WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 897 



wools, which have hitherto formed the chief resource of Western Australia. Rott- 

 nest Island, which partly shelters Gage Eoad on the west, is fringed with salt 

 beds worked by the convicts and natives for the Government. Farther north 

 follow the three ports of Rockingham, Bunhiiry, and Basse/ton, from which is mainly 

 exported the jarra-wood {euca///pfas marginata), which is highly valued by ship- 

 builders and others for its durable properties and power of resisting the action of 

 termites and borers. 



In the north-east the Perth railway is continued up the Swan Yalley towards 

 Guildford, York, and Beverley, flourishing agricultural centres surrounded by 

 pastures and scrub, where sandalwood formerly abounded. A carriage road 250 

 miles long, running south-eastwards to a great extent through barren wastes, 

 places Perth in communication with Albany, almost the only seaport on the south 

 coast. The lack of arable lands in the neighbourhood of this place prevents it 

 from developing as rapidly as might be expected from its excellent harbour of 

 King George Sound at the south-west angle of the continent. Albany is a port of 

 call for steamers plying between England and Melbourne, and the terminus of 

 the cable connecting the local telegraphic system with the rest of the world. The 

 British and Australasian Governments are at present occupied with the construc- 

 tion of fortified works around this important strategical point on the south-west 

 coast. In 1826 the Governor of New South Wales stationed a small garrison here 

 to prevent its seizure by the French after the systematic survey of the seaboard by 

 Baudin and Freycinet. French geographical names occur most frequently along 

 this section of the Australian seaboard. Farther east the only settlement on the 

 south coast is Eucla [Yircla or Yergalla), that is, "Morning Star" in the native 

 language. Although scarcely inhabited Eucla bears the name of a seaport ; it lies 

 on the frontier of the two colonies of Western and South Australia. 



North of Fremantle the coast is almost a solitude for a space of about 180 

 miles. In this direction lies the Roman Catholic mission of New Nurcia, which 

 has been made memorable by the ethnographical studies of Pudesindo Salvado. 

 Still farther north the work of colonisation has acquired considerable importance 

 in the district of Victoria, which is watered by the river Greenough. The banks 

 of this river are fringed by wheatfields, and the produce of the districts is forwarded 

 by rail to the port of Geraldton, which stands on Champion Bay. Off this coast 

 flows the Geelvink Channel formed by the chain of the Houtman's Abrolhos islets 

 and reefs. The Victoria district is the chief mineral region of Western Australia, 

 abounding especially in lead, copper, and gold. Beyond it the spacious inlet of 

 Shark's Bay and the north-west coast are annually visited by about a hundred fishing 

 smacks in quest of pearls and mother-of-pearl, for which the chief depot is the 

 village of Roehonrne, at the mouth of the Sherlock Piver. The yearly value of the 

 fisheries exceeds £20,000 ; but nowhere else in Australia have the whites treated 

 more oppressively the native labourers, who have been practically reduced to the 

 position of slaves by a so-called act of " assignation." 



The whole of the Australian seaboard stretching round to the north-east was 

 uninhabited by any -white people before the year 1869, when auriferous deposits 



