field, and yet it is 
 larger than Scotland, and almost exactly the area of 
 Ireland. From this field we print four cablegrams regard- 
 ing three very important mines, two from the Mallina 
 district, and two from the Marble Bar. In all these 
 " The modest output of 15 dwts from a Blumberg reef " 
 are far out distanced ; and these cablegrams we submit 
 go far to disprove the somewhat incautious, and certainly 
 unsupported assertion, that West Australian mining is 
 skewing signs of exhaustion.
 
 A BAD CARVER HELPS NOBODY WELL. 91 
 
 XX. A BAD CARYER HELPS NOBODY WELL. 
 
 The Carnarvon correspondent of the West Australian, 
 "J.R," who in the issue of 26th June last advocates 
 the sub-division of Western Australia, is not exactly a 
 heaven - born reformer. To start with, he assumes 
 too much. He tells us that "a casual glance at 
 the map, and a casual glimpse of the past history 
 of Western Australia, must convince the thought- 
 ful that Western Australia, with its 980,000 square 
 miles of territory, is much too unwieldy to be 
 governed from any one particular spot, be it Albany, 
 Perth, Gerald ton or Eoebourne." Now a casual glance 
 at the map, with the accompanying casual glimpse at 
 colonial history, fail to carry conviction home to us, so 
 we cannot be on the category of " the thoughtful " from 
 " J.R's " point of view. We therefore will take a casual 
 glance through his letter, in the hope of being further 
 enlightened on the subject. " So vastly different are 
 the conditions of the people, we are told, that no code of 
 laws can be equally and equitably applicable to the 
 whole." But this remark, alas ! applies to every com- 
 munity. Law cannot be invariably Justice, and surely 
 the vast difference which exists, according to the writer, 
 among the handful of people who inhabit West Australia 
 are as nothing compared with the differences which exist 
 in nations outnumbering them by thousands to one.
 
 92 A BAD CARVER HELPS NOBODY WELL 
 
 " J.R.V remedy is to divide the colony up. Cut 
 into three parts, and presumably, a separate code of laws 
 for each part ; he fancies everything would go smoothly. 
 He anticipates one difficulty, and admits that separation 
 in byegone days caused " endless bickering and ill- 
 feeling ; but in these present days of enlightenment we 
 are informed the matter is approached in a friendly 
 manner, and discussed most amicably by the parties 
 concerned " This is certainly not our experience, and 
 " bickering and ill-feeling " very feebly describes the 
 accompaniments of attempted separation on this side of 
 the globe. The Carnarvon reformer thus pays a high 
 tribute of praise to the good intentions of Sir John 
 Forrest and his mainstays. They have, it seems, " yearn- 
 ing desires " for the prosperity of the colony, but, " they 
 might as well try to govern the planet Mars from the 
 earth, as for Perth to govern West Australia." 
 After having thus soared into the regions of hyper- 
 bole, whence we are unable to follow him, " J.R." 
 proceeds to unfold his two schemes, under either of 
 which the colony would make " rapid, onward stride in 
 the march of progress." 
 
 His first plan is to " create out of ,one colony three 
 distinct colonies ; that is colonies with powers co-equal 
 with the powers of the now existing colonies, with a 
 Governor and a Representative Government." The 
 southern division is to be re-named " South- Western 
 Australia," the middle slice, "Western Australia," and 
 the northern portion " Kingsland." " South Western 
 Australia is to comprise that portion of the Australian
 
 A BAD CARVER HELPS NOBODY WELL. 9S 
 
 Continent extending from the parallel of 35 degrees S 
 minutes south latitude, to the 29th degree of south 
 latitude, and from the South Australian border to the 
 Indian Ocean. It must be admitted that " J.R." has 
 been remarkably liberal to this southern section. So 
 far as we can see, by a casual glance, it would include 
 every important town except Geraldton, the chief sea- 
 ports, three goldfields, not to mention nine tenths of the 
 population. It would lose its distinctive name of 
 " Western Australia," however, which title is reserved 
 for the centre division, inhabited, be it observed, by no 
 less a personage than " J.R." himself. It seems a pity 
 that this gentleman did not happen to pitch his tent 
 further south ; but he makes the best of it, and apportions 
 a huge territory, extending over 9 degrees to " Western 
 Australia," under the new system. Murchison, Ash- 
 burton and Pilbarra gold-fields are included in this 
 middle cut, and the inhabitants of this enormous area, 
 which is about as large as Great Britain and Ireland, 
 France and Germany combined, would muster five or 
 six thousand souls. No doubt, however, this modern 
 edition of Pope Alexander VI., whose division of the 
 world made him renowned among the Pontiffs, would 
 gladly undertake the Governorship of this mammoth 
 colony, and frame a suitable code of laws. 
 
 Were " Kingsland," as the northern colony is to be 
 called not so conspicuously torrid, we should have been 
 disposed to say she had been left out in the cold." We 
 are given no hint as to the derivation of the name. We 
 certainly have a northern suburb of London called
 
 94 A BAD CARVER HELPS NOBODY WELL. 
 
 " Kingsland," but this probably never occurred to " J.R." 
 However, this tropical colony is to comprise all that 
 portion of the Australian continent from the parallel of 
 the 20th degree of south latitude to the northernmost 
 portion of Australia, and from the 139th degree of 
 longitude to the Indian Ocean. Being very much smaller 
 than the other two colonies " J.R.," it will be noted, cuts 
 off no less than 10 degrees from South Australia. 
 
 To sum up his first scheme, we have the South 
 Western colony (or " Westralia " for preference, remarks 
 this master of alternatives) " distinctly agricultural and 
 mining ; ' Western Australia ' pastoral and mining, and 
 'Kingsland' being tropical." This would-be reformer, 
 after prophesying great, grand, and glorious results, 
 expresses a natural doubt as to whether the different 
 colonies " would be able to support a Government with 
 its attendant paraphernalia." This difficulty certainly 
 occurred to us. " Kingsland," for example, would be 
 about as large as England and France, with some 
 thirteen hundred inhabitants, a great many being natives 
 and Malay pearl-fishers ; and " West Australia," in spite 
 of having the inventor of the scheme on the spot, would 
 encounter practical obstacles in administering her new 
 code. Doubtless Carnarvon would be chosen as the seat 
 of Government, being central ; the distance from, say 
 Cossack to Geraldton, puts the latter place out of the 
 question. 
 
 Before describing his second scheme, in case the first 
 misses fire, which is not improbable, "J.R." takes us 
 into his confidence. He is a strong Home Ruler it seems,
 
 A BAD CARVER HELPS NOBODY WELL. 95 
 
 and he tells us that Ireland will ultimately be " governed 
 by Irish notions, by Irish prejudices, and by Irish 
 patriotism." He waxes so eloquent on this subject that 
 he almost forgets to enlighten us on his second scheme, 
 which is shortly a head Government with two subordin- 
 ate Governments, and these two would be divided into 
 three States each. " It matters not," he says, how many 
 portions Australia is divided into, she is Australia still." 
 This is evidently the principle upon which " J.R." works, 
 but we fail to see the advantage to be derived. You 
 may turn Western Australia into "The United States of 
 Westralia," or adopt "J.R.'s" lopsided system of sub- 
 division, but it would be well to wait until she has 
 arrived at a more advanced stage of development, and 
 possesses a population capable of such adjustments. In 
 two of the colonies, as proposed by this person, there 
 would be about one inhabitant to each 150 square miles. 
 This would be even a worse and more unmanageable 
 state of things than the present, which gives a result of 
 about 18 individuals per square mile. 
 
 Our readers may be interested in reading of a scheme 
 promulgated half a century ago, reprinted from Simmond's 
 Colonial Magazine for August, 1845. It will be noted 
 that the sanguine writer expected that the whole con- 
 tinent would be over run and settled by 1865. 
 
 From Sitnmond's Colonial Magazine, August, 1845 : 
 
 " Port Phillip should be at once separated from New 
 
 South Wales, and have an independent Government of 
 
 her own. They are much too far apart, and their 
 
 interests are too distinct for them ever to work well
 
 96 A BAD CARVER HELPS NOBODY WELL. 
 
 together. Indeed there is quite space enough for the 
 establishment of another independent territory or state 
 between them. Portland Bay should also be called into 
 a separate existence, limited by the line that now 
 separates it from South Australia, between which and 
 Western Australia there is sufficient room for two other 
 Governments. The east coast is extending from New 
 South Wales through Moreton Bay, and other settle- 
 ments to the northward, and will no doubt continue 
 round in that direction to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The 
 western settlements can be continued on that side till 
 they meet. The centre of the country will at some time 
 or other be explored and settled, until, as we now do 
 everything at railway speed, in some twenty years the 
 whole continent will be over run and settled."
 
 BAYLEY'S AT LAST FINDS A RIVAL. 97 
 
 XXI.-BAYLEY'S AT LAST FINDS A RIVAL. 
 
 Of many people it may be said that, although open to 
 conviction, it is extremely hard to convince them. This 
 has been our painful experience on many occasions, but 
 never more so than when we have strenuously asserted 
 that the great mine of stupendous wealth at Coolgardie, 
 known as " Bayley's Reward," was not the rara avis in 
 toris, the prodigy, the phenomenon, the exception, 
 which many would have us believe. That the claim was 
 exceptionally rich no one will deny ; but that nature had 
 put all her gold into one purse, and dropped it into 
 Bayley's '"pocket," we considered an absurd idea. 
 According to the ordinary doctrine of probabilities, the 
 notion that this mine was unique, solitary, alone in its 
 golden grandeur, was incredible. Supposing, for the sake 
 of argument, it was the mine par excellence, the richest 
 reef on the Yilgarn Field, which it may be stated is 
 larger than Scotland, and just about equal in area to 
 Ireland. The " Reward Claim " consisted of a five acre 
 block, through which a reef ran. Now, is it within the 
 range of possibility that two men could, after a few 
 weeks search, hit upon the right spot in such an 
 immense territory ? A needle in a haystack would be 
 in comparison quite easy to find, or a sixpence buried in 
 a twenty acre field. 
 
 But the Coolgardie neighbourhood gave every 
 indication of auriferous wealth, and it seemed 
 
 G
 
 98 BAYLEY'S AT LAST FINDS A RIVAL. 
 
 ridiculous to argue that because one big fish had been 
 caught nothing but small fry could be expected there- 
 after. Yet, such were the statements made again and 
 again, all to the effect that Nature, having been prodigal 
 in one locality, would be found to have drained all the 
 surrounding districts of gold, and left them poor indeed. 
 We think that these views were chiefly promulgated by 
 the apostles of caution, who never saw a goldfield in 
 their lives, but, .adopting the tactics of pessimism and 
 detraction, are constantly on the watch for some mishap, 
 so as to be ready to cry out, " / told you so." Mere 
 force of reason and ordinary common sense operates but 
 slowly, if it operates at all, upon such creatures ; but 
 Gold is a wonderful clearer of the understanding. It 
 seems to dissipate doubts and scruples as if by magic, 
 and convinces the most obstinate. And so the rara avis 
 theory has been effectually exploded by recent news 
 from Coolgardie. First we have the marvellous discovery, 
 by the lucky half-dozen of weary and disheartened 
 miners, who by a happy chance lighted on the London- 
 derry Reef. Someone has said it is better to be born 
 lucky than rich, but here is an agreeable combination of 
 the two attributes. We learn that two of the six, how- 
 ever, have sold their respective shares for 3,000 each, 
 and we fancy Messrs. Dawson and Carter the gentlemen 
 in question must be rather sorry for themselves, if, as 
 is stated, Mr Begelhole has been able to pay 50,000 
 cash and a sixth interest for the mine. The purchaser 
 has made a good bargain, moreover, if the yield is as 
 reported. From Perth, on July 3rd, Mr. Scantlebury,
 
 BAYLEY'S AT LAST FINDS A RIVAL. 99 
 
 of Sydney, a would-be purchaser, states that dollying 
 operations are furnishing 1,000 ozs. of gold per day. At 
 this rate, about a fortnight would enable Mr. Begelhole 
 to recoup himself. \Ve refrain from commenting upon 
 this output until we have fuller particulars. 
 
 Small \vonder indeed that we read. of wild excitement, 
 41 febrile in its intensity," as the correspondent of the 
 Perth Daily News puts it, in pathologic phrase. Certain 
 contradictions, exaggerations and inaccuracies are inevit- 
 able under such circumstances ; the fever alone would 
 account for them. For example : one account tells us 
 that the " reef is of ironstone formation, and of glassy 
 nature ;" while another states that " the ironstone, with 
 which reef gold is usually associated when met with in 
 large quantities, is entirely absent. The gold is carried 
 in a clear quartz of a slightly amber colour." These, 
 however, are minor details, the main point being estab- 
 lished that a great discovery of gold has been made. 
 
