142 BPEARING FISH — SMALL CUTTERS. 



A river runs from the town up into the interior. 

 On following its windings, I found it too shal- 

 low for craft of the lightest draught. Thousands 

 of fowls skim over its surface : the shag, the swan, 

 gulls, and the monster pelican — all gathering their 

 living from its waters. In the rainy season it be- 

 comes a formidable stream, rushing violently over 

 its bed, and carrying away all loose objects that lie 

 along its course. In this river, too, I saw the natives 

 spearing fish, an art in which they displayed con- 

 siderable skill. "Wading in the water, and patiently 

 watching until the pre}- swam near them, they would 

 expertly strike in their spears and transfix it. I saw 

 one of them thus encounter a shark, piercing him 

 through and through, until he despatched the mon- 

 ster. During the whole conflict he displayed extreme 

 adroitness and activity in keeping out of the way of 

 the infuriated creature, when with gnashing jaws it 

 turned upon its antagonist. Whenever they capture 

 a shark they eat it. 



Small cutters are continually arriving and depart- 

 ing from and for Freemantle, Vasse, King George's 

 Sound, and Adelaide. These cutters are sloop-rigged, 

 and vary in size from ten to twenty-five tons. They 

 arc built of mahogany wood in the colony, and are 

 represented as safe and convenient crafts ; but only 

 the largest of them venture to cross the Bight to 

 Adelaide, and that too at the favorable season of the 

 year. Their freight consists of produce and goods 

 for the various storekeepers in the settlements. 



The people of these colonies generally profess the 

 faith of the Church of England ; and in Vasse, the 

 Sound, and Bunbury, Episcopalian chapels are erected; 



