There were some very fine alluvial flats, on the banks of the Swan, on which no live stock had been depastured. In conjunction with another gentleman I arranged, during the following season, to mow the land for hay, at that time worth £14 per ton. Three stacks, of fifty tons each, were made; but the aborigines, not having seen anything of the sort before, were desirous of witnessing the effect of a large fire, and stuck firebrands into them—which made short work. They were all destroyed.
The Governor, Sir James Stirling, undertook to lead an exploring party to examine the country between Perth and King George’s Sound, which was then unknown. I and some other gentlemen entitled to select land accompanied him, also some surveyors. A couple of drays drawn by oxen, and loaded with provisions and some surveying instruments, accompanied the party. The character of the country was very variable. After a few days’ travelling, the cattle fed on some poisonous plants and several of them died, at our camping place, during the night. One of the drays, some provisions and instruments, were necessarily abandoned there. Shortly afterwards, we struck on a river, then named the Williams, situated in a fine and apparently extensive district. Some of the party proceeded up the valley about twenty miles the following day, and camped for the night. I and another gentleman, however, strolled a couple of miles from the camp, in a southerly direction, and returning northerly, we felt satisfied that the river would bring us up and that we could not miss the camp, even at night. The bed of the river at that time, however, was a succession of pools, and the long intervals between them were thickly grassed. We thus crossed the river without knowing it, after dusk, over one of those intervals, and lost ourselves. Thinking there might be some extraordinary bend of the river, we walked on until midnight, and then lay down to rest. There was no water and nothing eatable except a morsel of cheese the size of a walnut, which we divided. After consultation, we started at daylight on a due west course, hoping to cut the track made by Sir James Stirling’s party travelling south. This we happily discovered towards evening, and rested for the night. On the evening of the third day we rejoined the main party, which had been searching for us, and had almost given us up as lost.
It was arranged that on the following day those entitled to select land should again proceed up the Williams River for that purpose, accompanied by a surveyor, Sir James Stirling and the remainder of the party proceeding in a south direction to accomplish the chief object of the expedition. On reaching a selected point on the river, the measurement was to commence. The surveying instruments, chains, &c., had been abandoned where the bullocks died. The surveyor had a compass, but distances had to be paced. Long frontages to the river were desirable, and long legs possessed an advantage—subject, however, to a final survey, when any surplus would be struck off from the back land. The general course of the river was from S.W. to N.E., but very winding. A tree was marked on the river’s bank, from whence the surveyor started due east, the paces being counted; but after pacing a mile, the river still receding, a due north course was taken to strike the river again, and so on alternately east and north, until the required due east direction was attained. This process gave me about ten miles of river frontage, although the due east measurement was scarcely half that distance.
The Williams district was undulating, well grassed, and the soil in the vicinity of the river excellent, producing abundance of sandal wood. A mob of about 200 kangaroos was started during the day, and some of the party had a good gallop after them. About three days were occupied in making the selections, after which the surveyor was instructed on his return to Perth to explore a new country westward of that already travelled.
The party started accordingly on a west course, and crossed Sir James Stirling’s track. On the third day we passed over the Darling range—an elevation under 2,000 feet—a rough, stony country, heavily timbered, but with little arable land. The following day we reached the coast, at the mouth of the River Murray. This was the third day the party had been without water, and the men made a rush to the river to drink, but found the water to be salt. No efforts could avail to dissuade two of the party from drinking immoderately, and one of them shortly afterwards became insane. Fresh water was soon found, and after two more days the party reached Perth. The character of the land traversed on this occasion was very variable, but the proportion of bad country was in excess.
In the early stage of the colony the deficiency of a circulating medium was severely felt, and consequently few transactions could take place, except by means of barter. The Government regulations entitled settlers to claim land in consideration of the importation of servants, provisions, agricultural implements, live stock, &c.; but no claim could be made on account of capital in the shape of money. The settlers therefore invested almost the whole of their resources in such articles as would entitle them to claim land. If you required a team of horses, the person desirous of selling one did not want what you could offer in exchange, but wished for sheep. You then applied to an owner of sheep, who desired something you did not possess; and frequently two or three exchanges were necessary before you could procure the articles you wanted—generally losing something on each exchange.
Under such circumstances, I proposed a scheme for the formation of a local bank, and was ably assisted by Mr. George Leake and a few other friends possessing influence and property—but no cash.
We depended on the Commissariat issues for the Government expenditure for supplies of coin. The necessary nominal capital was subscribed, and the shareholders assembled to make the arrangements required for opening the bank. At their request, I undertook the management of it, with a Board of Directors. They issued their notes, and the benefits derived by the public became manifest immediately. The bank was very successful. A sufficient supply of coin was gradually obtained from the Government expenditure, and the shareholders for some time divided profits of forty per cent. on their nominal capital, which was simply the credit of their names.
The system which enabled settlers to obtain enormous grants of land was found in practice to be neither advantageous to those persons or to the colony. They could not make a profitable use of them; they became a drag upon their resources to meet necessary expenditure, and the lands were locked up from those who might have turned them to better account. One settler, Mr. Peel, obtained 250,000 acres, with a right under certain conditions to claim a like additional quantity of land. The early settlers introduced a large number of servants at their own expense, generally articled to serve for three years at moderate wages. Their employers were inexperienced, not knowing how to apply their labour to the best advantage. For a short time provisions reached famine prices, flour selling at two shillings and sixpence per pound. Servants would not then accept their discharges, but when prices fell they broke their engagements, and instances have occurred of masters having become the servants of their former ploughmen.
The local Bank had been in existence about five years, to the great benefit of the colony, when the Bank of Australasia proposed an amalgamation; and, after due consideration, it was thought advisable for the interests of the colony to secure the co-operation of that important corporation. The Manager sent from London died before the Bank was opened, and the management of the new Bank was conferred on me.