 We had scarcely recovered from the surprise 
 occasioned by Londonderry tidings, when we received 
 .an additional shock, through the medium of Router's 
 cable. Another astounding discovery has come to light, 
 at about 50 miles distance from the claim referred to, or 
 about 40 miles north of Coolgardie, probably, so far as 
 we can judge, somewhere about ten miles south of Black 
 Flag Mine. The finder is said to be an agent of a Perth 
 Syndicate. Four hundredweight of specimens were 
 brought into the local branch of the Union Bank of 
 Australia, and were personally inspected by the Warden, 
 who estimates the gold as more than the weight of stone
 
 100 BAYLEY'S AT LAST FINDS A RIVAL. 
 
 that is, roughly speaking, worth about 10,000. We 
 cannot think that the Warden would be guilty of wilful 
 exaggeration, although he may be wrong in his estimate ; 
 if so, however, the specimens may be even more valuable 
 than he asserts. We shall anxiously wait for further 
 particulars of this latest find, which, coming on the top 
 of the Londonderry Bonanza, is almost bewildering. A 
 mining expert said, at the Coolgardie banquet given to- 
 the Premier last month, that the district would take 
 years of prospecting to lay bare its riches, and that there 
 were dozens of " Bayley's Reward " in the field. Since 
 Bayley and Ford's discovery, no West Australian field 
 has been more skilfully and assiduously explored than 
 Coolgardie, although by a mere handful of miners, in 
 comparison with its great extent. These few men, how- 
 ever, have produced results which clearly demonstrate 
 the auriferous wealth of this goldfield. From the above 
 facts, then, we are finally led to the conclusion that on 
 Coolgardie there are many rich reefs awaiting discovery; 
 and if such be the case regarding Coolgardie, the same 
 may be said of each and every field already declared 
 throughout the length and breadth of the Colony. Nay, 
 we may go further, and say that even the declared gold 
 fields themselves may not prove eventually to be the 
 richest districts ; for at some unsuspected locality may 
 be auriferous treasures utterly eclipsing anything already 
 brought to light. A leading article in the Daily 
 Telegraph, of August 10th, referring to the Londonderry 
 mine, contains these words : " For many years past 
 those best acquainted with the resources of Western
 
 BAYLEY'S AT LAST FINDS A RIVAL. 101 
 
 Australia have been prophesying a brilliant future for 
 that colony." A prophet is said to have little honour 
 in his own country, and certainly, like Cassandra of old, 
 he gains precious little credence. This may have been 
 the case with us, but we certainly have all along foretold 
 the coming greatness of Westralia's gold-fields, and 
 assured, like Priam's daughter, we spoke truly. When 
 the other fields are placed on the par with Coolgardie in 
 respect of roads, railways, telegraph 'lines, capital, skill, 
 men, and world-wide advertisement, we venture to 
 predict such revelations from Murchison, Pilbarra, 
 Kimberley, Ashburton, and other undeclared parts of 
 the colony as will make all the world wonder ; and 
 award Western Australia the palm as the greatest of 
 gold producing countries. She has been well named the 
 "Coming Colony," and "Coming events cast their shadows 
 before." Her gold is indeed " As the shadow of a great 
 rock in a weary land."
 
 102 SWEAR NOT AT ALT,. 
 
 XXII. -SWEAR NOT AT ALL. 
 
 We are concerned to learn, through a somewhat 
 lengthy correspondence in the column of a contemporary, 
 that " bad language " is extremely prevalent in Western 
 Australia, and on the increase. It is a curious idiom, by 
 the way, which makes this expression a synonym for 
 profanity, indecency, and the like, and which in short 
 makes " bad language " a wicked accomplishment, while 
 " Bad English " or " Bad grammar " are not incompatible 
 with piety and goodness of the first water. " Cornelia " 
 says she has been all over the world, and to the other 
 Australian colonies, but never were her ears so offended 
 as in West Australia. " Saxon " expresses very fully his 
 horror at the blasphemy, coupled with the use of the 
 4 universal adjective," in the streets of Perth, which is 
 not confined to men, but extends to young lads, and even 
 to members of the fair sex. " Let me say," the writer 
 continues, " that it is only since the prosperity of Western 
 Australia has opened her ports to persons from the other 
 Australian colonies and England that we have heard so 
 much of this bad language." We are likewise told that 
 on the Yilgarn field nineteen men out of twenty curse 
 and swear appallingly ; but " Saxon " has made the 
 discovery that nineteen out of twenty are " T'othersiders" 
 or Britishers, which he remarks "is significant." 
 Another correspondent, who signs himself very 
 appropriately "D ," does not so much object to the
 
 SWEAR NOT AT ALL. 103 
 
 foul language itself as to its dull uniformity. Its 
 adjectival and rhetorical sameness palls on his ear, and 
 he holds up, as an example for imitation, Shakespeare's 
 soldier, who was " full of sfnnnje oath." All this person 
 wants is artistic profanity, and suggests the importation 
 of original expression ! 
 
 There can be no question as to the demoralizing and 
 degrading influence which habitual bad language exercise 
 over a community, and this is specially shown by the 
 class of men and women who use it on all occasions. 
 In England, they either as a rule belong to the very 
 lowest stratum of society, or to the professionally vicious 
 and criminal classes, so far as both sexes are concerned. 
 Kacing men and gamblers are specially addicted to the 
 vice, and throughout all classes of society it must be 
 confessed, that if not exactly " bad," at least strong 
 language is on occasions indulged in. We quite under- 
 stand the sort of abominable manner of speech which the 
 Perth correspondents allude to. It is the constant inter- 
 larding of ordinary conversation with certain coarse and 
 senseless words and phrases, so very common in the 
 United States. In America the " universal adjective," 
 which we take to be a synonym for " sanguinary," is not 
 used however. Originally this was not an adjective at 
 all, but an oath to wit " By Our Lady." This became 
 " By'r lady," and eventually " Gory ! " The gentleman 
 who objects to sameness will be glad to hear that the 
 old adjectival form has for the most part been abandoned, 
 in " artistic" circles, for the present participle of the verb 
 " to bleed," which is considered more graphic and pictur-
 
 104 SWEAR NOT AT ALL. 
 
 esque. We have already stated that gamblers are frequently 
 swearers, no doubt finding considerable relief in the 
 practice when in bad luck. Possibly this may account 
 for the majority at Yilgarn, and we can almost 
 excuse a certain amount of expletive on the goldfields. 
 In Scotland swearing has always been treated with a 
 certain tenderness, being considered a grand set off to the 
 conversation. " It's a pity swearing's such a sin," said 
 an old Caledonian lady, " it much such a man of our 
 Jock." She may likewise have been responsible for the 
 following Sabbatarian household rule : " Swearing's bad, 
 drinking not much better ; but whistling on the Lord's 
 day I will not permit." 
 
 A few words are unfortunate enough to sound like 
 profane language, which are innocent enough. " I don't 
 care a dam " is the correct spelling of a familiar expres- 
 sion. The " dam " is a small Indian coin, worth a fraction 
 of a farthing ; and we are told in the Koran that when 
 the husband is absent from home the good wife will be 
 careful and not spend a dam more than necessary. " I 
 don't care a rapp " is commonly used ; and the u rapp " 
 is an infmitesmally small Swiss coin. Space forbids our 
 dilating further on the curiosities of " cuss-language," 
 and we content ourselves with a fervent hope that the 
 Westralians may not meet with such bad luck as will 
 tempt them to swear, and that if they encounter good 
 fortune they may not advertise the fact by pyrotechnic 
 display of profanity. In either case it is, to say the 
 least of it, stupid.
 
 ON 'JUMPERS' AND THEIR WICKED WAYS. 105 
 
 XXIII. -ON 'JUMPERS' AND THEIR WICKED 
 WAYS. 
 
 There is no section of the Western Australian 
 Mining Laws and Regulations more in need of revision and 
 alteration than that which relates to "Jumpers." It 
 would appear that in a new country this individual is 
 recognized as a necessary evil of the gold-fields. With- 
 out his watchful vigilance the mines would be swallowed 
 up by monopolists. The knowledge that jumping will 
 ensue, if the labour conditions are not complied with, 
 keeps the field in wholesome running order. The 
 " jumper " may in a measure be likened to certain vermin 
 which invade the persons and homes of those who 
 neglect cleanliness, and in that sense necessary evils, 
 however, obnoxious. Indeed one variety can certainly 
 claim to be the greatest " jumpers " in the animal world, 
 far surpassing Mark Twain's Jumping Frog. 
 
 There are several species of the genus " jumper " in 
 the mining world. First, the casual or occasional 
 " jumper," who knocking about on prospecting, or any 
 honest labour bent, notices that a certain unoccupied 
 claim is liable to forfeiture. He thereupon exercises his 
 right, and applies for possession. This stamp of " jumper" 
 cannot be objected to, and it was for him and his like 
 that the law was enacted. 
 
 There is, however, the professional " jumper," who, 
 most of all resembles the lively familiar insect, inasmuch
 
 106 ON ' JUMPERS ' AND THEIR WICKED WAYS. 
 
 as he does little else but jump. They do nothing what- 
 ever to develop the district which they infest, and are 
 for the most part a common nuisance. To fatten on the 
 labours of others is the aim and object of their unworthy 
 lives. Sometimes they will extort black-mail, under 
 threats of continuing the application for forfeiture of a 
 claim, or failing this, they will endeavour to sell the 
 property for their own benefit. Any enactment which 
 may frustrate their plans, and so banish these plagues of 
 the goldfields, will be both acceptable and welcome. A 
 third class are the so-called " friendly jumpers," who in 
 spite of their amicable title, must be admitted to be the 
 most dangerous kind of all. Their action simply nullifies 
 the law, and enables a mine owner to suspend work with 
 impunity. Being in collusion with the proprietor, the 
 two work in partnership to evade the mining conditions, 
 and it is of course a matter of difficulty to deal with 
 such cases. It has been suggested that if jumped 
 property were not handed to the " jumper," but put up 
 to auction, the " jumper " receiving a proportion of the 
 price (just as the common informer some time receives 
 a proportion of the fine) collusion would be nipped in the 
 bud. In any case it is to be hoped that some method 
 may be adopted for mitigating the evil. The mining 
 laws and regulations require a thorough overhauling; and 
 we cannot but think that the colonial equivalent of a 
 Royal Commission, with power of examining witnesses, 
 should be appointed in Western Australia. Expert 
 and practical local evidence should be taken from each of 
 the gold-fields, and the regulations, if necessary, modified
 
 ON ' JUMPERS ' AND THEIR WICKED WAYS. 107 
 
 to suit eaoh individual district. Western Australia owes 
 her present celebrity to her goldfield, and she should 
 spare no effort to secure a wise and comprehensive code- 
 of laws applying thereto.
 
 108 THE GOVERNMENT AND THE WATER QUESTION. 
 
 XXIY. THE GOVERNMENT AND THE WATER 
 QUESTION. 
 
 Australia is, in some respects, a land of contraries. 
 Western Australia gave curious effect to the words of 
 Juvenal, "Rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cygno," 
 when the black swan of fable was found to be a reality. 
 Her bear is a harmless beast, and her kangaroo an oddity. 
 Another peculiarity of the colony is that instead of 
 " laying by for a rainy day," she has to save up for a 
 dry day. Drought has been her bete noir, the thorn in 
 her side, or, as Sir Malcolm Fraser calls it, the skeleton 
 in the cupboard. Coolgardie richest in gold has been 
 poorest in water ; but, being wealthy, her cry for relief 
 has been listened to and acted upon. Let us hope that 
 the works which have been accomplished may fully attain 
 their object. 
 
 It is generally admitted that the quantity of rain 
 which falls from one season to another would prove 
 sufficient for all useful purposes if the rainfall were 
 properly husbanded. Hitherto, however, only limited 
 success has attended the efforts of Government and 
 private enterprise to deal with the question of water 
 supply on the Western Australian goldfields. The more 
 distant areas of Kimberley, Pilbarra and Murchison, 
 although from time to time sorely perplexed through 
 drought in different places, never seem to have been in 
 such a waterless plight as Yilgarn. After Coolgardie
 
 THE GOVERNMENT AND THE WATER QUESTION. 109 
 
 was discovered, it was found that the further prospectors 
 penetrated into the desert the greater was the scarcity of 
 water, until the sufferings undergone by raining pioneers 
 became intolerable, hundreds having to leave the field, 
 which threatened to become a Valley of Death. Two 
 years ago from 6d. up to 5s. a gallon was paid for water, 
 which had to be carted many miles. Bayley, Hannan, 
 Cashman and others having demonstrated beyond dispute 
 the great wealth of the district, the Government began 
 to move in the direction of remedying this terrible evil. 
 Two dams were constructed at Coolgardie, each with a 
 holding capacity of something less than a million gallons. 
 This sounded well for a start, but unfortunately we soon 
 afterwards learnt that one of them was comparatively 
 useless. It was constructed, it seems, on a perfectly flat 
 country, with no water shed except that formed by the 
 artificial channels leading to it. At this period, we 
 understand, a bore was put down about two hundred 
 feet, and though water was struck, rising to over 30 ft. 
 in the bore, work was suddenly suspended and nothing 
 further done. 
 
