396 



AUSTRALASIA. 



spaces from the other Australasian colonies, with which it communicates only by 

 sea. The dangerous overland routes across the intervening solitudes still rank with 

 those rare and daring exploits which are recorded in the annals of geographical 

 exploration. 



The centre of the colony is the city of Perth, which has been founded 12 miles 

 from the coast on the banks of the Swan River, at a point where it expands into 



Fig. 170. — Perth and its Envieons. 

 Scale 1 : 600,000. 



bep hs 



to 32 

 Feet. 



32 to SO 



Feet. 



80 to 160 



Feet. 



12 Miles. 



160 Feet and 

 upwards. 



the form of a lake. This modest capital is connected by road and rail with its 

 seaport of Fremantle, which lies on the south side of the Swan estuary ; but there 

 is no natural harbour and the open roadstead is so unsafe during the prevalence of 

 the north and north-west winds that the shipping has at times to take refuge 

 farther south in Cockburn Sound between the coast and Garden Island. Never- 

 theless, Fremantle is the busiest port in the colony, and here are shipped the 



