256 Account of Peron's Peninsula. 



of, and a better acquaintance with the haven of Montbazin, it will 

 be found capable of making a good boat harbour ; and, if so, it 

 would seem as if Providence pointed out the very spot for a fisher- 

 man's village. A party once established, and occasional assistance 

 rendered them, in the way of live stock, seeds, and young trees, as 

 well as domestic articles, the hand of industry would in a few years 

 work such a change around the little settlement as would ensure its 

 permanency ; for it cannot be doubted but that the soil of the little 

 valleys, where " the vegetation was magnificent," may be ctiltivat- 

 ed to advantage. Besides the fishery, the pearl trade, and seal- 

 skins, it is not impossible but that a trafiic, perhaps, for many other 

 articles from the interior, not now known or thought of, might be 

 established, and the place thus support itself by its trade. 



Perhaps the best plan for the establishment of the fishing settle- 

 ment, would be for Government to grant the exclusive privileges 

 of the harbours and waters of Shark's Bay to a firm of British 

 merchants for fifty years. It would then be worth their while to 

 sink some capital in improvements ; and, as they would be sove- 

 reigns of the place, they might levy a toll, or harbour dues, on all 

 ships trading or putting in there, the same as is done at the Cape 

 of Good Hope. This, together with the profits of the speculation, 

 would soon bring back the first outlay, and continue an advantage- 

 ous concern. 



But even if the experiment should not be attended with successy 

 it would, at all events, be an excellent post for fitting out a land 

 expedition, for the exploration of the neighbouring parts of the 

 continent ; and as soon as the examination was completed, and no 

 more could be done for geography in that quarter, the place might 

 be abandoned. The natives would be left somewhat improved 

 by the short intercourse, and be more friendly to Europeans, — a 

 result, that may be attended in future years with the happiest ef- 

 fects. 



M. Peron ascertained, beyond a doubt, by procuring some teeth 

 and bones, that the dugong of the Indian Ocean was an inhabitant of 

 the waters of Shark's Bay. Our ancient navigator Dampier, who 

 also collected some bones of the same kind of animal here, thought 

 it was a hippopotamus ; but, as Peron justly observes, these am- 

 phibia are never found separated from fresh water rivers, and can- 

 not exist in sea water. The dugong, on the contrary, is not an 

 amphibious animal, and cannot exist out of salt water ; it resides 

 continually in shallows at the bottom of the sea, where it has been 

 seen feeding on the herbs in numerous troops.* 



In conclusion, the prodigious diurnal vicissitudes of the climate 

 of Shark's Bay, from the burning heat of the mid-day sun to the 

 excessively cold dews of the night, previously spoken of in this 



" Leguat, Vol. I. p. 94-9C. Also the Edinburgh Journal of Natural and 

 Geographical Science, Vol. I. p. 161, for some account of the dugong. 



