516 ROTTENEST LIGHTHOUSE. 



In the forenoon of the 23rd we saw the light- 

 house of Rottenest ; and regarded it with great 

 interest, as the work of the aborigines imprisoned 

 on the island. I could not avoid indulging in 

 melancholy reflections as I gazed upon this building, 

 erected by the hands of a people which seemed 

 destined to perish from the face of the earth without 

 being able to leave any durable monuments of their 

 existence, except such fabrics as this, constructed 

 under the control of a conquering race The time 

 indeed, if we may judge from past experience, 

 seems not far distant when the stranger, on 

 approaching the shores of Western Australia, and 

 asking who erected that lighthouse to guide him in 

 safety to the shore, will be told it was the work 

 of a people that once were and are now no longer. 



Passing over the foul ground extending off the 

 Stragglers, we ran into Owen's anchorage during the 

 first watch. Whilst waiting to rate the chrono- 

 meters several soundings were added to our plan of 

 this place, and a three-fathom patch, about a quarter 

 of a mile in extent, was discovered, with nine on 

 either side of it, lying nearly two miles and a quarter 

 N. 39° W. from Fremantle gaol. 



We also visited Rottenest to inspect the establish- 

 ment. It had now been a penal settlement for 

 four years ; besides erecting the buildings, the 

 aboriginal labourers had cleared thirty-four acres of 

 land, chiefly in detached valleys. These grew 

 thirty-five bushels of wheat to the acre, (in the 