 Mr. Renou, the Superintendent of Water Supply, 
 inspected the gold-fields, and submitted a voluminous 
 report, and among other things recommended the utiliza- 
 tion of the lake at Southern Cross, ^by excavations, for 
 the supply of the principal mines in the neighboiirhood ; 
 shoAving that this could be done with comparative ease 
 and economy. The total capacity of the dam and tank 
 he estimated at between 80 and 90 million gallons, 
 and the cost about 8,000. Instead of having suitable
 
 110 THE GOVERNMENT AND THE WATER QUESTION. 
 
 provision against drought, Southern Cross had but three 
 underground tanks of very limited capacity, one of 
 which, holding 10,000 gallons, belonged to the Govern 
 ment. The road to Coolgardie was also inspected, and 
 found sadly deficient. Various points were marked out 
 where it was essential to have tanks of considerable 
 capacity. Natural water-courses or permanent surface 
 waters there were, none for hundreds of miles all round. 
 
 It is obvious that such a state of affairs loudly 
 demanded the immediate and energetic attention of the 
 authorities, and it would appear that since last year con- 
 siderable work has been carried out between Southern 
 Cross and Coolgardie. The Premier is very sanguine as 
 to the future, so far as an adequate water supply in this 
 quarter is concerned. " The work has been well done," 
 he says. "Not only is it sufficient, but it has been 
 splendidly performed. There is no danger of the traffic 
 being stopped between Coolgardie and the Cross. As 
 soon as rain comes the water difficulty along the road will 
 have disappeared, and, I think, for ever." And then 
 Sir John Forrest goes on to describe the gargantuan 
 allowance of water which is to be at the wayfarer's 
 disposal. The gist of his statements was set forth in 
 our last issue. 
 
 Mr. Jobson is the Moses of the district, according to 
 one speaker at the Coolgardie banquet to the Premier, 
 and this gentleman will have earned the gratitude of as 
 many men as there were Israelites in the wilderness, if he 
 has solved the water problem. Jupiter Pluvius will no 
 doubt perform his part in due season, and the dragon will
 
 THE GOVERNMENT AND THE WATER QUESTION. Ill 
 
 at last be slain which has guarded the golden apples of 
 the Australian Hesperides. 
 
 Regarding the probability of finding an artesian 
 supply, Sir John Forrest said that there was " no reason 
 wby deep sinking should not be tried." The Kaun'man 
 borer was to be brought from Southern Cross, being 
 " cheaper and more suitable than the diamond drill," 
 which, according to the Premier, has never been used 
 in any part of Australia for deep sinking for water. We 
 are not prepared to dispute this statement, arid have 
 every reason to believe that the Kauffman is an excellent 
 borer in spite of its failure at Southern Cross. " From 
 an economical point of view," concludes the Premier, 
 " the Kauffman is superior to the .diamond drill." If 
 anyone less capable of judging the question had reiter- 
 ated the point of cheapness regarding this apparatus, we 
 should have been disposed to urge that money should be 
 a secondary object were the chance of obtaining artesian 
 water was concerned. Such an achievement would do 
 much to revolutionize many parts of the colony. As 
 Mr. Henty, in his Address-in-Reply at the opening of 
 Parliament, said " In the north there are immense tracts 
 of fertile land undeveloped for want of water, and the 
 same applies to the pastoral and agricultural industries, 
 as well as to the goldfields. If we }md an artesian well . 
 successfully put down, the colony would have a new 
 impetus, and we would have increased settlement." 
 These sentiments were expressed in the Legislative 
 Council ; and in the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Wood's 
 Address-in-Reply contained the following : " I hope to
 
 112 THE GOVERNMENT AND THE WATER QUESTION. 
 
 see a distinct effort made in search of an artesian supply, 
 both on the goldfield and in the Nor'- West, where, owing 
 to an uncertain rainfall, a large expenditure would be 
 justified in order to avert, if possible, the disastrous 
 effects of the too frequent droughts experienced in that 
 part of the colony." Mr. Hardy likewise endorse i this 
 view, and Mr. Surges went so far as to accuse the 
 Government of having neglected their duty. 
 
 It can scarcely be, that because the Government 
 geologist has declared that artesian water will not be 
 found in the Yilgarn district that so few efforts have 
 been made to find it elsewhere. 
 
 We hope, in any case, that the authorities will now 
 give special prominence to the water question. It is not 
 enough to have tanks, bores, wells, soaks and so forth 
 laid down on paper, or gallons of water merely repre- 
 sented by rows of figures. Statistics are proverbially 
 dry, and the gold miners and travellers must have some- 
 thing that will quench their thirst and sustain life, to 
 say nothing of domestic arid steam purposes. The 
 Government has certainly the mandate of the people to 
 set this "burning" question at rest throughout the gold- 
 fields and the colony generally. The voice crying in the 
 wilderness has too long cried in vain.
 
 SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY. HUXLEY'S DEFENCE. 115 
 
 XXY. SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY. HUXLEY'S 
 DEFENCE. 
 
 A celebrated Lord Chancellor, in advising a friend 
 against embarking in litigation, is reported to have said : 
 " If a man asked me for my coat, and I thought he was 
 serious in his demand, I would rather give him my coat 
 and my waistcoat, too, than go to law about it." No- 
 doubt, having witnessed the long drawn agonies of so 
 many tortured litigants, his lordship was inclined to- 
 speak strongly, and if a coat only was the bone of con- 
 tention his advice Avas sound enough. Nevertheless, we 
 ean scarcely blame a party of exceptionally hicky gold- 
 diggers who, having a mine of proved wealth at their 
 backs, are striving to retain possession of a neighbouring 
 claim which, but for a certain regulation, would have 
 been their undoubted property. 
 
 The line of defence taken in the case of Lyon and 
 Huxley, popularly known as "The Londonderry Jumping 
 Case," was bold and ingenious. The defendant is one of 
 the lucky discoverers of the Londonderry reef, and is 
 applicant for a gold mining lease immediately adjacent 
 to the original find ; while the plaintiff seeks to have 
 this application declared forfeited ; for, among other 
 things, the non-fulfilment of the labour conditions 
 imposed by regulation sixty -two under the Goldfields 
 Act. 
 
 The defence is two-fold, and raises two questions. 
 
 H
 
 114 SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY. HUXLEY'S DEFENCE. 
 
 (1.) Whether an applicant, during the pendency of 
 his application has a right which is forfeitable at the suit 
 of an individual. 
 
 (2.) Whether the regulation under the Gold Fields 
 Act, enforcing the labour conditions, is ultra, vires the 
 Statute. It will be seen that if the first question should 
 be answered in the negative, the plaintiff's case would 
 fall to the ground, for the very evident reason that if no 
 forfeitable right existed during pendency of application, 
 it would be impossible to forfeit a non-existent right. 
 If on the other hand the second question were answered 
 in the affirmative, the regulation itself is impugned and 
 may be rejected altogether. 
 
 The Warden, Mr. Finnerty very naturally, we think, 
 stood by the regulation, statute or no statute ; and he 
 likewise decided that the applicant has an estate on 
 interest in the ground which is liable to forfeiture for 
 non-compliance with the regulation. We could scarcely 
 have expected the Warden to come to any other con- 
 clusion; however able may have been the arguments of 
 the defendant. He had the regulations before him, 
 evidently framed for the express purpose of dealing with 
 certain cases. 
 
 Such a case presented itself, and it would have been 
 almost tantamount to an expression of opinion that the 
 Government conveyancers did not know their business, 
 to have done otherwise than given his judgment on the 
 bare letter of the regulation. 
 
 Nevertheless, while quite comprehending the Warden's 
 action, and fully admitting his right to hold by the
 
 SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY. HUXLEY'S DEFENCE. 115 
 
 validity of the regulations, we can scarcely understand 
 his refusal to grant a special case on the point, so that 
 the question which is one of law, pure and simple, might 
 be argued before the judges of the Supreme Court, and 
 finally decided. As a matter of fact, this opportunity is 
 lost, and we shall very probably have the same defence 
 and contention brought up again and again until decided. 
 This seems to have been a legitimate case of "Jumping," 
 And one which gained general sympathy, but it is to be 
 regretted that the Huxley defence seems to complicate 
 an already complicated and troublesome operation, 
 namely, dealing with, and legislating for " Jumpers." 
 
 As to the forensic aspect of the case, we shall not 
 attempt to discuss its merits. The Statute, we know, is 
 paramount, and unless regulations are framed under its 
 sanction, Mr. Huxley might sing with the Grand Duchess 
 of Gerolstein, " Hang the Regulation." The Warden, 
 having recommended the Minister of Crown Lands to 
 grant the forfeiture, it is probable it will be granted. 
 At the same time, however, it is very possible that the 
 matter may be submitted for consideration to the law 
 officer of the Crown. We can only hope that whatever 
 decision is arrived at may tend to simplify the regulations 
 and expedite procedure upon the Groldfields.
 
 116 PROSPECTING AGAIN REWARDED. 
 
 XXYI. PROSPECTING AGAIN REWARDED. 
 
 The details of the last great gold discovery, forty 
 miles from Coolgardie, which are contained in another 
 page, fully realise the expectations raised by the cable- 
 gram which announced the fact a few weeks ago. The 
 recurrence of these great natural hoards of gold touch 
 very deeply the interests of Western Australia. As yet 
 we have only the barest inkling of her capabilities. 
 Many years must elapse before these can be fully tested, 
 her population being so utterly inadequate, and dispro- 
 portionate to her vast bulk. Her people have neverthe- 
 less done wonders ; and are at present doing the two 
 best things possible for the country, viz : constructing 
 railways, and making provisions for rainless seasons and 
 waterless districts, so that her territories may become 
 accessible, and the traveller across her roads may be 
 enabled to reach the most distant goldfields with a 
 certain degree of safety and comfort. 
 
 There will, however, for many years to come be 
 regions throughout her immense expanse which will 
 attract the explorer, prospector, or pioneer -squatter 
 beyond the ken of road or railway, and far remote from 
 civilization. Thousands of square miles lie within the 
 boundaries of the colony which have never yet been 
 trodden by European foot. In a sense, of course, the 
 country may be said to have been explored. The theory 
 of a vast inland lake, or a river equal in size to the 
 Amazon draining the whole breadth of Australia, has
 
 PROSPECTING AGAIN REWARDED. 117 
 
 "been exploded. Such brave men as Eyre, Gregory, 
 Forrest, Giles and others have fought their way across 
 the deserts. We see their tracks marked on the map, 
 and read accounts of their expeditions. But the line 
 which marks their progress, slender as' it is on paper, 
 would measure many miles in width by the scale of the 
 largest chart ; in fact no mark visible to the naked eye 
 would truly indicate their line of travel. They, there- 
 fore, saw but little of the country on their march. More- 
 over their journeys were too long to admit of more than 
 a mere general examination of the regions through which 
 they passed minute and special investigations being 
 left to others. In 1856, for example, Gregory passed 
 through a section of the present Kimberley Goldfield ; 
 in 1873, Colonel War burton was on Pilbarra ; three 
 years later Giles traversed Ashburton, having the previous 
 season skirted Yilgarn ; and yet none of the explorers 
 found gold. The reason is clear. They had other 
 objects in view, and since they made no search for the 
 precious metal, unless some chance circumstance forced 
 it on their view, it was unlikely that they would discover 
 it. Now that it has been found, however, gold is the 
 main object of the prospecting explorer. The fauna and 
 flora are of very small moment to such men as Bay ley, 
 the Londonderry sextette, or " Honest; John " Dunn, the 
 latest hero of the hour. Such men as Sir Joseph Banks, 
 it will be said, possessed the gold already, or they would 
 not have been so eager for portfolios full of dried 
 specimens, or stuffed birds and native weapons. Truly 
 the Wealth of Nations Syndicate is to be congratulated.
 
 118 PROSPECTING AGAIN REWARDED. 
 
 It is pleasant to hear of some of the good luck falling to 
 the lot of men who have been born and bred in the 
 colony. Still the West Australians do not grudge the 
 slices of good fortune which have fallen to the lot of 
 Victorians, South Australians, Queenslanders and others ; 
 they are all Australians after all. 
 
 And should an occasional Britisher light on a golden 
 reef, it may well be said that we all acknowledge 
 allegiance to the same gracious Lady whose effigy adorns 
 our coinage. Nay, if even a miner from the Great 
 Republic should " strike it rich," he speaks the same 
 language, as ourselves, and we have learnt an occasional 
 wrinkle from Uncle Sam. The only human being with 
 whom the West Australian refuses to share his wealth is 
 the Asiatic. The Chinaman may grow vegetables, peddle 
 tea, or iron shirts and collars, but he must leave the gold 
 reefs alone. The mines are the property of the Govern- 
 ment under the Crown, and they are fully satisfied in 
 leasing them only to those who will contribute to the 
 building up of a nation. For such a purpose the Asiatic 
 is useless. 
 
 We note that Mr. A. Forrest was at a Military Ball 
 in Perth, when the news of the great find came to the 
 capital. We are naturally reminded of the Duchess of 
 Richmond's Ball at Brussels on the night of the 17th 
 June, 1815, regarding which Byron sings : 
 
 " There was a sound of revelry by night, 
 "And Belgium's capital had gathered there, 
 " Her beauty and her chivalry." 
 
 Mr. Forrest left the ball-room, bound for Coolgardie;
 
 PROSPECTING AGAIN REWARDED. 119 
 
 Wellington did likewise en route for Waterloo. We can 
 only hope that the mine will carry out the abundantly 
 rich promise with which it starts. 
 
