25 
guishing the more settled part of the country. Should this explana- 
tion not prove satisfactory, it will be proper in that case to refer 
them to this Government for any further information they may 
require.’* They were also instructed that if a landing should have 
been already effected by the French, “You will, notwithstanding, land 
the troops agreeably to your instructions, and signify that their (the 
French) continuance with any view to establishing themselves or 
colonisation, would be considered an unjustifiable intrusion on His 
Britannic Majesty’s possessions.” 
These three expeditions, all of which numbered convicts amongst 
them, duly established themselves at the points mentioned, that at 
King George’s Sound being founded on Christmas Day, 1826, and 
continued until March, 1831, when the convicts were withdrawn, and 
the settlement brought under the then new colony at Swan River. 
Meanwhile, the arrival of the French corvette “L’ Astrolabe/* at 
Sydney, in December, 1826, after spending a month at King George’s 
Sound, accentuated the fear of French annexation, and in Governor 
Darling’s opinion made it still more necessary that some British 
settlement should he established on the west coast. 
Fortunately, the opportunity of taking the initial steps towards 
that end was ready to hand. A settlement had been established at 
Melville Island on the north coast in 1824. which had, from the com- 
mencement, been a failure. In consequence, the Secretary of State 
instructed Governor Darling to send a war ship to the island for the 
purpose of removing t lie settlement to some more suitable site, pre- 
ferably further to the east. When the despatch arrived it so hap- 
pened that ILM.S. “Success,” commanded by Captain Stirling, was 
lying in Sydney Harbour, and the Governor appears to have com- 
municated the wish of the British Government to Captain Stirling 
in an unofficial way, as the first intimation we have upon the matter 
is in the form of two letters from Stirling to the Governor, in the 
first of which, dated 8th December, 1826, it was pointed out that the 
north-west monsoonal rains would interfere with the removal of the 
settlement at Melville Island until after April, while in the second 
dated December 14, Stirling suggested that instead of remaining in 
harbour until the following April, he should employ the time in mak- 
ing an examination of the Swan River. In the prosecution of these 
considerations, he says “Certain ideas have been suggested to me by 
professional observation, relative to the necessity of immediately 
seizing a i ossession upon the western coast of this island near Swan 
River.” . . . He concludes his letter with this statement: “Finally, 
Sir, at a time when we have one French vessel of war with objects 
not clearly understood, and with one American vessel of war being 
also in this neighbourhood seeking a place for settlement, it becomes 
important to prevent them from occupying a position of such value, 
particularly as you were pleased to say that His Majesty’s Gov- 
ernment is desirous of not being anticipated in such views by any 
