324 Account of the New Colony of Western Australia. [Oct. 



is sandstone ; the water in the springs abundant and wholesome, in 

 some places impregnated with iron. The principal streets are ninety- 

 nine feet wide ; one street runs about a mile in length, and is intersected 

 at right angles by several others : the houses are built of brick and 

 mortar and some of wood; they are placed on separate allotments, each 

 ninety-nine feet wide and three hundred and ninety-six feet long, which 

 are fenced in ; a portion of the ground is generally converted into a 

 garden ; the gardens in front of the houses, and the large trees inter- 

 spersed between, with the boats passing up and down the river, give 

 the town a cheerful and picturesque appearance. The streets are not 

 yet paved, but there is an agreeable walk along the bank of the 

 river, and the rides about the town, along the bush roads to Guilford 

 and Freemantle, are pleasant. Population three hundred. 



It may be said of Perth as Hippocrates formerly said of towns simi- 

 larly situated, well exposed to the sun and winds and abundantly sup- 

 plied with good water (Deagre locis et aquis— Opera omnia, page 195), 

 hee minus a mulationibus temporum officiuntur: and diseases are less 

 severe and less common here than in most other places. 



I may also here mention Freemantle, the town second in importance, 

 which is situated on the coast close to Gage's roads, on the southern 

 bank of the Swan river, where it disembogues into the sea. The streets 

 run at right angles, are sixty-six feet wide. The houses are built of a 

 soft grit or calcarious sandstone, which hardens on exposure to the air, 

 looks well, and is found in abundance in the neighbourhood. It is 

 chiefly inhabited by merchants population about three hundred. 



There are several other towns in progress, the most advanced of 

 which is Guilford, situated about eight miles higher up the river than 

 Perth, on a pleasant terrace, in an agreeable neighbourhood, where the 

 soil is uniformly good. 



These things being premised, I proceed to describe the most re- 

 markable changes of the weather during the four years included in 

 this notice. 



Whenever the thermometer is mentioned, it is to be understood of a 

 large mercurial one, graduated according to Fahrenheit's scale, kept in 

 a proper place within doors (either in a wooden building or a thatched 

 hut, with a southern aspect) except when I describe the sun rays, the 

 intensity of which was measured by a smaller instrument of the same 

 kind, hung out of doors, at some distance from the walls of the houses; 

 no difference was observed between them, except that the mercury 

 in the smallest was soonest affected by heat or cold, and consequent- 