 During the past week, by far the most active business 
 in the African market in the Stock Exchange has been 
 associated with Western Australian shares. This fact 
 has been promptly noted by the Financial Times, and as 
 there is every prospect of that arena of mining enter- 
 prise continuing to absorb a large proportion, if not the 
 preponderance of the public attention devoted to mines, 
 our up-to-date contemporary feels that the time for a 
 revision of nomenclature has arrived, and however 
 members of the Stock Exchange may prefer adherence 
 to usage, they decline to regard a section of the 
 Antipodes as part of South Africa, even a market sense. 
 "African and West Australian Market" appears a more 
 suitable designation, under the new condition of things, 
 and that heading now appears in the column of the 
 paper. The same authority considers that the persistent 
 tendency of mining shares to gravitate to what has still 
 been called the South African market is partly because 
 that section embraces more capital and enterprise, and 
 also because " scalping " proclivities are not pursued to 
 such an intolerable extent as in the other department.
 
 120 WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S CHIEF NEED : POPULATION. 
 
 XXYII. WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S CHIEF NEED: 
 POPULATION. 
 
 The aboriginal of Western Australia is rather a 
 selfish person where food is concerned. As a rule he 
 has to go out and catch his dinner before he has the 
 opportunity of cooking it, which is appetising work. 
 When therefore he has captured and roasted his kangaroo 
 or wild turkey, or collected and prepared his dish of 
 frogs, fish, or edible grubs, his hunger is apt to overcome 
 his hospitality, which does not usually extend beyond 
 his family circle. There is one great occasion, however, 
 when he becomes most friendly, and his heart expands 
 to such an extent that he desires the company of all and 
 sundry. This overflow of goodfellowship and milk of 
 human kindness occurs when he discovers a stranded 
 whale. It is the aboriginal equivalent of a ' Welcome 
 Nugget' or 'Bayley's Reward.' Such a huge outcropping 
 reef of solid meat cannot be worked single-handed, so he 
 lights bonfires, which is the native way of issuing pro- 
 spectuses ; and very soon he forms a company who fall 
 to with a will, and gorge for a few weeks, carrying away 
 with them evil-smelling chunks to their absent friends. 
 
 It is a universal law, and a wise one, which dictates to 
 men that where they have barely enough for their own 
 support they should not invite others to aggravate their 
 poverty. The principle benefits the excluded as well as 
 the excluders, and it is therefore to be commended. 
 
 Hitherto the white population of Western Australia
 
 WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S CHIEF NEED : POPULATION. 121 
 
 have been constrained to act somewhat on the aboriginal 
 system, and have been slow to encourage immigration. 
 Possibly the miseries endured for a while, shortly after 
 the Swan River Settlement was initiated by Captain 
 Stirling, has left a strain of extra caution on their blood. 
 West Australia was so far away, so ungainly in size, and 
 her people troubled themselves so little to advertise her 
 good qualities so far as they had discovered them, that 
 she attracted but few emigrants from the United King- 
 dom. It must be remembered, for example, that Sydney 
 in 1829, contained as many inhabitants as Perth does at 
 the present time. Then again the sister colonies were 
 all in turn discovered to be auriferous, and seemed to 
 offer more advantages to the settler than the western 
 dependency. Indeed the attacks of gold fever, with 
 which the neighbouring territories were in turn attacked, 
 caused many to leave Western Australia never to return. 
 Her early history was exceptionally unfortunate. 
 
 We were rather struck the other day to see in an old 
 book on the Colonies, written in 1829, the following 
 remark "On the first rumour (in 1828) of a colony 
 being formed at Swan River, I inserted at the venture 
 the Latin name of London Londinium merely as a 
 suggestion, there being no place of this name in the 
 world. The public are aware that a town is marked out 
 twelve miles up the Swan River and named Perth, a 
 name, by the way, that will attract precious few 
 emigrants, there being a great deal in a name." The 
 writer turned out to be a true prophet. Only the other 
 day Sir Malcolm Fraser gave a somewhat guarded reply
 
 122 WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S CHIEF NEED: POPULATION. 
 
 to the Central News representative on the subject of 
 emigration. Apparently the Colony wants immigrants 
 of the right sort only. Having had experience of the 
 very wrong sort the prisoners of the Crown Western 
 Australia would feign be more fastidious in the future. 
 But the convicts, in many respects, benefited the Colony, 
 and we have been rather disposed to deprecate the 
 language of exclusiveness in which all invitation to 
 emigrants has been couched. West Australia mvst have 
 population, and she cannot afford to be over particular. 
 The Western Mail says, in a recent article, " The mother 
 country has hitherto sent us very few men and women 
 whom she can spare, and for whom we have ample room. 
 To Great Britain we look, not merely for the money, but 
 for men." We are gratified to note that through her 
 press Western Australia is now inviting men and women 
 to share her good fortune. In this she unconsciously 
 copies the original owners of the land, who could not 
 bear to see the whale go to loss when there were hungry 
 mouths to fill. We sincerely hope that a goodly con- 
 tingent of England's sons and daughters will hearken 
 and respond to the summons. We can well spare them. 
 The Colonials, however, must be content with such as we 
 can spare ; no country likes to part with her very best. 
 The main point to be observed is the pressing need for 
 an increase of population, and it is to be hoped that with 
 all her magnificent stores of wealth " in sight," that the 
 Government will hold out every possible inducement for 
 emigrants to seek hSr shores and develop her splendid 
 resources.
 
 WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S CHIEF NEED : POPULATION. 12 
 
 The city editor of the Pall Mall Gazette has recently 
 set a new fashion in West Australian mining criticism 
 which has been followed by some of our contemporaries, 
 and it is a fashion that does not at all become many of 
 the companies upon which it has been fitted. Mr. 
 J. Leslie Walker, who acknowledges the impartial tone 
 which characterises the Pall Mail's remarks upon the 
 various companies that are brought before the public, 
 considers that they are in error in always comparing the 
 acreage of a mine as regards the capital, instead of being 
 guided by the length and richness of the reef or reefs 
 that are upon the property. The appropriateness of this 
 objection must be apparent to alt who have read our 
 contemporary's " city article " recently. If a large 
 property is capitalised at 1,500 per acre, it is accepted 
 as a fair priced one, whereas the 5,000 per acre, which 
 was asked for " Blackett's Claim," was regarded in this 
 quarter as too large. The mistake of this style of 
 criticism is that the company promoters have not been 
 slow to take advantage of it, and, instead of offering the 
 public a small block of land at a certain figure, they 
 reduce the price per acre by increasing the number of 
 acres. In more than one case recently this trick has 
 been resorted to, and promoters have increased their 
 area by taking up an adjoining block of practically 
 worthless land, and the whole property has been offered 
 to the public at so much per acre all round. As we had 
 occasion to remark in the case of the Empress of 
 Coolgardie prospectus, the two claims which constituted 
 the property, had an area of eighteen acres, and, while
 
 124 WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S CHIEF NEED : POPULATION. 
 
 the smaller claim of six acres were reported upon and 
 made much of, the claim of twelve acres was not 
 enlarged upon, and we surmised it was secured as a site 
 for the erection of machinery. Again, the Pall Mall 
 Gazette always considers that 15,000 is much too little 
 to be reserved as working capital. " As a general rule," 
 Mr. Walker says, "this would be so in most mining 
 enterprises, but does not apply to these Australian 
 mines, owing to their richness, and the ease witk which 
 the quartz is reduced, requiring very few stamps. 
 Bayley's Reward produced 80,000 without any stamps 
 at all, and now only has ten stamps going." On this 
 point we are more inclined to side with our contemporary 
 than with Mr. Walker. Bayley's Reward, the London- 
 derry and the Wealth of Nations are doubtless easily 
 worked, but they are exceptional cases, and they too, 
 have had the water difficulty to contend with. With 
 these Southern mines, the miner has generally one or 
 two obstacles to contend with. At Coolgardie it is want 
 of water ; on the Murchison it is want of timber. It is 
 seldom that both these vital necessities to gold mining 
 are to be had in abundance in Western Australia, and 
 these difficulties cost money to overcome. For all that 
 the sum of 15,000 will in many cases prove sufficient 
 for properly developing a W.A. property, provided (1) 
 that the property is a good one, and (2) that it is under 
 capable and economical management.
 
 ADVICE GRATIS IS APT TO BE WORTHLESS. 126- 
 
 XXYIII. ADYICE GRATIS IS APT TO BE 
 WORTHLESS. 
 
 " In the multitude of counsellors there is safety,"" 
 according to Solomon ; but if we sought safety in the 
 multitude of newspaper correspondents, who volunteer 
 advice regarding West Australian mining matters, we 
 should trust in a broken reed. Editors profess to accept 
 no responsibility for the opinions of their correspondents; 
 nevertheless, as far as possible, they steer clear of print- 
 ing what Max O'Rell calls "tommy-rot." A good deal 
 of arrant rubbish on the subject of West Australian 
 mining has found its way into print, and gains a spurious 
 credence from its presence in high-class journals. These 
 letters for the most part reiterate the hackneyed advice, 
 " Play for safety,'' in various forms. They are all 
 gratuitous, and nearly all worthless, being hall-marked 
 with the unmistakeable stamp of ignorance. 
 
 It is to be regretted that "Australia," who hails from 
 Thames Ditton, did not think his letter to the Pall Mall 
 Gazette worthy of his own signature, for then we should 
 know what degree of importance to attach to it. He 
 premises his following remarks, with the statement that 
 he has spent all his life in Western Australia. From this 
 we must perforce deduct such portion of his earthly 
 pilgrimage as he has spent elsewhere at Thames Ditton 
 for instance. Having thus introduced himself, we are 
 informed that a sense of duty impels him to sound such
 
 126 ADVICE GRATIS IS APT TO BE WORTHLESS. 
 
 a note of warning as may perchance reach the ears 
 figuratively speaking of the investing public. 
 
 His testimony as a life-long resident of the colony, 
 with which the second paragraph of his epistle opens, is 
 valuable. "I have no doubt," he says, "that Western 
 Australia, as a gold-producing country, will prove equal 
 in richness and permanency to any other of our colonies;" 
 and then he goes on to warn the public against absolutely 
 worthless claims. We are next introduced to a purely 
 hypothetical property yielding 350 ounces to the ton by 
 sample, and requiring 15,000 working capital. There 
 would be, he thinks, ten or twenty tons of ore handy in 
 such a mine (if the sample was a fair one) to enable the 
 happy owners to dolly out by hand twenty or thirty 
 thousand pounds worth of gold, without wasting their 
 time looking for outside capital. This is very true, no 
 doubt ; but supposing the owners wished to sell their 
 <;laim to a company as Bayley and Ford did, or as the 
 Londonderry people did surely they have a perfect 
 right to do so, and make sure of their money. And in 
 such cases the investing public reap the benefit, and 
 share the good fortune of the finder who is foolish 
 enough or it may be wise enough to accept an offer 
 of cash down and a share in the concern, instead of 
 hand-dollying all by himself. We suppose it will be 
 said that the Wealth of Nations Syndicate should sub- 
 scribe no money for machinery until they had knocked 
 out enough gold by hand labour. This system might 
 have been applicable to the Ophir mines, where Solomon 
 procured his bullion.
 
 ADVICE GRATIS IS APT TO BE WORTHLESS. 127 
 
 Another point regarding the purchase of claims 
 deserves attention. Supposing, for the sake of argument, 
 that some toil-worn miners have struck such a Bonanza 
 as u Australia " describes the Londonderry, for example ; 
 would it be natural or desirable that they should refuse 
 every offer, and dolly out the gold they needed. We 
 think not. Two of their number were thankful to get 
 a couple of thousand pounds down, white the remaining 
 quartette, wiser in their generation, were glad to pocket 
 a good many thousands each, and be rid of the enormous 
 responsibility, if not risk, of working such a mine on 
 their own account. In short, the reason that high-class 
 mines get into the market at all is that the discoverers 
 are content with a sum which often constitutes great 
 wealth in their eyes, and have that human preference for 
 the bird in the hand which is worth two in the bush, and 
 especially in the Australian bush. 
 
 Our correspondent next gives vent to a remarkable 
 statement : " I should like it to be understood that 
 gold, in the gold-bearing fissure lodes, runs in shoots, 
 varying say from twenty to one hundred feet wide." 
 Now, however much " Australia " would " like this to be 
 xinderstood," we do think any person will readily under- 
 stand it. Shoots of gold, twenty to one hundred feet 
 wide the picture is bewildering ! After this we wonder 
 at the comparative poverty of his typical mine, calcu- 
 lated by paltry ounces, 350 to the ton. Such giant 
 shoots would certainly yield such ponderous masses of 
 of gold that they would be quoted at so many hundred- 
 weights to the hundred tons of ore. We have been
 
 128 ADVICE GRATIS IS APT TO BE WORTHLESS. 
 
 accustomed to hear of measurement by inches in 
 connection with gold shoots, but we live and learn. 
 Referring to the so-called " fissure lodes," it may be 
 noted that these shoots invariably traverse the reef 
 diagonally, accompanied by parallels, and they owe their 
 origin to replacement and not fissure. No doubt there 
 are found occasionally fissure veins in which gold occurs 
 in bunches, but these have no regularity in this direction, 
 and are simply the result of packing against some 
 opposite medium. Although extremely profitable when 
 found, this formation is not of a very permanent nature, 
 and will " cut out " when least expected ; whereas the 
 more reliable shoot or string gold, when it does '' cufc 
 out " at one spot, probably will " cut in " at another. 
 Up to this point "Australia" has taught us nothing ; nay, 
 he has no doubt unconsciously sought to mislead us. 
 
 We next arrive at what the writer is chiefly driving 
 at, namely, that the Stock Exchange should appoint "one 
 or two disinterested and thoroughly reliable and practical 
 men to vouch for the reports made on the different mines 
 on the field ; examine the property as compared with the 
 reports, and either modify or attest the truth of the 
 same." Now " Australia's" suggestion would have been 
 more practical if he had given us the names of one or 
 two such prodigies of integrity as he describes. Possibly 
 he would undertake the job himself. It would have 
 kept him busy of late rushing from Coolgardie to 
 Murchison and thence on to Pilbarra ; but would it, as 
 he asserts, " save endless misery and losses to the invest- 
 ing public ? "
 
 ADVICE GRATIS IS APT TO BE WORTHLESS. 12$ 
 
 Another correspondent of the Pall Mull Gazette, who 
 signs his own name, and has pitched his tent in Old 
 Broad Street, joins issue with " Australia " for imputing 
 a lack of intelligence to the investing public. Mr. Arthur 
 E. Ritchie sees no necessity for tendering investors 
 gratuitous advice, and thinks that ample guarantee is 
 already provided by the "competent and reliable experts 
 sent out from here on behalf of certain London firms." 
 The Avorst of it is that these gentry, even supposing 
 them to be competent and reliable, cannot be expected 
 to be disinterested, receiving as they do payment from 
 the London firms in question, and very frequently having 
 a direct personal interest in the properties they report 
 upon. We very much doubt, therefore, if, as this con- 
 fident correspondent states, " the general public may 
 rest assured that the ventures they are asked to sub- 
 scribe to have bond fide prospects of success," so long as 
 they bear the sign manual of these immaculate repre- 
 sentatives of certain London firms. 
 
 The investing public should indeed feel grateful for 
 this friendly counsel, diametrically opposite as it happens 
 to be. Investors will find it hard to know which advice 
 to take. We venture to suggest a safe alternative. Be 
 advised by neither one nor the other, and put not your 
 trust in experts.
 
 130 DECLINED WITH THANKS. 
 
 XXIX. DECLINED WITH THANKS. 
 
 No subject connected with the welfare of Western 
 Australia interests us more deeply than exploration. We 
 are so fully assured of the immense resources containe d 
 within the vast area of the Colony, that we heartily 
 welcome any work which tends to reveal her riches to 
 the world. We therefore confess to feeling considerable 
 regret when we learn that the offer made by Mr. Clarence 
 D. Brown to give his services gratuitously for the purpose 
 of leading an exploring party through the hitherto 
 untrodden regions of the interior of Western Australia 
 has been refused. We do not, of course, pretend to 
 question the wisdom of Sir John Forrest's action in the 
 matter. On the contrary, we feel convinced that he was 
 actuated by the highest motives; nevertheless, we are 
 sorry that he could not see his way to recommending 
 the House to sanction the undertaking. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the combination of a 
 scientific Government survey, with an inspection of the 
 natural features of the interior, is at all times desirable ; 
 and such a system could hardly fail to commend itself to 
 so celebrated an ex-official of the Survey Department as 
 the Premier, who, as is well-known, has gained for 
 himself imperishable laurels in the field of exploration. 
 Certainly some of the most successful expeditions have 
 been led by distinguished members of the Survey Depart- 
 ment. Our mind naturally reverts to Mr. George Evans, 
 who, in 1813, discovered the Lachlan and Macquarie
 
 DECLINED WITH THANKS. 131 
 
 Rivers, together with that magnificent agricultural and 
 grazing country known as Bathurst Plains. A few years 
 afterwards, John Oxley the Surveyor General of New 
 South Wales conducted several expeditions of great 
 importance, with conspicuous skill and success. Captain 
 Charles Sturt, who held the same high post in the Survey 
 Department, stands in the very front rank of Australian 
 explorers. Sir Thomas Mitchell, also Surveyor General, 
 was probably the most successful of all the explorers, 
 having the good fortune to discover Australia Felix 
 that magnificent territory which became the rich colony 
 of Victoria. The heroic Kennedy, whose sad fate in 1848 
 cast a gloom over the Colony, was a martyr to the cause 
 of exploration ; and many other officials of the Survey 
 Department have, in the same line, rendered inestimable 
 service to Australia. 
 
 Mr. Brown takes rather an injured and indignant 
 attitude in consequence of his offer being declined. It 
 is a pity that he should do so ; for it gives one the 
 impression that he wishes to force his services upon the 
 country. No doubt it is a somewhat painful position 
 to be placed in, but unfortunately anyone who tenders 
 himself for such a position, lays himself open to refusal. 
 He is certainly dogmatic in his utterances ; "I contend," 
 he writes, " that an undertaking of this kind is absolutely 
 necessary for the well-being and prosperity of the 
 country." Sir John, on the other hand, after thanking 
 him for his oft'er, says : " There does not appear to me 
 to be any necessity for such an expedition at the present 
 time." A pretty decided difference of opinion, one would
 
 132 DECLINED WITH THANKS. 
 
 say ; and we fear there can be but one answer to the 
 question, "Whether should Sir John, or Mr. Clarence 
 Brown, be the more capable of judging in the matter ? " 
 
 The latter gentleman seems to think that the Premier 
 had no right to take upon himself to refuse his offer, 
 which was made " to the people of Australia." He is 
 aggrieved because it was not laid on the table of the 
 House, for the consideration of the representatives. It 
 would have been somewhat absurd, we think, for Sir 
 John to lay a proposition before the House which he 
 could not recommend, nor endorse, and moreover, it is just 
 possible that Mr. Brown's feelings would have been even 
 more severely ruffled had the Premier taken this course. 
 
 If our memory serves us right, a two years' trip into 
 the interior is a record-breaker as to the length of time. 
 The disastrous Burke and Wills' Expedition was pro- 
 visioned for twelve months, the weight of these supplies 
 amounting to twenty-one tons. The leader, Robert 
 O'Hara Burke, was an enthusiastic volunteer. The 
 subscriptions, together with a Government subsidy of 
 5,500, amounted to 8,500, which makes us doubt 
 whether Mr. Brown had not under-estimated the cost of 
 this two years' tour of investigation. We do not 
 suppose, however, that he contemplated fifteen men and 
 twenty-four camels. 
 
 Now that the proverbial cold water has been thrown 
 upon the proposition by Sir John and his colleagues 
 for we think it highly probable that he consulted his 
 brother Ministers there is nothing left for Mr. Brown, 
 but either to find a dozen men of like mind with himself
 
 DECLINED WITH THANKS. 133 
 
 ready to work for nothing and start off, or on the other 
 hand to enlist the sympathies of those who can and will 
 supply the sinews of war. We wish him all success. 
 The proprietor of this journal, intends issuing a work on 
 the Exploration of Australia, and will welcome any new 
 facts regarding the great problems of the interior. 
 Unfortunately, however, his book will probably be out 
 before Mr. Brown is, and therefore his pilgrimage can 
 scarcely be chronicled in the first edition. Seriously, we 
 are sorry that this expedition is not to be conducted on 
 the lines suggested. We rejoice at every new contribu- 
 tion to our knowledge of Western Australia, and we feel 
 sure many interesting items of information would have 
 been forthcoming. With the tidings of Bayley's London- 
 derry, and Wealth of Nations those stars in the firma- 
 ment of gold mining industry ringing in our ears, we 
 are more and more confirmed in our belief of Western 
 Australia's great auriferous wealth. These properties all 
 lie within a very small area compared with the enormous 
 expanse of the Colony. Doubtless it is a very noble 
 reward that has repaid the fortunate prospectors who 
 found these great gold mines, and perhaps Sir John 
 Forrest thinks that the probability of a good many such 
 parcels of gold being dotted over a large portion of 
 Western Australia will induce prospectors to gradually 
 explore the whole territory on their own account. We 
 are reminded of a proposition to empty a certain lake in 
 Scotland, when a wag suggested that if a couple of 
 barrels of whiskey were emptied into it the people would 
 soon assemble and drink it dry !
 
 134 KX UNO : DISOK OMNES. 
 
 XXX. EX UNO : OISCE OMNES. 
 
 The immense benefit which has already resulted from 
 the fact that Western Australia has been proved beyond 
 cavil and question to be a gold-producing country is not 
 to be gainsayed. No other discovery could possibly be 
 attended with such rapid and surpassingly potent con- 
 sequences to the colony. At the same time it must be 
 admitted that a truer source of wealth lies in the cultiva- 
 tion of the land. This has, naturally, been recognised by 
 the Premier of the colony, who has exhibited his fore- 
 sight and sagacity by the formulation of a Land Bank 
 scheme as an appropriate sequel to the Homesteads Act. 
 It scarcely lies within our province to criticise colonial 
 politics. We freely concede that such questions may 
 more safely be confided to those residing in Western 
 Australia, upon whom the responsibility of the govern- 
 ment rests. We think, however, that since the Bill for 
 a Land Bank has, apparently, so far, met with the favour 
 of the West Australian Parliament, we may allude to it. 
 Any scheme for judiciously making advances to farmers 
 must receive our heartiest approval. Ever since those 
 far off days, when the gardener, Adam, and his wife, 
 " smiled at the claims of high descent," and founded the 
 human race, the husbandman has been the backbone of 
 the world. 
 
 Certainly it does seem as if there were a screw loose 
 somewhere, when we learn that the great colony of 
 Western Austalia imports almost .600,000 worth of food
 
 EX UNO : DISOK OMNKS. 135 
 
 stuff. This, on the face of it, is a most unsatisfactory 
 state of affairs. Western Australia should be in a 
 position to export produce instead of buying it from 
 other quarters Let us hope that the remedy may be 
 found in Sir John Forrest's scheme. A Land Bank, 
 however, to be successful and beneficial, should be self- 
 supporting, and not too much under Governmental 
 management. An over-paternal Government has too 
 often been the ruin of seemingly hopeful measures. 
 
 Some weeks ago somebody suggested that the Colonial 
 Government should buy a few gold mines ; and by so 
 doing abolish taxation. Wo ventured to point out the 
 error of such a policy. Since then we are glad to know 
 that several prominent government officers have become 
 possessed of a magnificent mine with which they have 
 every reason to be pleased. It has been aptly named by 
 some admirer of Adam Smith, "The Wealth of Nations." 
 These gentlemen are to be congratulated ; but we can 
 scarcely expect them to hand over their profits to the 
 Treasury. 
 
 The eyes of the world are at the present moment 
 turned upon Russia. Now, no two countries could be more 
 widely divided than the country of the Czar and Western 
 Australia There is little in common between them : 
 and yet it may be possible to learn a lesson from their 
 experiment. No doubt the Western Australian Ministry 
 are aware that Russia possesses an institution called 
 "The Peasants' Land Bank." They are probably 
 cognisant of the terrible struggle for existence among 
 the tillers of the soil in that vast empire.
 
 136 EX UNO: DISCE OMNES. 
 
 Where we do not seek for an example we may some- 
 times, with great advantage, receive a lesson. It is in 
 vain to hope that farmers, who are subjected to vexatious 
 and bureaucratic control, can ever become enterprising 
 and prosperous. Let us glance for a few moments at 
 the present position of the Land Bank of Russia, which 
 was established about twelve years ago. The enormous 
 size of the Muscovite Empire, and certain natural dis- 
 advantages, which she shares with Western Australia, is 
 sufficient apology for speaking of a great country and a 
 great colony in the same breath. 
 
 In 1885, when the Russian Bank was started under 
 the provisions offered it appears that the area acquired 
 for small farms was 750,000 acres, and an about equal 
 amount represented the operations of 1886. But the 
 transaction subsequently began to decline the reason 
 advanced being that the farmers realised grave difficulties 
 regarding the fulfilment of the obligations into which 
 they had entered. In ten years we learn that the entire 
 area purchased was 4,725,000 acres ; and this land was 
 assigned to 286,500 heads of families. Unfortunately, 
 however, 642,000 worth of plots reverted to the Land 
 Bank, through the non-payment of the advances In 
 fact, the condition of the smaller agricultural class became 
 such, that the Imperial Government was last year forced 
 into the position of passing an Act, allowing, practically, 
 an indefinite period for the liquidation of debts. The 
 true meaning of this measure seems to be, that debts 
 which the farmers cannot pay, are not to be enforced. 
 At the same time these liabilities will be kept alive
 
 EX UNO : DISCE OMNES. 137 
 
 in the vain hope of brighter times. A pleasant and 
 encouraging state of affairs. Twelve millions sterling is 
 the amount owed, and things appear to be going from 
 bad to worse. 
 
 We take leave to throw out these few hints in the 
 hope, and with full belief, that Western Australia will 
 steer clear of the shoals and rocks of insolvency. Human 
 nature is strangely alike all over the world, and the 
 position of Western Australia a century hence may 
 largely depend upon the wisdom of her present move- 
 ments.
 
 138 AN ADVISORY SYNDICATE. 
 
 XXXI. AN ADVISORY SYNDICATE. 
 
 Truly the West Australian Boom is responsible for 
 strange developments, judging from a private and con- 
 fidential circular which was handed to us for perusal. " It 
 is a document which should be preserved among the 
 archives of company-promoting effrontery long after the 
 last echoes of the " boom " have died away. The epistle 
 in question is addressed to those fortunate " Ladies and 
 Gentlemen " who happily possess shares in five different 
 companies, namely : The West Australian Gold Fields, 
 Limited ; the London and Western Australian Explora- 
 tion Co., Limited ; the West Australian Exploring and 
 Finance Corporation, Limited ; the West Australian 
 Pioneer Syndicate, Limited ; and the Hampton Plains 
 Estate, Limited. These good people have apparently 
 been thus honoured because they have been constantly 
 besieging the offices of their respective companies with 
 inquiries as to which new mining venture they should 
 invest their money in. Hence the circular, which states 
 that " of course it is quite impossible to answer every 
 individual inquiry." So much for the recipients of this 
 printed letter. 
 
 And now as to the writers. By a curious coincidence 
 they happen to be Messrs. Stoneham, Thompson, Wright, 
 Moir and Butler, which gentlemen hold respectively th 
 positions of secretary, chairman, managing director, 
 manager, and chairman of the above-named companies
 
 AN ADVISORY SYNDICATE. 139 1 
 
 in their order of mention. There is an enclosure, too r 
 printed in a style which would do credit to Exeter Hall, 
 with a pretty little picture of an owl on the watch for 
 mice by way of illustration. The idea is appropriate, 
 especially as the bird seems ready to fly at a moment's, 
 notice. Possibly it is the crest of the associated com- 
 panies. Are they on the watch for the deadly bogus ? 
 Perhaps so. Still the owl is a Bird of Prey, which gives 
 our thoughts an unhappy turn. 
 
 To resume. The " Ladies ^nd Gentlemen " already 
 referred to are invited to give the enclosed tract their 
 " very careful consideration." It is an account of an 
 interview with Mr. C. A. Moreing, which appeared in 
 the Mining World and Engineering Record of October 
 20th. With this individual's views it appears that this 
 newly-constituted Advisory Syndicate " thoroughly 
 agree." Like Pilate, they asked " What is truth 1 " 
 More fortunate than Pilate, the answer came in the 
 shape of Mr. Moreing. But why, we ask ourselves, 
 should these disinterested mentors so thoroughly coincide 
 in their views with Mr. Moreing 1 A glance at the 
 enclosure reveal why this disinterested Mining Engineer 
 has been stamped with the hall mark of veracity. The 
 interviewer has asked him, " Will you tell the public 
 how to discriminate between the good and the bad," how 
 to separate the sheep from the goats and so forth. 
 Whereupon the Oracle speaks. These are his words as- 
 reported : " To discriminate between good and bad 
 companies requires but the application of simple rules, 
 four in number. First, avoid any company that only
 
 140 AN ADVISORY SYNDICATE. 
 
 has vendors' reports to recommend the property to be 
 Acquired. Unless the directors of a company have been 
 sufficiently careful to obtain an independent report, and 
 .are sufficiently honest when it has been obtained to act 
 upon it, avoid that company as you would a plague. 
 That is the first rule, and the second is like unto it : 
 Avoid companies which are floated largely on the strength 
 of a famous mine adjoining. They are generally swindles. 
 You will see some of these West Australian prospectuses 
 with no allusion to the property which the company is 
 to acquire, but every allusion to some valuable property 
 adjoining, which belongs to somebody else. Whilst 
 giving, in all the glories of large type and glowing 
 language a description of these adjoining properties, they 
 are careful to avoid saying anything about the property 
 that is being offered. Thirdly, you must see that 
 respectable directors and engineers are in charge, men 
 who would not permit a company to be floated without 
 a well-examined -independently examined property, and 
 ^ sufficiency of working capital. Fourthly, ascertain 
 that the company is brought out under respectable 
 auspices. There are several companies now engaged in West 
 Australian business that have able and trustworthy representa- 
 tives on all the various gold fields. The public may be sure 
 that anything bearing their stamp is genuine. TJie chief of 
 these are the West Australian Gold Fields, Limited; the 
 London and Western Australian Exploration Co., the West 
 Australian Exploring and Finance Corporation, the West 
 Australian Pioneer Syndicate, and the Hampton Plains 
 Estate." The italics are ours. We cease to wonder why
 
 AN ADVISORY SYNDICATE. 141 
 
 the quintette who sign the circular " thoroughly agree " 
 with Mr. Moreing. He rushes from the general to the 
 particular with a vengeance. 
 
 So glaring and transparent an attempt to humbug 
 the " Ladies and Gentlemen " would be intensely amus- 
 ing, if it were not extremely dangerous. The circular 
 is admittedly private and confidential, italicised by the 
 advisers. It is fervently to be hoped that most of the 
 recipients took fright at the emblem of the " Owl," and, 
 recognising its significance, consigned the precious 
 document to the privacy of the waste paper basket. The 
 unblushing impudence of the conception takes one's 
 breatli away. Surely there may be a stray mine, worth 
 investing in, which is not engineered by the people 
 referred to.
 
 142 THE COMMAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 XXXII. -THE COMMAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 " Let me make the ballads, let who will make the 
 laws," was a remark chronicled by Fletcher, of Saltoun. 
 .Jokes can scarcely aspire in the present day to the 
 position held by popular poetry in the Middle Ages : 
 still they have their place, and the New Humour, has, 
 undoubtedly, a powerful hold on the multitude. Lika 
 Joko a distinguished contemporary, lately launched on 
 the wreck-producing sea of periodical literature has an 
 Australian item in his second number. We are told 
 that since the colonials first imported camels, the animal 
 has so much improved that the Australian quadruped is 
 now nearly double the size of the Arabian. This is 
 certainly very cheering, if true ; but, alas, we fear that 
 our witty friend merely makes the statement in order to 
 make his joke. He thinks that this extraordinary 
 development in size, owing to skilful Australian breed- 
 ing, will make it awkward for camel-swallowers." We 
 have heard of the famous camel of the German scientist, 
 which was evolved over a study fire from the depths of 
 the author's inner consciousness. Possibly this may be 
 the case with the quadruped mentioned by Mr. Harry 
 Furniss. 
 
 We are, however, grateful for the attention and com- 
 pliment paid to those of our colonial brethren who have 
 endeavoured to bring the " Ship of the Desert " up to 
 the mark. It is a troublesome beast to rear, as we have
 
 THE COMMAND OF THE SEA. 143 
 
 shown more than once in these columns ; moreover, it 
 certainly would seem as though it got plenty to eat in 
 the much talked of deserts of West Australia, so as to 
 double its weight. Western Australia is pre-eminently 
 a camel-country ; and, doubtless, before her great area is 
 traversed by railways, she will find abundant use for 
 these beasts of burden. 
 
 Passing by an easy gradation of thought from ships 
 of the desert to ships of the sea, we are glad to observe 
 that matters are to be so adjusted that the metropolis of 
 Western Australia is no longer to remain in the back- 
 ground so far as shipping is concerned. It certainly has 
 always appeared to us an anomaly of the first water to 
 realise that the Western coast of the Island Continent, 
 which, by its comparative accessibility, was first visited 
 by vessels from the civilised world, should have fallen 
 into obscurity for so many years after Captain Cook 
 surveyed the Eastern shores. It is several centuries 
 since the Western coast was chartered, and little more 
 than a hundred years have passed since our maps con- 
 tained the tracing of the other margin of Australia. 
 
 Whether the position of Perth was well selected as 
 the capital it is too late now to enquire. One thing is 
 certain that thousands of men have visited Albany, to 
 whom Freemantle and Perth are merely geographical 
 names. It is, indeed, an unfortunate state of affairs, 
 when the seat of Government of either country or colony 
 is in an out-of-the-way situation. Sometimes a location 
 is incapable of remedy. Liverpool is said to have been 
 built on the wrong side of the Mersey ; still, there she
 
 144 THE COMMAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 is, and she has got to make the best of it. Washington 
 is admittedly the wrong place for the seat of supreme 
 Government in the United States ; and change of locality 
 is often discussed. The writer has frequently heard it 
 stated that some more central point, such as Kansas City, 
 would yet have to be selected, The Command of the 
 Sea is a cry we often hear at the present moment. 
 There are two distinct commands, however : those which 
 concern War and those which concern Peace each 
 closely connected. The latter alone applies to Western 
 Australia, nor is she likely to rule the waves until, 
 perhaps, that far off future day when Lord Macaulay's 
 New Zealander sits on London Bridge surveying the 
 ruins of London ! 
 
 Probably no item in the Loan Bill, at present passing 
 through the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 
 will commend itself more strongly to the sympathies of 
 thinking men in either hemisphere than that 200,000 
 for the Freemantle Harbour Works. Although the 
 subject has been discussed for many years, it is only 
 within the last two years that the colony has been 
 definitely and finally committed to the scheme. A safe 
 and commodious harbour at Freemantle, will, undoubtedly, 
 not only facilitate local trade, but if an anchorage is 
 afforded where the largest ocean-going steamers can 
 approach and enter in safety during all weathers, one 
 more important foundation stone will have been laid 
 upon which may be reared a great edifice of commercial 
 and national prosperity, 
 
 Unfortunately there is a parsimonious tendency in
 
 THE COMMAND OF THE SEA. 145 
 
 the Opposition, whether from honest conviction or for 
 purposes of obstruction, we will not attempt to determine. 
 One thing is certain that unless the Harbour Works in 
 every way fulfil the requirements of the case, the great 
 steamship lines which trade to Australia will give the 
 place a wide berth, and Perth will just be where she was 
 so far as English and foreign commerce is concerned. 
 Into details of the scheme it is not our province to go. 
 It is being discussed with a certain acrimony, which 
 would be amusing if such important interests were not 
 involved. Some of the repartee indulged in cannot pre 
 vail. One gentleman, however, strikes a true note when 
 he states that the Harbour Works will be the biggest 
 asset of the colony, and it joins the federation of 
 Aiistralia, inasmuch as Perth will become the Western 
 entrepot of Australia. 
 
 We need scarcely say that we have every confidence 
 that, in spite of surface difference of opinion, the weight 
 of common sense, added to professional skill, will turn 
 the balance in the right direction. Western Australia is 
 in the position of commanding the very highest technical 
 skill regarding the construction of her Harbour Works. 
 Need we reiterate the time-worn truth that all amateur 
 advice is fraught with danger. The Colony has leapt 
 within a very short space of time from darkness and 
 obscurity into the light of popularity and notoriety. She 
 may within a few years become a very great English 
 Colony. The extraordinary revelations of her hidden 
 wealth bring her into fierce competition with the other 
 great gold-producing Colony. We mean South Africa, 
 
 J
 
 146 THE COMMAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 and what detractors are pleased to term the " Western 
 Australian Boom," naturally lays her open to jealousy, 
 sneers, and misrepresentation. But knowing, as her 
 legislators well know, their immense responsibilities, her 
 vast possibilities, her indubitable wealth ; and recognis- 
 ing the patent fact that she is destined to become the 
 home of millions of British subjects, we feel sure that 
 party animosity will be sunk in a desire for the general 
 good. 
 
 With the grandeur of her prospects and the magnifi- 
 cence of her territory, England will look to her to help 
 abolish the lower and too often criminal order of her 
 crowded cities in the only way possible, namely by 
 giving them ample opportunity of making a home beyond 
 the seas, where they can live in comfort and cleanliness, 
 and thus solve a problem which has for centimes dis- 
 turbed the world.
 
 "BETTER TO BEAR THE ILLS WE HAVK, &C." 147 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 BETTER TO BEAR THE ILLS WE HAVE 
 THAN FLY TO OTHERS THAT WE KNOW 
 NOT OF." Shakespeare. 
 
 An interesting correspondence, to which we shall 
 presently refer, recalls to mind the words of one of 
 the giants in literature of the present century Victor 
 Hugo. He writes as follows : "One day, and one not 
 far distant, the seven nations which compose all humanity 
 shall mix and mingle like the seven prismatic colours in 
 one radiant bow in the heavens. And the prodigy of 
 Peace will appear visible and eternal, high above 
 civilisation. And the astonished and dazzled world will 
 contemplate the gigantic" rainbow of the United Peoples 
 of Europe." So much for the text, and now for its 
 application. 
 
 On several occasions in these columns we have stated 
 our opinion that the co-operation of Western Australia 
 with the other Colonies, in a scheme of Federation, was 
 a question for future consideration. What were the 
 actual views of her Ministry on this subject at the time 
 we wrote ? We had no means of knowing, for certain ; 
 but we strongly suspected that they were by no means 
 ready to enter upon the matter just at present. 
 
 About six months ago, in our issue of May 17th, we 
 commented upon a speech made by Sir Henry Parker, in
 
 148 "BETTER TO BEAR THE ILLS WE HAVE, &C." 
 
 the Town Hall, Perth, Western Australia. He Avas very 
 strong on the subject of Federation ; and, being the 
 G.O.M. of Australia, he was listened to, applauded, and, 
 of course, liberally banqueted. But we never believed 
 that he carried conviction to the Westralian heart. He 
 promised them great things, no doubt, even to the 
 illumination of their coasts ! She would need about 750 
 light-houses and light-ships on the Indian and Southern 
 Ocean seaboard to do the job well. He also drew com- 
 parisons with the German Federation, with the United 
 States of America, and with the Dominion of Canada. 
 We took the liberty of pointing out that these com- 
 parisons were fallacious, and we plainly said that we 
 thought Western Australia would be much better and 
 safer to " paddle her own canoe " for some little time to 
 come. 
 
 She was left severely alone so long as she was a poor, 
 struggling, neglected territory ; and in all human pro- 
 bability the other Colonies would have troubled them- 
 selves but little about her at all, had she not revealed 
 her great golden dowry. Sir Henry acted his part of 
 Agent-in-Advance to the " Federation Combination " 
 with undoubted skill. He ventilated, advertised, and 
 may be said to have placarded the Colony in readiness 
 for the appearance on the boards of Mr. G. H. Keid, 
 Premier of New South Whales. 
 
 This gentleman, in his letter to Sir John Forrest, 
 evidently anticipates the reply which he received, and 
 like an astute statesman he endeavours to refute in 
 advance the main objections to Western Australia's
 
 "BETTER TO BEAR THE ILLS WE HAVE," &C." 149 
 
 immediate co-operation. "Urgent local questions," he 
 writes, "have endangered the continuity of the move- 
 ment." " Urgent reforms pressing for settlement, &c." 
 And then he goes on to say that he and his colleagues 
 believe that " Federal Union can be adopted without 
 prejudice to the performance of these pressing obliga- 
 tions." In short, his letter to the West Australian 
 Premier is a conspicuously pressing one. 
 
 Sir John and his colleagues saw matters from a 
 totally different point of view. Hence, Mr. Reid gets a 
 reply to the effect that the Western Australian Parlia- 
 ment is so engrossed with many pressing local concerns, 
 chiefly caused by the immense development of her goldfields, 
 that it is not possible to deal with the question. 
 
 We have, therefore, pressing matters in both Colonies : 
 those of New South Wales can be set aside in favour of 
 Federation, but those of Western Australia are para- 
 mount, and Federation must be shelved indefinitely 
 until they are disposed of. We fully coincide with Sir 
 John Forrest's action in the matter, and it is with some 
 gratification that we turn over the back numbers of the 
 West Australian Review, and find that six months ago we 
 prophesied his action. 
 
 It may be instructive, in this connection, to glance 
 back three years and four months into the pages of a 
 very great and influential London periodical, viz., The 
 Nineteenth Century. In July, 1891, Mr. G. H. Reid, M.P., 
 held rather different (at least, much modified) opinions 
 on the question of Federation. Very different indeed 
 from those expressed in the letter to which we have
 
 150 "BETTER TO BEAR THE ILLS WE HAVE, &C." 
 
 referred, which is dated 22nd August, 1894. Here are 
 Ms words in the latter document : " Indeed, it appears 
 to us, even from the most strictly provincial points of 
 view, that the establishment of a Federal compact is of 
 commanding interest to every Australian State ; for it is 
 clearly impossible that any one of them can have full 
 scope for the development of its resources until the 
 whole Continent is freed from provincial trade restric- 
 tions, &c., &c." So much for his opinion about two 
 months ago. What do we find him writing to the 
 Nineteenth Century ? We quote from his article on " The 
 Commonwealth of Australia." " The vast progress of 
 these Colonies will not be seriously retarded by the 
 failure for a time of the Federal movement. The emula- 
 tions and rivalries of the individual Colonies have led to 
 some evils, but, animating each > they have vastly 
 stimulated the progress of all. Far removed from serious 
 danger without, and safe from anarchy within, they are 
 not called on, happily, to legislate in a panic. Extensive 
 vistas of pioneer work still meet the eye on every side. 
 There is ample virtue still in the movement which 
 decentralised government in Australia. These Colonies 
 can exist separately with less inconvenience than any 
 other group of communities. Each has a seaboard 
 hundreds of miles long, and, excepting Victoria, the 
 smallest is larger than England and France combined. 
 There is not a single land boundary to defend against a 
 foreign neighbour, and their chief ports, far from the 
 central region of hostile demonstrations, can easily be 
 made impregnable." That there may come a time when
 
 "BETTER TO BEAR THE ILLS WE HAVE, &C." 151 
 
 it will be to the advantage of Western Australia to join 
 in a Federation Union with the other Colonies, there 
 cannot be a shadow of doubt. But her present position 
 has been achieved under separate government. More- 
 over, she has .only had four years' experience of her New 
 Constitution. Her wealth of gold is only in the early 
 dawn of its development. She has long independently 
 conducted her affairs with wisdom and success. Her 
 credit has been sound. Her banks have steered clear 
 of the shoals of insolvency. Well, then, may she decide 
 to bide her time before entering into the Commonwealth 
 of Australia !
 
 152 A PRODUCT OF JOINT STOCK ENTKRPRIZK. 
 
 XXXIY. A PRODUCT OF JOINT STOCK ENTER- 
 PRIZE: THE PROMOTER. 
 
 Our humorous American contemporary, Puck, defines 
 a Promoter as " a man who sells something he hasn't got 
 to people who don't want it." This may be true in 
 certain cases, and especially so under the Stars and 
 Stripes. But just as there are " new laid eggs " and 
 "shop eggs," so there are promoters and promoters. 
 Some of these gentry are undoubtedly very bad eggs; 
 and strange to say that these eggs are hatchers instead 
 of hafchees, inasmuch as their business is the hatching of 
 public companies ; and in truth these are a motly brood. 
 
 It often happens that there is an individual known as 
 the Exploiter or Vendor. He has a property of some 
 sort to dispose of it may be a mine, or it may be some 
 scheme, imaginary or real ; or, indeed, anything under 
 the sun. Occasionally he approaches the investing public 
 himself, but more frequently he applies to a promoter 
 who conducts the delicate negotiations which arise, before 
 the purse strings are loosened and the mare made to go. 
 
 The Promoter was called into existence by the State 
 recognition of limited liability some thirty years ago, 
 and his really busy time comes on when, after a lull, the 
 public are seized with a sort of mania for rushing into 
 speculations of all kinds good, bad and indifferent. 
 Generally the two latter adjectives are applicable. Some 
 will remember a very big concern called the Credit
 
 A PRODUCT OF JOINT STOCK ENTERPRIZE. 153 
 
 Foncier ; and many of our subscribers will recollect the 
 enormous sums squandered upon the Imperial Land 
 Company of Marseilles, by this wealthy institution. 
 Then what happened ? Before eighteen months had 
 expired the Credit Foncier went into liquidation, while 
 the unhappy shareholders were poorer by two millions 
 sterling. 
 
 The investing public did not seem to profit by the 
 lesson. There came a boom in American gold and silver 
 mines, and a severe lesson was taught by the celebrated 
 Emma Mine. Then came an Indian mining mania, and 
 afterwards the diamond and gold mines of South Africa. 
 It is said with truth that the manipulation of pro- 
 spectuses is not such a flourishing industry as was the 
 case twenty years ago ; nevertheless, last year, no fewer 
 than 2,617 new Companies, with a nominal capital of 112 
 millions (31 millions being actually subscribed) were 
 formed. 
 
 It rarely happens that the Promoter of a Company 
 has actually inspected the property offered to investors ; 
 and this more especially in connection with Western 
 Australia. The reason is obvious when we consider that 
 it is the most remote English Colony, and moreover, the 
 gold mines are situated at great distances from the 
 various ports of call. He gets into indirect communi- 
 cation with the vendor or vendors, and then proceeds to 
 concoct a prospectus, and hunt up directors. We do not 
 for a moment deny that, to be properly equipped for his 
 profession, the Promoter needs to be endowed with a 
 very level head, combined with knowledge of character ;
 
 154 A PRODUCT OF JOINT STOCK ENTERPRIZE. 
 
 he requires great industry, patience, and an excellent 
 memory ; for he must bear in mind the details of any 
 scheme which he undertakes to float, be it railways, 
 mine, manufacture, or patent. 
 
 Of course it is the gambling spirit of the public upon 
 which he chiefly thrives, and this spirit is responsible for 
 the more glaring abuses in the flotation of public com- 
 panies. These often come to grief through going to 
 allotment upon insufficient subscribed capital. Some are 
 designed to take over bankrupt concerns, and are risky 
 to a degree. 
 
 That there are genuine and honest promoters we do 
 not for a moment deny, and our sympathies are with 
 such as are occasionally visited with the censure of the 
 public for sending forth highly spiced and exaggerated 
 statements ; when the real blame is attributable to the 
 grasping Vendor, whose only motive in selling his pro- 
 perty is to swindle the public. These cases are rare, 
 however, and the Promoter should make sure of his facts 
 before issuing his prospectus. 
 
 We shall welcome any legislation which will clip the 
 wings of the fraudulent Promoter. Our interest lies 
 with " Western Australia and its Welfare," and we have 
 oftentimes declared in these columns, and in the writings 
 of our proprietor and editor, that nothing would tend 
 more to obstruct the progress of this great golden 
 Colony, than bogus concerns forced upon the English 
 money market. 
 
 We can only hope that our continued efforts will be 
 more or less successful. We should be sorry indeed to
 
 A PRODUCT OF JOINT STOCK ENTERPRIZE. 155 
 
 see such a state of affairs in Western Australia, as is 
 distressing her colonial sisters. We note that two of the 
 re-constructed banks are preparing to apply to the 
 depositors for a modification of the conditions. These 
 two banks have engaged to pay 4| per cent., and are 
 unable to do so. 
 
 But Western Australia has fortunately held aloof 
 from the other Colonies, and has invariably conducted 
 herself with wisdom, modesty and prudence. Thus it i 
 that she is able to reap her golden harvest with full 
 satisfaction, standing before the world with credit 
 unimpaired.
 
 156 "SUN "-LIGHT ON WEST AUSTRALIA. 
 
 XXXY. " SUN "-LIGHT ON WEST AUSTRALIA. 
 
 "WEST AUSTBALIAN GOLD MINES. J. T. JONES. We quite 
 agree. The water question is a far more serious one than 
 has yet been admitted. The difficulties are probably not 
 insurmountable ; but they are there, and it will cost 
 money to overcome them." 
 
 The above is among the answers to correspondents in 
 the columns of our worthy contemporary, The Sun, 
 Such answers have long been our delight. Their charm- 
 ing vagueness appeals to the imagination, and sets us 
 a-wondering what the question was, and who asked it. 
 In years gone by, we used to marvel how the giant mind 
 of the Editor could adapt itself, either to denouncing 
 policies, or to giving parental, legal, medical, indeed 
 universal advice upon any subject under the sun. After 
 hurling Olympian thunderbolts at the heads of foreign 
 governments in one part of the paper, we have observed 
 with amazement that " Hopeless ' was advised to take a 
 tea-spoonful of tincture of capsicums, when the craving 
 comes on ; or perhaps " Freckles " was recommended to 
 apply a little vaseline to the part affected at bed time. 
 Wills and testaments, pimples, canaries, dogs, love-sick 
 damsels or home-sick school-boys nothing seemed to 
 come amiss to the Editor. His intellect was only com- 
 parable to an elephant's trunk, which is said to be
 
 "SUN "-LIGHT ON WEST AUSTRALIA. 157 
 
 capable either of picking up a needle or uprooting a tree. 
 Moreover, from the tone of his answers, and his 
 sagacious and often almost affectionate advice, we used 
 to picture the writer of " Answers to Correspondents " 
 as the wisest, kindliest and most benevolent of mortals, 
 We know better now. 
 
 Of course The Sun knows all about Western Australia, 
 and its answer to Mr. J. T. Jones is both interesting and 
 instructive. Evidently J. T. has given that excellent 
 newspaper a little bit of his mind, otherwise why those 
 confidential and reassuring words, " we quite agree 1 " 
 We are not usually inquisitive, but we should like very 
 much to know upon what point or points, Jones and The 
 Sun agree. \\'e may well be excused for our curiosity, 
 for presumably he was dilating on the West Australian 
 Water Question that " far more serious matter than has 
 yet been admitted." We have hitherto been labouring 
 under the impression that it had been admitted to be a 
 matter of surpassing seriousness and importance. The 
 Wesl Australian Review has not only admitted it, but has 
 devoted dozens of columns to reiterating, emphasizing 
 and insisting upon the claims of Water Supply to the 
 most earnest attention and liberal expenditure. The 
 West Australian press likewise have not hesitated to 
 print the most harrowing narratives of distress and in- 
 convenience through lack of water, and the Colonial 
 Government have apportioned a targe sum of money in 
 order to obviate this by far the most formidable obstacle 
 on some of the magnificent goldfields which have 
 revealed to the world the enormous wealth of Western
 
 158 "SUN "-LIGHT ON WEST AUSTRALIA! 
 
 Australia. We really wish that Mr. Jones could suggest 
 something better than those devices which at present are 
 being discussed by the Parliament at Perth. 
 
 Our concordance to Shakespeare is at the binder's, or 
 else we should certainly look up an appropriate quota- 
 tion from the " Swan of Avon " concerning this debate, 
 for one party wishes to tap the River Swan, and another 
 to pump water from the River Avon. Then there are 
 those who, looking upon these methods as too costly, 
 roundly abuse tho present boring apparatus at present 
 being used, and who declare that nothing but a diamond 
 drill will penetrate the earth's crust deep enough to 
 reach the subterranean waters. " Percussion drills," says 
 these experts, " are all very well for cutting through the 
 tertiary arid mesozoic or secondary rocks : but where the 
 older rocks, and igneous or plutonic dykes are en- 
 countered, they are utterly useless." They go on to tell 
 us that the archoaan crystalline or azoic rocks defy the 
 very finest of steel tools, and that endless time is lost in 
 drawing and replacing the rods, sharpening the drills and 
 so forth. Nothing short of the diamond drill will do the 
 work according to their opinion. It has accomplished 
 its object at Queensland, where an abundance of water 
 has been obtained at a depth of between 1,200 to 2,000 
 feet ; why not at Coolgardie 1 Why not, indeed ? 
 
 But again we are met with the flat and disheartening 
 assertion that there is no water there at all, so what is 
 the use of spending money on boring ? The geological 
 conditions of Central Australia the great artesian water 
 .area are quite different, it appears. That territory was
 
 "SUN "-LIGHT ON WEST AUSTRALIA. 159 
 
 at one time a huge inland sea, and to this fact is ascribed 
 its abundance of underground water. There is, of 
 course, a vast difference between this huge inland sea, 
 filled up by gradual silting, and the impervious and 
 ancient rock systems which distinguish Western 
 Australia. We become confused. Why did Jones or 
 The Sun not speak more fully 1 
 
 " That is all very well in theory," says another 
 authority, but when in Champion Bay district I saw in 
 one of the copper mines a vein of water running parallel 
 by the side of a lode of ore without any inconvenience 
 to the works until it opened, when it became impossible 
 to stop the overpowering rush of water, which ran off in 
 the form of a small river, and this was only eighty feet 
 from the surface. Then, again, our most recent despatches 
 contain the welcome tidings that a bore of 111 feet in 
 depth, at the base of the Darling range, yields a supply 
 of 8,900 gallons a day, and it is stated that, if carried 
 deeper, a larger volume of water would be tapped. 
 
 Well, at all events, it is cheering to find that, 
 according to our contemporary, " the difficulties are 
 probably not insurmountable." And finally we learn 
 that " it will cost money to overcome them." This we } 
 suspected ourselves ; but it is pleasant to be corroborated 
 by so high an authority. Full well we know that the 
 cackle of oof-bird must be heard in the land before anything 
 of consequence is done in Western Australia or elsewhere. 
 
 One thing is certain, that whether from the Swan or 
 the Avon, whether from the diamond drill or the per- 
 cussion] drill, well, tank or catch-dam water must be
 
 160 "SUN "-LIGHT ON WEST AUSTRALIA." 
 
 obtained for the goldfields of Western Australia, and the 
 sooner the authorities agree upon some scheme the 
 better. Coolgardie having been so far proved to be the 
 richest field, and also the district most destitute of 
 water, naturally demands the first attention. Some of 
 the fields, which will ere long be opened up, present no 
 water difficulty. To call Western Australia, as a whole, 
 a waterless country, is a libel. Long before gold was 
 known to be in any part of the continent, when the 
 Western Colony was yet young so far back as 1837, 
 Lieutenant (now Sir George) Grey conducted an expedi- 
 tion through the country, about Hanover Bay, and 
 discovered among other things the Glenelg River. He 
 had found some difficulty in procuring water for his 
 schooner the Lynher, and in his journal (vol. i., page 107), 
 on the 21st of December, 1837, he wrote these words : 
 " This difficulty. of watering only arose from the lowness 
 of the tides, and our ignorance of the country. Subse- 
 quently we found no difficulty in proctiring it. Indeed, 
 no country in the world is better watered than this part 
 of Australia." 
 
 As we go to press we learn through Renter's agency 
 that Parliament was prolonged by Sir W. F. C. Robin- 
 son, the Governor, on the 5th instant, and that all the 
 bills submitted by the Government have been passed. 
 What most concerns us, however, in connection with the 
 foregoing remarks, is the statement that a sum of 70,000 
 was voted for the development of the goldfields, and that 
 Parliament subsequently authorized the expenditure of 
 a further similar amount. We do not for a moment
 
 " SUN "-LIGHT ON WEST AUSTRALIA. 161 
 
 suppose that any river-tapping operations are contem- 
 plated in this vote. Either one or other would of course 
 require a separate loan, unless some scheme could be 
 devised which would enable private enterprise to under- 
 take the work. Nevertheless 14,000, wisely spent, 
 will do much towards the development of the goldfields ; 
 and if the sum should be inadequate to the full accom- 
 plishment of its object, such splendid results will have 
 been shown as will simplify and facilitate raising of all 
 further necessary capital.
 
 162 AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM. 
 
 XXXYL AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM. 
 
 In our issue of November the 29th we printed an 
 extract from Truth, entitled " A West Australian 
 Scandal." It had reference to a dispute between the 
 Government of Western Australia and the Great 
 Southern Railway Company of that Colony. The casus 
 belli was certain land to be granted to the Company in 
 lieu of subsidy. The Colonial Judge non-suited the 
 Company who, it is stated, appealed to the Privy 
 Council the result of such appeal being judgment on 
 all points for the Railway Company. " Will it be 
 believed," asks Truth, " that the Prime Minister of 
 Western Australia now refuses to bow to the decision of 
 the Privy Council 1 " So far as we are concerned, our 
 plain answer is " No ; it will not be believed." 
 
 On a certain Friday, in the spring of Anno Domini 
 33, Pontius Pilate asked the question, " What is Truth ?" 
 It was a standing conundrum among the ancients. Plato 
 said we could know Truth if we could sublimate our 
 minds to their original purity. Arcesilaos said that 
 man's understanding is not capable of knowing what 
 Truth is ; Gorgias the Sophist said, " What is right, 
 but we prove to be right. What is Truth, but what we 
 believe to be Truth." Now we in these latter days have 
 the advantage of Pontius Pilate and Company. We 
 know, for example, that Truth is sixpence, and we like- 
 wise have heard that it is stranger than fiction.
 
 AUDI ALTKRAM PARTEM. 163 
 
 Now it would be really funnier than the funniest 
 fairy tale if it were really the case that Sir John Forrest, 
 who has so recently accepted his title on the under- 
 standing that he was to be "a good and faithful knight," 
 had suddenly taken it into his head to defy the Imperial 
 Government. Jack, the Giant-Killer, might well hide 
 his diminished head. It would, indeed, be a bad case of 
 quern deus vult perdere prius dementat. In short, we 
 cannot contemplate the affair at all unless from a 
 hypothetical point of view. 
 
 We have only heard one side of the question, and, 
 although we are assured by the representatives of the 
 Railway Company in London, that the Premier has 
 taken up this reckless attitude of defiance, we should be 
 extremely sorry to give our opinion until Sir John 
 Forrest's version of the story. His alleged action is so 
 very unlike what the man might be expected to do, that 
 we do not hesitate to say that there is a misunderstand- 
 ing somewhere. His worst enemies will surely give him 
 credit for rather more than the average allowance of that 
 uncommon commodity called common sense ; and it will 
 require more than a newspaper paragraph, or even the 
 assertion of an accredited representative of the Great 
 Southern Railway of Western Australia, to convince us 
 that the Premier has taken complete leave of his wits. 
 No ; we know something of Sir John, and we know 
 nothing of the city editor of Truth, nor the source of his 
 information. What the latter says may be the truth, 
 but is it " the whole truth, and nothing but the truth ?" 
 We scarcely think so.
 
 164 AUDI ALTERAM PARTKM. 
 
 Truth supposes there are " means for bringing 
 obstinate Colonial statemen to their bearings." Our 
 contemporary is quite correct in this supposition : There 
 are ample means, not that we anticipate for one moment 
 that such means will have to be resorted to. Had 
 Western Australia really meant to resist England, the 
 Defences Vote would not have been struck out of the 
 estimates. We do not look forward to another Saratoga 
 yet awhile ; nay, we fervently hope that we have seen 
 the last of insurgent Colonies. Whatever the British 
 Government commands within the lines of the constitu- 
 tional relationship between England and her dependen- 
 cies must be 'obeyed. We do not dare to say that our 
 law is perfect, or that our ideas of justice are infallible : 
 but we do most firmly believe that, until we stand before 
 the Judgment seat of the Great Architect of the 
 Universe, we shall never see a nearer approach to fair 
 and equitable treatment than under the jurisdiction of 
 Her Majesty Queen Victoria. 
 
 We throw out the foregoing suggestions in the hope 
 that the Colonial Government will see to it that no 
 possible grounds may exist for such rumours, whether 
 true or false. The present is perhaps the most critical 
 period in the history of Western Australia up till now ; 
 and she must avoid even the appearance of evil. She 
 has independent Government, great amplitude of 
 territory, almost inexhaustible tracts of fertile, but 
 hitherto untouched, soil, immense beds of coal, and 
 mighty stores of metallic wealth ; these must all be 
 judiciously and fully developed. And. when we examine
 
 AUDI ALTKRAM PARTKM. 165- 
 
 the character of her people, we see fearless energy, sturdy 
 determination, combined with a splendid spirit of enter- 
 prise. Let us hope that self-aggrandisement and 
 unworthy jealousy may never be allowed to intrude 
 their fatal presence upon so fair and promising a pros- 
 pect ; and let us further hope that all the acts of the 
 Colonial authorities may be impartial and above sus- 
 picion, so that with well doing they may put to silence 
 the ignorance of foolish men. Men and money Western 
 Australia needs, and these she will get if she preserves- 
 her good name untarnished, and her credit unimpaired.
 
 166 A VAIN REGRET. 
 
 XXXYIL A VAIN REGRET. 
 
 In a recent number of The Sun, under the title of " A 
 Study in Polynesia," Mr. T. P. O'Connor expresses his 
 regret that England, and not France, should have under- 
 taken the gigantic task of colonizing the world. He 
 has been reviewing and contrasting three books : " By 
 Reef and Palm." By Louis Becke. (London : T. Fisher 
 Unwin). " Le Marriage de Loti," by Pierre Loti. (Paris : 
 Calmann Le"vy), " Island Nights' Entertainment." By 
 Eobert Louis Stevenson. (London : Cassell and Com- 
 pany). In the course of his criticism he writes : " Is 
 there not something to make one a little ashamed in the 
 contrast between the brutal, unrehearsed, barbarous 
 brutality of the English scenes, and the tenderness, 
 sobriety and poetry of the French ? " Such a coarse, 
 brutal, drunken nation as England sets a bad example 
 to her dependencies : and France, hoAvever wicked, being 
 so much more refined, romantic, and picturesque in her 
 ways, would have made a much better mother country. 
 This may or may not be Mr. O'Connor's real reason for 
 casting a shade of doubt on the wisdom of Almighty 
 Providence in ordaining that England should colonize 
 the globe. One thing is certain, that had France 
 colonized America, Australia, and other English-speaking 
 dependencies, the hand of His Holiness, the Pope, would 
 have been materially strengthened.
 
 A VAIN REGRET. 167 
 
 As a matter of fact, however, it is by the merest 
 chance that Australia fell into the hands of the British ; 
 for, as he sailed out of Botany Bay in order to plant the 
 Union Jack on the shore of Sydney Cove, Capt. Arthur 
 Phillip, first Governor of New South Wales, espied two- 
 French ships, VAstsolabe and la Bussole, under the com- 
 mand of the unfortunate La Perouse, sailing into the 
 Bay with the object of securing the country for the 
 people of France. 
 
 French names abound on the Australian coasts, 
 resulting from the voyages of De Bougainville, De St. 
 Alouarn, Bruny, D'Entrecastean, Baudin, and others, and 
 even so lately as 1826, General Sir Ealph Darling, 
 Governor of New South Wales, despatched Major 
 Lockyer with detachments of the 39th Regiment to 
 assert (if need be) the supremacy of his Britannic Majesty 
 in Western Australia. The site of a township was, at 
 that time, chosen at Albany, which was held as a military 
 station for two years, when the Colony was formally 
 handed over to Captain James Stirling, the first Governor 
 of Swan River Settlement. 
 
 We take leave to differ in Mo with the author of this- 
 unpatriotic regret. The French nation were never cut 
 out for colonists. Their country is quite large enough to 
 hold them, and they seem to have acquired the art, 
 science, or handicraft we know not which of limiting 
 the size of their families, and so preventing an incon- 
 venient increase of population. England knows nothing 
 of these methods as a nation. She is small but prolific,. 
 and needs mighty areas of land across the seas upon
 
 A VAIN KEGRKT. 
 
 which to plant her sturdy sons and daughters. After 
 all, however, it does not particularly matter what any 
 one regrets ; England possesses by far the largest area 
 of land of any nation in the world, and it looks as if she 
 was very likely to retain her vast possessions.
 
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